The American Iris Society Announces the 2023 Wister Medal Winners

 'BLACK LIPSTICK' - 'ROYSTON RUBIES' -

'CHIHUAHUAN DESERT'

The Wister Medal is restricted to tall bearded (TB) irises. It is named in honor of John C. Wister (1887-1982). Three medals are awarded each year. Previous awards winners can be found at https://wiki.irises.org/Main/InfoAwards.

John C. Wister led the organizing meeting that created the American Iris Society and became its first president, a position he held for fourteen years. He guided the Society through its formative years. He was widely recognized as a man of rare management skills, leadership ability, and the highest ethical standards. R. S. Sturtevant wrote of him: "Probably few current members realize that the AIS started through the efforts and initiative of one man, John C. Wister...."

Tall bearded iris 'BLACK LIPSTICK'
photo by Jeanette Graham

'Black Lipstick' (Keith Keppel, R. 2015). Seedling# 09-104A. Height 35 in. (89 cm). Early midseason bloom. Standards black-purple; style arms dark purple (46-J-12); falls black; beards solid dark blue. Seedling# 04-95A: ('Oreo' x 'Hello Darkness') X seedling# 01-37B: ('Tangled Web' x seedling# 94-54B: (seedling# 90-82E, Oreo' pod parent sibling x 'Storm Track')). Introduced by Keith Keppel Iris in 2016.

'Royston Rubies'  (Adam Cordes, R. 2016). Seedling# C51-8. Height 32 in. (81 cm). Late midseason bloom. Standards old mauve; style arms same, honey-gold sides, lavender lip, crests toasted-brown; falls dark ruby red, black veneer overlay to the ¼˝old mauve edge, occasional slight lavender line at end of beard, faint white rays at sides of beard, mustard-orange base on shoulders; beards mustard-orange, lavender base. 'Prestige Item' X 'Cranberry Sauce'. Introduced by Mid-America Gardens in 2017.

Tall bearded iris 'CHIHUAHUAN DESERT'
photo by Howie Dash

'Chihuahuan Desert' (Howard Dash, R. 2015). Seedling# ADG 11-02-12. Height 37 in. (94 cm), Early to midseason bloom. Standards and style arms white; falls tan-violet veining over white base; beards orange, hairs based orange, tips yellow. 'Zesting Lemons' X Kelly seedling PFM-09-1: ('Pennant Fever' x 'Machismo'). Picacho Mountain Iris 2016. 

The World of Irises blog will be posting classification medal winners as soon as the hybridizers are notified. The entire list of winners, including Award of Merit and Honorable Mention, will be published on the AIS website, the AIS Encyclopedia, and later in the AIS Bulletin, IRISES.

A Growing Iris Resource on YouTube: Part III

by Heather Haley

In this post, I'll continue sharing the story of a growing iris resource on YouTube. The American Iris Society (AIS) uses its YouTube Channel to help organize and disseminate knowledge of the genus Iris, while fostering its preservation, enjoyment, and continued development. Many of the videos available are from the AIS Webinar Series, and their upload was planned for the benefit of all persons interested in irises. 

I am very thankful for the AIS Webinar Series, mostly because it has helped me become more involved in this organization. You see, I absolutely love irises and my heart sings whenever I see one. It doesn't matter if the iris is real, digital, or simply decorating an object. This also happens to other members of my family; our love for irises is practically a genetic trait. The only thing I like more than puttering around irises in a garden is spending time with people whose hearts also sing when they see irises. During 2020, few were able to do this in person because coronavirus disrupted many AIS activities for local affiliates, its regions, and the organization as a whole. By July, I was lonely watching iris blooms fade in my garden. 

Within days, a most intriguing message appeared in my inbox: the AIS was launching a webinar series! Immediately, my heart was singing a familiar song. For the remainder of 2020, my family and I gathered around an iPad on the kitchen table to enjoy presentations described in Part I of this blog post. Some we caught live, but we also happily watched webinars we had missed as they became available on YouTube. 

In 2021, the second year of the coronavirus pandemic, AIS faced another year of uncertainty. With a second national convention in peril, all AIS sections and cooperating societies were invited to give presentations in the webinar series. Most of them accepted, and Part II of this blog post described some of them.

Also in 2021, I received a second intriguing message. This one arrived via text message. It read, "We need help at AIS, and I thought of you." I stood in my driveway a little dumbfounded. Up to this point, I hadn't done much for AIS at the national level, and I questioned what on earth made this person think of me. Sure, I helped my mother with a convention booklet a few years back. I volunteered to compose blog posts about irises. I am also (youthfully?) enthusiastic about all things related to irises. Whatever it was, the organization I credit for my family's love of irises needed help. I was willing and eager to assist.

 I learned that the small crew of AIS webinar hosts - Andi Rivarola, Gary White, and Claire Schneider  - were looking for help admitting participants in Zoom and greeting them. I was already familiar with the "pre-game" commentary that hosts engage in 30-minutes prior to each webinar, which always seemed like loads of fun. Before I knew it, I was signing in early to help the webinars run smoothly. It feels great to support the work of AIS, and help hearts sing for irises worldwide.

The following describes the remaining webinars that AIS volunteers prepared, delivered, recorded, and posted to our YouTube Channel during 2021.

Webinar #15 - “Spuria Irises for Every Garden; a Little History, a Lot of Beauty” with Anna Cadd

Anna Cadd was born and raised in Olesnica, Poland and is the current vice president of the Spuria Iris Society. Although she once aspired to become a medical doctor; her inability to kill rats, frogs and rabbits changed her mind. Her interests turned to botany and led to a Masters degree in Biology and a Doctorate in Plant Ecology. In this webinar Anna shares her enthusiasm for spuria irises with a little history and a lot of beauty. 

Webinar #17 - “Preview of the 2022 National Convention at Las Cruces, NM” with Howie Dash & Scarlett Ayres

Convention co-chairmen Howie Dash and Scarlett Ayres previewed the gardens for the 2022 AIS National Convention. They shared a walkthrough of each garden in bloom and interviews with the garden owners. If you are interested in this convention or others, visit the AIS website for more information and hyperlinks.

Webinar #18 - “PINTSIZED BEARDED IRIS: Medians, What are they? Where did they come from? Why grow them?” with Debbie Strauss

Debbie Strauss lives in Midland, Texas with her husband Dale and is a member of iris societies in Midland, Odessa, Las Cruces, Santa Fe, Dallas, and Hico. Her mother and grandmother grew irises and set the stage for her love of everything iris! Debbie has been an AIS Garden Judge since 1990, and was awarded status as an Emeritus Judge by the AIS Board of Directors in 2020. Debbie shared her expertise on the pint-sized bearded irises referred to collectively as "medians."

Webinar #19 - "Dwarf Bearded Irises: The Three Types of MDBs” with Tom Waters

Tom Waters began growing and hybridizing irises in the 1970s. He has served as yearbook editor and president of the Aril Society International, and is currently president of the Dwarf Iris Society. He works as a radiation protection manager at Los Alamos National Laboratory and lives in northern New Mexico with his wife Karen. In this presentation, Tom outlined the origin of the modern miniature dwarfs and discussed differences in flower characteristics and cultural requirements that result from different breeding backgrounds. 

Webinar #20 - “An Introduction to Growing Pacific Coast Irises” with Bob Sussman

Bob Sussman is president of the Society for Pacific Coast Native Irises and began the Matilija Nursery in 1992. The nursery sells California native plants and has emphasized Pacific Coast irises for the last ten years. Bob's hybridizing efforts focus on developing irises that are well adapted to the warm climate in Southern California. 

Webinar #21 - "Beauty from the Past, Saved for the Future” with Wendy Scott

Wendy Scott is the president of the Historic Iris Preservation Society (HIPS) and shared information  about different preservation programs that help preserve the legacy of iris hybridizers. In this webinar, you can learn more about the HIPS Guardian Gardens program, iris rescues, Breeder Collections, Display Gardens, posterity planning, and the purple-based foliage project. 

In my opinion, the only thing better than an iris in bloom is connecting with people who love them just as much as I do.  If you have not done so already, consider joining the American Iris Society, one of its specialized sections and cooperating societies, or a local AIS affiliate. You will receive great information from iris growing experts, invitations to programs like these, and opportunities to share the beauty and thrill of the genus Iris. 

For Comments: 
What iris groups do you participate in?

A Growing Iris Resource on YouTube: Part II

 By Heather Haley

In this post, I'll continue sharing the story of a growing iris resource on YouTube. The American Iris Society (AIS) uses its YouTube Channel to help organize and disseminate knowledge of the genus Iris, while fostering its preservation, enjoyment and continued development. Many of the videos available are from the AIS Webinar Series, and their upload was planned for the benefit of all persons interested in irises. 

Prior to the onset of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, AIS had organized some virtual meetings, but it had not conducted online training classes. Uncertainty and the need to keep everyone separated disrupted many AIS activities for local affiliates, its regions, and the organization as a whole. Some of the AIS officers met to discuss what could be done. It was decided that AIS could conduct virtual presentations to communicate and connect with its membership. With this decision, the AIS Webinar Series was born. 

Some of the officers present volunteered to prepare the first webinars in the series. A previous blog post described webinars by Gary White, Bonnie Nichols, and Jody Nolin during 2020. Some of these early webinars were also Judges’ Training sessions. Like many others stuck at home, I was thankful for opportunities to become more knowledgeable and involved in the AIS Judges’ Training Program during the pandemic. 

In 2021, the second year of the pandemic, AIS faced another year of uncertainty. With a second national convention in peril, all AIS sections and cooperating societies were invited to give presentations in the webinar series. Most of them accepted, and the webinar series continues to this day. 

The following describes some of the webinars that volunteers prepared, delivered, recorded and posted to the AIS YouTube Channel during 2021.

"The Philosophy and Methods of Discovering and Naming New Species: An Example From the Irises of China," with Prof. Carol Wilson, Ph. D.

Professor Carol Wilson was introduced by Dr. Robert Hollingworth, chairman of the AIS Scientific Advisory Committee. Dr. Wilson received her Ph.D. in the Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, where she researched evolution of the Pacific Coast irises. Afterward she completed postdoctoral research on haustoria in African mistletoe in the family Loranthaceae, a project based at the Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City. After serving in faculty positions at Portland State University and Claremont Graduate University, she returned to the University of California, Berkeley as a research scientist, where she continues her work on irises and mistletoe. 

"Our Desire for Order: Historical Taxonomic Inderstanding of Iris and Current Hypotheses of Evolutionary Relationships (Phylogenies)" with Prof. Carol Wilson, Ph. D.

Dr. Robert Hollingworth, chairman of the AIS Scientific Advisory Committee, returned to introduce Dr. Carol Wilson for her second webinar. For more information about Dr. Wilson's research, travel log, and phylogenetic trees, check out her website The Genus Iris.

"Growing Aril and Arilbred Iris" with Howie Dash

Howie Dash is president of the Aril Society International and a member of the AIS Board of Directors. Howie originally grew arilbred irises in the Hudson Valley of New York and moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico 11 years ago where he compiled an extensive collection of aril and arilbed irises. He has hybridized tall bearded and arilbred irises since 2010. His first arilbred introduction, ‘Chihuahua Night,’ pictured on the left, was in 2019.

"Managing Pests and Weeds in the Iris Patch" with Bob Hollingworth

Bob is an Emeritus Professor from Michigan State University. He is the current President of the AIS Foundation; chairman of the AIS Scientific Advisory Committee; and current editor of The Siberian Iris, the Bulletin for the Society for Siberian Irises. Bob is also the hybridizer of the American Dykes Medal winner, 'Swans In Flight', a Siberian iris, and the first and only beardless iris (so far) to win the American Dykes Medal.

"Exploring the Iris Encyclopedia" with Bob Pries

Bob Pries created the AIS Iris Encyclopedia in 2007 and has been its manager in the years since, continuously adding to its depth and importance. By education, Bob is a botanist. His interest in irises is wide ranging and encyclopedic. Bob has served on the AIS Board of Directors, and has served as president of the Species Iris Group of North America, the Dwarf Iris Society, and the Aril Society International, as well as heading up several AIS committees. This webinar focused on iris information and content that is available in the iris encyclopedia and in the online library. (The library contains a nice selection of videos showing iris gardens, hybridizing techniques, and cultural information you might be interested in too.)

"Louisiana Irises: The Wild and the Tamed" with Patrick O'Connor

Patrick is broadly interested in plants native to Louisiana and the Gulf South with emphasis on Louisiana irises. He has grown and hybridized Louisiana irises since the late 1970s and has registered around 120 Louisiana iris hybrids with AIS. In 2018 his hybrid ‘Deja Voodoo’ won the Society’s Mary Swords DeBaillon Medal, the highest award given to a Louisiana iris cultivar. He is the past president and a charter member of the Greater New Orleans Iris Society. Patrick is also a past officer and board member of the Society for Louisiana Irises.

If you have not done so already, consider subscribing to the AIS YouTube Channel. You can show your support for this growing iris resource, and receive updates when AIS adds new videos for you to enjoy.