'FOOTBALL HERO' - 'DON'T DOUBT DALTON'
'BELLE FILLE' - 'VOLCANIC GLOW'
'BLUEBIRD OF HAPPINESS' - 'DON'T STOP BELIEVING'
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. Editor’s Note: Due to the pandemic last year, the American Iris Society Board of Directors suspended garden awards. As a result, and for only this year, six medals will be award in this area. 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 skill, 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...."
'FOOTBALL
HERO' (Lynda Miller)
'Football Hero' (Lynda Miller, R. 2014). Seedling# 8010A. TB, 36" (91 cm).
Midseason bloom. Standards butter yellow; style arms same, accented violet;
falls plum-purple, pale smoky orchid edged; beards gold; slight musky
fragrance. 'Hoosier Dome' X 'Saturn'. Salmon Creek 2015.
'DON'T
DOUBT DALTON' (Tom Burseen)
'Don't
Doubt Dalton' (Tom Burseen, R. 2014). Seedling# 011-297A. TB, 35" (89 cm).
Early to late bloom. Standards pure white, red-purple random splattering; style
arms white, washed gold; falls pure white, yellow-gold washed hafts, random
dark purple splatters; beards poppy orange (RHS 32A), tattered and feathered
white horns, gold stems; flared and ruffled; slight sweet fragrance. 'Miles
Keith' X seedling# 09-79: (seedling# 07-167: ('Sammie's Jammies' x 'Enchanter')
x 'McSeedman Sees Red'). Burseen 2015.
'BELLE
FILLE' (Marky Smith)
'Belle
Fille' (Marky Smith, R. 2011). Seedling 08-05B. TB, 34" (86 cm). Early to
late bloom. Standards hyacinth violet (RHS 87A), primrose ruffled edge and
base; style arms cream edged and rimmed yellow, crests lilac touched yellow;
falls Vatican purple (83A), thin cream edge, cream white area surrounding
beard, rudimentary luminata cream veining just below white heart, surrounded in
turn by 1/4" bright yellow ring bleeding out to brown shoulder, small
white dart below beard; beards white base, hairs tipped yellow at end becoming
solid golden poppy-orange (25A) in throat; heavily ruffled, luminata pattern;
pronounced sweet fragrance. Seedling 06-23L. Salmon Creek 2015.
'VOLCANIC
GLOW' (Keith Keppel)
'Volcanic
Glow' (Keith Keppel, R. 2011) Seedling 05-78B. TB, 36" (91 cm), Midseason
bloom. Standards aureolin (M&P 10-L-2), central area flushed cedarwood
(6-G-10); style arms aureolin, slight cedarwood flush; falls Zanzibar red
(8-L-5), velvety wash, narrow aureolin edge; white heart and dart below beard, heart
edged bright golden lemon (9-L-2/3); beards white base, tips golden lemon;
luminata. 'Montmartre' X 'Lip Service'. Keppel 2012.
'BLUEBIRD
OF HAPPINESS' (Paul Black)
'Bluebird
Of Happiness' (Paul Black, R. 2011). Seedling# P218B. TB, 45" (114 cm).
Midseason to very late bloom. Standards dark base and midribs blending to mid
blue edges, darker blue textured veins over upper 2/3; style arms mid blue;
falls mid blue fading to pale blue, darker at edge, mid blue textured veins;
beards orange; pronounced sweet fragrance. Blyth seedling# N24-5, 'Blue Rising'
sibling X 'Paul Black'. Mid-America 2012.
'DON'T
STOP BELIEVING' (Thomas Johnson)
'Don't
Stop Believing' (Thomas Johnson, R. 2013) Seedling TA80A. TB, 42 (107 cm). Late
bloom. Standards and style arms clear mid pink; falls milk glass white, pink
hafts and edge; beards salmon-pink in middle, lilac-blue end; sweet fragrance;
ruffled; lightly laced. Seedling TW3A: ('Ballet Royale' x 'Corps de Ballet') X
'Secret Affair'. Mid-America 2013.
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 in the AIS website, the AIS Encyclopedia, and later in the AIS Bulletin, IRISES.
