The American Iris Society Announces the 2022 Mitchell Medal Winner

'GOING BANANAS'

The Mitchell Medal is restricted to Pacific Coast Native (PCN) irises. It is named in honor of Sydney B. Mitchell (1878-1951). Professor Sydney Mitchell was an educator. He became Acting Librarian at the University of California during WW I, and later founded and became first director of the Graduate School of Librarianship at that university. He was also one of the organizers of the American Iris Society.

Tom Craig wrote this of him: "Sydney looked upon plant breeding as a long term international effort in which individuals from all over the world should co-operate and add generation after generation to a real human achievement. He made me feel a real part of this and more particularly a part of a special work started by William Mohr and carried on by himself. Sydney generously gave flowers and plants of seedling for further encouragement with this work."

Mitchell was also interested in the native irises of the West Coast, and promoted them at every opportunity. He took great pride in the plantings of PCNs in his own garden. He had a large collection of various forms of Iris innominata and I. douglasiana. 

Previous award winners can be found at https://wiki.irises.org/Main/InfoAwards.

'Going Bananas'
photo by Mike Unser

'Going Bananas' (Joseph Ghio, R. 2010) Seedling #JP-121Z. CA, 12" (30 cm). Early thru late bloom. Gold self, creamy white dime signal. Seedling #HP-152R2: (seedling #FP-273U2: (seedling #DP-260N2, 'Coin Of The Realm' pod parent, x seedling #DP-250, 'Marriage Proposal' sibling) x 'Bowl Of Fluff') X seedling #HP-125X2, 'Cashing In' sibling. Introduced by Bay View Gardens in 2010.

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.

(Still) Searching for Iris innominata

 by Kathleen Sayce

A conversation with a lapsed and now renewed member of Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris (SPCNI) reminded me of my long search for Iris innominata by seed and plant form for my own garden.

I. innominata x ? in my garden

In 2010, I joined the SPCNI field trip to southwest Oregon, where I was able to see tens of thousands of Pacifica irises flowering in the wild, including thousands of I. innominata. Flower colors varied from pale yellow to intense, dark golden yellow, almost orange, with veining from dark yellow to red. This spurred me to grow this lovely iris in my own garden.

I. innominata in Southwest Oregon, 2010

The search for I. innominata plants or seeds began innocuously. As a new member of SPCNI, I ordered seeds from the SPCNI annual seed exchange. I also ordered from SIGNA’s seed exchange. Plants were purchased from a variety of sources in the western United States. All were labeled I. innominata. 

Meanwhile I read about Iris x aureonympha ‘Golden Nymph’, an early garden cross between I. douglasiana and I. innominata by Edith Hardin English in her Seattle, Washington garden. She liked the golden flowers but disliked the short stems and the ease with which flowers melted in heavy rain, sentiments with which I completely agree! 

 The SIGNA Checklist of Hybrids described Iris x aureonympha ‘Golden Nymph’ as “Soft golden yellow flower with veining reduced to markings of deeper yellow, two flowers to each stem." The name was published as I. aureonympha ‘Golden Nymph’ in the National Horticulture Magazine, October 1948, and reprinted in the Bulletin of the American Iris Society, p. 40-42, #125, April 1952.” [page 146, SIGNA Checklists of Iris] The article was reprinted in the Almanac for SPCNI, Spring 1977 with a note by Jean Witt that English was the first person in the Unied States to hybridize I. innominata. Note that all PCI species easily hybridize with each other, so wild crosses between I. douglasiana and I. innominata are likely, as both live in Southwest Oregon. 

But I digress—back to the outcome of my search through seed exchanges and nurseries for I. innominata: 

Three times the plants I purchased turned out to be I. douglasiana or other Pacifica iris selections, none matching I. innominata for plant habit and leaf characters even when flowers were (rarely) yellow. I retained a lovely I. douglasiana x unknown PCI cross with a sturdy short grow habit, of unregistered name ‘Burnt Sugar.’

I. pseudacorus sold as I. innominata. Not!

Four times the seeds also were not I. innominata, and tended to undistinguished lavenders. The most spectacular fails were two: A plant from a rock garden nursery that was actually I. pseudacorus, identified when it flowered, and a seed lot that grew into Spuria irises of unknown flower color but unmistakable growth form. My garden is too cool and dry in summer for spurias to thrive, so out it went.

Iris 'Burnt Sugar', unregistered Pacifica iris with I. douglasiana genes

Debby Cole took pity on me after a few years and sent me a few seeds from one of her yellow-flowered innominata-like plants, which upon flowering from seed in my yard we concluded were most likely to be I. innominata x I. bracteata. These had short stems, yellow flowers and the narrow dark green leaves of I. innominata. The veins on the falls were reddish brown. 

Another I. innominata x ? grown from seed 

The plants lived for years in my garden, flowering well until a hedge grew up that shaded them a bit too much. If I can find them this fall, I intend to move the plants to the wild lawn at Willapa National Wildlife Refuge in a few weeks, in hopes that they will enjoy that locale. The trigger for this remembrance was that newly returned SPCNI member casually mentioning that he grows I. innominata in his own garden. All I can say is he’s lucky. I haven’t managed to get it, let alone grow it!

Small Iris Gardens: Garry Knipe's PCIs

by Bryce Williamson

For at least the last 10 years, plant societies have been in membership decline. There are many reasons for this. One of the important reasons for this is reduced garden space in major urban areas. As an area becomes more crowded, lot sizes diminish or fade into nothing. It is not a hopeless situation, however, for the avid gardener with a little bit of space. For the iris grower, a small garden means it will be impossible to grow everything, and specializing is necessary. When specializing is done right, it is even possible to have a hybridizing program.

Within a small garden in California’s Silicon Valley, Garry Knipe is specializing and doing it right. When I visited, one of the first things I noticed was the usage of all space—at the front, back, and even the sides of the house. It also helps, in his case, that one of the neighbors has allowed him to infringe on their property.

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From that small space and specializing in Pacific Coast Irises (PCIs), Mr. Knipe is producing stunning flowers. His seedlings regularly draw “ohs and ahs”at the local Clara B. Rees Iris Society show, winning many blue ribbons and almost always the seeding cup.

Garry has three goals in his hybridizing: bloom time, color, and cold-hardiness. He is working on early blooming varieties in many colors and the eye candy of whites, lavenders, and violets that have an area that is really blue or turquoise in color at the heart or center line of the flowers. To date Garry has only introduced one iris, ‘Premonition of Spring’ from the early blooming line.

‘Premonition of Spring’ 

‘Premonition of Spring’ 

His higher priority is the enhancing the blue and turquoise colors that originally came from Dr. Lee Lenz's work with I. munzii. Unfortunately, like I. munzii, the Lenz introductions were very difficult to grow and died off quickly. Fortunately, their genetic merits were utilized by a few PCI breeders in the 1970's. Garry is now actively selecting some of the stunning violets and lavenders with blues and turquoise shadings for introduction. That latter work has its basis in plants produced from the Lewis Lawyer lines as well as hybrids from Santa Cruz’s Lois Belardi and a seedling from Joe Ghio. The smaller space does slow him down and he can only grow 100 to 400 new seedlings every year.

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A third current hybridizing goal has been added to help extend the climatic range of the Pacific Coast Iris by making crosses between cold hardy species like I. tenax and other known good growing hybrids. These seeds get distributed to members of the Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris for testing in more difficult climates.

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Another garden interest of Garry's is breeding South African flowers of the genus Moraea. In particular, he is very interested in those species and hybrids that have very intense blue- or teal-colored eyes.

Since these relatively small plants can be grown tightly spaced, his small yard can accommodate large numbers of seedlings. Garry recognizes the help of Michael Mace in getting started.  View some of Mike's Moraeas at  https://growingcoolplants.blogspot.com/. His beautiful creations prove that it is possible to add to the gardening pleasure of gardens large and small even if he does not have a lot of space.

The American Iris Society Announces the 2021 Mitchell Medal Winners

'LINE DRAWING' and 'CORRALITOS CREEK'

The Mitchel Medal is restricted to Pacific Coast Native (PCN) irises. It is named in honor of Sydney B. Mitchell (1878-1951). Prof. Sydney Mitchell was an educator. He became Acting Librarian at the University of California during WW I, and later founded and became first director of the Graduate School of Librarianship at that university. He was also one of the organizers of the American Iris Society.

Tom Craig wrote this of him: "Sydney looked upon plant breeding as a long term international effort in which individuals from all over the world should co-operate and add generation after generation to a real human achievement. He made me feel a real part of this and more particularly a part of a special work started by William Mohr and carried on by himself. Sydney generously gave flowers and plants of seedling for further encouragement with this work."

Mitchell was also interested in the native irises of the West Coast, and promoted them at every opportunity. He took great pride in the plantings of PCNs in his own garden. He had a large collection of various forms of I. innominata and I. douglasiana. 

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, two medals will be award in this area. Previous awards winners can be found at https://wiki.irises.org/Main/InfoAwards.

‘Line Drawing’

'Line Drawing' (Joseph Ghio, R. 2009). Seedling #IP-159S2. CA, 14" (36 cm). Midseason bloom. Standards white ground lined dark blue; style arms deep blue; falls white ground, dark blue lines overall, intense blue stitched edge, green-gold dotted signal. 'Like Clockwork' X seedling #FP-265U, 'Foggy Days' sibling. Bay View 2009.

 

‘Corralitos Creek’

'Corralitos Creek' (Joseph Ghio, R. 2013) Seedling #MP-163A4. CA, 14" (36 cm). Late midseason bloom. Standards white, slight blue at distal edge; style arms dark blue; falls white, blue line radiates from signal to deep blue edge, deep blue halo signal. Seedling #KP-155L: ('Da Vinci Code' x seedling #IP-156S3: ('Foggy Days' x seedling #GP-404K3: ('Bar Code' x seedling #EP-153C2: ('Ocean Blue' x 'Star of Evening')))) X seedling #KP-154, 'Costanoa' sibling. Bay View 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.

2019 Sydney B. Mitchell Medal

The American Iris Society

Announces

The Sydney B. Mitchell Medal 2019

‘Da Vinci Code’

'Da Vinci Code'--image by Leonine Iris

'Da Vinci Code' (Joseph Ghio, R. 2010) Seedling #IP-159E3. CA, 12" (30 cm). Late midseason bloom. Standards white veined blue on inside; falls white, blue across haft, dark blue veining to solid blue edge, blue signal. 'Like Clockwork' X seedling #FP-265U, 'Foggy Days' sibling. Bay View 2010.

This medal is restricted to Pacific Coast Native (PCN) irises. It is named in honor of Sydney B. Mitchell (1878-1951). Prof. Sydney Mitchell was an educator. He became Acting Librarian at the University of California during WW I, and later founded and became first director of the Graduate School of Librarianship at that university. He was also one of the organizers of the American Iris Society. Tom Craig wrote this of him: "Sydney looked upon plant breeding as a long term international effort in which individuals from all over the world should co-operate and add generation after generation to a real human achievement. He made me feel a real part of this and more particularly a part of a special work started by William Mohr and carried on by himself. Sydney generously gave flowers and plants of seedling for further encouragement with this work."

Mitchell was also interested in the native irises of the West Coast, and promoted them at every opportunity. He took great pride in the plantings of PCNs in his own garden. He had a large collection of various forms of I. innominata and I. douglasiana.

The World of Irises blog will be posting once a day all of the medal winners. The entire list of winners can be found at the AIS website, the AIS Encyclopedia and later in the AIS Bulletin, IRISES.

Update on transplanted Iris hartwegii australis

By Kathleen Sayer

Last spring I moved one clump of Iris hartwegii australis (IRHA) to a well insulated planter and placed that planter under the eaves near a hose bib. My intention was to mimic montane thunderstorms in southern California during summer, and in winter to give IRHA some shelter from heavy rain, mimicking snow cover. 

Iris hartwegii australis in flower in its native habitat, the Transverse Ranges of southern California, photo courtesy Richard Richards. 

Richard Richards said this was the wrong time of year to move IRHA, that I should wait for fall. But his words came too late, I had already dug the clump and replanted it. Read about those details here:  https://theamericanirissociety.blogspot.com/2017/05/overcoming-climatean-experiment-with.html from May 2017.

I fully expected to see this plant wither in June and die. Which I would have then reported at some point. A few leaves did die back at the tips, and later browned off. You can see those brown leaves in the image below. 

However, the plant did not die. Instead, new leaf fans started growing in late spring. Then, a couple of weeks ago, several newer fans appeared: 

Recently transplanted Iris hartwegii australis, not yet dead, a new large dark green leaf fan on the left, and tiny newer fans around it. 

Closer in, see three young fans on the left shoot, and one on the right. 

So, this experiment in growing IRHA in a planter is still underway, and has not yet terminated in failure. This IRHA appears to be thriving in its new home!

I grow this plant in a medium sized rectangular styrofoam cooler covered with epoxy cement patch, but have been unhappy with the durability of the epoxy, so am now making hypertufa planters (perlite:coir:cement in 3:1:1 ratio). These should be more durable, and provide a well-aerated cool root-space for Pacifica Iris and other native species that prefer cool roots. Details to follow in a later post. 

Garden Visit: Pacific Coast Iris at Leonine Iris Gardens, Pt.4

By Mike Starrhill

Here are more photos from my visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. For this last set of PCIs just some random varieties that didn't fit the previous posts. Tomorrow we'll see some of the bearded irises Bob is growing. Hope you enjoy them.

 Below: Distant Nebula

Garden Visit: Pacific Coast Iris at Leonine Iris Gardens, Pt.3

By Mike Unser

Here are more photos from my visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. Today I highlight some luscious pinks, reds, violets and blended color tones. Check back tomorrow to see more. Hope you enjoy them.

Garden Visit: Pacific Coast Iris at Leonine Iris Gardens, Pt.2

By Mike Starrhill

Here are more photos from my visit Leonine Iris in Skyway, WA, where I saw an amazing array of Pacific Coast Irises (PCI). Bob Seaman has created a beautiful garden on this small city lot and has specialized in PCIs since 2009. He has over 240 varieties, as well as a smattering of bearded irises and misc. other species, tucked into every corner, making excellent use of the small space. We were lucky to be there on a beautiful day when the sun was shining and the flowers - and visitors - were soaking it up. The following are some of my favorite blooms that I saw that day. Today I highlight some bright, hot color tones. Check back tomorrow to see more. Hope you enjoy them.