By Maggie Asplet
The
New Zealand Dykes Medal can be awarded every second year by the British Iris
Society on the recommendation of the New Zealand Iris Society.
This
medal is awarded also in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia. The Australasian Dykes Medal was first
instituted in 1985 and allowed a medal to be awarded to New Zealand and
Australian irises in successive years. However the process of sending iris out of the
country to be tested in Australia proved unworkable and as a result in 1992 the
New Zealand Dykes Trial Garden system was set up.
Frances Love holding her Dykes Medal
Picture thanks to Piki Carroll
Frances
Love won the first New Zealand Dykes Medal in 1995 for the Siberian iris ‘Emma
Ripeka’. This iris is registered as 91
cm (36”) in height, with a mid-season bloom (October/November in NZ). Standards are medium blue, style arms are sky
blue and the falls are dark blue. This
is a seedling crossed with self.
It
would take another 10 years before another Dykes Medal was awarded in New
Zealand.
Iris 'Salute D'Amour'
Shirley
Spicer first registered her iris “Salute D’Amour”, a Tall Bearded iris in 2001,
and was awarded the New Zealand Dykes Medal in 2005.
This
iris is described as being 84 cm (33’) in height and late season flowering
(November in NZ). The standards are
light pink blush, styles arms soft coral pink and the falls are warm pink blush
with soft white haft marking and a coral beard. This iris has a sweet
fragrance. Parentage is ‘Elysian Fields’
X ‘Flirtation Waltz’.
Seven
years later the third Dykes Medal was awarded.
Iris 'Norma of Irwell'
Having
registered his first iris in 1969, Ron Busch would have to wait until 2012 to
be awarded his Dykes Medal for ‘Norma of Irwell’.
‘Norma
of Irwell’ is a Tall Bearded iris first registered in 2008 and named after his
wife. It is described as being 86 cm (34”)
in height, with late midseason flowering (Late October/early November). The standards and style arms are deep purple
and the falls deep violet-purple with white around the beard. Beards are bronze tipped violet.
Finally,
our fourth Dykes Medal was awarded just two years later in 2014.
Alison Nicoll holding a stem of Iris 'Atavus'
‘Atavus’ a Tall
Bearded Iris bred by our very own President, Alison Nicoll, was awarded the Dykes
Medal, at our Convention in Hamilton (2014).
Originally registered
in 2006, ‘Atavus’ is 72 cm (28”) tall, a mid season flowering iris. It is cream flushed lilac in the centre,
style arms creams and lilac, the falls are strongly washed violet, has tan
hafts and border; the beard is red. This
iris is flared with slight spicy fragrance.
Parentage is ‘Prince George’ X ‘Outrageous Fortune’.
How does our Dykes Medal System work in New Zealand?
Eligibility - Any New Zealand bred iris is to be
eligible for testing. Each enter is
allocated a number, which is it knows as for the duration of the trial period.
Iris which have won
the Begg Shield, McLachlan Trophy or the Lucy Delany Memorial Award should be
sent to the Sykes Test Garden.
Entry – To enter plants for assessment send 1 preferably 2
rhizomes to each Dykes Test Garden. No
more than three different iris per breeder will be permitted in one cycle.
Judging – In the first year the iris will be allowed
to settle and will not be judged. In the
following two seasons they will be judged by a panel of three judges which must
include a senior judge, co-opted by the Director of each garden. This may require several visits over the
bloom season.
A copy of the judging
papers is sent by each Test Garden Director at the end of each season’s judging
to the Test Garden Co-ordinator for collating.
The average of the two seasons judging of each trail plant will be used
to determine its performance in each of the Test Gardens. The co-ordinator will then average the best
two results from the three test gardens to determine the final number of points
of each plant.
Growers will be given
the results of their iris from the first year of judging on application to the
co-ordinator. Points are not published.
An iris which
receives 70 points is eligible for an Honourable Mention; 75 points for an
Award of Merit.
A Dykes Medal winner
should receive 80 points or more.
