'COLUMBIA DEEP WATER' and 'DALLE WHITEWATER'
The Payne Medal is restricted to Japanese irises (JI). It is named in honor of W. Arlie Payne (1881-1971). W. Arlie Payne was at first especially interested in peonies, but in the late 1920's, he "discovered" Japanese irises. He started hybridizing Japanese in irises in 1932. Over the next three and a half decades, he raised many thousands of seedlings. One of the most exceptional aspects of his breeding program was that it was developed in the early years using only six cultivars of the Edo type. Payne took line breeding to a new level of intensity. The American Iris Society awarded Arlie Payne its coveted Hybridizers Medal in 1964. When he died at the age of 90, in 1971, he was universally revered as the world's premier breeder of Japanese irises.
Editor’s Note: Due to the pandemic last year, the American Iris Society Board of directors suspended garden awards. As a result, and only for this year, two medals will be awarded in each area. Previous awards winners can be found at https://wiki.irises.org/Main/InfoAwards.
'Columbia Deep Water' (Chad Harris, R. 2012) Seedling 02JC1. JI (6 F.), 48 (122 cm). Late bloom. Style arms multiple pale blue-violet (RHS 91B), flared upright crests of dark blue-violet (90A); Falls iridescent red-violet with deep blue-violet (88A) undertones, faint neon powder blue-violet (93B) rays radiating from signal to within 1/2" of fall edge; signal bright yellow (5A). 'Night Angel' X 'Frosted Intrigue'. Mt. Pleasant 2013.
'Dalle Whitewater' (Chad Harris, R. 2010) Seedling 02JC3.
JI (6 F.), 48" (122 cm), Late bloom. falls heavily sanded pale blue-violet
(RHS 92B), pale ray pattern of pastel blue-violet (92D) extending into faint
1/2" light purple (90C) band, signals off-yellow, slight green cast (3A);
style arms multiple upright white, edge and crest medium blue-violet (92A);
rolling ruffles. 'Night Angel' X 'Frosted Intrigue'. Salmon Creek 2011.
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.
