The American Iris Society Announces the 2021 Founders of SIGNA Medal Winners

'BLUE RIVULETS' and 'SUSHI'

The Founders of SIGNA Medal is restricted to species irises (SPEC) and is named to honor the founding members of the Species Iris Group of North America (SIGNA).

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.

BLUE RIVULETS (Chad Harris)

'Blue Rivulets' (Chad Harris, R. 2012) Seedling #O7LAK1. SPEC (laevigata), 30 (76 cm). Midseason bloom. Standards white, center blue-violet (RHS 104C) vein; style arms blue-violet, white center line rib, crests same, edged white rim; falls white, blue-violet veins radiating from lemon-yellow signal almost to fall edge. Parentage unknown, seed from SIGNA, 2004, Shimizu. Iris laevigata. Mt. Pleasant 2013.

SUSHI (Jill Copeland)

'Sushi' (Jill Copeland, R. 2013) Seedling #T-1. SPEC, 39 (99 cm). Early midseason bloom. Standards and style arms white (RHS 155B); falls cream to very light yellow (3C to 4D), signal lines violet (83A-83B). I.pseudacorus X self. Ensata 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.

The American Iris Society Announces the 2021 Mohr Medal Winners

'HEART OF HEARTS' and 'PARABLE'

The Mohr Medal is restricted to irises of one-quarter or more aril content that do not meet the more restrictive requirements of the Clarence G. White Medal.

It is named in honor of William A. Mohr (1871-1923). About ten years before his death, Mohr began working with irises. He obtained the tetraploid Asiatic species, as well as regelia and oncocyclus irises, and communicated with other iris hybridizers such as Ellen Sturtevant and Samuel Stillman Berry. The two greatest achievements of William Mohr's hybridizing programs are probably his plicatas and his innovative and beautiful arilbreds. His great plicatas are 'Los Angeles' and the iris that won the first American Dykes Medal, 'San Francisco.' Mohr's most important arilbred iris is the magnificent 'William Mohr.' 

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. 

HEART OF HEARTS (Paul Black)

'Heart Of Hearts' (Paul Black, R. 2015) Seedling T132C. AB (OGB-), 24" (61 cm), Midseason to late bloom. Standards icy blue-white, mid old gold base and up ¹⁄₃ of rib; style arms light violet-blue, mid gold edge, ice white crest; falls mid-light lavender, mid auburn hafts and blended veined margin around black cherry signal veined darker, light gold haft veins; beard hairs based grey-white, tips mid grey-brown. 'Galaxina' sibling. 2015 Mid-America.

PARABLE (Thomas Johnson)

'Parable' (Thomas Johnson, R. 2011) Seedling TX155AA, AB (OGB-), 20 (51 cm), Early bloom. Standards and style arms blue violet; Falls red violet veined darker blue, strong black signals; beards dark navy overlaid brown; clean purple base foliage; slight fragrance. 'Puddy Tat' sibling X 'Kalifa's Robe'. Mid-America Gardens 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.

The American Iris Society Announces the 2021 C. G. White Medal Winners

'RARE BREED' -  'DRAGON'S EYE'

'SHAMAN'S MAGIC'

Since 1993, the Clarence G. White Memorial Medal has been awarded to the best arilbred iris with 1/2 or more aril ancestry. When Clarence G. White began his work with aril irises, little was known about the complexity of iris genetics. White assembled the largest collection of aril irises in the world, and conducted thousands of breeding experiments to obtain viable, fertile seedlings. One of his goals was to develop strong, pure Oncocylus hybrids.

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 each area; however, three medals are to be awarded due to a tie vote between Dragon’s Eye and Shaman’s Magic. Previous awards winners can be found at https://wiki.irises.org/Main/InfoAwards. All images by Rick Tasco.

'Rare Breed' (Richard Tasco, R. 2011) Seedling 03-AB-02-51. AB (OGB), 33" (84 cm), Late midseason bloom. Standards parchment tan (RHS 159A) veined darker, chrome yellow (15C) at base of midribs; style arms chrome yellow, slight red band along ridges, large crests lightly veined red on front; falls red orange, lighter toward edge, chrome yellow veins around beard, slight chrome yellow edge veined red, small oxblood-red (183 A) signal at end of beard; beards golden brown, 1" wide and thick. 'Sheik' X 'Bagdad's Folly'. Superstition 2011.

'Dragon's Eye' (Richard Tasco, R. 2015) Seedling 08-AB-04-06. AB (OGB), 26" (66 cm), Midseason late bloom. Standards cold white, mimosa yellow (RHS 8B) at base, few bright canary yellow veins on midrib; style arms bright canary yellow (9B), darker on rib top; Falls mimosa yellow, darker surrounding signal, large oval shaped dark burgundy signal, darker veins lighter around beard, some dots and streaks at edge of signal; beards golden yellow in throat, bronze yellow ends; slight fragrance. Seedling 05-AB-03-05: (01-AB-13-01: ('Sheik' x 'Bagdad's Folly') x 'Noble Warrior') X 06-AB-05-50: ('Noble Warrior' x 02-AB-26-03: ('Energizer' x 'Bagdad's Folly')). 2015 Superstition.

'Shaman's Magic' (Richard Tasco, R. 2014). Seedling 10-AB-07-02. AB (OGB), 33" (84 cm). Midseason to late bloom. Standards creamy parchment (RHS 155C), veined gold, darker at edges, amber-maize at bottom of midribs; style arms light old gold (162A), red blush along midribs; falls golden yellow edges veined red, red wash, some red dotting bleeding out from signal, signal large oval shaped burgundy-black, recurved; beard hairs based light yellow, tips golden brown, chevron shaped. 'Aztec Prince' X 'New Vision'. Superstition 2014.

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.

The American Iris Society Announces the 2021 Caparne-Welch Medal Winners

 'ELF ESTEEM' and 'FAIRY FIREFLY'

The Caparne-Welch Medal is restricted to miniature dwarf bearded (MDB) irises. It is named in honor of William John Caparne (1855-1940) and WalterWelch (1887-1980). Caparne worked extensively breeding various dwarf iris species and was the first iris hybridizer to concentrate on smaller irises. Most of the dwarf iris cultivars grown in gardens in the first quarter of the 20th century were products of Caparne's hybridizing efforts. Walter Welch was the founder of the Dwarf Iris Society. After moving to Middlebury, Indiana, he met Paul Cook and began hybridizing irises. He shared Cook's enthusiasm for dwarf irises, and set out to develop new forms for the garden.

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.

‘Elf Esteem’

'Elf Esteem' (Paul Black, R. 2015) Seedling S259A. MDB, 7.5" (19 cm). Midseason to late bloom and rebloom. Standards green-white fading to white; style arms white, mid violet in heart; Falls white, dark burgundy spot bisected by white wedge stripe from beard to edge, white rays over haft surrounded by olive-brown veins; beards mid lavender; slight sweet fragrance. Seedling 0262CR, 'It’s Not Over' pollen parent, X 'Replicator'. 2015 Mid-America.

‘Fairy Firefly’

'Fairy Firefly' (Terry Aitken, R. 2016) Seedling 05M7D. MDB, 5" (13 cm), Midseason bloom. Standards brilliant orange crush orange; style arms brilliant orange; falls brilliant orange, red-orange spot, orange zonal spot at hafts; beards brilliant orange. 'Hot Coals' sibling. Salmon Creek 2015.

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.