The American Iris Society Announces the 2023 Sydney B. Mitchell Medal Winner

'RED DELICIOUS'

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.

Pacific coast native iris 'Red Delicious'
photo by Mike Unser

'Red Delicious' (Deborah Cole, 2012) Seedling# 99-PC2-1. CA, 10-12" (25-30 cm). Early to midseason bloom. Standards pink-ecru, veined dark red; style arms pale straw-yellow, style crests pink-ecru; falls dark red, veined darker, flared, arched; signal yellow, small, finely dark red veins; ruffled pink-white 1/4" rim on all petals. 'Dracularity' X 'Big Smile'.

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.

The American Iris Society Announces the 2023 Founders of Signa Medal Winner

'MORE RASPBERRIES PLEASE'

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

Species iris 'More Raspberries Please'

photo by Jeanette Graham

'More Raspberries Please' (Rita Butler 2015). Seedling# VRS08. SPEC, 18-36" (46-91 cm), Midseason bloom. Standards medium raspberry-pink; style arms white, pink flush in center and edges; falls darker raspberry, white signal about ½ way down petal, dark veins blending to soft butter yellow into throat. 'Raspberry Slurp' X self. Introduced by Cascadia Iris Gardens in 2016.

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 

The American Iris Society Announces the 2023 William Mohr Medal Winner

'PERRY DYER'

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.' 

Arilbred iris 'Perry Dyer'

Photo by Jeanette Graham

'Perry Dyer' (Paul Black, 2017). Seedling# T132F. AB (OGB-), Height 26 in. (66 cm), Midseason to late bloom. Standards palest lavender; style arms same, orchid ridge; falls palest cream-lavender fading to near white, dark plum-wine spot ¼ way out, darker extended veins; beard hair based light grey, mid-brown in throat and middle, end light brown. 'Galaxina' sibling. Introduced by Mid-America Gardens in 2017.

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 2023 C. G. White Medal Winner

'BOLD AWAKENING'

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.

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

Arilbred iris 'Bold Awakening'

photo by Howie Dash

'Bold Awakening' (Richard Tasco, 2016) Seedling 11-AB-02-02. Height 33 in. (84 cm), Early, midseason, late bloom. Standards magenta-rose, veined darker; style arms edged maize, orange-brick red ridge and crest; Falls brick red, veined darker, slight orange glow around oval shaped dark burgundy-black signal; beard hairs based maize, squirrel brown tips. ('Aztec Prince' x seedling 04-AB-03-09: ('Bagdad’s Folly' x 'Energizer')) X 'Exotic Treasure'. Introduced by Superstition Iris Gardens in 2016. 

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.