Convention 2019 - New Zealand Style

By Maggie Asplet

From the 15th of November through to the 18th of November, Irisarians from around the country and overseas gathered for three days of wonderful companionship, visiting beautiful gardens, attending workshops and the usual AGM and a delicious dinner and awards evening.

Friday evening is the time to register, check out who else is there and start talking about irises. This was a more informal evening with the newly elected local Mayor, Nigel Bowan opening proceedings for our annual event.  Our President, Marilyn Fleming also welcomed everyone.  We then had two short presentations from our two overseas guest speakers, Andi Rivarola and Gary White introducing themselves.  There will be more about them later.

From Left - Mayor Nigel Bowan, NZIS President Marilyn Fleming, AIS Vice President Andi Rivarola and AIS IPP Gary White

For me, the most special part was the book launch - Why Irises?  I trust you have all seen the earlier post about this book.  I was great seeing the team who had assisted the author, Gwenda Harris, make this all happen.

Marilyn Rathgen (at podium) gave background and introduced the team.  Stephanie Boot (also standing) was responsible for editing, providing many photos and layout and support and Alistair Boot had publishing responsibility.  Absent was Graham Menary also responsible for supplying photos.

There were a number of beautiful blooms on display, items set out of the silent auction and some beautiful memorabilia on display.

With the formality of the opening over, it was off back to our motels for the evening.

Saturday 16 November - a day out and about on the bus.  Yes, just one bus which was followed by a few cars.  We set off for the area of Geraldine for the day.

Our first stop was the the Geraldine Festival with many stalls all set out in the Domain for us all to wonder around, find a coffee and later get our lunch.

A beautiful outdoor solar light made from a stump; a new iris business "Irises of Kinvara", my favourite floral arrangement on display in a near by hall

Our next stop was to the home and garden of David and Lois Attwood.  This was also our first opportunity to purchase plants, and we did.  Like all iris bus trips, there is always room in the baggage lockers for plants.  A delightful town garden with many little treasures.  My favourite was the Moraea pictured below.

Pictures from David & Lois Attwood's

Moving onto our next garden of Bob and Libby Hall.  A beautiful older garden with some wonderful trees around, iris lining the left hand entrance of the the driveway and another opportunity to purchase some plants.  This was also a space of some wonderful and interesting sculptures, all of which were for sale.

I actually have a habit of going home from convention with a large item of my garden, or having to have it couriered home afterwards.  I can say that this time I was a little restrained and did not give into my usual buying habits (Large scale pieces to try and fly home with).

Pictures from Bob & Libby Hall's 

Our final garden for the day was at the property of Bernie & Joy O'Keefe and the home of Woodbury Rhododendrons.  This is very much a spring garden with some magnificent rhododendrons an numerous companion plants such as hostas, peonies, primulas, trilliums, hellebores and different edging plants.  Roses provide the garden with some wonderful summer colour.

As you wondered around this garden, we came across a lovely row of irises in full bloom.  I was also very taken with the pond area and water loving irises growing so well.

Pictures from Bernie & Joy O'Keefe's garden - Woodbury Rhododendrons

As is normal when attending a convention in New Zealand, we often are caught eating.  This was afternoon tea before we left for the trip back to Timaru and a free evening.

Saturday evening, although a free night, a few of us went out for dinner taking Andy and Gary for a bit of kiwi hilarity, topped of with our convention convenor feeding her face (sorry Marilyn).

Sunday, the day of staying put in Timaru, listening to some wonderful presentations by Andy & Gary on their trip to both Paris and Florence.  This was following by - guess what - time for mornig tea.

Shortly after this interval we held our judging workshop panel discussion with Gary and Andi on historic irises.  So very informative, on both counts and especially the Spuria irses, as we don't have much in the way of hybridising being done in this area.

After lunch, we held our Annual General Meeting - went without a hitch and didn't take long.  This was followed by the societies annual auction.  The South Canterbury Iris Group never disappoint in having a great selection of irises to bid on, and I sure did my fair share.

Andi checking out some blooms on display, then assisting Gary with one of their presentations and the group photo

The evening was our formal dinner at which time awards were given out, entertainment was provided by local member, Jean Barkman and then we were treated to another presentation by Andi on spuria irises.

Jean Barkman

Monday, a time to relax and enjoy the last of the gardens, so it was onto the bus again to travel south and visit members garden.  It was a day of dodging heavy showers and some hail storms that came through, particularly in the afternoon.

Our first garden of the day was at Lynda & Malcolm Crossen place in Southburn.  A beautiful garden with gorgeous iris display garden and also the irises that were entered for our New Zealand Begg Shield award.  This is judged during convention by approximately three judges.  Again, this is a garden with peonies, roses, hostas, rhododendrons, azaleas and so much more in, set in a stunning rural environment.

photos from Lynda & Malcolm Crossen's 

Our next stop was to Mary Brosnahan's garden.  Wow, this was just lovely, so well kept with the help of her daughter Susan.  I think the photos will say just how lovely this garden was.

AND - morning tea time

Back on the bus again to Lesley & Robert Tennant's garden at Otaio.  The property has been in the Tennant family since 1946 with many of the large Oaks, Elms and Ash already being there and since then the garden have been developed around this.  Definitely a garden that you need to wonder around to find some of the beautiful spots and areas framed with trees.  I even had an opportunity to talk with the chickens. The daffodils and the stunning pond are features of this property.

It is now 12.45pm and it is time for a short bus trip to the Waimate Events Centre - for lunch.  Before we got there, we had the first of some very heavy hail

From here it was onto our last members garden of Stephanie Boot's.  On the way, we have to "kill" a little time as the hail had again hit us, so we went around the block in Waimate looking at the Silos.

for more information - https://waimate.org.nz/visit-waimate-blog/silos

Just as soon as the hail had finished, we arrived at Stephanie's.  The very first thing you noticed was the huge amount of damage that the hail had done to her beautiful garden.  A gardeners garden, with some wonderful large Ash, Copper Beech and American White Oak trees.

Large specimens of Cordyline, Kowhai, Southern Beech, Totara, Chestnut, form the "bones" of this garden with Rhododendrons, Camellias, Roses and various other shrubs and natives.  Siberian irises now accompany the roses.

Hail on the ground when we arrived; Stephanie (facing us) talking with Andi, Gary & Marilyn; an iris not damaged by the hail

More garden areas at Stephanie's

It was also time for the official handover of the banner from the South Canterbury Iris Group to the 2020 hosts Bay Of Plenty Iris Group.  The banner was actually handed over on Sunday evening so that it could be taken bake to the Bay of Plenty by car.

This was a time for afternoon tea, thank you from different members and our two guest Gary & Andi.

South Canterbury Iris Group fare-welling us all

On our way back to Timaru we stopped at the Makikihi Display and Trial Gardens, which had not been spared damage from the hail storms during the day.

The Makikihi Trial and Display Gardens were established by the South Canterbury Group in 2008 under the enthusiastic guidance of Brian Harris.

Now Lynda Crossen, with assistant Stephanie Boot, is the Director of the TB Trial Gardens and the Group, under the supervision of Jessica Ward, maintains the Display gardens which contain Dwarf, Median and Tall Bearded, Siberians, Spurias, Louisianas, bulbous and some species and historics.
Potted irises and plants are for sale all year round.

SO, this is a little insight into a New Zealand Iris Society Convention.



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Louisiana iris species planting in the Northlake Nature Center near New Orleans

by Gary Salathe

The Northlake Nature Center is located near Mandeville, Louisiana, north of New Orleans.  It was established in 1982 by as a project of the Greater Covington Junior Service League as an independent non-profit corporation directed to preserve, study, and publicly exhibit the natural and cultural resources of the Florida Parishes in southeastern Louisiana.

The 400 acre Nature Center offers visitors the opportunity to experience three different ecosystems: hardwood forest, pine-hardwood forest and pond-swamp. The ponds in the cypress swamp area are the result of active beaver dams.

Natural, native I. virginica irises are found throughout the Center.

On March 4, 2017 volunteers from the Greater New Orleans Iris Society (GNOIS), Gary Salathe and Richard and Carol Drouant, planted donated Louisiana irises species I. giganticaerulea and I. fulva in the cypress swamp area of the Nature Center.  When they first approached Rue Mcneill, Executive Director of the Nature Center,  about planting some Louisiana iris species among the many wild I. virginica irises already growing there she was very enthusiastic and said the GNOIS could plant as many as they wanted.  She also told them that she hoped that the society would eventually plant all five Louisiana iris species.

After finding what they believed were the right combination of wetness, soil type and sunlight, the trio of GNOIS members planted about forty I. giganticaerulea and fifty I. fulva plants in two separate locations. The irises were donated by A Louisiana Pond.

I.giganticaerulea

I. fulva

With the satisfaction and euphoria of successfully completing the planting they decided then and there to commit to eventually get all five species planted in the Nature Center.  Rue quickly accepted the offer!

The irises planted that day may be first ever Louisiana irises to grow there in the one hundred years, or so, that the cypress swamp has been in existence.

The shoreline of the beaver pond in the Nature Center is home to many I. viginica irises.

I. virginica in the cypress/gum tree swamp area. Although I. virginica is native to the north shore and other parts of central and north Louisiana it is not a Louisiana iris species.  Its range is through the east and central United States and up into Canada.

Rue McNeill and her rescue dog, Sam, shown next to volunteer Richard Drouant, were the cheering squad as Richard and two other GNOIS members planted the Louisiana irises. She is encouraging the GNOIS to plant all five Louisiana iris species there and has offered the group any assistance that they may need to accomplish this.

She also told the group about another area of the 400 acre tract of land that has ponds. She offered those areas to the GNOIS as places where species irises could be planted for the purpose of propagating them.

For more information on the five Louisiana iris species:
http://www.zydecoirises.com/Species/Species.htm
http://www.zydecoirises.com/Species/Summer2007a.pdf

Gary Salathe and Richard Drouant up to their knees in snake country.  Luckily, the temperatures were cool enough that day so the snakes and alligators were not active.

GNOIS member and volunteer Gary Salathe.

Many of the I. giganticaerulea were planted right next to one of the boardwalk bridges in the front part of the Nature Center. People on the bridge will be able to view the irises from only about 10' away.

The I. giganticaerulea iris is one of five Louisiana iris species. It is also known as the “Giant Blue Iris” and is the state wildflower. Once found in abundance in southeast Louisiana marshes, it has been decimated over the last one hundred years by salt water intrusion through man-made canals and hurricane flood waters.

The site the group chose for the I. fulva planting faces south and should get direct sunlight for a few hours each day during the summer. The open spot was likely created when the tree shown in the photo fell down, which created an opening in the tree canopy. The irises were planted among cypress tree knees in about 1" of water and mucky soil. The site is only 6' away from the trail.

Richard and Carol Drouant at the site of the I. fulva planting.  About fifty I. fulva irises were planted there. 

I. fulva is one of five Louisiana iris species. Once found in abundance in south/central Louisiana swamps and roadside ditches, it has been decimated over the last one hundred years by encroaching development and the use of herbicides by the State of Louisiana highway maintenance crews to keep ditches clear of vegetation.

Editor's Note: The World of Irises is delighted to have this guest blog by Gary Salathe who lives north of New Orleans with his wife next to a pond that they have turned into a showcase of Louisiana irises call A Louisiana Pond.  It was on the 2018 AIS tour of gardens at the national convention.  He is a volunteer and member of the board of directors of the Greater New Orleans Iris Society. As a part owner of a residential construction company, irises are his hobby until his retirement and then they will become his vocation.  He is interested in the idea of raising Louisiana iris species into areas that now have much improved hurricane protection levees in Southeast Louisiana.

The top 15 Iris at ‘Smokin Heights’ season 2019/20 in Australia!

By Mel Schiller and Bailey Schiller

We are smack bang in the middle of digging customer orders right now before Christmas. Here is our top 15 Iris for this current season.

15. 'Mallee Sunrise' (Stribley '07) BB: An excellent garden Iris that grows well and blooms reliably. It puts on a wonderful show and calls viewers over from across the field.

14. 'Ruby Slippers' (Keppel '02) IB: On the older side now but it is an absolute showstopper!

13. 'Dedicated' (Black '11) SDB: Very unusual almost green colouring makes you do a double take. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you, it has that wow factor!

12. 'Coralina' (Johnson '14)TB: Super bubble ruffled in peach tones makes this variety standout!

11. 'Line Drive' (M Sutton '07) IB: Nothing else like it! What more can we say?

10. 'Lancer' (Shockey '95) AB: An older Arilbred but it keeps up with the newer varieties. Its dark signal against the pastel lavender tone makes it very appealing.

9. 'Brilliant Disguise' (Johnson '08) TB: Flowers are born in abundance on this variegata. You won’t miss this Iris as you walk past!

8. 'Terse Verse' (Blyth '00) SDB: Very easy growing dwarf that covers itself in bloom season after season. Very strange colouring that is hard to describe.

7. 'Merchant Marine' (Keppel '07) TB: An all-time favourite in this colour class. Everything about it is perfection, we expect nothing less of Keith Keppel!

6. 'Voulez-vous' (Johnson '15) TB: A fabulous flat Iris that is among the best in this class. We use it a lot in hybridizing!

5. 'Splatter Matter's' (Painter '10) TB: We thought this would be popular, it proved us right!

4. 'Molokini' (M Sutton '16) TB: One of those “love it or hate it” Iris. For lovers of the unusual this is the Iris for you!

3. 'Waves On The Coast' (B. Schiller '19) TB: The illusion of a blue and green iris from the distance….interesting!

2. 'Kissed By Fire' (M. Schiller '19) TB: Garden visitors revelled in the magnet of colour this iris provided.

1. 'Edge Of Happiness' (Barry Blyth '19) TB: Barry Blyth has created this beautiful iris. Our most favourite from the season just gone by. WOW!

We find that iris seasons differ from year to year. Customers decide on the colour scheme iris for each year. Last year 'orange' appeared to be popular. This season, well it has yet to be decided! 

Well, we will leave you to it we have digging to do!

Happy Gardening!

Why Irises?

By Maggie Asplet

It’s here, the eagerly awaited and definitive book on irises; many iris lovers have waited a long time for Gwenda Harris to put pen to paper and give the world the benefit of her huge experience growing these amazing plants.

Gwenda is widely respected for her intimate knowledge of irises and has travelled worldwide following her passion. Her talks and demonstrations have entranced audiences throughout the country and encouraged many to look further into the breeding, growing and showing this wonderful plant.

The combination of Stephanie Boot as editor with assistance from Tony Hall, with beautiful photographs by Gwenda, Stephanie, Judith Neilson, Graham Menary and Alistair Boot makes this a book to cherish. Why Irises? is not limited to just tall bearded varieties, but encompasses all the other members of the genus too. Gwenda, Stephanie and Tony are all well known in the iris world and have all traveled to lecture or to judge irises in worldwide competition.

This is a book for every iris lover's shelf, the stories of travels, talks given and general helpful hints contained within, make it a must have.

It’s available from the publisher Alspix Studios email   alistair@alspix.com  at a cost of NZD$35 a copy plus postage as follows:

New Zealand wide       $6.50

Australia                      $12.00

USA                            $22.00

Europe                         $22.00

Other countries by arrangement.          

  

To order please make full payment to the South Canterbury Iris Groups bank account - Westpac

# 03 0887 0290597 00   using your name as the reference. You can also use PayPal - apix@internet.co.nz.
Please also email the publisher with your postal address and confirmation that you have made payment.

Books will be dispatched in the order payments are received and as this is a limited edition be early to avoid missing out.

About Gwenda Harris M.A., B.Sc (Botany & Geology)

In between several false career starts, university study and some travels, Gwenda trained as an Editor with the DSIR (Department of Scientific and Industrial Research), was Field Officer for the Nature Conservation Council, then Executive Officer for the Environmental Council.  This was followed by working for the Nature Heritage Fund and the New Zealand Conservation Authority.

She edited the New Zealand Iris Society Bulletin for seven years from September 1993, and Spectrum (newsletter of the Species Section for NZIS) from March 2001 to March 2002.  Gwenda was awarded the Festival Crown Plate in 2001 for meritorious service to the New Zealand Iris Society for the producing the Bulletin and dealing with ERMA (Environmental Risk Management Authority) regarding the importation of iris seed - resulting in a further one hundred and six species being added to the list of species permitted for importation.  In 2016, Gwenda was awarded the President's Trophy.

Adventures in Raised Board Beds

By Virginia Spoon

We found that raised board beds are easier to weed and keep people from walking over the irises. However, they have their problems. When we first started making the board beds the lumber was treated with chemicals that kept them from rotting, at least for 20 years or more. We weren't going to use the area for vegetable beds because of the danger of chemicals leaching into the soil.

 Some of our first raised beds--photo by Ginny Spoon

Our first board beds were started around 1996 with some lumber that was already used, given to us by a iris club member who was moving to a smaller home. We are still using those beds and the lumber has not rotted. Another friend  who was moving gave us some lumber that was never treated that he used for his vegetable garden.  He said it was a special wood that was very expensive and that was over 20 years ago. It has not rotted yet.

40 year old non-treated lumber--photo by Ginny Spoon

We made plenty of mistakes along the way. Don made many of the beds too wide, some were six feet wide and that made it hard to weed without walking into the beds. Some were too long, 30 feet (five, six foot joined boards). Many of the beds were too close together so that the mower would not go between the beds. I tried to tell Don that as the years went by we would be older and it would be hard to weed eat in between the rows. Unfortunately, that time has come to us.

Raised board beds, too long and too close together--photo by Ginny Spoon

Oh, what I would give to be able to mow with my riding mower in between the rows now. We have found that the ideal measurements for a board bed is four feet wide, eight feet long and either six or eight inches high. However, now the lumber is not treated with the same deadly chemicals and they barely last five years without rotting. The treated lumber even has a warning on it that says "Do not put in contact with soil." 

Rotted treated lumber that needs replacing--photo by Ginny Spoon

I recently purchased a cedar board kit that is four feet wide, eight feet long with two boards making it eight inches high. I used screws to put it together and used our two picnic tables to place it on to save my back. I then turned it over and put 1/4 inch mesh hardware cloth on the bottom to keep out the voles and moles that plagued that particular area of the garden. They must love the sandy soil there. I filled it with topsoil to the top. It is important to fill the beds to the top because if you do not it doesn't drain well and then you have a rot problem.

New cedar raised bed--photo by Ginny Spoon

What’s Wrong with the AIS Awards System

by Tom Waters

One of the most important functions of the American Iris Society (AIS) is to carefully evaluate new irises as they grow in gardens and decide which are worthy of commendation and can be recommended to the gardening public. This is done through a system of trained garden judges working in all geographical regions, who evaluate the irises and vote them awards.

I’ve been growing irises on and off since the 1970s, and served as a judge for many years. There have always been grumblings about the award system, from simple shaking of the head (“What were the judges thinking?”) to tales of secret regional cabals working to subvert the process. I’ve not taken much heed of such complaints, attributing them to a combination of sour grapes and the ubiquitous human inclination to complain and gossip. Although there are exceptions, I’m sure, judges I have known personally have all been honest, conscientious, and reasonably skilled and knowledgeable. They do their very best to vote for irises they deem truly worthy of recognition.

Nevertheless, I think there is a fundamental structural problem with the process of voting for AIS awards that keeps some good irises from being recognized and elevates some mediocre ones to unearned fame.

The awards system asks judges to vote following the model of a political election: an assortment of eligible candidates are placed on the ballot, and the judges are to vote for the one(s) they deem best. For this system to identify the best irises, judges need to be familiar with all or most of the candidates on the ballot. The rules state that you should not vote for an iris unless you have seen it growing in a garden (or gardens) over more than one year. Ideally, the judges should grow the irises themselves. The ideal of judges intimately familiar with all the candidates is not usually met. Often, judges have seen only a smattering of the eligible irises (particularly for early awards, such as honorable mention). They may select the best of those they are familiar with, but if they are only familiar with 10%, what of the other 90%?

When there are many names on the ballot, but only a few are actually seen and evaluated by the judges, the system is very vulnerable to a particular sort of bias. Not an intentional bias on the part of judges, but a systemic bias built in to the process: the more widely grown an iris is, the more likely it is to win awards.

Consider this hypothetical. Assume there are about 400 judges voting. Iris A is bred by a famous hybridizer that many iris growers order from. It is thus widely distributed and widely grown. 350 of those judges have seen it growing in a garden. It is a nice iris, but only 10% of the judges who have seen it think it should win the award. 10% is still 35 judges! Now consider iris B, introduced through a smaller iris garden that sells only a few irises each year. Maybe only 20 judges grow iris B. But iris B is extraordinary! It is so good in every way that 90% of the judges who grow it think it should win the award! But 90% of 20 judges is just 18, so iris B gets only about half the votes of iris A, although it is clearly a much better iris.

Note that this undesirable result is not a consequence of anyone making bad choices, being unethical, or doing anything wrong. The hybridizers, growers, and judges are all doing their best; it’s just the way the numbers play out.

Another way to look at this phenomenon is to consider the meaning of a judge voting for an iris or not voting for an iris. Clearly, a vote for an iris means the judge thought it was the best among those seen. But what does a judge not voting for an iris mean? It can mean two very different things: it can mean the judge has evaluated the iris and found it wanting, or it can simply mean the judge has not seen the iris. These are two very different circumstances, and treating them the same is a very bad idea.

In 2019, 378 judges voted for the Dykes Medal, and the iris that won received only 29 votes. That’s less than 8%. This is nothing new, it is typical of recent years. What does that mean? It is difficult for the public to be confident that this is the best iris of the year, when we don’t know what the other 349 judges thought of it. Did they love it, but just slightly preferred another iris over it? Did they think it was bad? Did they just not see it? Such ambivalent results are a direct consequence of using an election model with a long list of candidates, many of which are not familiar to most of the judges.

There is a way to address this structural bias. If we moved from an election model to a rating model, we could much more accurately identify the worthiest irises. A rating model is what is commonly used for reviews of products, businesses, restaurants, and so on. Everyone who is familiar with the product gives it a rating, and the average of those ratings is what helps future consumers decide whether the product is worthy or not.

How would a rating system for irises work? It would not have to be as elaborate as the 100-point scoring systems presented in the judges’ handbook. A rating from 1-10 would do just fine, or even a scale of 1-5 stars, like you often see in other product ratings.

Consider our two hypothetical irises again. Assume that judges who vote the iris worthy of the award rate it at 5 stars, and those who have seen it but do not vote for it rate at 3 stars. Iris A, which 350 have seen but only 10% vote for, would have an average rating of (315 x 3 + 35 x 5)/350 = 3.2. Iris B, which only 20 judges have seen but 90% vote for, would have an average rating of (2 x 3 + 18 x 5)/20 = 4.8. Iris B is the clear winner, as I think it should be.

In this system, judges would enter a rating for every iris they have evaluated. They would not have to pick the single best one to receive an award. They could rate any number of irises highly, and if they saw some with serious faults, they could give them low ratings, which would bring the average rating down and make it much less likely for these poorer irises to win awards, no matter how widely grown they are.

Judges would not enter a rating for irises they had not evaluated. So their not having seen it would not penalize the iris, since it would not affect its average rating at all. A non-rating (from not having seen the iris) would have a very different consequence from a low rating (the judge evaluated the iris and found it unworthy).

If such a system were implemented, some additional considerations would probably have to come into play. We might want the iris to be rated by some minimum number of judges before we would trust the average and give it an award, for example. We could also use this system to check for consistent performance in geographical areas, if that were deemed desirable. We could also demand a certain minimum average rating (say 4, perhaps), so that if no candidate iris were rated very highly, no award would be given.

Under the current system, I think the training and skill of the judges is largely wasted. They evaluate many irises over the course of the year, and form opinions about each one. That information is lost when they are instructed to simply vote for the best one. Every time a judge rates an iris favorably, its chance of receiving an award should go up; every time a judge rates an iris unfavorably, its chance should go down. Not being seen should not be a penalty.

A rating system would also encourage new hybridizers, as it would give us a way to recognize really exceptional irises that aren’t introduced through the big growers. It would allow hybridizers to build their reputation by receiving awards for quality work, rather than receiving awards because of an established reputation. Established hybridizers would not be much hurt by such a change; they still have the advantage of large, extended breeding programs and experience in recognizing quality seedlings. They don’t need the additional advantage of distribution bias to have a fair chance at awards.

I hope this post stimulates some discussion on the topic of our awards system and the consequences of structuring it as we have. I see the potential to improve the system in a way that makes it more fair to all new irises, more useful and credible with the gardening public, more supportive of new hybridizers, and more conscientious in reflecting the careful evaluation work of our judges.