Monday, November 14, 2022

Siberian/Species Iris Convention 2022

 by Jeff Bennett


A clump of irises at the Siberian/Species Iris Convention in May 2022

Every year, local societies, regions, and national societies have shows, conventions, meetings, and treks. As we found out with Covid, you don’t always know how long it will be to attend the next one. Your local show is the easiest to attend as you can generally drive to it and be home the same day. A regional meeting may require one overnight stay while a national convention will require a flight and at least three nights stay for most attendees. Since I had not been able to attend a national convention yet (due to Covid) and this year I was busy getting my own beds ready for a local regional meeting three weeks after this year’s national convention in New Mexico, I decided to attend the 2022 Siberian/Species Iris Convention. The convention was held May 27-29, 2022 near Seattle, Washington. The King County Iris Society was the host of this event and they did a wonderful job planning years in advance for us to visit three display gardens with guest irises to view and evaluate and vote on.

On our first evening, we had a presentation from Ken Walker on “Iris Species Across the World”. Ken shared his superior knowledge of where species of irises come from with the attendees. His trips to these locations to visit irises in their native habitat were very informative. By showing a map, he was able to show just where certain species were from which in turn helped us understand the requirements we must provide if we are to succeed at growing them here in the USA. Elevation, precipitation, and hi-lo temperatures are all factors to consider. I enjoyed Ken’s ability to explain the growing conditions encountered while on his treks.

Saturday morning we boarded the bus to take us to our first tour location: Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden. This 11-acre garden was established to preserve two gardens that were slated for demolition to expand runways of the airport. Both gardens were physically moved to this new location starting in 1996. Elda Behm’s Paradise Garden was moved to the location in 1999-2000 after a master plan was developed. In 2005, the Seike Japanese Gardens were also moved to this location with the help of the city and many volunteers. The Seike Japanese Gardens and Nursery were also in the airport’s path.

Photographing irises in bloom at Highline SeaTac Botanical Garden 
Rhododendrons in full bloom
Siberian iris 'Silliousness'

The garden is a lush and flowering garden that is free to the public. Ferns, rhododendrons, and lots of irises were in bloom to greet us. The group immediately started taking pictures of the mostly Siberian irises on an overcast day which was perfect for viewing and picture taking. The timing for bloom at this garden was just right in my opinion. The snack table had delicious pastries to pick from while we enjoyed the garden.

The next tour spot was the Bellevue Botanical Garden. It is in the city of Bellevue, Washington. The gardens were opened to the public in 1992. Starting out with 7.5 acres, the garden now encompasses 53 acres and has a visitor center. It also offers classes, webinars, and lectures. The garden itself is very similar to Highline SeaTac Garden in the types of plants on display: hostas, rhododendrons, grasses, dogwoods, and everything that loves the moisture that the Pacific Northwest provides from above. Everything is in meticulously manicured beds along meandering pathways that are very accessible to all abilities for viewing. Again we saw lots of irises in bloom in the public beds and the guest beds. Some of the guest irises had to be protected with wire barriers from rabbits that were nibbling on the shorter foliage of some irises. There was even a sale area with a good sampling of plants to purchase on the honor system. Varieties of Japanese and pseudata irises were offered for sale. Of course, I purchased some, like candy for a kid. Definitely, a place to visit when in the Seattle area.

Iris laevigata 'Variegata'
Siberian iris 'Juniper Leigh'

We returned to our hotel, plants in hand, to rest and refresh until dinner. By the way, the food provided for our dinners was top-notch. Great flavor and choices to please everyone. Carol Warner was our speaker this evening. She is the owner and hybridizer at Draycott Gardens in Maryland. She was able to share pictures of her gardens and how to use beardless irises in them. Her matter-of-fact presentation of her years of experience designing and planting pleasing displays of mixed plantings was inspirational. One thing that stood out for me was how great an iris 'Caesar’s Brother' is. 'Caesar’s Brother' is a Siberian iris that is over 90 years old. It has withstood the test of time and can be grown almost anywhere. I will vouch for that as it grows well in my California garden, ncreasing and flowering every year even though we don’t get long cold periods that Siberians like.

Convention irises with multiple bloom stalks
Convention attendees during judges' training conducted by Carol Warner
Siberians in bud

Sunday morning we boarded buses again for our final tour spot to Cascadia Iris Gardens in Lake Stevens, Washington. Patrick and Margaret Spence have been growing irises at this location since 2012. Situated on over five acres with approximately three acres for their plantings of irises, peonies, lilacs and almost any unusual plant Patrick can sneak in the driveway. His passion for plants was clearly evident during the tour he gave of his garden plantings. He knows the history of every plant there and is truly a connoisseur of all things green. As things would have it, we had a little bit of rain here, but not enough to fluster these visitors. Beautifully grown Siberians and species irises were just about a week away from full bloom. The clumps of 20-30 stalks were just waiting for a sunny day to come forth. In a normal year, they would have been in full bloom; but as we know, this was not a normal year for weather. Cooler and wetter than normal conditions slowed things down just a bit. Nevertheless, we had a beautiful display of healthy irises to appreciate.

Siberian iris 'Summer Sky'
Iris species cross seedling SP13-1-1
Patrick Spence (center) conducting a tour
Iris clumps at Cascadia Iris Gardens

Carol Warner gave a judges' training on Siberian irises. I definitely learned some tips in this training. So much so that I wanted to go back to the previous gardens to look at more details, now that I know.

The convention ended that evening with another great dinner and a “redistribution”. Since a raffle is considered gambling in the state of Washington, the way to “earn” irises is to redistribute them to those that want them. I REALLY enjoyed the redistribution as those that were there can tell you why. An auction of irises was also held and many bidders were vying for many species and cultivars of hard to find irises.

The convention ended that night, but a special invitation went out to attendees to visit two open gardens. Debby Cole graciously opened her garden for viewing. It’s amazing how many Pacific Coast irises you can grow in limited space. Debby does a wonderful job in her hillside plantings.

Debby Cole's Yard
Iris clump in a garden bed
 Pacific Coast iris in bloom

Bob Seaman's Leonine Iris Gardens was also an open garden on this day. This property is filled to the edge with mainly Pacific Coast irises. Due to the cooler spring temperatures, the PCIs were blooming very well still. I’ve never seen so many varieties of PCIs in bloom in one place. Definitely, a place to visit during bloom season in May when the gardens are open for viewing.

Leonine Iris Gardens
A stone garden path with labeled irises
Pacific Coast iris 'Escalona'
Overview of Leonine Iris Gardens

So all in all, go to a convention, regional meeting, or a show and see different types of irises in bloom. Especially in a climate very different from your own. You will then understand what they are supposed to look like when well-grown. You also meet some wonderful people that share your love of irises and realize how much passion is put into creating new irises for us. Looking forward to spring and the next convention.