Youth Views
THE AIS FOUNDATION ACKERMAN FIRST PLACE ESSAYS
12 YEARS AND UNDER
The Iris Remains the “Lovely Lady of the Landscape”
by Katharina Brase, Region 21
As the American Iris Society is preparing to
celebrate its 100th anniversary, we are reminded of a
quote from its founder and first president, John Wister:
“The iris is the mainstay of the hardy garden.” John
Wister was a man who spent his life working with plants.
Obviously they were his passion, because he joined
about 50 different horticulture societies, was president
of an arboretum, and spent over 50 years landscaping
a college campus! With all of his knowledge and
experience with so many different flowers, he still
believed that the iris was an important part of any
garden. This is as true today, as it was then. Irises have
endured as a favorite garden flower because they
are hardy, inexpensive perennials with large, colorful
blooms that capture the attention of garden visitors.
Irises are hardy garden flowers. They are capable of
surviving on their own. Gardeners don't have to plant
them from seed each year, or dig them up in the fall
(like cannas and dahlias). Even people with very little
gardening experience can keep a clump of irises that
will cheerfully return each spring with fresh, fragrant
blooms. Although they will survive on their own,
irises will certainly thrive even more with some care.
Weeding and thinning is important to keep down the
competition for sunlight and moisture, and to give the
rhizomes room to grow. A little bit of fertilizer will give
them a boost to produce some blue-ribbon blooms.
Irises are inexpensive garden flowers. Although iris
lovers can get carried away at auctions where they
enthusiastically compete for brand new introductions,
there are certainly cheaper alternatives. If you don't
want to wait ten years for the new introductions to get
marked down in price, you can start by finding some
free irises from relatives or neighbors. Even smaller,
older, unnamed historical irises have charm. Add
some newer, named irises from your local iris club's
sale. Even better, become a Youth Member of the
American Iris Society, and you might possibly find a
newer introduction from generous iris hybridizers and
gardeners waiting in your mailbox.
Irises put on a stunning display in the spring. They
are one of the largest flowers in the garden. Their
showy blooms appear in practically every color of the
rainbow except true red and green. The bright colors
will grab your attention when entering a garden. The
hunt for fresh, fragrant perfume will encourage you to
compare each variety. New shades and combinations of
colors are being produced by hybridizers every year.
Every garden needs irises! They are easy to grow.
They are affordable. The size and color of their flowers
is unsurpassed. John Wister would be amazed if he
could see the result of the last hundred years of iris
hybridizing. The iris is truly the “Lovely Lady of the
Landscape.”
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mid-April, the deadline for entering essays is February
15, 2019, and they should be sent to Debbie Strauss as
an attachment to debbie@loveirises.com, or mailed to
her at 2213 Hereford Blvd., Midland, TX 79707-5012.
There will be prizes awarded to the first, second and
third place winners in each of the three age groups.
Debbie asks that the essays be limited to 500 words
(or fewer). Parents and adults can help with grammar
and spelling, but the work must be that of the youth
member.
The 2018 annual AIS Coloring Contest is underway.
Deadline for entries is November 1, 2018. The picture
was included in The Iris Fan and is also available on the
youth website, www.AISYouth.com. Any media can be
used and cash prizes will be awarded in all age groups.
I hope to publish the winning entry in a future issue of
the Bulletin.
2020 marks the centennial of The American Iris
Society. I am always encouraged by the emails and
messages I get from our youth members. They are an
amazing group of young people with a huge variety of
talents and abilities. I hope you will consider mentoring
a young person in your neighborhood or club. They are
the future of AIS and will be taking us into the next 100
years of our organization. Until we meet in a garden
somewhere, Happy irising!
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26 AIS Bulletin Fall 2018