COMPILED BY PHYLLIS WILBURN, CALIFORNIA Section Happenings
While most of the country is in the deep freeze, in
California we were having floods. It is kind of hard to
focus on the upcoming issue of IRISES with all of the
distractions. Therefore, I gleaned some information
from publications and websites to compile these
reports. The presidents who responded to my inquiries
are noted.
—Phyllis Wilburn
ARIL SOCIETY INTERNATIONAL (ASI)
Annual sales are coming up for ASI, with plant sales
happening in June and July with shipping of plants
in August. This is followed by seed sale in October.
Members are given priority in all sales, but you can join
at the same time as you place your order. Watch the
ASI website at arilsociety.org for announcements and
dates.
TALL BEARDED IRIS SOCIETY (TBIS)
The annual TBIS hybridizers’ plant sale is on the
TBIS website, TBISonline.com, with irises donated by
TBIS hybridizers throughout the world. Our featured
hybridizers for 2019 are Larry Lauer, Don Murphy,
Schreiner’s Iris Gardens, Bob Skaggs, and Bob
Van Liere. Our many thanks to these talented and
dedicated hybridizers for their donations. This is the
only fundraiser that TBIS conducts. It helps to support
our great iris magazine, Tall Talk, that is issued twice a
year. Total value of these new introductions for 2019
is $255, but you can purchase the set of five new iris
for just $90, postage paid. A limit of 25 collections are
reserved for this sale, so don’t delay—get your order
in right away. Orders must be received prior to June
15, 2019. Any questions or comments regarding the
hybridizers’ annual plant sale should be directed to
Judy Schneider at jlkapps@hotmail.com. All orders will
be acknowledged with a receipt of payment. Send your
check or money order together with your plant order
to Elladan McLeester, Treasurer, 1202 Pontiac Trail,
Madison, WI 53711-2722. Make checks payable to TBIS
Plant Sale.
MEDIAN IRIS SOCIETY (MIS)
Debbie Straus announced several fundraising
opportunities for MIS coming in the spring. One will be
the sale of packages of 2019 median iris. There will be
20 packages available at the cost of $85 each including
shipping. The donated irises are always wonderful,
new and different. There will be five new median
irises (SDB, MTB, IB, or BB) in each of two different
packages. This will be announced in the spring The
Medianite and will be shipped in August. At the AIS
convention in San Ramon, CA, there will be a raffle of
median iris donated by hybridizers. The tickets will be
$5 each or four for $15. The drawings will be held at the
end of the MIS meeting at the convention. You don’t
have to be present to win.
HISTORIC IRIS PRESERVATION
SOCIETY (HIPS)
HIPS has started a new Breeder Collections
program for members that want to preserve irises by
their favorite breeders. This will work in tandem with
the Guardian Gardens program. Interested members
are encouraged to collect as many remaining irises
as possible from breeders of their choice. As long
as one iris in the collection is historic, i.e. registered
or introduced at least 30 years ago, the collection
qualifies for Breeder Collection status. Small
collections are encouraged—here are many breeders
who only introduced a few irises, or who only have
a few irises remaining. Larger collections (i.e. Hager,
Schreiner) may be subdivided as needed for space
reasons. This is another avenue to preserving irises in
a fun way. More information may be found on the HIPS
website.
Mary Hess, owner of Bluebird Haven Iris Gardens,
will be the HIPS guest speaker at the AIS Convention
in California. Mary’s collection of historic irises is
one of the largest in the world, and she will offer a
Mary Hess
, PHYLLIS WILBURN
Spring 2019 AIS Bulletin 13