Jeanne Clay Plank
AIS GOLD MEDAL RECIPIENT 2017
BY JILL BONINO, CALIFORNIA
Jeanne’s “Iris life” began in the early 1960s on the
East Coast. At that time, she and her first husband,
Hank Clay, were living in Maryland and raising four
children. Her grandmother, residing in Hayward, CA,
where Jeanne grew up, sent her some iris that Jeanne
loved, and Jeanne decided she wanted more. With a
friend who happened to be an AIS member, Jeanne
toured some local iris gardens to try to find out the
names of the irises she had received, as well as where to
get more plants. Thus, the ”iris virus” was established in
her and a 50-plus plus career in the iris world began.
Jeanne’s first husband passed away unexpectedly in
late 1976. Hank’s death was a terrible shock, but Jeanne
persevered and finished a degree in horticulture from
the University of Maryland, which she had
been working on for several years. In late
1977, Jeanne packed up and moved to
Sacramento, CA, along with her teenage
son Peter. Being in Sacramento placed
them equally near both sides of the elder
California-located families. Her old college
boyfriend, Robert R. Plank, learned from
a mutual friend of her tragic loss and of
her recent return to California. Shortly
thereafter, he contacted her and soon
came to visit her in Sacramento. Love
happened and they were married.
After marriage Jeanne and Bob were
Jeanne Clay Plank
located in Southern California near Bob’s work with
Lockheed Martin. Soon Jeanne’s iris involvement picked
up speed after Bob’s father introduced the couple to
Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge, and Jeanne
and Bob became members of the Descanso Gardens
Guild. Jeanne felt that Descanso needed a major
upgrade in its iris garden.
One day, when Jeanne was in the Descanso gift shop,
the president of the Descanso Guild happened to be
standing behind her in the checkout line and overheard
Jeanne’s response to a question from the cashier in
which she mentioned her thoughts about the Descanso
iris garden. The president of the Guild introduced herself
and subsequently made arrangements for Jeanne to
get in contact with George Lewis, the director of the
Gardens at the time. Thus began a decade-plus project
to get a better public iris garden at Descanso. (This is
where I met Jeanne when I started volunteering in the
Descanso iris garden in 1996 and joined the San Fernando
Valley Iris Society (SFVIS) and the AIS.)
Jeanne joined SFVIS and Southern California Iris
Society (SCIS) in the 1980s with the goal of getting the
two clubs interested in supporting the Descanso iris
garden. She started going to Region 15 meetings with
the same goal. During this time she also became an AIS
Judge. She worked at various positions within SFVIS,
eventually becoming club president in 2001.
Jeanne also was becoming more involved with the
American Iris Society on a national level. When Claire
Barr became President of the AIS, she
started looking for new people to bring
on to the Board. Claire was also from the
Baltimore area, and Jeanne and Claire
“hit it off.” Jeanne joined the AIS Board
as recording secretary under Claire Barr’s
presidency and began to work her way
up to AIS President in 2006–2008. She
judged the Firenze Iris Competition in
Florence, Italy, while AIS president and
won the AIS Distinguished Service Medal
following her three years as President.
After moving to Region 14, Jeanne
became the RVP for AIS Region 14.
While being on the AIS Board, and being active in local
and Regions 14 and 15 activities, Jeanne and Bob Plank
became quite a team, visiting and photographing gardens
around the country during conventions and treks. For
many years SFVIS and Region 15 enjoyed Jeanne’s
programs and Bob’s photos. Bob also gave great service
to the AIS as a pro bono attorney during the 1990s
and early 2000s. He and Jeanne were heavily involved
(months and months of work) in 2005–2006 in handling
the Sidney DuBose Estate and setting up the Sidney
DuBose Trust, which now funds expenses for the AIS Ben
Hager and Sidney DuBose Memorial Library.
Life for Jeanne has not been all iris gardening, garden
visiting, and meeting attendance. While living
Continued on page 15, bottom
14 AIS Bulletin Winter 2018