2017 AIS
Tall Bearded Iris Symposium
The Iris Symposium was created in 1941 by Kenneth
Smith of Staten Island, NY. He conducted it annually for
several years. By 1946, the AIS Board had endorsed it and
it became an annual AIS occurrence still conducted by
Mr. Smith. At that time, only the AIS Judges were allowed
to vote in the Symposium. By 1956, it had been changed
by the AIS Board so that all AIS members were permitted
to vote the Symposium. It has been that way ever since.
The mechanics of the Symposium have not changed too
much since that time.
Today, it is officially known as the AIS Tall Bearded Iris
Symposium and all AIS members are eligible to vote. It
has been known in the past as the Symposium, the Top
100, the Popularity Poll and maybe other names along the
way. It is completely separate from the symposiums run
by some of the Sections including Reblooming, Median,
Japanese, Siberian and others. Those symposiums are
each specific to the irises of the Section endorsing it. The
AIS Tall Bearded Iris Symposium is currently managed by
the AIS Symposium Chairman.
The 2017 AIS Tall Bearded Iris Symposium was the 77th
annual. It speaks well for the Symposium that it has lasted
over 75 years with few changes. It’s not as old as the
World Series but it is much older than the football Super
Bowl.
This year (2017) a total of 7,094 individual votes for
irises were cast. Of the 472 irises on the ballot, 459 or
97.2% received at least one vote. Nineteen irises or 4%
received only one vote. There were 399 irises or 84.5%
that received three or more votes. There were 207 irises
that received ten or more votes which was 43.9%. The
top iris, ‘Dusky Challenger’, received 135 votes this year,
remaining in the number one position again this year,
which it has done about every year since 1993. The top
four irises remained the same in 2017 as in 2016, but in
different positions. They are: ‘Dusky Challenger’, ‘Gypsy
Lord’, ‘Queen’s Circle’, and ‘That’s All Folks’. Nineteen
irises remained within three positions in 2017 of where
they had been in 2016.
Region 14 cast the most votes with 1,464 or 20.6%
of the total. The next highest number of votes was 792
by Region 18, then 684 by Region 17, then 527 by Region
BY RILEY PROBST, CALIFORNIA
15 followed by 507 from Region 7. Seventeen of the 22
Regions had at least 93 or more votes cast.
This year 35 different hybridizers had irises in the top
100. Schreiner’s had the most irises on the list with 16.
They were followed closely by Keith Keppel who had
15 irises on the list. The newest iris on the list is ‘Good
Morning Sunshine’, (T. Johnson 2014). The oldest iris on
the list is ‘Stepping Out’ (Schreiners 1964). Other irises
over 40 years old still on the list are: ‘Going My Way’ (J.
Gibson 1970), ‘Mary Frances’ (L. Gaulter 1973), ‘Vanity’ (B.
Hager 1975), ‘Superstition’ (Schreiner’s 1977) and ‘Victoria
Falls’ (Schreiner’s 1977). These irises have all been on the
Symposium for nearly forty years or longer. ‘Stepping
Out’ has been on the Symposium for about 50 years and
held first place for many consecutive years before ‘Dusky
Challenger’ replaced it almost 25 years ago.
The current criteria for an iris to be listed on the
symposium ballot in 2018 is:
• The top 100 varieties in the most recent (2017)
TB Symposium
• Tall bearded irises eligible for 2018 Dykes Medal
on official judge’s ballot
• Tall bearded irises eligible for 2018 Wister Medal
on official judge’s ballot
• Tall bearded irises eligible for 2018 Award of Merit
on official judge’s ballot
• Tall bearded irises that won 2017 Award of Merit
• Tall bearded irises that won 2017 Honorable Mention
• This past year (2017) the above criteria placed
472 TBs on the ballot
In two instances this past year there were irises that,
if they had received one more vote, would have been
in the top 100. This proves your one vote could make a
difference. The more members who vote from all around
the country make the results more meaningful as the best
irises that do well everywhere. Please vote the AIS Tall
Bearded Iris Symposium and send your completed ballots
to your RVP on or before September 1, 2018. The printed
ballot will be in your spring Bulletin.
22 AIS Bulletin Winter 2018