AIS 2008 Convention

I hope others will contribute to this, but I will start it off. First, let me say that many of the iris which had been planted 2 years ago for the show died, due to a very hot summer followed my heavy, heavy rain. There were still many beautiful iris, as you will see, but I thought I would start with the cross that one of the gardeners put in her iris bed where everything died. You will see the row of labels if you look carefully.

This garden had actually flooded. So any iris you see from this convention are real survivors.

Here is Adobe Campfire by Hooker Nichols.

And here is American Master by Fred Kerr

Here is a BB called Congo Bongo by Kasperek, of course. I have attached my picture, but the one from his website is better. I am still a beginner in both photography and iris growing.
http://www.zebrairis.com/congo%20bongo.htm

Have a Goodun by Burseen, 2006

Sisters of Loretto, Van Liere, 2006. Pardon the legs in the background.

Achy Breaky Heart, G. Sutton, 2006

Awesome Alex, Burseen, 2004

I have American Master and ordered Sisters of Loretto last month

Love Achy Breaky Heart!

Absolutely LOVE Adobe Campfire! Who has it for trade? :)

Actually I strongly object to symbols showing that irises died. It is often culture problems, not the plants themselves. An empty marker says enough. It was so past peak for TBs that the best plants were the Louisianas, which bloom after the TBs. When my relatives & DH & I saw one of public plantings TB Silver Creek had a fantastic clump & it is from MN. It is white with blue & oranged colored beards. Red LA 'My Friend Dick" was magnificent. I don't have pictures to show as I just had regular print film. 'First Wave' blue with extra ruffles was nice and rich purple 'Marjorie Gayner' had great bud placement and crisp ruffled flowers. It was not just a good purple, but if a choice of purples is offered, that is the one to choose. Hybridizer is Barbara Nicodemus of MO.

There were many lovely irises and I will add more as I get time. Here is the one mentioned by IrisMA, a Louisiana named My Friend Dick. It is a truly lovely red. It is on the left. I did not photograph the name placards of the others in the row, but it is a nice picture of all of them.

The Louisianas were a treat at this convention. Here is another Louisiana by M. D. Faith called Henry Rowlan. Another beauty.

Henry Rowlan was a well-known hybridizer of LA. He also did a few miniature tall iris.

IrisMA,

I didn't know who Henry Rowlan was, but M.D. Faith certainly memorialized him well with that LA Iris. Did you see the talk on LA Iris that was given at the conference -- about the renewal of New Orleans, City Park after Katrina? I really enjoyed the speaker's pictures of LA Iris on the banks of the bayous of City Park.

Missed that one. I was doing some reunion with family so missed some things.

Here is Out in Missouri, by Niswonger, 2001. It is a Siberian. The variety of iris categories was very nice, here.

Fortunate Son, Schreiners Not my best picture, but a nice red with blue beards.

Now the photo!

Adobe Campfire is amazing!!! I have wanted to attend convention for years. I need to just do go soon!!! Anyone want to go to
Oregon next year?!!!!

Michelle

I find the Convention fascinating and fun. I learn so much each time I go. Hearing speakers like Barry Blyth, George Sutton, Keith Keppel and Paul Black was very interesting and they illustrated their talks with slides. I recommend the Convention to anyone who is interested in iris.
Another fascinating thing is that rises grow differently in different climates. It was quite illuminating to see that the starts of the show in the Oklahoma City Convention and the stars in Austin were almost completely different cultivars. Florentine Silk was absolutely stunning in Oklahoma City and barely grew in Austin. There were many similar examples.
Here is Stardock by George Sutton, 2004.

I want to meet keppel , ghio and blyth so bad! Along with black, johnson, shreiner, innerst, and sutton! And the all the others too!

Here is Secondhand Rose by G Spoon, 2004.

thats a beaut!

I really like this IB by Terry Aiken. It is called fast forward. This picture doesn't show it but there were quite a few blooms on this one.

Betty,

Are you sure Out In Missouri is a sib, it looks more like a spuria.

I really like that IB Fast Forward, too. Secondhand Rose is lovely, also.

I checked the AIS Iris registry and Out in Missouri is, indeed, a Sib. But I am not sure this is Out in Missouri. I photographed the plant label, but in a several cases we found labels placed in front of the wrong plant. This could be a case of that. Here is the Iris Registry description:

"OUT IN MISSOURI

(O. D. Niswonger, R. 2001) Sdlg. Sib 5-93. SIB, 30" (76 cm), M
S. blue; style arms blue, midrib with turquoise hint; F. deep blue, darker center shadings, small white signal speck. Bishop's Pawn X unknown. Cape Iris 2001"

I don't see any mention of all that yellow, so perhaps it was mislabeled. I wouldn't know since I have had very little experience with either Sibs or Spurias.

Thanks. It sure is a lovely one, no matter who it is. I bet it was nice to see other than the TBs, too. I would have thought it would be all bearded. I hope to go some year.

Here is one of my absolute favorites from the convention. It is an arilbred called Hakuna Matata. Pictures don't do it justice. Except for the exotic nature of the bloom, it looks just like a tall bearded.
The pictures in plant files are better than mine. You might want to check them out, to get a real feeling for it:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/117674/

In Oklahoma there were mostly Tall Bearded because of the season -- the medians had bloomed earlier. There were a few Louisianas there, though and a few nice medians like Sky Tracery, Dividing Line, and Plum Quirky. Lots of BB's, also.
I have no idea what to predict for the next one in Kansas City -- and for that matter, it isn't necessarily possible to predict when irises will bloom. The differ from year to year, especially this year.
But the whole convention is worth it. There is lots of comradery and flowers galore. I think you will enjoy it when you get there. And listening to the hybridizers both in formal presentations and on the bus as we go from garden to garden, is fascinating. One conclusion I have reached is that iris people are some of the nicest people you will meet.

Next yr. in K.C. MO. The convention is always set for the TB bloom season for the host area. Who knows what will happen as all the LA in bloom this yr, are an indication. Some regions have regional conventions for their spring regional meeting. Find out which region you are in, then contact their site for information.

Dale Yost, by Hooker Nichols, 2007

Morning Reveille, by L. Meininger , 2004.

Oops, now the picture.

The last day someone remarked that Fire & Brimestone was the wrong plant. Looked it up in 2001 Reg. & Intro. and found that F should be orange-carmel with darker band. So close, but no cigar. L

Wouldn't you know. I almost put Fire and Brimstone in Plant Files from this picture and label. I checked the Iris Registry and you are right about the color of the falls being orange to caramel.

This message was edited Apr 24, 2008 10:47 PM

Thanks for sharing! They are beautiful! The hues in American Master is breahtaking.

(near crying - my leave was denied - I couldn't go)

paja - sent you dmail re Acky Breaky

flowrgirl - maybe next year you and I can both go

bonjon--there have been conventions with better bloom so wait to next yr, is a good slogan, It was a great "people" convention however.