to the
Greater St. Louis Iris Society!
(Organized circa 1950)
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Greater St. Louis Iris Society newsletter
SEPTEMBER 2011 |
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PRESIDENT'S PATCH
By Jim Morris
The heat wave finally broke and now it is really cool. Seems like only yesterday (real close anyway) that we were suffering through those 100º F days. The weather bureau stated that St. Louis had ten days of 100º+F. Then in one day, Sept. 14, our temp went from 95ºF to 55ºF!
The 1.5” of rainfall September 14 finally broke our drought as well. Most but not all of my new irises are planted. Several are still in pots. The MOBOT planting of $1,600 worth of new irises have been planted and sprayed to eliminate the mole crickets which like to chomp on rhizomes. The Garden used Bayer Dylox for the crickets.
Our September 25 meeting will be a Beardless Iris Auction of Siberian irises purchased from Iris City Gardens, Spurias from Jim Hedgecock, and local Louisiana irises donated by Marilyn Ruemmler. Members can get the beardless door prizes they won earlier in the year, at this meeting.
My term of office as president expires this year and I cannot continue per our by-laws. So someone needs to step up to the plate to administer the club's activities. Our attendance has been generally mediocre with but 15-20 members attending our
meetings. Maybe someone else can be more successful in encouraging member attendance.
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The change two years ago from Friday evening meetings to Sunday afternoons to accommodate our older and Illinois members has not worked. Should we go back to Friday evenings in 2012?
If you have any ideas for 2012 programs please let vice-president Debra Pratt (the VP is our program chairman) know them.
Our October meeting will feature slides that I took in Victoria, B. C., Canada at the Iris-istible AIS National Convention. They will include those of the famous Butchart Gardens carved out of an old rock quarry; Canada's and Alaska's native iris I. setosa: species crosses by Canada's own Tony Huber and Chuck Chapman; medians, Siberians and PCNs, the main irises in bloom.
The TB pictures were mainly taken on Salt Spring Island, an optional tour after the conven-tion. The scenery was fabulous and the city of Victoria, like most of Vancouver, was rocking with the Canucks in the Stanley Cup finals.
Please try to attend both our September beardless auction and our October slide show. Thank you.
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Beardless Iris Auction
Sunday Sept. 25, 2:00 pm |
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Plan to attend your beardless iris auction —the feature of our next meeting--and bring a friend! We’ll have plants that fit into landscaping for the places where your bearded irises aren’t happy—a little damper (Siberians, Japanese, Louisianas) or a little dryer (Spurias). This is your chance to get more exotic additions to your garden at less than catalog prices!
Siberians will be the featured class, with a big order from Iris City Gardens. They introduce for Missouri hybridizer Calvin Helsley, whose irises are well-adapted locally for sure growth, as well as the cutting-edge beauties from Schafer/ Sacks in all kinds of stunning new colors.
We’ve also ordered spurias from Jim Hedgecock’s Comanche Acres Garden in Missouri. These are the kind we missed out on last year due to a shipping disappearance.
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Louisianas include several shades of reds—Jive Talkin’, Red Velvet Elvis, Ann Hordern (below), Flamingo Flamenco.
Also available are species crosses that will grow either in your pond or garden—Jin Yu, Chance Beauty, Sea Krill.
Since September is our annual business meeting (election of officers), we won’t have a speaker program. This should also be a chance, hopefully, to welcome some of our new members!
Feel free to bring your favorite snack for the group. (Drinks furnished by GSLIS.) See you there for a fun afternoon!
Feel free to bring your favorite snack for the group. (Drinks furnished by GSLIS.) See you there for a fun afternoon!
Check out our GSLIS website,
www.stlouisirises.com Michael McKinney has done a super job of setting it up and updating. Colorful!
Your Chance to Serve
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It’s time to change officers once again, so we’re asking for volunteers to join the GSLIS Board.
By the Bylaws rules, Jim Morris must be replaced as President (term-limited), and other officers may be. We need a new Vice President, whose main duty is to plan next year’s programs, and our current secretary, Mary Broida, has graciously said she’d be happy to turn minutes-recording over to another member who’d like a chance to get more active. Ginni Hill’s term as Board Member also expires in 2011.
If you’d like to get involved or can suggest someone who’d be a great addition to the Board, please call Nyla Hughes, nominating committee, 314-961-6745 ASAP!
Greater St. Louis Iris Society Minutes
August 21, 2011
At 1:12 p.m. President Jim Morris called a brief meeting to order in the Missouri Room of the Botanical Gardens with 21 members present.. Leftover GSLIS irises from the MOBOT Sale August 13-14 were on a sale table for $2.
Mary Broida read the minutes from the March 27, 2011 general meeting. Jean Morris moved that we approve the minutes, Nyla Hughes seconded the motion and it passed.
There was no formal treasurer’s report because accounting for costs, sales and distribution of profits from the August 13-14, 2011 Iris Sale has not been completed. Treasurer Judy Watters reported gross sales for MOBOT at $7,193.00 and GSLIS $2,679.00 before expenses and new purchases for the Garden are applied.
Announcements/Correspondence
Our next meeting will be held Sunday, September 25 at 2:00 PM. After the meeting, beardless iris purchased from City Gardens in Tennessee will be offered at auction. We received a letter from the City Academy thanking Jim and Jean Morris for the time they have spent working and teaching students in the School’s gardens.
Old Business
Announcement of winners from our April 23, 2011 Spring Iris Show: Palmer Award – Best Specimen, I. aphylla ‘Ahlberg’, Cindy Rust Becherer Award – Hort Sweepstakes, Cindy Rust (22) Bellagamba Award – Best Design, Nadine Wallenstein Briscoe Dwarf & Median Award – Cindy Rust Greenlee Award – Best Median Specimen – ‘Lucy Doodle’ (MTB), Cindy Rust Kinsella Award – Best Design of medians, Jean Morris Region 9/18 Award – ‘Serene Song’ (Jean Morris 01, IB) displayed by Cindy Rust
The Marquette Iris Show was held May 4, 2011, chaired by Val Mertz. Best Specimen was won by Marquette student Laura Sconyers with the TB ‘Emperor’s
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Concerto’. The Sheldon Butt Memorial (most blues, both shows combined), Jim & Jean Morris (18).
New Business
Jim Morris appointed Nyla Hughes to serve as chair of the nominating committee for the September 25, 2011 election. He then introduced new members who joined GSLIS during the August 13-14 Iris Sale. They are Terry and Steve Prizer from O’Fallon, Illinois; Linnea and Ernie Polk from Town and Country and Elizabeth and David Kreutz from Weldon Springs.
Door prize winners:
Tall Bearded: Mae Porch and Lynette Poschel Median: Jim Morris and Camilla Kotrba Beardless: Mary Broida, (to be collected in September). The meeting was adjourned at 1:40 p.m. so that we might enjoy a delightful pot luck lunch followed by a spirited bearded iris auction. Respectfully submitted, Mary Broida, Secretary
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Door Prize Winners of Beardless Iris
This is your chance to choose the beardless iris you previously won as a door prize at the year’s GSLIS meetings! You must either be present at the Septembere25 meeting to collect your iris or give Jim Morris a short list of your choice(s).
The September winners pick theirs up at the auction meeting. Other winners are:
October: Nyla Hughes Holiday Dinner: Camilla Kotrba February: Ruth Ostrem March: Camilla Kotrba August: Mary Broida
COMING EVENTS
SEPT. 16-17-18 Greentree Festival Iris Sale -
Kirkwood Iris Soc. & Washington Iris Club sell irises at their booth if you “need” a few more!
Kirkwood Park at Geyer and Adams
Friday: 4:30-10 pm
Saturday: 8:00 am - 7:00 pm Sunday: 9:30 am - 5:00 pm
SEPTEMBER 25, Sunday – GSLIS Beardless Auction
(see article above)
SEPTEMBER 30 - OCTOBER 1 Friday, Sat. Region 18 Fall Convention - Iris Auction & Judges’ Training, Board meeting
Speaker: Paul Black of Mid-America Gardens Host: Washington Iris Club Meeting Hotel: Budget Lodging, St. Clair, MO |
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Registration Forms in Reg.18 Bulletin
Great chance to hear one of America’s foremost hybridizers, Paul Black, while it’s handy!
OCTOBER 23, Sunday – 2:00 pm
GSLIS General Meeting Program: “Irises at 2011 Conventions”, Jim Morris, Speaker
DECEMBER 5 , Sunday – 1:00 pm Beaumont Room
GSLIS Holiday Party potluck
Iris Tips
Now that we’ve finally gotten some rain, it’s a great time to get your irises in the ground. Give them a chance to get roots firmly down before our typical freeze/thaw winter that can cause them to heave out of the ground over winter.
If you have a chance to ‘fluff up’ the soil before planting, so much the better. If you’re planting back where you’ve had irises, alfalfa pellets can replace absent trace minerals and add humus.
And don’t forget to label those new irises, or frustration with lost names is a sure result!
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© 2011 - Greater St. Louis Iris Society