John C. Wister Medal for Tall Bearded Iris (Ann Granatier) 19 Winter 2015 Garden Diggings (Christopher Hollinshead) 24 Coming Soon
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Canadian Iris Society cis newsletter Winter 2015 Volume 59 Issue 1 Canadian Iris Society Board of Directors Officers for 2015 President Ed Jowett, 1960 Sideroad 15, RR#2 Tottenham, ON L0G 1W0 2014-2016 ph: 905-936-9941 email: [email protected] 1st Vice John Moons, 34 Langford Rd., RR#1 Brantford ON N3T 5L4 2014-2016 President ph: 519-752-9756 2nd Vice Harold Crawford, 81 Marksam Road, Guelph, ON N1H 6T1 (Honorary) President ph: 519-822-5886 e-mail: [email protected] Acting Ann Granatier, 3674 Indian Trail, RR#8 Brantford ON N3T 5M1 2013-2015 Secretary ph: 519-647-9746 email: [email protected] Treasurer Bob Granatier, 3674 Indian Trail, RR#8 Brantford ON N3T 5M1 2014-2016 ph: 519-647-9746 email: [email protected] Membership Chris Hollinshead, 3070 Windwood Dr, Mississauga, ON L5N 2K3 2014-2016 ph: 905 567-8545 e-mail: [email protected] Directors at Large Director Alan McMurtrie, 22 Calderon Cres. Wlllowdale ON M2R 2E5 2013-2015 ph: 416-221-4344 email: [email protected] Director Pat Loy 18 Smithfield Drive, Etobicoke On M8Y 3M2 2013-2015 ph: 416-251-9136 email: [email protected] Director Gloria McMillen, PO Box 385, Otterville, ON N0J 1R0 2014-2016 ph: 519 532-2364 e-mail: [email protected] Director Nancy Kennedy, 221 Grand River St., Paris, ON N3L 2N4 2014-2016 ph: 519-442-2047 email: [email protected] Director Charlie Blakeman, 18 LeClare St, Hamilton, ON L9C 5X3 2015-2017 ph: 905-527-3711 email: [email protected] Honorary Director Hon. Director David Schmidt, 18 Fleming Ave., Dundas, ON L9H 5Z4 Webmaster Chris Hollinshead, 3070 Windwood Dr, Mississauga, ON L5N 2K3 ph: 905 567-8545 e-mail: [email protected] Newsletter Ed Jowett, 1960 Sideroad 15, RR#2 Tottenham, ON L0G 1W0 Editor ph: 905-936-9941 email: [email protected] Newsletter Vaughn Dragland Designer ph. 416-622-8789 email: [email protected] Published by the Canadian Iris Society four times per year Table of Contents President’s Report 2 Musings From Manitoba (B. J. Jackson) 4 Terra Greenhouses (ad) 6 2015 Iris Show (tentative) 7 Eclipse Design Studio (ad) 12 2013 Canadian Hybredizers Update (Don McQueen) 13 Book Review: "THE IRIS FAMILY, Natural History 17 and Classification" by Peter Goldblatt & John Manning (John Moons) John C. Wister Medal for Tall Bearded Iris (Ann Granatier) 19 Winter 2015 Garden Diggings (Christopher Hollinshead) 24 Coming Soon . 28 American Iris Society (ad) 30 Coming Events and Dates to Remember 31 Canadian Sources for Irises 32 Liaisons and Regions 33 Canadian Iris Society: You are invited to join the Canadian Iris Society. Membership in the CIS is open to all persons interested in irises regardless of skills or experience. New members are welcome. Official membership applications and other information will be available at the show or on the official CIS website:www.cdn-iris.ca . CIS Officers: President: Ed Jowett 905-936-9941 <[email protected]> C.I.S. Membership: Chris Hollinshead 905-567-8545 3070 Windwood Drive, Mississauga, ON L5N 2K3 <[email protected] > Cover Photo: Jazz Band (Keppel '06) Photo courtesy: Aitken's Salmon Creek Garden Canadian Iris Society Newsletter 1 President’s Report By Ed Jowett s I sit here feeling this minus 31 degree weather I find it a little hard to think Spring. However I have started preparation of the purchase program for 2015. The irises will Aall be grown in Ontario zone 5b, so they should be hardy for almost every one. Full listing and pictures, etc., will be in our May issue. I am waiting for spring notification that they are available and in the quantities we require. My Iris beds this year were very over crowded so I set out to fix them. I dug out all of them and planted the whole clump immediately in 14 inch pots. As the late summer and early fall rolled on and not having much ambition I puttered away at making a four (4) tier garden — the tier dividers helping to keep the irises from growing into one another. All the pots appear to have taken root well and hopefully, come spring, I can remove them. I filled the garden with new 4 mix soil and planted the pots for winter survival. Only one problem: I have 56 cultivars planted in the garden which I finished in mid-December; but I have 28 cultivars sitting in pots under my fir trees wintering. I am trying to reduce my garden space but this is a joke. What do I do with these 28? I don't know how the plants or crops will do this winter as already we have had freezing and thawing with no snow cover. We had a 20 inch snowfall in one day and fully gone in 3 days; crazy weather! Don McQueen has agreed to try something new in our spring issue. He is going to offer some Iris identification for your unknown irises. Of course there will be some rules. Cell phones do not take good pictures (colour seems to be off). If you change your mailing address or your email address please let us know; either our membership chair or myself. (See inside cover for contacts.) We are pleased to announce a new member to the board, Charlie Blakeman. Welcome aboard Charlie! I don't know why when some of us supposedly retire, we end up doing more than ever before. I am now making raised garden kits. Chris Hollnshead has taken up wine- making and is doing a fine job. I also took on program chair for our local Hort Society; The comments and statements in this bulletin are those of the writers and not necessary those of the board or society. 2 Canadian Iris Society Newsletter now this keeps me scrambling as to what subjects we have not already heard over the last few years. I have included here some pictures (no names) of some of our future offerings. See all our offerings and descriptions in our next issue. It's a small world. Since becoming program chair in our local Hort Society, I had an interesting find. A friend from a neighboring society said you should get this speaker they had. He was something to do with Dilly Dallying in the Dirt; I think his name was Ken Brown but not sure. I went on the computer and googled “Dilly Dallying in the Dirt”. I got 15 pages and after searching through 5 I decided this could not be it; seemed more crime and sex content than anything. I added the name Ken Brown and tried again. I found the site almost immediately but it was just “Dallying in The Dirt” I went to the sight it linked me to. There were a great list of subjects; but the different pages open on the site made interesting reading — not all about gardening. To actually get in contact with Ken took some doing. For those of you who get this bulletin electronically try it, but if you want to go to the site directly go to www.gardening-enjoyed.com. (But you will have missed the excitement.) I still did not put 2 and 2 together until Ken replied to my email that he recognized me from the Iris Society. If I had been thinking Irises I would have probably put it together, as Ken has purchased Irises from our program for several years. I seem to remember those who purchase when anyone mentions selling of Iris. Spring is only a month away officially. Happy Gardening! Ed Jowett Southern Ontario Iris Society Join the society that specializes in one of the flowers you love 1 Year $10.00 3 Years $20.00 Save $10.00 r Join both societies (CIS & SOIS) and save nta io I O ri 1 year $25.00 n s r S 3 Years $60.00 e C.I.S. o h c t affiliate i e u t o y S Canadian Iris Society Newsletter 3 Musings From Manitoba By: B. J. Jackson ([email protected]) arning: weather rant follows. It isn't even February and already I am sick of winter and worried about many garden plants. WThere just isn't much snow to be seen. In a 'normal' year we should have around 25 centimeters of snow on the ground. We don't come anywhere close. Environment Canada says 12 centimeters as of yesterday. The snow in my gardens, however, is lucky to measure 10 centimeters and with the last two thaw events, it is probably less. We have seen an unprecedented number of days at or above zero degrees so far this winter. Four in December and five in January and almost broke two historical records for high temperatures. There were also a half dozen in the month with near zero temperatures. But then like a roller coaster it was back to extremely cold. The snow that did fall was mostly blown away. I have seedling beds right now that are without snow cover at all, just several inches of shredded leaves for insulation. They do say iris have to be tough so any seedling survivors will have that going for them. I can only hope that spring comes early and stays, there is no flooding and that iris bloom season will be glorious! That isn't too much to ask, is it? Once again this year I ordered seed from the British Iris Society's seed exchange. They are currently soaking and after their three month cold treatment in my plant fridge, they will 4 Canadian Iris Society Newsletter be ready to be planted directly into the garden in late May or early June.