George .and Margaret Sutton
When Clarence Mahan approached us about becoming the new International News .editors, we were very honored, and at the same time somewhat apprehensive. We would be following in the footsteps of some very able people which is always a hard act to follow. There was also the time factor: did we want to add another responsibility to all the others that keep us busy? After much internal debate we decided if both of us did this perhaps the work load would be spread, and there would be two different viewpoints (and ours are very different!), lending variety to the column.
Our maiden effort was just that, an effort! As time goes on
we will have resources in place, but at the moment this is all
in a state of transition. If any of you readers come across an
international item you think would be interesting, please send
it along to us and we will be happy to consider it for inclusion.
Likewise, if you have suggestions for what you would like to see
included, please let us know. You can reach us at George and Margaret
Sutton, 16592 Road 208, Porterville CA 93257. Our phone number
is 559-784-9011; our e-mail address is suttons@lightspeed.net.
BRITISH IRIS SOCIETY
CONVENTION in 2002
by Cy Bartlett, Somerset, England
The British Iris Society will be eighty years old in AD 2002. It is planned to hold the next birthday Convention immediately after the Chelsea Flower Show, 24th28th May weekend. The last Monday in May is always a National holiday so it will be what we call a "long weekend." The venue will be Cheltenham in the West Midlands, and the West and Midlands Iris Group will host the event. Cheltenham has been selected because apart from being a very pleasant town with excellent shops it is within easy reach of some of our more famous gardens such as Hidcote, Kiftsgate, Westbury Court and central for towns and cities such as Oxford, Gloucester, Worcester, Stratford-upon-Avon, Bristol and Bath. Wales too is only a short distance away.
Guest irises should be sent to Ray Bomford, Convention Guest Iris Co-ordinater, The Hills, Beoley, Redditch, Worcester, B98 9AB, England, by mid-September 1999 (three years ahead). We shall "copy" precisely the rules and regulations that you (USA) use for guesting irises to avoid confusion.
N.B. if you have any further questions, contact Cy at: The Old Mill House, Shurton, Stogursey, Bridgwater, Somerset TA5 1QG, England.
COMPARATIVE TRIAL RESULTS
by Derek Carver
(by permission from the BIS newsletter)
At the time of setting-up (a previous)...trial, I started another. Like most people, I regarded with some concern the weeding associated with growing TBs and my aim was to set up an experiment to see what could be done to ease the situation.
I took nine identical rhizomes and planted them in a 3 x 3 block. The intention was to grow the first row normally (i.e. no special treatment other than being kept weed free). Around the second row I built a box and filled it with a reasonably thick layer of woodchip mulch - the same as I use in the rest of the garden apart from in the Iris beds. As for the third row it was my original intention to treat the ground with a pre-emergent weedkiller as recommended in the books (the aim being to see what adverse effect, if any, it had on the Irises), but all had been banned by the time I got round to conducting the experiment. So instead I left the third row completely unattended, leaving the Irises to grow in total competion with the weeds. The plants are now in their second season and there is no need to continue with the experiment, the results being so conclusive:
*Row 1 (the unmulched but weeded) row are really good plants (apart from the universal 1998 snail damage) with an average leaf height to 24".
*Row 2 (the mulched row) look much more miserable with the leaves just managing to attain a height of 14", the plants being proportionately smaller than those in row 1.
*Row 3 (the non-mulched and non-weeded row) is, perhaps, the most interesting. There is no difference whatsoever between these plants and those in row 2; they are about the same size. In other words, the failure to weed the plants produced precisely the same adverse effect as if one mulched to suppress the weeds.
So one thing is extremely clear - get out the (hoe)..and carry-on weeding!!!
GROWING IRIS IN DENMARK
by Jan Jacobsen
I will write a little about what kind of iris I (try) to grow here. I am very much into SDBs, the smaller the better. Most of those species are grown in raised rockbeds where they seem to thrive. TBs grow in ordinary garden soil (with a) high pH level; there are no problems. I have made some crosses (in) the last years, but no records are kept. BULB iris are also normally grown in full sun, in raised beds due to the fact that we sometimes get much rain during summer. ARs (are) a bit more difficult, but can be managed at a southfaced wall. Until now I only manage to get flower with I. Iberica .v. Elegantissima, but it sure was the most beautiful I've ever seen. I hope to grow more of those.
AN OVERVIEW OF THE
AUSTRALIAN IRIS CONVENTION, Oct. 20-27, 1998
by Ann Pearce, South Australia
This was the first iris convention I have been to, of any sort, but from what I gather, Australian conventions are very different from those in the US. For one thing, we don't have the extensive convention plantings, featuring the latest introductions. What we did see, however, was a selection of beautiful private gardens in the Sunraysia area, encompassing several different towns in three states, by virtue of being on the border. The Sunraysia area is very much based around the River Murray, one of the largest rivers in Australia, and is justifiably famous for its citrus fruit and vineyards. There was a great deal of variety in the type of gardens we saw on tour. Some were focused on irises, while others were a beautifully blended mix of irises with other plants. Roses were a strong feature, and two or three of the gardens we visited had some stunning peony poppies.
Two other events of interest were the tours to David Ruston's world-famous rose garden and the Australian Inland Botanic Gardens. David Ruston is the President of the World Federation of Rose Societies, and he has the largest rose garden in Australia, twenty-seven acres of roses, with some interplantings of irises. He has a magnificent collection of spurias which were in peak bloom during our visit. He also has many tall bearded varieties, but we were only able to find one Louisiana. David Ruston is renowned for his floral art, and we saw some magnificent examples of this in a display at the Renmark Institute. There were many different arrangements using roses and the best displays of spurias, with some Louisianas, that you could hope to see.
The Australian Inland Botanic Gardens is ususual in that it is a very young Botanic Gardens. Many of the world's Botanic Gardens have been around for a very long time; our tour guide commented that some of the European ones are several centuries old. This one, on the other hand, is in its infancy, less than ten years old. It is very much a community project: until this year they received no funding from either the state or national authorities. The rose garden was looking spectacular, and we were given a tour of the overall gardens in a tractor-drawn train!
The most remarkable thing about the gardens we saw on tour was the contrast between the oasis of the gardens and the surrounding landscape. Those areas not under cultivation with vines or fruit trees looked rather dry and barren, even on the banks of the river. (It was) very much what I would think of as a true Australian landscape: the native vegetation is obviously well adapted to the harsh conditions. To see such beautiful gardens in that environment is a strong testament to the skill and determination of the gardeners, many of whom have worked hard for years to improve the soil and make it "gardenable."
One of the final gardens on tour, and one of the best, was that of our own Dianne Dalla Santa. Her garden is a superbly balanced mix of irises and roses, along with many other plants, including magnificent hippeastrums grown from seed, and some native frangipani trees, all set off by curved paths of lawn. I have no idea how Dianne managed to have such a well-maintained garden on show, given the months of work she put in as convention organizer in order to make the whole convention such a success.
All in all, it was a most enjoyable week. I came home with
new friendships formed and a head full of ideas, to find many
more irises in bloom than when I left and plenty of hybridizing
to be done. For those of you feeling envious of the spring bloom
here while you move closer to winter, just remember that it will
be our turn to enviously read bloom reports in a few months' time
when spring arrives in the northern hemisphere.