Newsletter:
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN IRIS SOCIETY Inc.
Editorial
In my garden a few of the late TBs are still blooming and the Japanese are coming to their peak. Seed pods from the early crosses are beginning to split and some seed has already been planted in pots. The weeding continues and it’s time to plant out the last lot of seedlings and make sure there is space for the new purchases.
Roses are blooming profusely and the agapanthus and hydrangeas are coming into bloom. There is never a dull day in a garden.
Get well wishes go once more to John Turner who has been back in hospital for his follow up surgery. John is recovering nicely but still pretty sore. Take things quietly John so you will be fully fit for the Christmas celebrations.
Next year the Iris Society program commences with the Annual General Meeting on February 10th in the Goodwood Community Centre at 7pm. Our Guest Speaker will be Colleen Modra showing the rest of her photos of her USA Convention trip.
Next year promises to be a very busy year for South Australian irisarians culminating in the Convention and Iris Spectacular Show in October and the After Convention Tour in November. For anyone who has not seen the Coorong or Kangaroo Island this tour will be magical with wonderful wildlife and plants to see and some lovely gardens to visit on the Island as well as some very interesting Island enterprises. Take time to read the information brochure and start saving for a different holiday.
Minutes November 11th 2004
Apologies: Margaret Douglass, Pat Toolan, Graham Kuchel
Welcome: President Julia Jacobs welcomed all present with a special welcome to former member Ann Pillay who was visiting for the evening.
Previous Minutes: The minutes for October was passed as correct. Moved Sue Stribley 2nd Sandra Westbrook. Carried
Correspondence: Australian Bulb Association, Garden Clubs of Australia.
Australian Bulb Association
Information was handed to members about the Australian Bulb Association, which has quite a few Iridaceae Species seeds plus other seeds and bulbs of interest to members. It was cheaper to join the ABA where seeds would be $1.00 per pack rather than $3.50 for non members, the same with bulbs. Moved Colleen Modra to join ABA 2nd Gwen Alexandrou carried
Copies of the ABA list will be given to members. Members wishing to place an order can do so through the Secretary Betty Parsons.
General Business:
Annual Show Changes
In order to know how many exhibits to set up for on the Friday of the Annual Show weekend. Exhibits must be nominated by 9pm on the Thursday before the show. Moved John Turner 2nd Marg Kuchel Carried
Members will be allowed 3(three) standby stems or florets in case of cancellation of exhibits. Moved John Turner 2nd John Pongrac carried
Moved John Turner for a Secretary to be appointed just for the Annual Show weekend, to which any member can be appointed for that role. 2nd Marg Kuchel carried.
Edna Pongrac suggested that a fee be charged on all entries. After discussion it was decided that no charge be incurred for 2005 show and review after the show Moved John Turner, 2nd Edna Pongrac, carried.
Rainbow Ridge Voucher:
Due to no entries in the Beardless Seedling at the 2004 show there was a $25.00 Rainbow Ridge prize voucher over. The voucher was raffled for $1.00 a ticket during the meeting, with Rosemary Turner being the lucky winner. Congratulations Rosemary.
2005 report: Goolwa Bus Line is doing all the trips for the convention. Fliers for the Post Convention Tour to the Coorong, Fleurieu Peninsula and Kangaroo Island are almost ready for printing.
John Turner reported that as a result of correspondence with Judy Watters, a friend in St Louis, USA two ladies, Judy Kiesling and Rita Gormley, have offered to speak at the Convention and show slides of irises in their area. Both ladies are very well qualified to represent the American view of iris cultivation.
Name badges: Julia Jacobs and Marg Kuchel showed samples of gold badges laser engraved with the club logo and their names. The badges have magnetic backs and will not mark clothing. Orders are being taken for the magnetic badges at a cost of $11.30 each. Anyone with a pacemaker can order their badge made with a pin instead of a magnet for $8.50. Contact Marg Kuchel to place your order.
Auction: Ann Pillay donated some very interesting driftwood for use in floral design. These were auctioned with the winning bidders being Edna Pongrac, Julia Jacobs, Betty Parsons, John Turner and Edna again. The auction raised $28 for the club. Thank you Ann.
Ann also donated some gardening magazines and a tapestry kit featuring an iris. The tapestry will be used as a raffle prize for the convention.
December Meeting
Our final meeting on Sunday December 12th at 12 noon, will be at Yarrabee, Goulds Creek Road One Tree Hill, Sue and Geoff Stribley's phone number 8280 7338 just in case you should get lost.
Everyone is asked to bring a savory and sweet plate to pool, drinks and chair, plus 2 rhizomes that are fairly recent, so they can be pooled and drawn by tickets on a first draw, first pick.
Show and Tell
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Edna Pongrac: A biscuit tin with the lid having a white background with a lovely blue Iris in the centre, boarded by pink twirling ribbon which also carried to the sides of the tin. Edna also showed us a pretty tea towel with a yellow background supporting a large purple Tall Bearded Iris purchased from the “Save the Children” shop. She advised that the tea towels are $6 and there are also nice iris aprons for $7.
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Pam Hilton: Note Pads of different sizes featuring a nice blue Tall Bearded Iris on a pale green background, these note books are available at some “Neds” stores.
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John Turner: A beautiful stem of Gypsy Romance. John received a letter from St Louis USA upon opening the letter John found another envelope which was of a lovely blue Iris print with his letter inside, only an Iris lover would go to that much trouble.
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Natalie Houba: A nice yellow jacket with a lovely cyclamen pink satin Tall Bearded Iris embroidered on the jacket.
Guest Speaker - Colleen Modra.
Colleen spoke on her recent trip to the USA for the Annual Iris Convention.
The trip did not cost a fortune as she flew Flybuys, bused from Los Angeles to Bakersfield ion the San Joachim Valley and stayed with George and Margaret Sutton where she checked the seedling patch every morning with George before attending the convention.
The Sutton nursery is in the San Joachim Valley, an area a lot like the Barossa here with lots of horticulture, vineyards and fruit growing. The area has soil with a Ph of 8.5 and an 11” rainfall. Flood irrigation is used on the irises which are grown on mounds.
Colleen showed slides of lots of the Sutton new seedlings which will be released in the future and some which were released this year in USA and are now in quarantine in Australia to be in Colleen’s garden next season.
The Iris Convention was held in Fresno, California. There was one day for registration and talks and a very small iris show. The major part was the bus trips to the iris gardens.
Ten buses left at 7am each morning and went in three different directions so everyone had to remember which tour group they were with so they didn’t miss any gardens.
All gardens served nibbles of nuts, strawberries and cheeses so no one starved on the busy schedule.
Colleen was most interested in the irises hybridized by Joe Ghio and Terry Aitken as she felt they were currently breeding the best new varieties.
After the garden visits there was a trip to the Yosemite National Park with spectacular mountain scenery.
As Colleen had a lot more photos than time allowed to show she has agreed to be our guest speaker at the Annual General Meeting on February 10th 2005. We will have to wait to see more of the American irises.
Don’t forget the Christmas luncheon at Stribley’s on December 12th.
To all Members - Have a safe and Happy Christmas and may 2005 be a Wonderful Year for all.
