Spring Luncheon and Meeting

Sunday March 30, 2014 1 pm to 5 pm

Wyndham Garden Exton 815 North Pottstown Pike (PA 100), Exton, PA

Located between U.S. 30 and PA Turnpike Exit 312 (Old Exit 23)

Call the hotel at (610) 363-1100 for additional directions

Lunch served at 1:30 pm

Program

THE NEW JERSY HYBRIDIZERS

Speakers

Vince Lewonski and Ron Thoman

Door Prizes!

New Members and Guests Invited

———————————————————————————————————————

Registration Form for DVIS 2014 Spring Luncheon and Meeting Price of each meal is $20.00. Please make check out to DVIS.

Place the first name of each attendee in front of the meal selected.

__________________________Chicken Colonial with Traditional Stuffing

_________________________ Vegetarian Platter: Pasta Primavera

Salad, dessert and beverage included with each meal.

Names of those attending: __________________________________________________________________________________

Telephone: __________________________

Return this slip and your check to Ron Thoman, 1010 Wiggins Way, West Chester, PA 19380, to be received no later than March 24, 2014.

S pring is nearly here! A

perfect way to celebrate is

by attending the DVIS

Spring Luncheon and Meeting.

After lunch and a short business

meeting, Vince and Ron will take

us on a journey to New Jersey

visiting some of the state’s leading

iris hybridizers. You will meet the

hybridizers and walk through their

gardens getting an opportunity to

see the beautiful irises they grow

along with the those which they

have hybridized themselves. It is

like going into a confectionery

shop with treats in dazzling colors.

New members and guests are en-

couraged to attend. All are sure

to have a informative and enjoya-

ble time.

DVIS eNewsletter

D E L AWA R E VA L L E Y I R I S S O C I E T Y

A N A F F I L I A T E O F T H E A M E R I C A N I R I S S O C I E T Y

President: Carol Ann Moyer, 4692 Woodfield Circle, Doylestown, PA 18902, (215) 794-7257, Carol@dvis-ais.org

Vice President: Vince Lewonski, 509 South Bishop Ave., Secane, PA 19018-2903 (856) 829-1880 (weekday) Vince@dvis-ais.org

Secretary and Immediate Past President: Ron Thoman, 1010 Wiggins Way, West Chester, PA 19380-3312 (610) 719-6081 Ron@dvis-ais.org

Treasurer: Jen Cunningham, 4245 Lovers Lane, Slatington, PA 18080, (610) 767-2732, Jen@dvis-ais.org

February 2014

www.dvis-ais.org

Program Chair: Vince Lewonski Sale Co-chairs: Victoria Buckley & Bobbe Horvath Shows Chair: Vince Lewonski

Publicity Chair: Anne McNelis eNewsletter Editor: Ron Thoman Associate Editor: Chris Huston

Hospitality and Membership Recruitment Chair: Nancy Thoman Auctions Co-chairs: Vince Lewonski & Gary Slagle

First-Year Introductions Chair: Vince Lewonski Open Garden Chair: Jen Cunningham Meeting Arrangements Chair: Ron Thoman

New Member Welcoming Chair: Ron Thoman Potluck Hosts: vacant DVC Iris Garden Project Chair: Carol Ann Moyer

Webmasters: Carol Ann & James Moyer Members-At-Large: Doreen & Dave Duncan, Larry & Debbie Westfall, and Joan Wood

DVIS Dates for 2014

Mark Your Calendars

Spring Meeting Sun 3-30-14

Mid-Season Iris

Show

Sat 5-17-14

Late-Season Iris

Show

Sun 6-22-14

Dig Day TBD

Iris Sale, Auction,

Club Iris Pickup

Sat 7-19-14

Potluck, Auction Sat 9-13-14

PHS Fall Festival Sat 9-20-14

Fall Meeting Sun 11-9-14

p. 2 February 2014

Join the Fun. Come to the DVIS Spring

Luncheon and Meeting

‘Madison County’

Straight Talk About Straight Stalks

See article on

page 3

Quilting and Irises

By Nancy Thoman

The beauty of irises joins the art of

sewing to create quilts that are

unique and a joy to the quilter. This

is an art form that has been enjoyed

for centuries in the Orient and since

the Pilgrims brought their hand work

to the Americas.

Modern quilt making often has free

form iris on a background fabric.

More traditional quilting repeats

squares of fabric formed by cutting

and sewing pieces into a pattern.

Many quilts are created from fabric

printed with the iris. Quilters cut the

cloth into shapes such as exact trian-

gles or rectangles and then sew the

pieces into a pattern for a quilt, a

wall hanging, or a table runner. It is

quilted by hand or by machine to

further enhance its beauty.

The items created are a way to enjoy

the iris and extend the season to in-

side your home. I have taken fabric

outside to match the blooming irises

and have some of my favorite

blooms on the wall of the family

room. I also did some free-form

work appliqued on a soft pastel

background of hand dyed squares.

That is the piece in the photo. It

hangs on the wall of the foyer where

friends can see the more intricate

stitching.

I have an explosion of ideas to create

iris quilts but alas, there are only 24

hours in a day. Iris quilts are works

of art that please the eye and the soul.

During these snowy days, give it a try

and you will be amazed at how much

fun it is to create your own treasure.

p. 3 February 2014

JUDGES’ CORNER I

A Stalk is a Stalk is a Stalk

‘Above the Clouds’ Serpentine Stalk

‘Place Your Bets’ Modified Candelabra

Stalk

By Ron Thoman

Wait a minute. It is not that

simple. There are two

basic stalk forms for tall

bearded irises: straight and

serpentine, as shown in the

adjacent photos.

When either of these types

have wide branching, it is

designated either modified

candelabra or wide cande-

labra.

Wide candelabra (not

shown) is more exaggerat-

ed in branching width than

the modified candelabra

(shown).

A wide candelabra stalk

can look striking as a sin-

gle stalk, particularly on the

show bench. However, in

a clump it can sometimes

tangle with adjacent stalks

to cause flower interfer-

ence.

Furthermore, the wide

branching of either the

wide or modified candela-

bra has a tendency to hold

two flowers at about the

same level giving an unap-

pealing appearance. This

is shown in the adjacent

photo of ‘Place Your Bets’.

For a given candelabra

variety, however, you

should not jump to any

conclusions until you make

the observations yourself.

The Judges’ Handbook

lists a scale of points for

evaluation: plant (30), stalk

(35), flower (25) and

distinctiveness (10). You

may be surprised that the

stalk gets the most.

points. But the stalk has

important responsibilities:

The stalk height and

diameter is required to

be in proportion to the

flower.

Except for severe

weather, the stalk has

the duty of standing

upright.

The stalk must have at

least two branches and

a terminal, with well

spaced flowers, all

held above or at the

top of the foliage.

The stalk is not to con-

tribute to bunchy flow-

ers through top

branching, bad timing

of flower opening, too

many flowers, etc.

The stalk needs to

hold the flowers in an

attractive manner: no

toeing in, for example.

The stalks are obliged

to work together to

provide a floriferous

clump which blooms

for about two weeks.

JUDGES’ CORNER II

By Ron Thoman

My iris friends had often

teased me because I had

disliked the fragrance of

most bearded iris varieties.

What does the Judges’

Handbook say on the sub-

ject?

Tall bearded: “Fragrance is

subjective. What smells

heavenly to one individual

may be offensive to anoth-

er.”

Intermediate bearded: “A

pleasing fragrance is an

asset, both indoors and in

the garden, and the judge

may consider it in making

an overall evaluation.”

Miniature tall bearded:

“Pleasing fragrance is es-

pecially important in min-

iature tall bearded irises

because they are popular

cut flowers.”

This seems somewhat con-

tradictory. And all in the

same Handbook!

However, as the section on

tall bearded says, “If a

judge detects a pleasing

fragrance, rejoice!”

As I get older, my sense of

smell is declining. As a

result, irises are smelling

better. And I am noticing

differences between varie-

ties. Sometimes I catch a

citrus scent … or even a

spicy one.

Seedling, Ev. Kegerise

Straight Stalk

p. 4 February 2014

Welcome New Members

We give a great BIG welcome to you, our twenty

seven new members enrolled in 2013: Cliff

Bailer, Rosemary and Amy Barboza, Allyn Bens-

ing, Karl Brachwitz, Carol Callaghan, Carolyn

Cardinale, Donna Clark, Carmen Costalas, Gen-

evieve DiCamillo, Jill Ewing, Denise Mielnicki,

Mary H. Miller, Diane Newbury, Wendy Paul,

Blanche R. Reine, Sharon Richardson, Robert

McAlack and Kathy Sacks, Joseph Schmidt,

Carole Stackhouse, Mary Lou Tate, Wes Tomlin-

son, G. Wallace, Michael Wolf, and Jill McNisr

and Clare Yellir.

We are pleased that you are part of DVIS. New

members are the very soul of our organization.

Your enthusiasm and curiosity stimulates all of

us. We invite you to participate fully in all DVIS

activities.

DVIS members are a congenial, cheerful group.

Our meetings and activities are new-member

friendly. At our meetings, for example, we have

name tags and round tables to aid in the cordiali-

ty. We hope to see you at the Spring Luncheon

and Meeting.

Renewals Those who are overdue in either DVIS or

AIS dues are reminded to make payment

to maintain your memberships.

Dues notices were sent to DVIS-only

members in late December by email or

USPO. DVIS dues for 1 year are $10, for

3 years are $25. Send dues to Ron

Thoman (address on p. 1).

If you joined in 2013 as a new DVIS-only

member, your dues are not payable for

another year. This gives you a full year’s

membership.

There are no DVIS dues for AIS members.

Your aim is to win with the

Best Specimen of the Show

(Queen of the Show). So

how do you select the most

promising varieties to grow

and exhibit.

The strategy is not the same

as for winning blue ribbons.

This is because most iris

shows today are of the culti-

var type vs. color type. Here

a given variety competes only

with those of the same varie-

ty, either with the ones physi-

cally in the show or with the

norms for that variety. On the

other hand, the Queen must

win over all the eligible stalks

in the show.

And what makes a good

Queen, does not necessarily

make a good garden iris. For

example, the Queen could

have a very nice stalk with

well held and spaced flowers,

but a short bloom season.

So how do you identify the

best irises to grow in order to

increase your odds of winning

the Queen of the Show?

Do you acquire irises from a

list of Dykes Medal winners

or other AIS award winners?

Since the judges voted these

awards for their superior gar-

den habits, it is not clear that

they would also be exception-

al on the show bench.

Instead refer to the AIS Exhi-

bition Report listed in the Jan-

uary/February issue of Irises.

Look particularly for those

irises that repeat as Best

Specimen.

Do you need to follow this

formula to capture the Queen

of the Show? Not at all. But

I think the approach could

improve your chances.

Long live the Queen!

To Be A Queen Maker By Ron Thoman

Got Plants? Got Questions?

Got Problems? By Anne McNelis

The Garden Rebel, with Vince

Sims, is a live, two-hour, caller-

driven, gardening and landscap-

ing show, airing on Sunday

mornings.

Vince has a vast knowledge, with

a genuine personality that listen-

ers enjoy. From Seattle to Sara-

sota, The Garden Rebel has the

answers to America's gardening

and landscaping questions.

The Garden Rebel understands

that not every problem can be

resolved in the same way and

offers natural, environmentally

safe answers to the most com-

mon issues.

Vince is a native Floridian who

discovered his life's passion early

on. He confesses that he started

his gardening career growing

plants in soup cans. He went on

to discover several rare, blue rib-

bon, and exotic specimens.

Tune in Sunday 10 am to noon,

1180 AM WFYL. (Streaming

online.) Call in: 1-800-329-5858