Newsletter of the Monterey Bay Iris Society

www.montereybayiris.org

2016 Calendar

Monthly meetings are held in Simpkin Swim Center unless otherwise stated.

Annual SaleSale . . . . Cabrillo/Aptos Farmer MktSaturday, August 20th

8 a.m.–12:00 p.m

Regular MeetingFriday, August 19, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30 p.m.Bill the Bloom BaronRefreshments Potluck at the Swim Center

Regular MeetingFriday, September 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30 p.m.BeardlessJoe GhioRefreshmentsCarolyn Craft, need second volunteer

Regular MeetingFriday, October 21, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30 p.m.PCIsRefreshments Kathy Wood, need second volunteer

Regular MeetingFriday, November 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7:30 p.m.TBARefreshmentsBarabara Hanson, need second

Annual Holiday DinnerLocation to be DecidedFriday December 16 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6:00 p.m

August BirthdaysSuzanne Caron August 18Carolyn Craft August 18

Meeting Location

August, 2016Next meeting August 19, 2016Doors open 7:00 p.m.Meeting 7:30 p.m.Place Simpkins Swim Center 979 17th Avenue, Santa Cruz

New Meeting LocationOver the the history of the MBIS, we have been meeting a variety of venues. Our first meetings and founding meeting was at the meeting hall at the UC Extension offices on Freedom Blvd. in Watsonville. Our first show was held there the next year. In those years (the ’70s, 80s, 90s) S&L had community meeting rooms. We moved to the Salinas Valley S&L (now Chase) on Main St. in Watsonville. As S&L began phasing out their meeting rooms, we moved to Watsonville S&L on East Lake in Watsonville. From there we moved to Citicorp room at Ocean and Water streets in Santa Cruz. With its room closed, we moved to the Native Sons Hall.

With our welcome there ended, we are now moving to the Simpkins Swim Center on 17th Avenue in Live Oak area in East Santa Cruz.

There is a link to Google maps on the website and you can also access that the map here, but it is easy to find. Take the Soquel Ave. exit from Hwy. #1 to the frontage road on the ocean side of the freeway, Soquel Ave. (the frontage road on the Dominican Hospital side of the freeway is Soquel Drive).

On Soquel Ave. continue to the 1st signal which is 17th Ave. (Staples is on the south corner). Turn onto 17th Ave and continue about 1½ miles. Pass Brommer which has a signal and in 2 blocks when you cross the railroad tracks, turn RIGHT immediately and some yards down that road is the Swim Center.

Simpkins Swim Center

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Board of Directors 2016PresidentCraig Tarr cht2325@yahoo.com 408-425-7207

Past PresidentBarbara Hanson behanson@pacbell.net 831-335-4949

Vice PresidentBarbara Hanson behanson@pacbell.net 831-335-4949

Treasurer/ LibrarianLarrissa Daniel Larissa_paniza@hotmail.com 831-724-9162

SecretaryBrenda Wood woodbrenda@aol.com 831-724-5415Jim Cummins jcummins@pacbell.net 831-438-1369

Hospitality & RefreshmentsShirley Trio

Show ChairCharley Kearns kcf@verizon.net 408-315-1520

Newsletter Editor Joe Ghio ghiobayview@att.net 831- 423-3656

Webmaster/Newsletter Editor Ann Pike baynews@baymoon.com 831-426-8855

1 Year BoardKathy HartmanAnn PikeShirley Trio

2 Year BoardSherry AustinWayne CrabbsRosanna Kennedy

August MeetingOur August meeting on Friday the 19th, will feature a special speaker—Bill the Bulb Baron. This is your chance to learn about planting and growing those wonderful bulbs that bloom at the same time as iris. And, bulbs don’t take over your garden and push out the iris, but are right there as a accent. To find out more about Bill, check out his website, billthebulbbaron.com.This will be our first meeting at the new location, Simpkins Swim Center. To kick off the event we will be having a potluck dinner prior to the meeting. Please bring all those wonderful dishes!

JULY PICNIC AND AUCTIONOn July 16, we returned to our old location, under the big oak, for our picnic/auction. It seemed like coming back home. Craig Tarr again, supervised the raffle ticket sales and called out the raffle winners. Larissa Daniel and Charley Kearns recorded and tallied the auction bids with the valuable assistance of Rosanna Kennedy remembering winning bid numbers. Joe Ghio, auctioneered with detailed descriptions of each rhizome, assisted by Jim Cummins with pictures. Of course, this created interest in each one. Spotters and runners were Jim Cummins and Wayne Craft.

There were 27 bidders. The highest amount paid was $23 for ‘Valley of Dreams’. The second highest was ‘Cross My Heart” for $22. The highest amount paid in 2015 was $35 for ‘Arriverderci’. The highest total purchased, this year, was $120.

We did much better this year raising $1,134, compared to $828 lat year. This year totals: auction—$832, raffle and “Pick from the lawn”—$302.

We auctioned 2 more rhizomes this year, but the average per rhizome was $10.27, compared to $7.37 last year. We did quite well raising funds for our club, and everyone seemed to have a good time and ate more than our fill, and that is what is important. Another great MBIS event.

Thanks to all that helped, brought iris, contributed culinary masterpieces, AND bought iris!

Charley Kearns

Entry doorway to Swim Center

2016 AIS SymposiumThe symposium is an annual popularity poll of Tall Bearded (TB) iris conducted by the AIS. All AIS members may vote in this symposium. The top 100 Tall Bearded iris are then ranked and the results of the symposium each year are published in the official publication of the AIS, the AIS Bulletin, usually within the January issue. All AIS members receive this quarterly publication as part of their AIS membership. The full results are published on the AIS website.

Every member of The American Iris Society may partici-pate in this balloting of the irises listed below. Each member is allowed twenty-five votes. There will be extra ballots at the August meeting or you can go to:http://www.irises.org/About_Irises/Awards_Surveys/TB_Sympo-sium.html

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July Picnic 2016

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Bloomers Bring your rebloomer to share! First drawing goes to those who have brought blooms. Rebloomer drawing starts in August and goes until February.

CULTURE TIPS

I f you haven’t done so already, this is the month to kick your replanting of bearded irises into high gear. If your soil has been used before or it is

very light, it is well to add organic matter to your beds in the form of compost, manures or even something like mushroom compost. A light application of super phosphate or bone meal is also helpful. You can apply by broadcasting and work them in or put a handful in each hole as you plant.

Before replanting it is best to dip all your irises, newly acquired or even your own, in a bleach solution, one part bleach to 9 parts water. Submerge the plants up to at least one inch above the rhizome. Keep them in the solution for 10-15 minutes, then dunk them in clear water and set them out to completely dry before planting. This last direc-tion is very important or else you are likely to have deformed plants in the spring. This process of soaking in bleach is helpful in killing off any fungus you do not want to intro-duce to your garden.

Bearded irises tolerate being out of the garden for some time, but keep them in the shade. Cut them back just before planting to keep them from falling over and to force new growth to form. TBs do best if the sun can get to the top of the rhizomes. Keep the weeds away from the plants, If you do not feel like pulling weeds later on, sprinkle some pre emergent on your beds after you are done with your planting. Be sure to use markers to label your plants, and draw a map of the new area showing the new varieties, so you will know which iris is which even if you loose the markers.

If you have rebloomers planted together, this is the month to give them a light application of a balanced fertilizer and a weekly watering. This is more likely to encourage repeat bloom. If they are mixed in with your other irises, you can do the same to them, but more growth on non-repeaters won’t encourage them to rebloom. % Joe

Door PrizesMembers need to bring to the August meeting good recent iris to share as door prizes. Bring favorite irises for the drawing. The door prizes will depend on what members bring to this meeting. Rebloomers would be really great!

From The Prez

Now is the time for cataloging all the new iris for your garden and renewing your vow never to buy more than you have room for. Out with the old and

in with the new. Karin and I expanded our passion and are building 80 feet of new raised beds to accommodate all the recent arrivals. I hope we can fit them all in.

The Spring Region 14 dig was last Tuesday, (Same day as the Cummins dig). I went up to Nola’s iris garden to represent MBIS and met many nice people and hung out with Gary and Nola Prevost during the dig. I had no idea how many iris needed to be dug up and was glad it was not a National. By the end of the day I was tired but came home with a nice iris or two to add to my collection.

Thursday was Joe’s dig at the farm. As usual we had a big turnout, food by Irene and laughter. At the end of the day we sauntered into the berry patch and “sampled” some. Again, I came home with some good rhizomes and now have to add a small bed to put them.

Our big event, the Deer Park sale was August 6th and it was well attended by volunteers and customers. I was there early and had lunch at Red Apple afterwards. It seems to be tradition. We have one more sale coming up where we will need help—the Aptos Market sale on the 20th.

And a reminder to all…call me if you need my opinion or have to contact me. E-mail is only checked twice a week % Craig

Upcoming MeetingsOur September meeting on Friday the 16th will feature Beardless Iris. Learn about Japanese, Spuria, Siberian, Lousianna, and a variety of other iris. Many of these iris are tall. All are a wonderful addition to your garden. The speaker will be Joe Ghio who for several years hybridized Spurias.Our October meeting on Friday the 21st will feature Pacific Coast Iris. These are the iris native to our area and are often found wild in our coastal hills. Our speaker is Joe Ghio. If you have been to our Spring Iris shows, then you are familiar with his PCI introductions and seedlings. The American Iris Society annually gives out the Sydney B Mitchell Award for the best Pacific Coast Iris and Joe Ghio has won this award over a dozen times. He is the expert to hear when you want to learn about these wonderful little iris!Everyone is welcome to attend our meetings. Come join us, have fun and learn tips about gardening and iris!