Some of you know I went to "help out" at one of the garden tours for the AIS convention that was held this May in New Jersey. I was "posted" to Glenara Gardens in Palmerton PA. The other garden on the tour was in Slatington PA (interesting note: The 2016 AIS convention was held at "Presby's Memorial Iris Gardens in Upper Montclair New Jersey - so it was a longish bus tour!)

I got there at about 8:30AM and started weeding and deadheading. It was VERY humid and the Sun was Very bright. The first group arrived around 10:15 or so. My main purpose was to "Answer questions". Great. No cheat sheet and no info about the gardens. I had to "wing it". I meet alot of neat folks and ran around getting water or assisting folks and looking up iris info on the ATP Iris database page.

Met hybridizer Howard Dash and discussed his "Sea Power" seedling. A fun and informative discussion. I also met Bob & Judy Hollingworth (he hybridizes SIBs) as they talked to another garden worker.

Breakfast in Bed



Brunnell MTB 2014

another snap of "Breakfast in Bed"




NOTE: This is the marker that the AIS sent to denote the "Guest" irises in the tour gardens. I will be posting some other markers that the owners used for their own iris collection cultivars.

Magic Mirror




Ghio TB 2015

Yours Truly





Ghio TB 2013

Celtic Dancer




Van Liere TB 2013

Bewitching Hour








Helsley TB 2009

Melted Butter




Fan TB 1994

Allegheny Rose




G. Spoon TB 2013

Rocky Brook Lady






Fan TB 2013

This flower was way past peak. It is showing its age on the outer edges of the Falls with the translucient areas starting to form and the edges curling up.

Princess Ellen





D. Miller TB 2015


WOW; I luv the Green "wash" on the Falls.

Sounds like a fun thing, Greg !! Nice pix, as well!!

Green iris - Like that Princess!

Here is the cultivar I spoke to Hybridizer Howard dash about.





He was much more interested in his other seedling (next I think), but it was not doing well.

My interest in this particular seedling was the difference between the form of the top bloom and the form of the next bloom down. There was a third bloom lower still on the stalk which matched the top bloom. Notice that the outer edges of the second bloom are not as "ruffled" as the top bloom; as if someone had "Ironed" them smooth. He said that this was not correct and that this was not a normal trait. It must have been weather related. I wish I had better pictures of this. I was very discouraged when I saw the end result. After a short discussion, I had to move on as I was there to help, not chat!

Organ Mountain Sunrise






My bad; it was not a seedling but an introduction. A 2016 Introduction. He was disappointed. It was small and the whole plant was not doing well. Apparently it died at the other garden

Midnight Velvet



Thomas Johnson TB 2014

Sounds like a great day, Greg!!

cool

What a fun day you spent at Glenara Garden, Greg. The little MTB Breakfast In Bed is unique even for a median. Beautiful blooms. Were the irises at peak bloom there?

Fun to see the display gardens and talk to the people who hybridized them I'm sure!