We had a great display of irises which had been growing in our gardens and provided much discussion on their merits.
Reports were given of the venture of six members who travelled up to Blenheim, later visiting Lane Spence’s garden in Grasmere where he had a paddock full of aril irises.
These irises are usually a challenge to grow but his were out in a paddock with no special treatment.
A memory they will never forget.
Next report was of the NZ Iris Society annual meeting which was held in New Plymouth last month.
We congratulated Lynda Crossen who received the president’s award, the Anne Blanco "Festival Plate".
This is in recognition of Lynda's service to the society.
Our group has had several members receive this award.
Michael Midgley gave us a talk about Siberian irises.
These came originally from Europe and South Russia.
He named several species that we can grow in New Zealand.
We visited two gardens in Fairlie, some of us later finding shopping is great in Fairlie, with pies especially on the list.
On November 11 we met in Timaru where we supported the NZ Alpine Garden society which had brought out international speaker Jim Jermyn, a well-known horticulturist from Scotland who spoke to folk about growing European alpine plants.
We found that we need to have good drainage as these plants know how to look for water in deep crevices.
We had put on a great display of irises growing in our gardens and had a sales table.
All products of the day were donated to the NZ Alpine Garden Society Steve Newall Memorial Fund which brings out international speakers.
Heather Sell
