HOIIG met Wednesday, October 18, 2023 at the West Des Moines Public Library for our last meeting of 2023.
The topic was MDBs – Miniature Dwarf Bearded Irises – the earliest blooming bearded irises. We watched the first few minutes of the American Iris Society Webinar: Dwarf Bearded Irises: the Three Types of MDBs and then talked about resources for finding more information. This handout has links to the resources.
Have a great holiday season and see you next March!
HOIIG is again meeting regularly at a new location. Wednesday, July 19, 2023 we met at the West Des Moines Public Library and the main topic was Iris Borers. Learn more about these iris pests (pdf) including ways of destroying them.
Unfortunately because of the Covid-19 pandemic we have cancelled in-person meetings and other events until further notice.
Please enjoy your irises safely.
The Heart of Iowa Iris Growers will be meeting in a new location this year. With the completion of the new Ankeny Kirkendall Library we will be meeting there. As before all meetings will be the third Wednesday of the month – March through October – at 7:00 p.m.
Ankeny Kirkendall Library
1250 SW District Dr
Ankeny, IA 50023
That was the subject of the HOIIG meeting August 21, 2019. It described some of the seed exchanges and rhizome sales within various parts of the AIS. You can see the Iris Acquisition Opportunities handout from the program. It is a PDF which has links to some of the possibilities.
Our March 2018 meeting featured a great talk by Leah Worth: “If You Plant It They Will Come“. Leah is the Horticulture Projects Manager at the Iowa Arboretum. Her topic was the Iris Collection that they are developing because of their experience as a host garden for the 2017 AIS Convention. They currently have 264 irises for the start of their collection. Be sure to visit the Iowa Arboretum several times to see these outstanding recent irises beginning in late April and continuing through May and even into early June! All dates are dependent on when spring actually arrives; so far the dates are looking good. Peak bloom is likely to be the last week of May, similar to last year.
One of the things we learned is that they have an online list of their irises. You can find the list on their website.
Thank you Leah and the Arboretum for your talk, for hosting guest irises for the Convention, and for the great setting you have for all types of plants. Learn more about the Iowa Arboretum here.
Just in case you are receiving our postings some way that does not show updates – there will be no February 2018 HOIIG meeting.
Join us March 29 (the last Thursday in March) for our next meeting.
Update February 20 – We will not be meeting this month because of the weather forecast. Hope to see you in March.
Our speaker for the HOIIG meeting on Thursday, February 22nd, will be Dian Curran sharing growing iris in climates differing from Iowa. The meeting starts at 7 pm in Cafe Diem in Ankeny. We have the room from 6 pm if you are wanting to come earlier for food, beverage, or added social time. The public is invited!
And an Iowa reminder, the meetings are weather permitting. We will contact members (email and posting) if it looks too difficult for travel. Stay safe on the roads!
Our January Heart of Iowa Iris Growers meeting will have Pam Messer addressing Container Gardening. Come and learn more about this for enjoying irises. The meeting is Thursday, January 25, 2018 at 7 p.m. at Cafe Diem in Ankeny.
Everyone is invited to attend. Please consider becoming a member, only $12 per household.
Note that the meeting is weather dependent. Currently the forecast looks good; however, we will email members and post here if the weather becomes too bad. Hope to see you at the meeting.
Photo is ‘Sign Me Up’ Niswonger 2001, a SDB (standard dwarf bearded) iris in our garden.
Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving. We will be meeting at the Ankeny Café Diem at 7PM for viewing a CD about reblooming iris. And as a reminders we won’t be meeting in December. We would love to hear about your experiences with rebloomers.
Heart of Iowa Iris Growers 