A
large genus, Iris occurs in a wide variety
of habitats in most of the Northern Hemisphere. Almost all
have showy and characteristic flowers, and many have become
established garden favourites. Botanists have subdivided the
genus into several subgenera and sections, each with common
characteristics. Gardeners tend to use a simplified horticultural
classification with two main groups:
Bulbous irises: the botanical groups, Reticulata, Juno and Xiphium.
Rhizomatous irises: subdivided into the Bearded or Pogon irises, and the Beardless irises.
Bearded irises include the botanical groups of Oncocyclus, Regelia, Regeliocyclus and Arilbred irises, as well as the familiar bearded irises.
Beardless irises comprise the Pacific Coast irises, Siberian, Spuria, Laevigatae the water or Japanese irises, Louisiana, Unguiculares and Crested irises.
Joint Iris Committee
This Committee is a source of expertise for the RHS, for advice on all matters regarding irises. The Committee is responsible for judging all individual exhibits of irises shown at the London Flower Shows and Chelsea Show, the group exhibits being judged by a Council-appointed Panel. It is also responsible for selecting iris cultivars for Award of Garden Merit assessment and for judging the relevant trials at Wisley.
RHS Exhibition Awards
Exhibition Awards are given to plants with show-bench quality. Irises are usually put before the Committee in a vase. The highest of the three available awards is the First Class Certificate (FCC), followed by the Award of Merit (AM) and the Certificate of Preliminary Commendation (PC). Anyone can enter plants for award on specified dates when the Committee meets, either at the monthly RHS London Flower Shows or the Chelsea Flower Show. Contact the Committee Secretary for further details.
RHS trials
Currently the RHS trials department is assessing six different iris trials: Japanese iris, Iris sibirica, Bearded irises, Iris spuria, Pacific Coast irises and Tall Bearded irises.
Read the Bearded Iris Trial Bulletin.
The Award of Garden Merit
Further reading
This is just one topic covered by the Society's monthly journal for members, The Garden, and recent articles of interest are listed below. The latest thinking from the best minds in horticulture today is to be found in the RHS journal, The Plantsman: some recent relevant articles are suggested here.
Bartlett, C. 1999, May. All in moderation. The Garden (RHS): 124(5): 355-359. Trial of Intermediate Bearded irises.
Hewitt, J. 1996, June. Iris sibirica. The Garden (RHS) 121(6): 340-345.
Noltie, H. 1995. New irises from Yunnan. The New Plantsman 2(3): 131-139.
Service, N. 1999. A new subspecies of Iris pseudopumila. The New Plantsman 6(3): 186-188.
Stebbings, G. 1998, June. Hovering in the wings. The Garden (RHS) 123(6): 408-413. Iris ensata (I. kaempferi) cultivars.
Wise, B. 1995, May. Pacific Coast jewels. The Garden (RHS) 120(5): 252-255.