How many of you belong to a iris club. If you do, would you recommend joining. I'm thinking about it. But the only thing is that it is that it's about 90 minute drive each way from my house.

The other part of my question is: have any of you been to any of a club sells/auctions. What should I expect if I go to one. The one I'm thinking Bout had one for yesterday and today.

Thanks for the input.

I belong to the Central Arkansas Iris Society (CAIS). It is about a 75 minute drive one way but it is worth it. You can learn so much and it is just great to hear what is going on in a local(ish) community regarding iris gardens. Speakers come in each month and any hybridizers that live in your area are usually members and attend faithfully if their health permits. We have an annual dig and sale each year. We have iris projects that we work to promote AIS, CAIS and growing irises. There are committees that serve either on projects or deciding to buy irises for the projects. I serve on the board of directors but the board only meets four times a year. Otherwise it does take communicating and decision making via emails. We take field trips to big iris growers gardens which are informative and enjoyable.

It is a bit of a drive and it is a bit of work but being with iris people and talking iris is always a great way to spend an afternoon.

I recommend you attend as a guest and see how you like it. As for the sales we sell our extra increases for three and four dollars a healthy rhizome and the dwarfs go for one or two. A lot of our irises are new intros but we have historics too.

I joined our state club last fall, They took my check and I haven't heard a thing from them since. No communication. I wonder if they lost my application or if they just don't communicate. Oh Well, They are missing a truck load of rhizomes for their sale, of which I have no idea when it is. Guess I could go looking for it, but seems to me that they should communicate with their members at some level. I did go to the sale last year and bought several irises. I think each state has various levels of activity. Some sound really active, and others are hardly functional.

I don't belong to our local Iris club, I looked it up once but that was as far as I got. When we first moved here they did have a Iris sale at the mall. I have never seen one since then. I need to research it again.

I have tried several times to contact our local regional AIS club (the only club I know of around here) but have never gotten a response. Which means I can't really join since I can never reach them to join . They do have a yearly sale but I have yet to find that posted until after the event.

The iris societies in Tennessee and Kentucky are pretty active. I only have to drive about 10 minutes to any meeting. We have a very active website and great communication through email. I love the programs and the shows.
We often go to Regional Meetings in Tennessee and have hosted several here in Kentucky. I do not think I would drive 90 minutes to go to one but I might for a sale if it is an active group. This group is a better one if you make contacts and have something you can trade. You can find out what grows well and see great pictures without paying for a catalog! Some clubs have great participation and some have really aging populations that cannot garden much any more and may need to disban but their knowledge is gratefully shared.
If it were closer, I would advise joining but not if you have to go that far away!

see if they have a website or FB page. the information will be posted there then just go to a meeting. Find out when their meetings are scheduled and you will be welcome as a guest if you don't want to join. We always have a lot of guests and we let them sign in and be in the drawing for iris door prizes.

Yes, I did join the Garden State Iris Society, which comprises New Jersey, Delaware and Pennsylvania, but they only meet once per year, at their annual Show which is in May, and
it is not held anywhere near me in New Jersey. So I guess I won't be participating in anything
with them. Ho-Hum! I am also a member of the AIS, TB Iris Society, HIPS, Siberian Iris Society,
etc. I do enjoy seeing and reading the bulletins with tons of pictures of Irises.

We also have a spring plant swap/picnic where every manner of plant, iris, bulb or tree that a gardener has an extra is brought and given away

Our "club" Facebook page hasn't had any now messages for 2 years. I tried to contact them that way too. I think the local club is all aging and not really trying to recruit. Such a shame. I would love to talk with some local growers. I think clubs that are active are a great resource for learning iris culture in your area. Closest I have to that is Duke gardens but the iris gardens currently look like they need someone to teach them as well.

I am a member of my local garden club, HIPS and the Maine Iris Society. Maine is a big state, so many of the meetings are too far away for me to do easily.

MIS is awesome. In addition to the Spring show, there is a nice newsletter, an auction, a swap picnic and more. The people are super nice and so happy to have newcomers.

We have several hybridizers or the children thereof. It is pretty cool when you get handed a rhizome by the person who crossed it.

I am seriously going to try to get my car back so I can go to the swap, no matter where it is this year. (My son moved 15 miles north and we share a car, so I ask in advance. I work from home. I don't need it much.)

I belong to the Monterey Bay Iris Society in Santa Cruz. We have a couple of members that drive a couple hours to come, but they're just nuts (about Iris) and belong, and are active in, several clubs. A few folks come from the San Jose area, and may also belong to the club over there. We have a lot of fun. It took me years to get up the gumption to go to a meeting full of strangers..
Our sale is next Saturday (are you coming Rob??). Last year we sold out in an hour. All the Iris are labeled. Some of the folks staple a picture onto the fan. Others bring a picture to put on the box. There are a mixture of some very recent introductions, some historics, and a lot in-between. Some are beautifully grown, big fat rhizomes, and some are more modest.
Most of the folks that come are just folks that want something pretty for their garden.... with a few under-the radar enthusiasts. I went to the sale for many years before I revealed myself One year I asked Joe Ghio to just pick out a few for me.. He was throwing just about everything into my bag enthusiastically describing each one... I think I went home with 20 or so... That was when I turned the corner to the dark side

I like that, the DARK side!

I went to my first Iris club meeting in June, It was informative and fun. Not real impressed with there face book page however. I posted a question about what to expect from their Iris sale coming up in August and no one bothered to answer.

tveguy3 said:I joined our state club last fall, They took my check and I haven't heard a thing from them since. No communication. I wonder if they lost my application or if they just don't communicate. Oh Well, They are missing a truck load of rhizomes for their sale, of which I have no idea when it is. Guess I could go looking for it, but seems to me that they should communicate with their members at some level. I did go to the sale last year and bought several irises. I think each state has various levels of activity. Some sound really active, and others are hardly functional.

If you need to find a home for some of them I know I would like some!

We belong to the Iris Society of Massachusetts (ISM) We just held our sale to the general public yesterday. It is about an hour's drive away when not heavy traffic. The members auction is next Sun. Having cleared space from sale irises we can now put new ones in the spaces. that was fine when we were younger, but we are trying to keep the collection down.

John is a charter member, 10 people, & I joined soon after. We alternate sale & show years as the same people do all the work. It is an hour's drive away in decent traffic; longer at times.

Tom, Iris groups tend to be aged. They probably need you. I hope you find someone to communicate with.

Lucy, I am from Lunenburg. Stephanie Markham was a year behind me in school.

The auction is at her place & she runs the website, massirises.org. The newsletter Irid-ISM is posted on it if you all want something to read.

I belong to AIS and TBIS. There is an Iris Club right here in Kentucky (Bluegrass Iris Society), as Jane has already described -- but it is centered in Lexington, which is the north central part of the state. I live in the far western part of the state, five driving hours away -- which makes it impossible to participate.

But I enjoy the magazines from the two organizations I do belong to, and the activities that I can participate in -- such as the photo contest at AIS, etc.