Brenda, a self titled “Iris Snob and Backyardian,” has been growing iris since the mid-1970s…nearly 50 years! She’s a current member of several iris societies: PAIS (Prescott Area Iris Society), AIS (American Iris Society), DIS (Dwarf Iris Society), RIS (Reblooming Iris Society), HIPS (Historic Iris Preservation Society), Guardian Gardens (being a grower / preserver of historic iris), ASI (Aril Society International), and more.
She recently attended the 2022 AIS National Convention in Las Cruces New Mexico where she met number of well known iris hybridizers: Paul Black, Howard Dash, Hugh Stout, David Toth, and had time to visit with Jim Hedgecock, who was a guest presenter here in Prescott in October 2021.
2022 AIS Convention
(Las Cruces, New Mexico)
Says she enjoyed everything! “Garden tours were very informative even though there weren’t a ton of blooms (from the unusually cold spring). Was able to see how growers set up their fields, formal and informal planting in private gardens. Seminars and judges training were loaded with info! Almost information overload. The best part was meeting other iris lovers so willing to share their knowledge, and others who felt like friends that I’ve known for a long time. Just a great group of people!”
Why Does Brenda Grow Iris?
“I like growing irises because of their easy care and the huge variety in colors, shapes, size of bloom, height of plant/bloom.” She enjoys all iris colors, but is “not too keen on white” and is particularly drawn to browns & greens.
How Did Brenda Get Started with Iris?
She loved her mother’s tall bearded iris ‘Beverly Sills,’ an inspiration to invest in her own collection. Squirreling away money for her first purchase, Brenda, in her typically ‘thinking big’ style, made her initial purchase ~ $500 worth of iris!! BUT being a novice iris grower, she threw away ALL the label names of those iris! After all, they were “only flowers” and who needed to bother keeping tags or knowing what their names were? A bit later, still being an iris ’newbie,’ Brenda removed all iris with PBF (purple based foliage) from her growing collection, gifting them all to a friend. OMGosh! The ideas we have, when we don’t know better. Now she does.
Well, as happens to most of us, irisarians and gardeners alike, our attitudes change once the iris virus strikes. Brenda is fairly sure none of those ‘lost/tossed names’ iris remain in her current collection, except for one she admired early on ~ tall bearded iris ‘Fanfaron.’
Now she works diligently to gift to friends and local iris enthusiasts any NoID (no name / mismarked / mislabeled) iris in her expanding 900+ cultivar collection
What are Brenda’s favorite Iris?
Broken Colors ~ Iris with stripes, spots, speckles, and unpredictable patterns. Brenda’s assembling a iris bed featuring her Brad Kasperek* collection.
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*Brad Kasperek, considered the pioneer of modern broken color irises, has been hybridizing broken color irises for 25 years.
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Don’t have many photos of the broken color irises collection as they have just started opening in 2022.
Brenda has an on-going love affair with Arilbred Irises, hybrid crosses between Tall Bearded and exotic aril iris species of the Middle East.
Her first AB purchase was ‘Rare Breed,’ another iris in the copper/brown range. Brenda says “Didn’t have a clue what an arilbred was when I ordered it, was just head-over-heels IN LOVE!”
Photo: A bed of SDB and MDB iris at Brenda's Joy Iris.
What’s Happening at Brenda’s Joy Iris?
- A Rodeo – Cowboy – Western themed bed she began planting in 2019 when planning for the PAIS “Prescott Iris Round Up,” the 2021 Fall Conference for AIS Region 15.
- Autumn of 2021, Brenda put in a Covid19 Iris Bed hoping most of those iris would be blooming in 2022. Some of the sixty iris planted in this bed are: Always And Forever, Apocalypse Girl, Break My Heart, Catch My Breath, Catch The Fever, Conspiracy Theory, Doctor No, Game Changer, Glimmer Of Hope, House Arrest, It’s Not Over, Just Crazy, Leave Me Breathless, Missing You, No Place Like Home, Quarantine Queen, Uncertain Times, What Again.
- A Space-Age Iris Bed is currently in development. (Space-Age iris, sometimes referred to as ‘Novelty Iris,’ have beard anomalies like extensions, pointed ends, spoons and flounces.)
- Brenda’s also considering an ‘I’ll Drink To That’ bed.
And Brenda’s Goals?
“No real goals – just keep planting!” IF she moves to Texas, then Brenda’s mulling over plans to develop a large area to grow iris for resale.
May 2022 ~ Article by Cynthe Brush based on phone & email exchanges with Brenda.
