SPCNI Treks and Excursions

The Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris organizes frequent group activities to help develop hands-on, practical knowledge of these remarkable plants. Some are bus trips to places hosting various combinations of wild iris. Others include tours of gardens and nurseries that grow or hybridize Pacifica iris. The "Treks" often coincide with a national meeting of the American Iris Society held in the western U.S., and non-Society members are invited to attend. Here are some photographs from past excursions.

SPCNI Treks and expeditions.

Top Row: (L) - Wayne Rodrick, director of the Tildon Botanical Garden in Berkeley, describes how the environmental conditions at Whiskey Creek, Oregon are especially favorable for wild iris. Adele Lawyer 1989.   (R) - Visitors admire the astounding color range of PCN hybrids growing in Joe Ghio's Bayview Gardens in Santa Cruz, California. Elyse Hill 1994.

Center Row: (L) - Scoggins Creek, in the Hagg Lake watershed southwest of Portland; here a local yellow population of Oregon Iris was once described as a separate species - "Iris gormanii". Steve Ayala 2006.   (C & R) - Adele Lawyer (L), and Steve Taniguchi and Glen Corlew (R) focus on a Southern Harweg's Iris growing in the San Bernardino Mountains of southern California. Steve Ayala 2002.

Bottom Row: 2010 Trek to southern Oregon.   (L) - Pat Spiers admires a bright patch of Golden Iris. Kathleen Sayce.   (R) Visitors enjoy a lunch in a meadow of Oregon Iris: Joyce Prothero, Pat Spiers and Bob Sussman. Ken Hixson photo.

And here are some accounts of other recent SPCNI expeditions: