Whiskey Creek, Oregon; Wayne Roderick of the Tildon Botanical Garden
in Berkeley describes local growing conditions. (1989, Adele Lawyer)
EXPEDITIONS & FIELD TRIPS
Each year, the Society for Pacific Coast Native Iris organizes group activities to help develop hands-on, practical knowledge of these remarkable plants. Some excursions are bus trips to places hosting various combinations of wild iris species. Others include tours of iris gardens or nurseries.
Whiskey Creek, Oregon; Wayne Roderick of the Tildon Botanical Garden
in Berkeley describes local growing conditions. (1989, Adele Lawyer)
Recent field trips in California and Oregon provided the chance to see each of the different PCNI species and named races growing wild in their natural habitat. Over the course of one or two days, bus and car caravans visit special sites for irises and other native wildflowers. Natural history experts explain the region's unique features. In the evenings there are slide presentations and discussions far into the night.
Visits to private and public gardens help develop a feeling for the many ways PCN iris can be used in landscape design. Gardeners with a special interest in hybridizing reveal something of the depth and potential of the vast natural iris genepool, unconstrained by the geographic limits imposed on Mother Nature.
Field trip visitors admire the astounding color range of PCN hybrids in
Joe Ghio's Bayview Gardens, Santa Cruz, California. (1994, Elyse Hill)