FORT MISSOULA GARDEN

The Fort Iris gardens were started in 1981 with the creation of the three largest beds, #1, 2, 3. In the next two years the Dykes bed #4 and the six radial beds were added. In the fall of 1982 sod was put in with assistance from Big Sky High School students. The Boy Scouts helped with the rock work.

In 1988 an overhead sprinkler system was installed replacing the previous drip system which had proved unsuitable for this type of garden. The old bandstand, which once stood in front of the courthouse, was moved into the gardens in 1983. It's been refurbished into the gazebo south of the iris gardens. All garden maintenance is done by MIS club members. The areas surrounding the beds have been beautified and picnic tables added, thanks to the historical museum personnel.

After the disastrous winter of 1988-89 when approximately 75% of the irises were killed, thirty-four hybridizers from across the USA donated several of their most recent iris introductions. These were planted in the radial beds and in the Spuria-Siberian bed #2.

The gardens are updated yearly with additional rhizomes (plants) which are donated from members' gardens or purchased from hybridizers with proceeds from the annual rhizome sale. This sale is held on the last Saturday of July in the garden at the Historical Museum. You are invited to come purchase your favorite rhizomes that you have seen in the garden.

Other activities which visitors may be interested in attending are the Annual Ice Cream Social that gives members and the public a chance to enjoy the gardens at bloom time, and the show, which is held at the Southgate Mall. Exhibition is open to the public at no cost for viewing or exhibiting. It is an American Iris Society sanctioned show. Activity dates are in the local media.

The Missoula Iris Society meets the first Saturday of each month. These informational and educational meetings are held in members' homes or at Ft. Missoula with a pot-luck dinner & programs which cover many aspects of gardening. The membership is about evenly divided between men and women with a wide age range represented. Currently the club numbers about fifty-five members. We always welcome new members.

If you would like cultural information, the date of our next meeting or a date for our major events, you are planning to attend, please refer to our website. You can also  call one of the following members: Betty Ann Gustafson at 251-3526 or Gary Clark at 728 7366.