June 2020

HELLO EVERYONE!

Another month has gone by. Iris are blooming! They are a bright spot in our Covid-19 regulated lives.

THE MISSOULA IRIS SOCIETY ACTIVITIES ARE STILL ON HOLD. NO MEETING ON JUNE 6, NO JUDGES TRAINING ON JUNE 13 AND 14, AND NO ICE CREAM SOCIAL JUNE 3.

We had hoped we might still have the judges training and workshop with Patrick Spence, the Siberian grower, from Washington. However, after polling our judges, a decision has been made to wait until next year to have a judges training session due to restraints of Covid-19. He will be available the second weekend in June of 2021. We will work on plans for next year. Also the American Iris Society has postponed this year's judging requirements until next year.

ANNUAL IRIS SALE???

Let's make a decision at the end of June. Please feel free to contact me by email, swedeandba@gmail.com, or phone# 370-1696, with any ideas or thoughts regarding the sale.

The FORT MISSOULA IRIS GARDEN IS STARTING TO BLOOM! Thanks to Judy Blunt and Swede for putting many hours into weeding the garden. It has been a difficult task but the fruits of their labors are showing. There is still much to be done and more help would be appreciated.

MISSOULA GARDEN CLUB is having a TRI-GARDEN TOUR, JUNE 9, BEGINNING AT 1:00 PM at the Fort Missoula Iris Garden. They will tour our iris garden, the Rose Garden at Rose Park, and the Peony Garden at the University of Montana near the trail to the M on Mount Sentinel. Our society is invited to come. Call Gary Clark, 728-7633, for more details.

We hope all of your are well! We will keep you informed on the future of events for our society.

Thanks!

Betty Ann Gustafson, Missoula Iris Society President

THANK YOU:

The membership of the Missoula Iris Society needs to sincerely thank Judy Blunt for her exceptional cleaning of weeds and debris from the Big Bed, the Median Bed and the Beardless Iris Bed. She spent several days and totaled 40 plus hours in cleaning these three beds. Thank You Judy personally from Swede and Betty Ann.

TREASURER'S REPORT: as of May 27, 2020

SAVINGS: no activity $9174.91

CHECKING: May Balance $ 680.75

Deposits 213.00

Balance 893.75

Expense 50.00

Balance 843.75

Checking Deposits were from sales of PawPaw plant markers for $63.00 and from the return of our reservation deposit to the Holiday Inn for the show space $150.00.

Check expense was for a gift to “Missoula Gives” through the Historical Museum Fund Raising effort to house the Steam Engine - $50.00. This amount is part of our annual gift to the Museum for the use of ground and water for the Gardens.

The DYKES BED and BIG BED have been weeded and the rose bushes have been trimmed of many canes to get them more upright looking than parallel with the earth as they were growing. I completely dug and divided almost every iris in the DYKES bed as the weed had completely penetrated the clumps. I also rebuilt the inside corner of the bed at the west rose arbor entrance to give the bed a long sweep turn in place of the square turn. Ron likes it better as it makes his mowing easier. I also redid the two walkways across the beds with additional flat stones and curves to give these some character. I took the cleanings from the garden to the landfill and was surprised at the 760 pounds of materials I dumped from cleaning this bed. Judy worked for several days on the Big Bed cleaning the weeds and renovated the west bed by digging the irises to get the weeds out.

Three heads of the sprinkler system were repaired also but I haven't received a bill for this work so the expense will appear in the July newsletter.

Speaking of which, the sale is scheduled to happen in July so be thinking about which irises you may have for the sale. I have quite a number of plants from these gardens which will be available. Of course, it all depends on the ability to have the sale in a safe manner.

Respectfully submitted, Erling Gustafson, Treasurer

PS: Happily, we were able to get back the plane fare for Patrick Spence’s unused plane ticket.

There are no MINUTES since the June meeting was cancelled.

Presidential Rhizomes: August: Gary Clark, September: Cindy Davis, October: Marie Nyquist, November: Jim Sadler, December: Swede Gustafson, January: Fred Frey, February: Ron Dowell, March: Judy Blunt.

MIS MEETING/EVENT SCHEDULE

At this point all events through June are cancelled. A decision about the sale will be made at the end of June.

Here is the original plan for the rest of the year:

(Saturday, July 11, 2020 - Meeting and pot luck supper beginning at 6:30 p.m. at home of Jim and Linda Sadler.)

Monday, July 20, 2020 - Sale preparation begins. Additional details to come later.

Saturday, July 25, 2020 - Annual Rhizome Sale near Fort Missoula Display Gardens - Sale begins 9 am to 1 pm

1:30 pm. - After sale patio party at home of Billie Gray

August, 2020 - No meeting

September 2020 - No meeting

Saturday, October 3, 2020 - Meeting and pot luck supper beginning at 6:30 p.m. at home of Swede and Betty Ann Gustafson

Saturday, November 7, 2020 - Board and Budget Meeting at 5:00 p.m. at home of Carol Addeo and Al Ledford. Regular meeting and potluck supper beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Sunday, December 13, 2020 - Christmas party and pot luck supper at home of Billie Gray beginning at 4:30 p.m.