Introducing Siberian Irises - The Basics скачать в хорошем качестве

Introducing Siberian Irises - The Basics

Bob Hollingworth – one of the leading hybridizers of Siberian irises - was born and grew up in Yorkshire in the north of England. In 1962, he and his wife, Judy, left the UK on an adventure to California where he earned a Ph.D. in toxicology at the University of California. In 1966 they moved to Purdue University where Bob was a professor until 1987. Then to Michigan State University where he is now a Professor Emeritus and largely retired. Bob got the iris hybridizing bug in the early 1970s through Judy’s passion for gardening and the irises she grew in Indiana. After a few years working with TBs he decided that he needed to focus on a less crowded area and has worked primarily with Siberians since then. He named his first Siberian, a diploid, for Forrest McCord who encouraged him in his early interest in Siberians, and it was introduced by Borbeleta Gardens in 1984. Since then he has introduced about 90 varieties – a mixture of diploid and tetraploid types. Of these, ten have won the Morgan-Wood Medal which is the highest AIS award specific to Siberians. In 1986, Bob and Judy decided to open Windwood Gardens and operated this for 15 years. Now their irises are introduced through Ensata Gardens. His tetraploid introduction, Strawberry Fair won the Franklin-Cook Cup at the AIS Convention in Portland, Oregon in 1994 and he was fortunate enough to repeat that win with Swans in Flight at the 2015 convention there. Swans In Flight went on to win the Dykes Medal in 2016 – a first for a beardless iris. In 1997 Bob received the Hybridizer’s Medal from AIS and the Distinguished Service Award in 2019. In 2012 he was the recipient of the Sir Michael Foster Plaque from the British Iris Society. Bob is a past President of the Society for Siberian Irises and is currently the President of the AIS Foundation. For the last ten years he has served as the editor of The Siberian Iris, the publication of SSI.