BIS Species group - past issues

[ronm]

Please dont beat me for posting here Maggi, but I really had to post this. The BISSG have made available to all members, all of the 'journals' they have ever published! I was sent them recently and they provide an amazing insight into how specialist groups met and the topics discussed with correct timelines. Amazing docs. from times when things were slightly different are now there for us all to read. The language used and the etiquette is interesting in itself. Subscribe, this is well worth it alone!!!

[Maggi Young]

Goodness me, Ron, a post like this is most welcome... great info for Members and a great offer.... thanks!


http://www.britishirissociety.org.uk/


 PS A reminder :
Don't miss the British Iris Society Talk at the Early Spring Show

Saturday, February 18, 2012 - 2pm
Myddelton House
Bulls Cross
Enfield
Middlesex EN2 9HG

Cultivated and Iranian wild Reticulate Iris, wild Turkish Crocuses and Oncocyclus Iris in both Turkey and Iran
by Arthur Nicholls

Arthur Nicholls has made many trips to Turkey and Iran, as well as other Mediterranean countries, to study the flowers there. He has a abiding interest in 'bulbs' including Reticulata and Oncocyclus Iris. Arthur lives in Kent where he is a keen gardener and grows a wide range of 'bulbous' and other plants. He is a member of the Iris Society Species Group, The Fritillaria Group of the Alpine Garden Society and treasurer of the Cyclamen Society. The talk by Arthur is expected to last approximately 45 minutes and will show a variety of slides of some of his favourite plants both in the wild and cultivated in his garden, with time for questions afterwards.

Free Entrance for the talk, BIS Show and the Gardens.

[PeterT]

Thanks Maggie,
Arthurs talk promises to be good - remember his pictures last year in the Onco threads? I'm afraid it will be first come first served though as the room has a limited capacity.

I have old SIGNA papers which are a mine of information, but only the more recent of the Species Group  publications so I will have to look into this.... The recent issue was good to recieve this winter.

[ronm]

The minutes of these meetings are amazing. Check out the 60's ones. They put modern societies (PERHAPS with the exception of this one ) to shame. Pay your dues and love the history!!

[Tom Waters]

Ron, could you please provide some more information on this? I'm a BIS member, but I don't see anything on their website about back issues of the species group publications. Are these in electronic form? How does one get them?

Thanks, Tom

[PeterT]

The BIS Species Group is an affiliated organisation to the British Iris Society. It has its origens as a sub group of the British Iris Society but is autonomous.
Membership of The BIS is not the same as membership of the BIS Species Group.

I have been trying to link the two organisations more, The Species Group members can now take part in the BIS seed exchange as donors or for a fee, though perhaps The BIS would rather receive full membership which entitles the member to the year book and participation in the shows etc.
The show this Saturday, at Myddelton house, will have a display by Brian Mathew and David Stephens on behalf of the Species Group.

[Maggi Young]

There is this info.....



Regional groups
There are presently two regional groups in the BIS: the Kent Group and the West and Midlands Group. There are also two specialist groups: one concentrating on the iris species and the other on beardless irises. Each group operates with a chairman and committee, and the regional groups have shows, plant sales and meetings with specialist lecturers. It is not obligatory to be a BIS member to join any of the groups, but to appreciate all the benefits available, new members are always encouraged to join the parent society.


Kent Group
The Kent Group has been established for over 50 years, and has an active membership drawn from Kent and the surrounding counties. Membership of the group is free until the end of the current year for new members of the B.I.S. who live in the group’s catchment area.
Members get a quarterly newsletter and during the winter months are invited to attend talks on irises and iris related subjects which are held in different parts of the area. We also hold 2 shows a year and a bring and buy garden party at which plants can be obtained by auction.
In addition to weekend trips to gardens in other parts of the country, the group has organized longer visits to France, Italy, Czechoslovakia, and New Zealand.

To join, please contact:
Wendy Payne, Shirley House, Tumbler's Hill, Sutton Valence, Kent ME17 3AF
www.kentiris.org.uk


West & Midlands Group
Founded in 1974, this Group gives people who love and grow irises in an area covering the Midlands and the West Country a chance to meet. Some are experts, some are beginners, but we all enjoy sharing our knowledge and problems, and talking to others who have the same interest.
Meetings are held four or five times a year for talks, demonstrations and visits to gardens throughout the area to see irises of all kinds.
We hold an annual show, and a newsletter is issued regularly to keep us in touch. If you are looking for a particular iris, then our plant sale may be the place to find it.
The Group is a very friendly one, not a large organization, but one where a personal welcome can be given every member.

To join, please contact:
Wendy Farrell, 'Flaville', Lichfield Road, Hopwas, Nr Tamworth, Staffs. B78 3AQ. Email: peter.farrell@tiscali.co.uk
www.westandmidlandsirisgroup.org.uk


The Species Group
This was founded in 1965, because a number of iris growers found that there was very little useful information about how and where the wild forms could be grown successfully. At that time, many new species were being brought back to the UK from Mediterranean areas, and more recently from China and Mongolia, and with older introductions were being salvaged from neglected gardens, it became necessary to try and separate the true species from the hybrids and cultivars.
To those who enjoy growing the iris and irid species, the Species group offers membership and the chance of surprising discoveries from the plants and seed it offers for sale.

To join, please contact:
David Stephens, 76 South Terrace, Dorking, Surrey RH4 2AQ
E-mail: thecrocusgroup@hotmail.com  irisspeciesgroup@hotmail.co.uk

[PeterT]

and the Crocus Group was a splinter from the Species Group!

[Tom Waters]

Thanks Peter and Maggi, I did not appreciate how independent the Species Group was from the BIS, although I did realize one had the option of joining this group in addition to BIS membership. It is similar to the AIS and its sections, I suppose, which now are independent regarding memberships.

Tom

[arillady]

I received my Species Group BIS Newsletter winter 2011/2012 this week - it costs 5 pounds to join.
I must get a copy of all the pdf past bulletins. I will do it now before I forget.

[arillady]

The contact for joining:
David Stephens,
76 South Terrace,
Dorking,
Surrey RH4 2AQ
UK

plus the email for David Stephens in the newsletter is: irisspeciesgroup@hotmail.co.uk

[Maggi Young]

Thanks Pat... I have corrected the email address in my earlier post.

That info was from the BIS website.... it may need updating there......

[PeterT]

I think it must have changed recently, but I sent a link to this thread to the BIS web master last thursday

[ronm]

Sort of related to this thread.... tenuously but,

Anyone who bought the 'Guide to Species Irises' by the BISSG, and haven't downloaded their free colour plates yet ( as mentioned at bottom of page viii ), I can confirm that these can be accessed at www.cambridge.org

[fermi de Sousa]

Anyone who bought the 'Guide to Species Irises' by the BISSG, and haven't downloaded their free colour plates yet ( as mentioned at bottom of page viii ), I can confirm that these can be accessed at www.cambridge.org

where? I just collected my copy on the weekend and hadn't seen that note! Thanks for pointing it out, Ron. I'll check the book when I get home tonight.
cheers
fermi