NEWS & EVENTS

Newcomers and guests are always welcome at ISM events. Also posted here are events around the region and national events. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us.

2025

• Saturday, February 15, starting at 10:30 AM - 4:00 PM - Winter ISM Hybridizers' Meeting
  Meeting at a NEW LOCATION! First Religious Society, 27 School St. Carlisle, MA 01741. 10:30-4:00 (setup at 10AM). This location has a full kitchen, so we can have our potluck lunch! Bring a dish to share; drinks will be provided. All hybridizers are invited to share their creations and experiments, and all members are invited to join.
  


• Saturday, March 22, 10:30 AM -4:00 PM - ISM Spring Meeting and Photo Contest
  Meeting at our new location: First Religious Society, 27 School St. Carlisle, MA 01741. Setup, including for the photo contest at 10:30 AM. At 11:30, we will have our Annual Meeting and election of officers. Lunch (12:30 PM) is potluck - bring a main dish, salad, appetizer or dessert to share. Coffee and water will be provided. Photo contest voting will occur during lunch. Photo contest rules and classes are here.
  
  The program, starting at 1:30 PM, features member presentations: Five irises you would never be parted from. We want to hear from our members about their 5 absolute favorite irises. If you have photos, bring them on a USB flash drive, or email them to Jan Sacks or Stephanie Markham and we will make sure they get on one of our computers. If you don't have pictures, but want to talk about 5 favorites, send Jan or Stephanie the names, and they will look through their extensive photo files and/or the IRIS WIKI for pictures.


• Saturday, May 31 - ISM and Region 1 Spring Garden Tours and Judges' Training
  We plan to visit Bev Steiner's gardens at 18 Patterson Road in Shirley, MA and Jan Sacks' and Marty Schafer's Joe Pye Weed's gardens at 337 Acton St. in Carlisle, MA. The plan is to start in the morning at Bev Steiner's gardens, then proceed to Joe Pye Weed's for lunch, garden touring and judges' training in the afternoon. Watch your email for additional tour and judges' training details.


• Saturday, July 26 - ISM Rhizome Sale 11:00 AM - 3:00 PM (or until we sell out)
  At Verrill Farm, 11 Wheeler Rd, Concord, MA 01742. Opens to the public at 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM or whenever we sell out of plants, whichever comes first. If you would like to help with pre-sale preparation (trimming and marking rhizomes), contact Sarah Cummer (greater Boston and metro-west) or Stephanie Markham (metro-south/southwest). They will be arranging for collection, trimming, and labeling crews before the sale.
  
  Watch your email for more details about pre-sale preparation and helping out on the day of the sale.


• Sunday, August 3 - Noon-4:00 PM - ISM Auction
  Members auction of newer irises (and other things), outdoors, under a canopy at Toadland Gardens (home of Stephanie Markham & Larry Wilson), 22 Lawrence Street, Norfolk, MA 02056. Lunch and socializing at noon, auction starts at 1:00 PM. BYO chair and lunch, drinks and snacks will be available.


• Saturday, October 4 - AIS Region 1 Annual Fall Meeting
  At the First Religious Society, 27 School St. Carlisle, MA 01741.. Our speaker will be Lynda Miller, renowned hybridizer from Canby, Oregon. Lynda hybridizes bearded irises in a wide range of classes, including MDBs, SDBs, MTBs (tetraploid and diploid), IBs, BBs, and TBs. While she currently sells her irises through Mid-America Gardens, she and her husband Roger also run Miller’s Manor Gardens, a small retail and wholesale nursery with extensive display gardens, showcasing rare and unusual miniature and dwarf conifers, hardy fuchsias, rock garden and alpine plants, irises, and various other perennials for sun and shade. A portion of Lynda's presentation will be offered as judges' training.