Hosted by: BIG SKY IRIS CLUB
Convention website
2025 Convention Co-Chairs:
Delane H. Langton email: *protected email* Jane Tibbs email: *protected email* Tina Muller email: *protected email*
2025 Convention Hotel:
Billings Hotel & Convention Center 1223 Mullowney Lane Billings, Montana 59101 800-537-7286 billingshotelmt.com Group code 14716 ($146 with breakfast)
Separate reservations are necessary for the Geek Dinner (Friday, June 6, 2025) $35/person. Download reservation form here.
2026 Convention Co-Chair: Gary White e-mail: *protected email*
2026 Convention Co-Chair: Jill Bonino e-mail: *protected email*
2026 Convention Co-Chair: Andi Rivarola e-mail: *protected email*
Convention website: 2026 Convention Follow our progress on Facebook
2027 Convention Co-Chair: Michael Kowalchyk phone: 405-593-9608 email: *protected email*
2027 Convention Co-Chair: Josh Winzer phone: 918-863-9399 email: *protected email*
Convention hotel: TBD
Guest iris:
Please observe the following guidelines when sending bearded and beardless guest irises, as only officially submitted rhizomes will appear in the AIS convention booklet. Please submit them between August 15 – October 1, 2025. There is no quantity restriction on variety or rhizomes. Please ship plants to: Richard Winkleman 3000 NE 36th Forest Park, OK 73121 Phone: 405-990-7169 Email: *protected email*. Complete instructions for shipping guest iris appear in IRISES the Bulletin of the American Iris Society, Fall 2024, page 31.
Sections and Cooperating Societies of The American Iris Society, as well as local and regional affiliates hold conventions that will be listed here.
April 3rd – 5th, 2025 Convention Website: 2025 SLI Convention Information and Registration Form
We will be back in Lafayette, Louisiana with a schedule similar to our 2022 convention including an afternoon of judge’s training, a tour, and dinner with our General Membership meeting. Events kick off on Thursday, April 3rd with a selection of private and public gardens available for self-tour, plus AIS Judges training in the afternoon. Friday, April 4th offers a full day of activities. A bus tour is scheduled and includes a visit to Palmetto Island State Park to see the I. nelsonii, the Abbeville Red, that is found native only across the Vermilion River in the Abbeville Swamp. Other stops include a private garden and Cypress Lake. The day concludes with a banquet and general membership meeting at the Ira Nelson Horticulture Center. Our speakers are Mark Schexnayder, SLI President, and Bonnie Nichols, American Iris Society President. On Saturday, April 5th, SLI will have a booth with rhizome sales and a flower display at the Festival des Fleurs, https://www.festivaldesfleurs.org/.
May 23 & 24th, 2025 Convention Co-Chairs: Kris Jurik email Lois Girton email
We are pleased to host the 2025 Siberian and Species Iris Convention in conjunction with the spring meeting of AIS Region 21. The convention will begin Friday afternoon, May 23, and conclude Saturday evening, May 24. It will include tours of three gardens, two with guest Siberian and species irises, in-garden judges’ training, and silent and live auctions.
The host hotel is the Gateway Hotel & Conference Center, 2100 Green Hills Drive in Ames, www.gatewayames.com. Twenty guest rooms have been reserved on Friday and Saturday nights for convention attendees at the rate of $132/night (U.S. funds) plus 12% tax for two queen or one king bed. Guest rooms have recently been renovated. Please contact the hotel directly at 515-292-8600 and mention the Region 21 Iris Convention.
