• Announcing the 2024 Iris Medal Winners! ‘Perry Dyer’ by Paul Black wins the 2024 Dykes Medal, Click here to see a complete listing of the 2024 award winners with photos in the AIS Iris Encyclopedia. A history of the awards and the vote counts can be found on this website here.
• The AIS Handbook for Judges Committee Please send your suggested edits of the Judges Handbook to the Judges Committee by September 30, 2025 to .
• Gift Memberships. The AIS integrated online system can now process gift memberships! To purchase a membership as a gift to someone else, go to https://system.irises.org/membership and check the “This purchase is a gift” box. You will be prompted for the recipient’s name, address, and email address (if applicable).
• Missing bulletins? There has been a change in how the U.S. Postal Service handles mis-delivered bulletins. They no longer send such bulletins back, or send paper notifications of failed deliveries or address changes. While we do expect to get electronic notifications of address changes if they have been filed with the USPS, it is very important to make sure that AIS has your current mailing address and email address on file. You can notify the membership secretary of any changes via email at , by phone at (510) 864-7962, or via mail: AIS Membership Secretary, 1226 High Street, Alameda, CA 94501.
• Exhibitions Has a New Schedules Chair Attention!! Attention!! All you show chairs and show schedule writers! AIS Exhibitions Committee has a new Schedules Chair. For the 2024 show season, you should send your draft schedules for approval to: Olga Batalov, E-mail: . Cell Phone: 858-405-9077 (please email first, I do not answer calls from unknown numbers) Snail-mail address: 8715 Sparren Way, San Diego, CA 92129.

The 2025 IRIS OF THE YEAR is “Perry Dyer”. The American Iris Society (AIS) is pleased to announce the 2025 “Iris of the Year”: Arilbred iris ‘Perry Dyer’. This outstanding iris is the result of work conducted by plant hybridizer Paul Black of Milwauki, Oregon. He introduced ‘Perry Dyer’ to the public through Mid-America Garden of Salem, Oregon in 2017. Paul named this iris for his close friend and mentor Perry Dyer, late of Oklahoma. Download the full PRESS RELEASE.

The 2024 IRIS OF THE YEAR is “Don’t Doubt Dalton”. The American Iris Society (AIS) is pleased to announce the 2024 “Iris of the Year”: tall bearded iris ‘Don’t Doubt Dalton’. This outstanding iris is the result of work conducted by plant hybridizer Tom Burseen of Grand Prairie, Texas. He introduced ‘Don’t Doubt Dalton’ to the public through his commercial iris garden in 2015. Tom named this iris for a friend’s grandson who rides bulls. Tom is known for his tall bearded iris hybrids with unusual names. He also received the AIS Hybridizer Award in 2022. Download the full PRESS RELEASE.