🌿 Iris Awards & Honors

Discover how award-winning irises earn national recognition

🥉 Honorable Mention (HM)

Tier 1 – First RecognitionAwarded to irises demonstrating promising garden performance and popularity with AIS judges. This is the first step toward top honors.

✔ Eligible: All classes✔ Voted on by AIS judges✔ Required to advance toward higher awards

🥈 Award of Merit (AM)

Tier 2 – Exceptional QualityGranted only to irises that previously received HM. Reflects consistent excellence across gardens and growing seasons.

✔ Eligible: HM winners✔ Represents broader acclaim from AIS judges✔ Step before Class Medal eligibility

🥇 Class Medals

Tier 3 – Top in ClassGiven to Award of Merit winners. Each iris class has its own medal. These represent the best of their type:

• Wister Medal – Tall Bearded (TB)

• Knowlton Medal – Intermediate Bearded (IB)

• Sass Medal – Border Bearded (BB)

• Williamson-White Medal – Miniature Tall Bearded (MTB)

• Cook-Douglas Medal – Space Age TB

• Founders of SIGNA Medal – Species & Species Crosses

✔ Top award per iris class✔ Selected annually from AM recipients

🏆 Dykes Medal

“The Iris World’s Top Honor”

The Dykes Medal is the highest award an iris can receive in the United States. It is presented once per year to a single iris variety chosen from among all the previous year’s Class Medal winners.

This award recognizes outstanding garden performance, innovation, and distinction across all classes of irises.

Highlights:

• 🥇 Only one iris is awarded each year

• 🧬 Eligible irises must have previously won a Class Medal

• 🏡 Represents the pinnacle of success in the iris community

• 📜 Named in honor of William Rickatson Dykes, British botanist and iris historian