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The long-term strategy of the Species Preservation Project is to establish alliances with like-minded organizations. SLI can be both a gardening club which honors its roots, as well as today a preservation movement connected to the broad range of today’s environmentalists, naturalists, conservationists, and those seeking to mitigate the impacts of wetlands loss and climate change.
Our Society is focused on preserving historic cultivars—those irises introduced 20 or more years ago. Many older Louisiana irises are lost or in danger of being lost, because they are positively identified as growing in just a few known places. Although this preservation effort is challenging, the steps are simple: track down, grow, and share. We are using a model developed by the Historic Iris Preservation Society to understand where historic irises are cared for. Some of us participate in HIPS’ annual survey “Who Grows What.” Also, SLI members and hybridizers are tending to specific historic “breeder collections” to help ensure an ongoing collection of irises developed by specific individuals. We hope that as many historic irises as possible will continue to be either sold or shared among people, so that future generations have access to as many as possible.
SLI regularly schedules activities for members and nonmembers that further our mission of education and community. To see what events we’ve got coming up or have held in the past, visit our Events page.
From our magazine to our books on our favorite irises, SLI strives to keep the community informed on our preservation efforts, recaps of past events, and the latest information on how to properly care for and grow Louisiana irises.
The publications feature our growers and hybridizers, and commercial growers advertise available plants. Our magazine often covers irises in gardens and in the wild and it presents polls on the most popular varieties. SLI has a long tradition of publications that together are an indispensable and definitive source of information about Louisiana irises.
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