There are also a number of popularity awards. These awards are primarily voted on by AIS members (not necessarily AIS judges) at the annual AIS Convention but also include the new Popularity Poll (replacing the previous Tall Bearded Symposium) which is open to all. A brief description of the various popularity awards and recent winners are included below.
AIS Convention Awards
Every year at the AIS national convention, registered attendees (regardless of whether they are members of AIS) vote for irises to determine these awards. There are five such awards. The President’s Cup for best in-region iris, the Franklin Cook Cup for best out-of-region iris, The Ben Hager Cup for best median iris, the Zurbrigg-Mahan Seedling Cup for the best seedling, and the Gerald Richardson Award for best integrated garden at the convention. Click the link below to view recent winners
2025 Convention Awards (Billings, Montana convention)
| President’s Cup best in-region | ‘Mama Quel‘ (Michael Sutton 2023, TB |
| Franklin Cook Cup best out of region | ‘Ignite The Light‘ (Thomas Johnson 2021, TB) |
| Ben Hager Cup best median | ‘Crazy Chaos‘ (Lynda Miller 2023, MTB) |
| Zurbrigg-Mahan Seedling Cup best seedling | GDM42 (Garyy Slagle, TB) |
| Gerald Richardson Award best integrated garden | Cynthia St. Charles Garden |
Visit the Iris Wiki for a historical listing of convention award winners.
The Iris Popularity Poll
The Iris Popularity Poll, new in 2025, replaces the long-running Tall Bearded Symposium. The new poll is open to all classes of irises, both bearded and beardless, and voting is not restricted to AIS members. Voters are asked to name up to 25 different cultivar, in any class of iris and to provide minimal demographic data. The poll opens November 1 and ends January 31 each year.
Click here for voting instructions and links to the ballot.
Tall Bearded Symposium
The symposium was an annual popularity poll of Tall Bearded (TB) iris conducted by the AIS. All AIS members and non-members could vote in this symposium. The top 100 Tall Bearded iris were then ranked and the results of the symposium were published each year in the official publication of the AIS, the AIS Bulletin, usually within the January issue. The full Symposia results are also published in the AIS digital archives available to members with full and E-memberships.