Meadowbrook Gardens

The beautiful gardens of Francis and Ruth Rogers are an annual draw for the residents of Waukesha, Wisconsin. Nearly everyone there knows where the gardens are and when the irises are in bloom. With over l,000 irises in bloom each year, the sight is a traffic-stopping event as cars passing in the four lanes of Meadowbrook Road slow to a crawl to take in the beauty of the gardens.

For 60 years the Rogers’ have grown irises. Francis has introduced many of his crosses, and Ruth has introduced a few of her own. Francis’s first introductions (SASHAY TIME and TURK’S CROWN) were made in 1983, and he has introduced a total of 68 varieties since then, many of them receiving honorable-mentions. Although he doesn’t grow many of his early introductions in his own gardens these days, many of them can be found in the gardens of iris enthusiasts in the Milwaukee area.

The Mad About Iris Convention 2010 will honor Francis Rogers and Jack Worel, both of Region 8, and both of whom have spent a lifetime dedicated to the promotion and hybridizing of irises.