Mike Lockatell has been around agriculture his entire life. His late mother's family were vegetable truck farmers in South Monsey, NY, a northern New York City suburb. After graduating from Bryant University, Smithfield, RI in 1975, he completed an Associate's Degree in Applied Science with a Major in Ornamental Horticulture from Bergen Community College, Paramus, NJ in 1977. Mike has been a landscape professional for forty years in NJ and VA.
Upon his arrival in Richmond, VA in the mid nineties, he began a commercial garden specializing in irises and herbaceous peonies. His main trial plantings for reblooming irises and peonies is located at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Goochland County since 2011. The beds were featured in Mike's 2014 appearance on PBS local broadcasting outlet, WCVE TV's popular gardening show, Virginia Home Grown.
With encouragement from the late Dr. Lloyd Zurbrigg, Mike began making cross pollinations on bearded and siberian irises starting in 2000. After his mentor and friend's passing in 2005, cool season reblooming bearded irises became his breeding focus. He has won the AIS Region 4's Alice Bouldin Cup for Best Seedling at their Spring Meeting in 2014, 2015 & 2018. His IB mauve plicata, Courtney Rucker won the AIS Region 4's D.C. Nearpass Award for Best Named Variety at their Spring Meeting in 2014. TB Re Metro Blue received a Honorable Mention Award from AIS Judges in 2017. The first cool season tall bearded rebloomer from the East to win this award since TB Re Daughter of Stars. Courtney Rucker won a HM in 2018.
Mike gives programs on cool season reblooming iris, herbaceous peonies and landscape management subjects throughout Virginia. His articles on cool season bearded rebloom culture and breeding continue to appear in American Iris Society sponsored publications. His iris and peony work has also been the subject of feature stories in Virginia magazines and local newspaper programs
He was formerly a seasonal vendor at the Williamsburg Farmers Market from 2005 to 2013 and served on the Williamsburg Botanical Garden's Board of Directors. Mike is past president for the Old Dominion Herb Society at Maymont Park, South Richmond and the Central Virginia Iris Society. He was the American Iris Society Region 4 (West Virginia, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia) Reblooming Iris Chairman from 2003-2013. The Northern New Jersey native (Montvale) is currently the Eastern Director for the Reblooming Iris Society (RIS) and was their featured speaker on “Breeding Trends for Reblooming Irises” at the 2016 American Iris Society National Convention held at the Presby Memorial Iris Garden in Montclair, NJ.
Contact Mike at: cmarti8855@verizon.net