July, 2011



MTDS Best in Show, H. "Nutmeg Elf"
entered by Cullen Merritt

 

Nancy Estes with Best in Show in
Lexington, H. "Little Grapette"



It’s been a very busy last several weeks and I thought I better write before I forget anything. Region 10 Flower Shows have been in full swing – and some of the results are starting to come in. Chattanooga had their show recently and H. “Carousel Princess” won “Best-in-Show”.  In Nashville, MTDS also had a miniature winner, H. "Nutmeg Elf".  And then I heard that H. “Carousel Princess” also won “Best in Show” in the Knoxville Show. I had the opportunity to judge in the Lexington Show and H. “Little Grapette” won “Best-in-Show”.     It’s certainly been a year for miniatures it appears. However, I did hear that the Jackson club went against the trend and their “Best-in-Show” was H. "Boundless Beauty", a large flower. But I think this proves that a "Best-in-Show" does not have to be the newest introduction or the largest flower, but rather one that is well grown and meticulously groomed for the show. Shows are always fun to judge since you have the opportunity to see what other clubs do to make them interesting. Having an AHS Historic Display garden, I was especially excited to see BGHS have a show category entitled "Antiques".  What a wonderful way to encourage folks to grow our older historical cultivars and even seek AHS Historical Garden status. Too many cultivars have already been lost forever and I hope more clubs will consider this as a special club show category. BGHS also had a photography contest for members which I enjoyed viewing.

Garden of Gary & Ellen Carrithers

The Region 10 Summer Meeting was held in Louisville this year and what a meeting!! John Morgan, president of the hosting club, and his team pulled together a wonderful meeting with spectacular tour gardens, warm hospitality, and an informative guest speaker and well-known hybridizer, Jamie Gossard. Garden tours are always a highlight of the summer meeting for me and this year was no exception. We were able to see both small in-town gardens as well as larger sprawling suburban gardens - there was truly something for everyone. I've posted many pictures from the garden tours on the AHS Membership portal and am still slowly adding captions. I also just got back from visiting a beautiful daylily garden in Knoxville that contained a wonderful mix of daylily species, historical cultivars as well as many new introductions mixed with perennials. I will post those soon also on the Membership Portal.

As always at this time of year, I would like to remind everyone to participate in this year's Popularity Poll. This is your opportunity to help select the most popular cultivars in Region 10. Their selection is always a great help to daylily growers, new and old, since it reflects cultivars that perform well in our area. All ballots must be submitted to me by Sepember 1, 2011 and ballots may be found in the most recent 'Daylily Appeal', or on the AHS website.  Voting has never been easier and I would encourage everyone to vote. Please don't let only a few people decide what is most popular in Region 10 !!

Word also comes to me from Hebron Smith in KY that Jimmy Jordan, Region 10 President, has asked him to serve as editor for the Fall/Winter edition of the regional newsletter, The Daylily Appeal.  I'm sure that Hebron would welcome any and all articles and/or pictures for consideration for publication in the newsletter. According to Hebron, he hopes to have the draft ready by the September 1 deadline  - so you still have time to get your articles to him. And don't forget the routine club reports that are also due at that time.  All should be sent to Hebron at : hebrons@bellsouth.net.

I also would like to remind everyone that if you have club news, either past or present, and would like it to appear in the Region 10 News blog, you are welcome to e-mail me at willcol@aol.com.