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.

June, 2011

Wow - I cannot believe that two months have passed since I posted my last blog.  Where did the time go?  It is suddenly early summer, 95 degrees and the daylilies are loaded with scapes after a spring that provided an excess of rain and cooler than normal temperatures. My historical cultivars and species collection kicked the bloom season off several weeks ago, but just in the last few days have I started to see recent introductions and my newer cultivars start to bloom. Pictured at the right is Hemerocallis 'Symphony' (Stout, 1941).  Yes, it's an exciting time of the year for daylily enthusiasts in Region 10. It's not too late to plan to attend the Region 10 Annual Summer Meeting and Garden Tours in Louisville, KY on June 24-25, 2011 which is sponsored this year by the Louisville Area Daylily Society (LADS). Reservations may be made at the Crowne Plaza Hotel (1-877-227-6963). For more details you may contact Andrea King at JasOKing@aol.com.  This is a wonderful way to view other daylily gardens, get landscaping ideas as well as recommendations for new cultivars that you may want to grow in your garden. And don't forget to consider making a donation to the the Plant Auction during the Summer Meeting.  All proceeds go to finance the Regional newsletter, The Daylily Appeal.  Without adequate funding and auction proceeds, the newsletter cannot have color pictures or the wonderful articles that we all enjoy and appreciate. LADS is still requesting plant donations for the auction - they should be  cultivars with a minimum value of approximately 35.00 or more. Cash donations will also be accepted. I've been told of at least one club that will be making a cash donation to the Summer Regional in place of plant donations. Several clubs have contacted me with news of upcoming and recent events. From the Tri-Cities Daylily Society comes news that Maurice Greene of the East Tennessee Daylily Society conducted a grooming class on June 4 in preparation for their upcoming Flower Show. They are also planning garden tours at the homes of Spike and Donna Good, Dennis Marshall and Ingrid Lane. For more information and dates, you may contact Susan Okrasinski at susanokrasinski@charter.net. The Middle Tennessee Daylily Society  has its annual 'Breakfast in the Garden' planned for June 11, 2011 at the residence of Dewayne Roberts in Spring Hill, TN. These two clubs contacted me regarding club events, but for other club meetings and flower show dates, don't forget that you may access the American Hemerocallis Society Membership Portal at the AHS website.  Region 10 has pictures, forums and club events posted for everyone to enjoy. That's all for now -  looking forward to seeing everyone at the upcoming Region 10 Summer Meeting in Louisville !!

March - 2011

March is here and whether we are ready or not, spring is upon us. My daylilies which were barely peeking through the ground 10 days ago are suddenly 5-6 inches tall thanks to the unseasonably warm weather we have had here in Nashville.  In isolated spots, I have even noticed cherry trees blooming !! Almost as exciting as spring is the introduction of the AHS Membership Portal which goes live on March 10. I have been busy over the last several weeks developing ideas for blogs, forums and photo galleries just for Region 10 members. The categories are all in place, but it will be up to Region 10 members to provide the content. I'm especially excited about the opportunity for members to upload their own pictures of gardens and flowers and can't wait to see everything going on in Region 10 on one website. And I have enlisted the help of Susan Okrasinski to help moderate the forums which should be fun.  I would encourage everyone to register for the AHS portal once we go live and explore all the different categories, both at the national level as well as the regional level.
I've heard from a couple of clubs regarding upcoming events. From Blue Grass Daylily Society, Elizabeth Trotter wrote the following : "I wanted to let you know the Blue Grass Hemerocallis Society will meet Monday, March 14, 7:00 p.m. at the Fayette County Extension Office, 1140 Red Mile Place. Our speaker will be Curt Hanson of Crintonic Gardens in Ohio. For more information, call 502-857-8600 or visit www.daylilyfans.com/bghs. ". From the Middle Tennessee Daylily Society comes the news that Sharon Price, an Alabama hybridizer, will be speaking at their March 8 meeting at Cheekwood at 6:30 PM.  And speaking of clubs, I have given each Region 10 Club a group page on the Membership Portal for their yearly calendars. Requests went out last month to all club presidents for 2011 calendars.  To date, I have received calendars from Tri-Cities Daylily Society, East Tenn Daylily Society, and the Middle Tennessee Daylily Society.  If you want your club's calendar of events posted on the AHS Portal, please forward to me when they are ready.
That's about all for now - if you want a special club event publicized, just send me an e-mail at willcol@aol.com.

Feb, 2011

Can you believe that the first month of 2011 is already over!! It seems that the month has come and gone in a flash as many of us have struggled with multiple weekly snowfall events. I seem to have spent the last few weeks reworking my daily schedule as I tried to dodge the icy road conditions. If you did not attend the MWS this year at the Hotel Preston in Nashville, you missed a golden opportunity to renew friendships and make new friends as well. I overheard several people say that they thought it was the best MWS in several years. Everyone seems to be getting accustomed to the new location; and the convenient proximity of the meeting rooms was especially appreciated during the cold temperatures. The speakers were varied in their topics and all were interesting. The auction on Saturday night was especially fun with auctioneers David Kirchhoff, Janene Tidwell (aka “ Paula Deen”), and Paul Owen keeping the pace fast and furious. I must admit that Paul Own had the pace so fast, that several times I jumped in quickly just to keep from losing the opportunity to bid completely. The saying ‘you snooze, you lose’ was certainly true during the auction this year. And of course, best of all, the proceeds of the auction will be used to fund the regional newsletter. One exciting feature of the MWS this year was the roll-out of a new area of the AHS website for AHS members only. I have agreed to serve as the Region 10 Group Leader and am still learning exactly what I can and cannot do. But overall, it promises to facilitate better communication and relationships between members in our region. Parts of it remind me of a version of Facebook for AHS folks only !!!! Look for more news about this change in future blogs. Region 10 clubs are gearing up for the busy spring months. One club that I did hear from last week was the BGHS. Elizabeth Trotter contacted me with the following information:


“The Blue Grass Hemerocallis Society will host Dan Hansen of Ladybug Daylilies on Monday, February 14, 7:00 p.m. at our new meeting place, the Fayette County Extension Office in Lexington, KY. Visitors are welcome. For more information, go to www.daylilyfans.com/bghs or email me at daylilygirl@shelbybb.net (note my new email address)”.

This meeting sounds like a real treat. If you are in the area, I am sure they would love to have you visit. That’s about all for now – please remember, if your club has events that it wants publicized, just send me an e-mail and I will do what I can to let others know.

Happy New Year - 2011

I can't believe that it has been so long since I posted, but time has flown. Everything was impacted as we sold the house in Nashville and moved "to the country". Ceilings are still being painted and boxes unpacked as I write this, but at least my office is functional and I'm getting excited about the upcoming gardening year. Many of your yards may look like the picture at the right now, but underneath that white covering are daylilies just waiting for warmer weather. 

 My apologies should first go to Janice Wood who sent me an e-mail back in September just as I was preparing to move.  In her e-mail she asked for any information and/or pictures regarding the below Region 10 hybridizers and their DSL introductions.  The hybridizers that she mentioned were:

Joanne Johnston- Nashville TN

Martha Lamkin- Louisville KY

Ellen (Mrs J) Alexander- Lexington KY

James McGaughy- Memphis TN

Catherine (Mrs Robert) Walsh- Lexington KY

Mrs. Frank Lucas- Owensboro, KY

John Bedel- Ft Wright KY

If anyone has information that may help Janice, please forward to her at simonsaid4me@aol.com.

 Locally, MTDS has been busy putting together a calendar of events for the coming year that will keep old members interested and attract new members too, just as other clubs across Region 10 are also doing. I would like to remind everyone that the 21st  Annual Mid-Winter Symposium is only 2 weeks away - January 21-23, 2011 at the Hotel Preston in Nashville.  Nationally known hybridizers will be making presentations as well as other well qualified horticulturists and speakers.  One particular speaker that Nancy Ligon and I sought was Randall Lantz, Superintendent of Horticulture for the Metro Nashville Parks & Recreation.  Randall spoke to our local club several years ago and members are still talking about how enjoyable his presentation was. He has over 30 years experience in horticulture, having worked at the Tennessee Botanical Gardens at Cheekwood as Chief Horticulturist for over 15 years before accepting his current position with the city of Nashville. His topic will touch on the use of daylilies in landscaping in the city parks as well as other horticultural topics.  If you want to know about current trends in horticulture, Randall's presentation is one that you won't want to miss.

Another exciting feature of MWS this year will be the introduction of a new enhancement of the AHS website - a member's only portal.  I have volunteered to be the Region 10 Group Leader for this exciting development and have already been able to view some of the features.  I think everyone is going to be excited when they see what this is going to offer to members as an added benefit of belonging to AHS. That's about all for now - the day is not over and I still want to start a few daylily seed from my amateur hybridizing efforts of last summer.  See everyone at the MWS !!

August, 2010

The season is fast coming to an end and the Robin abounds with comments as usual about the late-bloomers and the uniqueness of the season. Last year everyone was talking about the cool weather we had experienced all season - this year it's the unusually warm temperatures. Regardless, I will always take a cool season over what we have experienced this summer - and this is coming from a summer lover - the hotter the better has always been my mantra - until this year!!
My sincere apologies go to Susan Okrasinski and theTri-Cities Daylily Society for missing my own August deadline and not posting in time about their all day event on August 7 at the Eastman Recreation Park for a picnic and auction.  I hope it was a smashing success. On another note, Susan wrote to say that the scheduled presentation by Dan Trimmer at the end of August has been canceled. At the time of Susan's e-mail, nothing else had been planned for that date yet. Locally, the Middle Tennessee Club has scheduled a late August meeting for the first time in many years. They have reached across state lines to bring Bill and Chris Schardein down from Kentucky to do a presentation on ornamental fish pond construction. I saw the Schardein's Koi pond in June and believe they had some of the friendliest Koi I have ever seen. I believe if they could have climbed out to shake my hand, they would have.  I am already seeing a Koi pond in my future!!
I hope everyone is remembering that the Region 10 Popularity Poll ballots are due by September 1.  The process could not be easier. All you have to to is go to the AHS website, select Region 10, and select those cultivars that you want to vote for.  Upon submission, the ballot automatically is forwarded to me for tabulation. Or alternatively, you may mail the ballot directly to me if you don't trust computers.  As of this date - I have received approximately 45 ballots - please do not let only a few select the most poular daylilies in Region 10 !! Many new and old members alike use the Popularity poll to choose plants for their personal garden thinking that those selected are proven to have grown and flowered well in Region 10.  That's why it is so important for us receive as many ballots as possible from Region 10 members.

June Show News

The last few weeks have been a flurry of visiting gardens and nearby shows.  A couple of weeks ago, I visited the show in Louisville sponsored by the the Daylily Society of Louisville.  With 332 entries, the show was held in a new location this year and contained many wonderful cultivars. Winning "Best-in-Show" was an older cultivar, Hemerocallis 'Woodland Spider' (Simpers, 1979), a large yellow unusual form cultivar that won favor from all the judges.  Exhibited and photographed by Summer Dawn Marks, there was some discussion surrounding it's classification, but as with many of the older cultivars, there was no Unusual Form category at the time of its registration. Consequently, it was in the Large Section for judging purposes for this show. The next day was the  "Blue Grass Daylily Derby" Show and Sale in Lexington presented by the Blue Grass Hemerocallis Society. Again, another older miniature cultivar was exhibited by Kris and Jody Hodge and won "Best-in-Show - H. 'Toyland' (Reckamp, 1965).  A special thanks goes to Elizabeth Trotter from the Lexington club for the below picture. Having an interest in older cultivars, it's always gratifying to me to see older cultivars win awards.   It means that an entry does not have to be the latest introduction in order to win recognition, but that any cultivar has the potential to win an award as long as it is grown well, true to form, and groomed appropriately. This opens up the experience of daylily shows to all daylily enthusiasts, no matter what the size of their pocketbook.

The weekend following my trip to Kentucky found me traveling across Tennessee to visit friends in Knoxville who have just joined AHS. I have been sharing daylilies with them for several years and they have created a beautiful garden combining perennials, daylilies and other shrubs. On the way to Knoxville, I stopped off in Crossville to visit MTDS members, Sam and Linda Hassler and tour their garden.  The Crossville area is known for it's cooler than average temperatures and the cooler temperatures had certainly helped the daylilies hang onto their blooms a little longer despite the June heat. And hoping to squeeze the last breath out of the daylily season in Region 10, I hope to get back to the Lexington area this coming weekend to visit a few more gardens. 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, 2010 and ballots may be found in the most recent 'Daylily Appeal', or on the AHS website.

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.