LIDS NEWSLETTER
John Stahl, Editor ~ Fall 2008
Well, we’ve leapt over halfway through this Leap Year. Our July Flower Show
represented our gardens quite well, notwithstanding the late date and a spate of
terrible weather on the day of the show. Once again the Plant Sale brought
excellent profits, and our wonderful American athletes brought home tons of gold,
silver and bronze. Some of us are enjoying a few late blooms, but soon we’ll have
to satisfy ourselves with mere photos of our lovelies. Can spring and bloom
season be lurking just around the corner??
CONFESSIONS OF A NEOPHYTE HYBRIDIZER (Part 2)
By John Price
In my first article in the Spring 2007 Newsletter I reported on planting 300 seeds
in 3-gallon pots in my playroom. Most of them germinated, and I transplanted them
outdoors in May.
Last Fall I harvested about 2700 seeds. In each of the previous two years I
planted 300 seeds indoors and gave away the rest. This year I was determined to
keep all of the seeds and plant them myself. Lanny Morry in Canada did a
comparison of planting seeds indoors and outdoors, and found that those planted
outdoors did just as well in the long run as those grown indoors. Emboldened by her
study, I decided to plant all 2700 seeds outdoors this Spring.
But where to plant them? I didn’t have room in my own garden. Luckily I found a
friend willing to let me use 500 square feet in a sunny area. I hired someone to turn
over the soil and fertilize. Barbara and I started planting the seeds four inches
apart in neat rows on April 30th. She had to quit after three hours with a sore back.
It took me three days to finish! In the first two years I used plastic plant markers
for identification. They ended up being illegible and all over the place. SO this year
I switched to Kincaid stainless steel markers and Brother P-Touch labels. From now
on I’ll know what the crosses were.
Over 90% of the seeds germinated. Everything looked rosy. Then disaster struck! I
put off weeding a little too long. When I finally got around to it I found that most
of the weeds were grasses, and I couldn’t tell the seedlings from the blades of
grass! Determined to save my seedlings I got down on my hands and kness and
pulled the weeds one by one, learning to distinguish the seedlings from the grass.
One thing I learned was that the grass is reddish at the base. It took me two days!
This summer I had my first seedling blooms from crosses I made in 2005. The best
was an orange-yellow curling spidery thing which I exhibited at our flower show in
July. It is now mid-August and I’ve already made 650 crosses (I can’t resist). With
crosses like CATHY CUTE LEGS X CHRISTMAS IN OZ, MAMA’S HOT
CHOCOLATE X DOUBLE BOURBON, MONOCACY SUMMER MIST X RUNNING
LATE, MARGO REED INDEED X WEDDING CANTATA, and FRANK’S FIRE OPAL X
SHORES OF TIME, who can resist? So I’m beginning to wonder—where can I plant
all these seeds next spring?
The LIDS Website
www.lidaylily.org
If you have a computer you should visit our own LIDS Website. There’s a wealth of
information…not only about our club, but about daylilies in general. Different pages cover
Member Gardens, Member Websites, The History of LIDS, Calendar of Events and other items.
Among the websites are those of hybridizers Isabel Hibbard, Pat Sayers, Bob & Mimi Schwarz,
Pat & Grace Stamile and Dan & Jane Trimmer. Chris Peterson’s website is filled with many
photos of her gardens, featuring daylilies and other perennials.
Janice Knox and Nichole Rosner have blogs with many lovely pics of daylilies, gardens and
nature. Melanie Vassallo’s blog is very extensive, having been started a few years ago. There are
numerous photos of daylilies, perennials and family. John Stahl’s blog covers daylilies, birds and
scrimshaw.
The section of Member Gardens is replete with many pictures of flowers and garden art.
Copies of past Newsletters are on file and may be downloaded.
BOOK REVIEW
A Passion For Daylilies
By Sydney Eddison
A must-read for anyone interested in daylilies, particularly those new to the
hobby, is Sydney Eddison’s A Passion for Daylilies. The subtitle “The Flowers
and the People” really tells it all, but it’s the people who are the stars of this
book. Sydney takes us back to the very beginnings with George Yeld in the
late 1800’s in England, followed by his countryman Amos Perry. The natural
chronology leads us to A.B. Stout here in the States, when he began his work
at the New York Botanical Garden in 1911. Stout is, unquestionably the
“Father of the Modern Daylily”. While there he made fifty thousand
Hemerocallis crosses, with today’s cultivars emerging from this mass of
genetic material. Today’s modern daylily also owes a great debt to backyard
breeders. Because of the ease with which it can be hybridized, the daylily is
the quintessential hobby flower.
In the chapter about spiders she takes us back to the early work of Lemoine
Bechtold who began hybridizing in 1922. By 1936 he introduced some of his
spiders through the Wild catalog. KINDLY LIGHT is considered to be the
prototype of the modern spider. Spiders of course fell out of favor in the
1960’s, and her book does not extend much past the early 80’s, so we cannot
learn about the major resurgence of the spidery type daylily and its
tremendous popularity today.
Sydney does not neglect doubles either, mentioning Stout’s early work with
doubles and the few introduced after his death by the Farr Nursery. During
the fifties Dr. Ezra Kraus introduced a few doubles, including DOUBLE
EAGLE in 1946. David Kirchoff used it to produce BETTY WOODS, and even
Betty Brown crossed it with one of her seedlings, producing DOUBLE CUTIE,
a landmark in the breeding of doubles. In the sixties Dr. James Miles
produced quite a number of new doubles, many of a newer, more open form.
Two well known ones are DOUBLE POMPON and DOUBLE OLD IVORY.
Her last chapter, “Getting Started With Daylilies”, has a wealth of
information, especially in the areas of science and plant culture. This is
followed by an exceedingly thorough glossary. All in all, it’s a terrific
resource for anyone interested in daylilies.
2008 LIDS Flower Show Awards
“Adventures in Wonderland”
An Accredited Daylily Show
HORTICULTURE
Best in Show: ‘Grace From Above’ (J. Carpenter ’02)- Rich DeRocher
Best Extra Large Flower: ‘Monacan Trail’ (J. Murphy ’05)- Rachel Turkiew
Best Large Flower: ‘Grace From Above’ (J. Carpenter ’02)- Rich DeRocher
Best Small Flower: ‘Siloam Merle Kent’ (P. Henry ’84)- Rich Derocher
Best Miniature Flower: ‘Luther’ (D. Apps ’95)- Tom & Carol Ramsden
Best Double, Multiform Double and Polytepal Flower: ‘Violet Osborn’
(D. Kirchhoff ’87)- Tom & Carol Ramsden
Best Spider: ‘Highland Spider’ (Toll ’93)- W.F. Bucklin
Best Unusual Form: ‘Margo Reed Indeed’ (J. Murphy ’04)- John Price
Best Youth: ‘Ledgewood’s Jumpstart’ (Abajian ’06)- Elliot Turkiew
Best Region 4 Popularity Poll: ‘Red Volunteer’ (Oakes ’84)- Rich Derocher
Best Seedling: Pat Sayers
AHS Sweepstakes Rosette: Tom & Carol Ramsden
DESIGN
Best in Class A: “The Garden of Live Flowers” (Mass Arrangement)- Chris
Peterson
Best in Class B: “A Mad Tea Party” (Table Setting)- Nichole Rosner
Best in Class C: “Through the Looking Glass” (Modern Design)- Irene
Bossert
American Hemerocallis Society Tricolor Rosette: Chris Peterson
Most Creative Design (by popular vote)- “Through the Looking Glass- Janice
Knox
DAYLILIES IN THE LANDSCAPE CALENDAR-2009
Louise B James produces a wonderful daylily calendar each year, filled
with many excellent photos. For 2009, two LIDS members are represented.
Chris Peterson’s photo of COMING UP POSIES is the large feature for the
month of April. She also has a small photo of TRI-COLORED BITE on the
August page.
John Stahl’s photo of SIMPLY SCINTILLATING is the large feature for the
month of September.
If you are interested in purchasing any calendars, go to ~
www.cedarthorn.com. Click on Gift Shop and then click on the
tab for calendars. Price is $20.95 each. Quantity prices are also listed. For
example, 5 to 15 calendars are $17.75 each.
AHS Awards for 2008
Stout Silver Medal ~ ALL AMERICAN CHIEF
Lenington All American Award ~ KING KAHUNA
Extra Large Diameter Award~ JULIE NEWMAR
Early Season Bloom Award ~BETTY FORD
Donn Fischer Memorial Award ~ TINY MORSELF
Annie T. Giles Award ~ AWESOME CANDY
Ida Munson Award ~ MOSE’S FIRE
Don C. Stevens Award ~ ADORABLE TIGER *
*(George Rasmussen ~ 1998)
Eugene S. Foster Award ~ SUZY CREAM CHEESE
Harris Olson Spider Award ~ A tie between:
MEMORIES OF OZ & SERGEANT MAJOR
Lambert Webster Award ~ THIN MAN
R.W. Munson Award ~ CATCHER IN THE EYE
_____________________________________________________________________________
Rachel’s Waterside Grill
A Restaurant Review by the Gastritic Gourmet
Should you find yourself on the South Shore in Nassau County, I highly
recommend Rachel’s Waterside Grill in Freeport. Their specialty is all types
of fresh fish, but there are several steaks and some over-the-top pastas on
the menu as well. Well established for many years, their chef is
extraordinary in his creativity. The quality of the food is top drawer and the
quantity is mind boggling! A recent dinner entrée of sautéed North Atlantic
salmon had as much shrimp as a garnish as the salmon itself! The Seafood
Risotto is to die for! Most of the pasta selections also are heavily laden with
shrimp… there are no large bowls of penne with two or three shrimp
scattered about. Appetizers, soups and salads are first rate. Most entrées
are from $20 to $25, and you will bring home enough leftovers for at least
one more meal! The surroundings are comfortable and cheery and service is
excellent. Lunch is also served. There’s outdoor dining in the warmer months.
This is definitely worth a look-see.
~281 Woodcleft Ave., Freeport, NY 11520 ~ 516~546~0050