Monday, November 9, 2009

Good Daylily Week-end Adventures

Hello Daylily Friends,

On Saturday morning I was delighted that Norman Hughes came to visit our daylily garden. Norman has been reading "Bill's Daylily Corner," and he purchased IRISH HALO. He was on a trip and decided to take Saturday morning to come and see our garden when it is beginning its winter rest. I was particularly delighted to learn that Norman is "very accomplished" at converting daylilies. So, we had considerable conversation about my currents efforts to convert a number of diploids to tetraploids. I had one that Norman said should have a tarnished leaf removed. At first I did not follow his advice, but he insisted, so I went ahead and removed the leaf. Norman makes a strong statement: "Anybody can treat a daylily; the trick is keeping it alive after treatment." So, I am doing the best I can to keep my treated plants alive. Norman is from Kemblesbille, Pennsylvania, and he sees much in the garden. Norman recognized many of the plants I have growing in the Greenhouse, and I just really enjoyed Norman's visit. Norman's garden in Kemblesbille is "Dogwood Lane Daylily Garden." Here is a picture of myself and Norman in the Greenhouse.

On Saturday afternoon I watched Georgia Tech play Wake Forest. What an incredible game! Several time I certainly thought that the game was lost, but Coach Johnson and the men on the Tech team just kept coming back. Going for the first down at the five yard line in overtime was truly a gutsy call. It would have been easy to just kick a field goal and tie the game and keep playing. But no. Coach Johnson directs the team to go for the first down and then they scored the winning touchdown. Failing to get the first down would have ended any hopes Tech would have had to win the ACC. It is a good thing that Coach Johnson is at Tech.

On Sunday morning Diana and I got up, and headed to Augusta, Georgia, to speak to the Daylily Society of Greater Augusta. It was good to again see my friends Charlies Shaw, Jane Waldrop, Steve Willard, Mandy Smith, Vernon Johnson and Aubrey Phillips. When we went to Augusta I took Matthew Kaskel's seedling BEST EDGE with me because it was in full bloom. I wanted everyone to see the bloom. I also took a number of my new introductions that were auctioned to members of the Club. We had a wonderful snack lunch, and then it was time to speak. I know that I spoke too long but it is difficult to stop talking when you are talking about what you want to talk about. I just adore daylilies and if given the opportunity I like to tell what I am doing in the garden. Then we had a good meeting and soon everyone had to say goodbye. I did take a picture of the Club that I am herewith showing.

The drive over to Augusta took about three hours, and it took about three hours to drive back. The meeting lasted about three hours. So, Sunday was likewise a day of travel, but the Georgia countryside was beautiful.

Bill

2 comments:

  1. Wow Bill, those seedlings are really growing. Looks like they have doubled in size since I have been over.

    William

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi William,
    I am so pleased with my seedlings, and you are correct in your observation. Indeed, some of my seedlings are so large that today I could mail them out as "introductions." I am morally certain that in April I will have staggering, large, beautiful blooms from crosses that no one else can even attempt because of the use of conversions. Moreover, there are well over 1,000 seedlings in the Greenhouse, and outside there are well over 2,000. It is a good thing to plant seedlings early.
    Bill

    ReplyDelete