2010 Mid-Winter Symposium

Hello Daylily Friends,

Well we have returned from the 2010 Mid-Winter Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee, and we had a wonderful time. There were so many speakers and presentations that I cannot list them all, but I will list a few. I would specifically mention my special friend, Ms. Karol Emmerick, from the great state of Minnesota. This past spring I saw Karol's new introduction, and I simply had to have her DESIRE OF NATIONS. I knew this was a special daylily, and it may be one of Karol's best. I will say this: In my humble opinion it is one of the top three daylilies produced this year in the USA. I am posting a picture of Karol as she shows her slides, and the photograph on the top left of the slide is DESIRE OF NATIONS. After Karol spoke her friends came to tell her how much they enjoyed her presentation. Pictured left to right are Larry Grace, Karol Emmerick, Ted Petit, and myself, Bill Waldrop. We were privileged to see Karol's "Springwood Garden" during the 2007 AHS National Convention. It was a tremendous experience; I wish that we could visit Karol more often.

After a few presentations there are "stretch breaks" in the hallway. During the first stretch break I met our good friends Cindy Grace and Rachel Steidl. It is always delightful to see Cindy because she is ebullient, lively and says funny things. Cindy is always smiling. Rachel is a young woman who is about to finish College. She is a tremendous student, and will being going to law school this coming fall. I know that her father, Phillip, must be a proud dad. Rachel has her eye on going to Wake Forest or Duke or perhaps the University of Tennessee. Now if I were thinking of hiring a lawyer I would pick Rachel!

Well, back in the Symposium our good friends Brenda Macy of Kentucky and Janice Wood of Tennessee were among the next few speakers. Brenda recently retired from a brilliant career as a Librarian. She is an avid Kentucky fan, and among her slides we saw Kentucky's basketball court, known as Rupp Arena. Brenda showed what she noticed in many of the daylily gardens she visited over the years including Flamingos. Janice showed slides of garden art that she saw in her daylily journeys. Janice showed "big bugs, sculptures, and numerous jewels in the garden." I'm showing a picture of Brenda and Janice after they finished with their presentations.

One of the presentations that I liked the best from the entire Mid-Winter Symposium was presented by Ms. Nikki Schmith from Michigan. Nikki is like springtime: delightful, and someone you are glad to meet! Nikki spoke on a topic that is important: "Blogging With Daylilies." Nikki spoke about how to create a blog, the fact that there is no cost to create a blog, and that blogs are used to communicate with the entire world from wherever you are with your computer. Nikki used several blogs to make a number of her points, and one blog that she used was my own which is known as "Bill's Daylily Corner." Nikki pointed our that each blog has basic elements, that pictures can be posted on a blog, and most importantly, that conversation can be ongoing on a blog. After Nikki finished with her presentation she "auctioned" her time to the highest bidder. The high bid was $200.00, and Nikki will help the high bidder create a blog.

Well today I worked in the Greenhouse continuing to get ready for spring. I potted new plants, watered everything, and now I am about to watch the TV show "24." See you in a day or two.

Bill