Wonderful Adventures in St. Louis

Hello Daylily Friends,

This past Friday morning Diana and I were up at 5:00 a.m., to get ready to drive to the airport, headed to St. Louis, Missouri.  We are so privileged to have been asked to come to St. Louis and speak. However, when we got up I had to run to the Greenhouse to see what had bloomed.  These days I have to see the Greenhouse because the new blooms are coming fast.  It was early in the morning as we flew over the Mississippi River headed to land.  We were met by our good friend, Nikki Schmith, and Nikki had great plans set in place.  Nikki took us to the Botanical Gardens where there was a show about Orchids.  The Orchids were from the Island of Madagascar, and what a grand show.  I could show pictures of many Orchids but one particularly mesmerized my attention.  It was green and it had many white teeth.  I've never seen anything like it.  Then, there was an Orchid that I bought and I now have it in the Greenhouse.  We just had a wonderful time with Nikki.  Thanks Nikki for picking us up at the airport, and then taking us for the visit to the Orchid Show.

I should say more about Madagascar.  It is an island in the Indian Ocean, just off the east coast of Africa.  It is an isolated place where plants grow without the influence of other environments.  So, the Orchids that were shown were truly unique.

On Friday evening we went to the meeting of the Greater St. Louis Daylily Society at the Creve Coeur Community Center.  Kathy Bouman is the President, and Nikki is the Vice President in charge of "programs."  We were introduced by Nikki, and the show began.  I think that the show went well, and I must say that I've been helped so much by Michael Bouman, Kathy's husband, and without Michael's help I couldn't show my program on a "Flash Drive."  Michael is so patient, and he helped me both in Iowa and also here in St. Louis.

On Saturday morning Michael picked us up at the hotel, and then we spent the morning at Michael and Kathy's home.  I'm showing a picture of those who attended.  We all enjoyed wonderful coffee and tea, and the best bagels with plenty of butter and Jelly that Kathy made this past summer.  We enjoyed seeing Michael's daylilies and seedlings, and then I understood that I had purchased one of Michael's introductions: GOODNIGHT KISSES.  I've been growing it to have enough plants so that I can treat it with Colchicine, and still have diploids remaining.  I'll probably treat it this coming fall. Oh, Michael stopped at the chemical supplier of Colchicine, which is "Sigma-Aldrich," and I took Michael's picture with Diana just outside the building.

This morning in the Greenhouse I had a wonderful gold bloom.  I am so pleased with the flower, and last spring it was assigned the name, Seedling 2-442.   I am going to use this seedling to create many gold blooms, especially using the seedlings where I previously used TET. ORANGE VELVET, which I described in my post on May 14, 2009.  I'm also going to use Seedling 2-442 with my conversion of TET, HANDSOME ROSS CARTER, which I described in my post on August 10, 2012.  I have come to really appreciate orange and gold daylilies.

How could I close without telling about Lily Rae's adventures at Church Music Class this past Monday morning?  Lily Rae and I got to Church early so that we could take our morning walk together, when quickly we saw that there were many sheep and goats to look at behind the softball field.  We walked over and Lily was thrilled.  We even saw a pig!  Lily Rae likes pigs but so far as I know she has never, really, actually seen one.  Lily Rae also liked the Rabbits.  Oh she is so much fun!

Thanks again to he St. Louis Club for having us to come and visit!

Bill