The Mid Winter Symposium, 2016

Hello Daylily Friends,

On Tuesday, February 9, 2016, Diana and I went to visit the Rockdale County Master Gardener's Club in Conyers, Georgia.  It was somewhat of a longer drive, but we arrived at the meeting at about 10:05 a.m.  I was able to get my computer and projector ready in just a few moments and the show began.  It is always good to speak to Master Gardener's, but they always ask about my soil.  I'm going to have to add information about soil to my daylily show.  On the way back home there were predictions of snow in North Georgia, and as we came into Marietta there were a few snowflakes, and then there were more.  Diana took a picture of the falling snow from the front seat of our car.  Then, when we were back at the house we went to check the garden.  For us, it seemed like a wonderful treat.  You will remember from my last post, on Saturday, January 23, it was snowing, and on February 9, it did it again.  Diana wrote on her Facebook page that we were having a "Georgia Blizzard."  Diana's brother Jack who lives in Colorado, wrote "Really?"  Diana's sister, Barbie, who lives in South Dakota, wrote, "That's only a baby snow."  Well, it was fun to have the snow.

Out in the Greenhouse I am surprised most every day.  Yesterday I had a bloom on Niccole Devito's UNDEFINABLE. I have never seen this daylily have a bad bloom.  As I may have written earlier in another post, I am growing two fans of UNDEFINABLE outside, and I'm looking forward to seeing how it manages our winter here in North Georgia.  I pollinated UNDEFINABLE with pollen from TET. YANKEE PINSTRIPES.  Hopefully, this will be a good cross.  I've also been trying to set a pod on TET. YANKEE PINSTRIPES, but so far no success.

I've also really had quite a few blooms on TET. YANKEE PINSTRIPES.  The true color of this conversion is now obvious, and so I'm showing two pictures.  Instead of having a purple color, it is more of a burgundy/pink color.  I've seen probably 8 blooms and there is no variation.  I can also say that this plant did very well in the Greenhouse even though I took two of the plants to the little Greenhouse to receive a dose of the winter chill.  The two pots that went through some cold weather are now growing just fine.  In fact, one has a small scape growing.

Another flower that is growing quite well is SWEET GOLDONI, a Petite/Geoff daylily.  Last winter I received a single fan with no soil.  It grew quite well, and I used it to make a number of seeds, but it is growing much better now.  Although it is still short, I'm hopeful that it will transfer its unusual eye into my line of burgundy/red colors.  Again, I have several fans of SWEET GOLDONI growing outside experiencing our winter weather.  It seems to be doing ok.

One of my most well received introductions for this spring is DENTAL DELIGHT.  As I noted when it was registered, it is a hard dormant.  It doesn't really start growing to any decent size until later in April.  I was concerned that sending such a small plant to those who have made the purchase concerned me.  So, I dug up quite a few fans and planted them into two gallon pots.  Once these plants were in the warm Greenhouse they started to grow quite well.  I think that with 6 more weeks of growth, these will be fine to ship.  Indeed I am so pleased with DENTAL DELIGHT that I plan to use several fans to pollinate new seedlings I have growing, and I plan to cross it with TET. YANKEE PINSTRIPES.  So many plans.

We never know when we're going to meet a famous person.  Diana had to go to the eye physician, and so I went with her so that I could drive her back home.  I was sitting in the waiting room, and then I saw Ms. Alexis Scott.  So I promptly went over and said "Hi!  I'm Bill Waldrop and I watch your TV Show, The Georgia Gang," Alexis was as nice as could be.  We talked for a while about her Newspaper, The Atlanta World Daily, and also about her experiences as a long time personality on The Georgia Gang.  Alexis was born in Atlanta, Georgia; her grandfather was the founder of the Atlanta Daily World, which was the nation’s first black-owned daily newspaper.  Alexis attended both Barnard College in New York City and also Spelman College in Atlanta.  The TV Show, The Georgia Gang, is a week-in-review program on politics.  Alexis Scott is a highly respected woman in Atlanta, in Georgia, and across the nation.

I also want to report on our trip this past weekend to the Mid-Winter Symposium (MWS).  The drive to Nashville was easy, and the return trip back home was just fine as well.  I understand that many who attended had more difficult journeys going back to their homes.  Anyone who lived north of Nashville had to drive through snow.  Anyway, Diana and I saw and talked with so many friends. What did we talk about?  Daylilies, of course!  I was delighted to see Ms. Elizabeth Trotter, our newly selected AHS Registrar.  I like Elizabeth's new question and answer series on Facebook.  Also glad to see Sandy Holmes and hear about her program.  Sandy is such a wonderful hybridizer.  I was also delighted to listen to Sandy's report about AHS daylily definitions.  In fact, in my humble opinion, that was the best MWS that we've yet attended.  Thanks to all who made the programs so interesting, including our President, Ms. Nikki Schmith.

Getting back home was nice.  As evening came the Greenhouse just had to be watered, and so I started with this.  The Greenhouse was so beautiful as the evening came and the water was coming from the sprinklers.  I wanted everyone to see what I saw so I took a picture.  Although the picture is ok, the sight was just awesome.  I just sat there and admired what I saw.  Daylilies are beautiful whether there is a flower, or even if there isn't.  What a wonderful flower God has made.

Bill