Visiting "The Hoosier Daylily Society"

Hello Daylily Friends,

This past Friday I was very privileged to visit The Hoosier Daylily  Society in Indianapolis, Indiana,  I had previously been to Indiana during the summer of 2015 when I came to serve as a "Bus Captain."  My friend, Mike Holmes asked me if I would come and be a Bus Captain, and I asked if anyone there was growing my LYDIA'S REGAL ROBE.  Mike said he didn't think so, but unknown to me, he purchased my daylily from someone outside Region 2.  He then had the daylily planted in a pot, and as our Bus traveled from Garden to Garden, the pot was moved ahead of us by car to the garden we were about to visit.  I wasn't told about any of this until Dr. Wally Zollman, a renowned Plastic Surgeon, confessed that the pot had fallen over in his wife's Lexus, and the dirt covered the floor of her new car.  I was sad about Mrs. Zimmerman's car, but I was so impressed with what the Club did with my flower.

I would note that this past fall LYDIA won the Award of Merit from the AHS, and that it is now a candidate for the Stout Medal.  I would also add that when I was in Indiana this past Friday, Dr. Wally took me to breakfast at the Waffle House, and then took me to the Airport.  Thanks Dr. Wally.  Thanks also to Chris Wilhoite, the Club's President, who picked me up at the Hotel, and transported me to the meeting, and later back to the Hotel.  Thanks also to Brent Clement, our AHS Attorney, and thanks to all the Hoosier Club members for making me so, so welcome. The evening meal was just fabulous including the "Corn Casserole."

I was much later this year than I've ever been in getting my new seedlings moved from inside the Greenhouse to the outside garden. The labor was difficult clearing the beds, getting them tilled. and then getting the beds ready for the new seedlings.  I'm about three (3) weeks from the first frost, and I'm watering the beds every other day so that they will survive this coming winter.  Many of the seedlings will be dormant so they should survive.   

I was particularly pleased this past week-end to learn that two of my introductions won the AHS Honorable Mention Award.  This is the initial Award that puts the flower into ultimate contention for the Award of Merit.   The two flowers to win the Award were BLAZING CANNONS and DIANA'S IRISH DREAM.  I am pleased that BLAZING CANNONS previously won the AHS President's Award, and I'm likewise pleased that it received 61 votes and came in 4th place in the overall Honorable Mention voting.  DIANA'S IRISH DREAM was a big surprise.  It received 22 votes, and now I will have to grow more of it to get it distributed to more members.  Thanks to our Judges for this recognition of our flowers.

I must also report that on Tuesday morning we sent a large order of daylilies to our friend Karel Smit in South Africa.  The order that we sent to Karel last year, 2015, was held in the South Africa Custom's office for 30 days, but all but one of the daylilies survived.  This year I made sure that I sent to Karel the very strongest daylilies we have that he ordered.  I am hoping and praying that South Africa sends the daylilies to Karel much more promptly.  I am so pleased that our daylilies will be seen by others in another continent far across the Atlantic ocean.  So very exciting! 

This past week-end we were privileged to have Lily Rae with us.  As you may remember she had her 5th birthday in September, and she is a happy and beautiful child.  So inquisitive and she learns so fast.  We did not have her on Halloween which was on Monday, but on Saturday we took her to the Marietta Square to celebrate this holiday.  She gathered lots of candy, she enjoyed the store known as "Eddie's Trick Shop," and she particularly enjoyed seeing a tiny dog on the square that was made to look like a "hot dog."  I took Lily Rae's picture as she looked at a display of a witch.

This coming week-end we are going on our Sunday School Class Retreat to Lake Junaluska in North Carolina.  We will be studying a book about Revival written by Adam Hamilton.  The book will focus on John Wesley, and we will have over 70 Class members on the Retreat.

More News soon.

Bill