2018 Winter Symposium; Indianapolis, Indiana

Hello Daylily Friends,

This past weekend I was privileged to visit with our AHS Members who attended the Winter Symposium for Region 2 in Indianapolis, Indiana.  I arrived on Friday, February 23, 2018, and I was met at the airport by Sonja Kraft.  Sonja was kind enough to drive me from the airport to the Embassy Suites Hotel where I was stunned by the size of my room.  I thought to myself that surely I have the room meant for VP Pence.  There was a living room with a large TV, plus a large table where I could put my computer.  Then there was a massive bathroom, and a very large bedroom where there was another very large TV.  I called my dear wife Diana Rae and left a phone message, and told her that I had the biggest room I've ever had anywhere.  She soon called me back and told me that the room was the type of room provided by Embassy Suites.  Very, very nice.

I even had a balcony that overlooked a lake.  I stood on the balcony and took a picture of the lake, and was glad that I had made the journey safely from our home to Indianapolis.  It was a straight through flight and the plane was full to capacity.  I mentioned to the Delta pilot when I entered the plane that he looked much too young to be a pilot.  He gave me a broad smile and said "Thank you!"  I like flying with Delta.

One of my good friends that I met when I entered the room where the Symposium was being held was Ms. Kimberly McCutcheon.  It was so good to see Kimberly and we have grown her BABY PINWHEELS which is an unusual form daylily.  I am most proud of Ms. Kimberly because she went back to school and obtained her Nursing Degree and has been working as a Nurse now for several years.  It was good to see Kimberly.

Also saw my good friends Richard Norris, Eric Simpson and Bob Faulker.  Richard and Eric had shows at the Symposium which were very, very good.  I knew that Richard was an outstanding hybridizer, but I had not seen Eric's program since he moved to Ashville, North Carolina.  Eric has made just outstanding progress.  He has catapulted to the front of the classroom.  Eric had 20 introductions and I would have been pleased to have any of the 20 in my garden.

I presented my program on Sunday morning at 8:30 a.m.  I was allotted 45 minutes, and I completed the show in 45 minutes.  I mentioned and showed my new daylily OPA KLAUS, along with our Granddaughter Lily Rae.  Everybody seemed to enjoy seeing both Lily Rae and OPA KLAUS.  So, I'm showing a picture of both.  Lily Rae has become a wonderful gardener.  She has grown apple trees from seed and she now has 15 daylilies growing from seed.  Also, when she comes over to visit she likes to go to the Greenhouse.  In fact, she is a member of our Club and she has her own Shirt with the Club Emblem.

My supply of OPA KLAUS is limited because I've sold so much of it.  However, after I finished my presentation to the Region, my new friends Ron and Pat Byerley gave me a check for two introductions, and one was OPA KLAUS.  Although our supply is limited they will nevertheless get their plant.  I asked Ron and Pat why they decided to buy OPA KLAUS, and they said it was because they had seen in growing in Jamie Gossard's garden, and after seeing it in my show, they could no longer resist.  I'm showing Ron and Pat along with Bob Faulkner.

I want to take us back to the trip Diana and I took this past November when we went to the Galapagos Islands off the west coast of the South American nation of  Ecuador.  We went to five islands, and they were all just so thrilling to see.  You might remember that Charles Darwin wrote his book about the "Origin of the Species" after visiting these islands.  Darwin was a brilliant man who visited the islands in the 1830s, and he wrote his book about 20 years after his visit.  The most unusual bird that Diana and I saw was the "Blue Footed Boobie."  This bird can fly high, drive and catch fish, and has astonishing vision.  We had a wonderful time.

Thanks again to the members of Region 2 who asked me to come and speak.  It was a wonderful time!  Now,  surely winter is over and we're looking forward to spring!