Visiting Texas and Mississippi

Hello Daylily Friends,

I've been on two trips recently.  One to Texas, and one to Mississippi.  The trip to Texas was extraordinary.  My friend, Paul Eskine, met me at the Houston Airport, and Paul took me to his house where I met his mother, Mildred, who is an active member of the Club and so, so committed to growing beautiful daylilies.  I was able to see Paul and Mildred's home, as well as their gardens which are very, very lovely and well kept.  I saw many daylilies in the garden that I've known, and many others that were hybridized by Paul's father.  Then there were also many tropical plants, and then we later went to the September 16, 2018, meeting of the Club.

When I arrived at the meeting I saw many friends including Everett Crainer, and Lois and Sandy, all from the Brazosport Daylily Society which I visited back in January, 2018.  Actually, so many members are also members of both Clubs.  When we arrived at the meeting there was much conversation and sandwiches and snacks and desserts were served in abundance.  My friend Everett was really enjoying a "Coke" he was preparing for himself.  There were so many plants that were to be auctioned in addition to those that I had brought to the Club.  There were many publications including the the "Daylilies of the Southwest," which I read with interest.  Obviously Region 6, the home of Texas and New Mexico Clubs, is a very busy Region, having 15 Clubs.  I'm also impressed that the Clubs I've visited have plenty of assets, which is most admirable.

After the Club meeting I was especially privileged that Paul took me to his office at Houston Aircraft Instruments, Inc., which is just down the street from his house.  It is a most interesting business where Paul's employees fix any instruments that might break on an aircraft.  Any aircraft.  Paul showed me the entire office and gave me a Company Shirt and Hat which I've been regularly wearing.  Who would think that such a business could exist?  It was exciting to again visit daylily friends in Texas! 

Our visit to Meridan, Mississippi, last week-end was also very, very good.  Diana and I left our house and drove about 4 1/2 hours before we reached the Hampton Inn.  Although Diana's cars holds only 12 gallons of gas, we never stopped anywhere along the way, and when we arrived in Meridan, we still had a quarter of a tank of gas remaining.  Our car is the Lincoln MKZ which gets about 44 MPG on the highway.  And, surprisingly, I drove the entire journey, and Diana drove the entire journey on the way back.  Immediately after we arrived in Meridan we saw Oliver Billingsley, and had a wonderful conversation.  Saw many, many other friends as well.  Perhaps the reason is that this was a Region 14 meeting.  We went to dinner with Lois and Maria Smith at Weidmann's in downtown Meridan.  Weidmann's was started by an immigrant from Switzerland, and has been a business since 1870.  The meal was just outstanding.

At the Region meeting on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018, we gave two (2) programs.  The first program was before lunch, and the second program was after lunch.  Before lunch I showed our introductions over the years 2017 and 2018, and after lunch I showed potential future introductions, garden preparation for 2019, and then went into detail over the upcoming movie about the Hybridizer, Leo Sharp.  I mentioned that the Actor, Clint Eastwood, plays Leo Sharp in the movie, and the Actor, Bradley Cooper, plays the DEA Agent.  The auction was good, and our plants helped bring additional assets to Region 14.  Thanks Region 14 for having us to come and visit.

I would note that Jeff and Elizabeth Salter attended the Region 14 Conference in Meridian.  I showed everyone my picture of Elizabeth's introduction, THE ONE RING.  I then showed a similar flower that bloomed in my garden this summer.  My flower is like Elizabeth's, having a "reverse bi-tone," and also having "circular rings" in the eye of the flower.  Elizabeth's diploid is much better than the flower that I have grown, but I need Elizabeth's flower converted before I can put it to use on my own flower.  That is to say, I need tetraploid pollen from Elizabeth's flower to put on my own flower, and then I think that I would hopefully have a very, very beautiful flower to introduce.

So, anyway, I sent a picture of Elizabeth's flower to that Great Gardener, Pat Stamile, and asked if the newly emerging roots at the base of treated flower indicated that I had a conversion.  Ordinarily I would not have bothered Pat, and would have just waited to see the result in another 6 to 8 months.  However, I just wanted to ask the question.  Pat said that the new roots indicated that I had "Layer 3 converted," and have a good chance other layers are also converted given the look of the new growth."  Pat went on to say that my chances of a conversion are "looking very promising."  Thanks Pat!  Here is the picture that I sent to Pat.

That's the news for this report.