Our 2010 Daylily Show at the Galleria Mall

Hello Daylily Friends,

I know that it has been over a week since I have posted, but in my own defense, I must say that I have been very, very busy. Indeed, my friend Lee Pickles sent me an e-mail to inquire about my condition, and then Lee made a phone call to the house. Thanks so much Lee for caring!

So, you might ask, "Well Bill, what have you been doing?" The main thing on our schedule was the joint daylily show that we have each year. Our Cobb County Daylily Society joins with the Greater Atlanta Daylily Society, and we have a joint show at the Galleria Mall. This year, on Saturday, June 12, 2010, we had 555 daylilies entered in the show, and we had 16 Judges who selected the best from our 555 entries. It was indeed a task getting all of the daylilies ready for the Show, but all 555 daylilies were received by our "Registration Committee" by 9:30 a.m. I am particularly pleased with our Plant Sales Committee headed by David and Doris Bishop. Our Cobb County Club had sales totaling $1,764.50, and our Atlanta Club likewise had very strong sales. I'm showing a picture of the daylilies we offered to the public. You can see Doris in the front of the picture, and you can see David who appears to be near the escalator.

One part of our Annual Daylily Show that concerned me was the "Design Division." We had members of other groups make entries into our Design Division, and our Club Members were not doing well against the competition. So, we invited Professor Joe Watson from Milledgeville, Georgia, to come and speak to our Club in April, to give us insight into the competition. Thanks Joe for all you did, and also thanks for being one of our 16 daylily Judges. There was a separate group of Judges who handled the Design Division. The point that I am trying to get to is that our own Ms. Marilyn Hennecken won the blue and purple ribbons in the contest, and won first place. Ms. Camilla Arthur placed second with a blue ribbon. I am pleased with all of our entrants, and I particularly am pleased with Ms. Betty Williams for handling this aspect of the show. Thanks Betty!

There are so many tasks in a Daylily Show that all of these cannot be recognized here in this blog. Moreover, I did not take enough pictures to show each of the work stations. However, I did take a picture of my friend Virgil Herndon who was in charge of "Placement." If a daylily is not "placed" where it should be, such as with large, small, minatures, doubles, or spiders or unusual forms, then the competition cannot be as it is supposed to be. Virgil made sure that the daylilies were placed where they were supposed to be placed. Thanks Virgil! And Virgil, I like the back of your shirt!

One of the very important tasks in a Daylily Show is to recruit "Clerks" to help our Judges. Our leader in this effort was Ms. Anne Murray. Clerks help a daylily club because the Clerks learn to understand the work of the Judges, they walk with the Judges, they listen to the judges, and because of their experiences, many Clerks elect to likewise become Judges. Anne also helped with out Publicity. We were fortunate to have had so many, many visitors. Visitors who seem to have come from everywhere. Thanks Anne for all of your hard work which is most appreciated.

The one very important person that I want to especially recognize is Ms. Patty Franklin. Patty is a Teacher, and she has planning and organizational skills. Patty is a leader. Indeed, Patty has been in charge of our Joint Show for the past two years. Patty is dependable. Patty gets the job done. Thanks Patty for making our joint show a "must see" event in the State of Georgia!

When I returned to the Garden we were blessed to have many, many more visitors. One visitor was Ms. Kimberly Langston who is from Montpelier, Virginia. Kim got in her car, and drove down to see the garden. Kim did this last year as well. Kim is a good friend who reads the blog, and who loves to grow daylilies. Kim enjoyed looking at the outside garden, and also enjoyed looking at the daylilies in the Greenhouse. Thanks Kim for your visit!

Well that is all for today.

Bill