Growing Daylilies Together

My first daylilies were part of a land scape package in 2005; Barbary Corsair, Cabbage Patch, Frivolous Frills, Malihini, Pink Lavender Appeal, Siloam Ethel Smith and Zagora. I so loved the variety of color! From the moment they bloomed, I was hooked.

From there, my interest went to spiders/ufs and I purchased Grey Witch for its unique color and all the glowing reports on its vigor. I wasn't disappointed! To learn more, I went on-line and discovered the AHS and the wonderful, colorful world of daylilies. From less than ten daylilies in 2005 I grew to over four hundred and fifty named cultivars and two hundred plus seedlings crammed into my little city lot as of 2009 (and yes, I have daylilies on order for spring). That is not to mention all the daylilies that have already migrated to the school gardens.

I joined an on-line garden group with an active daylily forum and learned that I lived in the same small town as the vice-president of the nearest daylily club. Wanda Evans quickly became my mentor and has grown to be one of my closest friends.

I'm a member of the Greater Cincinnati Daylily and Hosta Society, Shirley Farmer's Mid-west Hybridizers Group, MyDaylilies.com and Dave's Garden. Within GCDHS, I've served as the co-organizer for the education booth at their annual daylily show 2007-present, co-hostess for the bus trip in 2009 to the region 2 summer meeting and a member of the Plant Adoption Committee 2009-present.

I have not been to a National meeting yet, but I have attended several regional meetings; the 2009 Region 2 winter symposium and the 2009 region 2 summer meeting and I attended the Mid-west Hybridizer's Meetings from 2007-present and was a speaker in Spring 2009. I will be a speaker at the 2010 region 2 winter symposium.

Wanda Evans is my partner in crime and she may try to rein me in but so far it has not worked. If you do not believe me, look at the van picture in my Northern Mecca album! Together, we attend local club meetings, Mid-west hybridizer's meetings and Northern Mecca events.  Another friend that feeds the addiction is Susan Ridder. I am also lucky that several successful hybridizers are members of my local club and share experiences (and pollen too!).

Even though I have not been growing/hybridizing daylilies very long, I mentor (along with Wanda Evans) 60-90 seventh graders every year in my classroom. We do an entire unit on daylilies in order to learn about plant structure/function, growth requirements, limiting factors, genetics, and even do a little landscaping. My students have from their 7th grade year until their senior year (all in the same school building) to evaluate their seedlings. The first group of 7th graders are now in 10th grade and some of their seedlings had maiden bloom 2009. This Daylily unit earned myself and our school an Amgen Teaching in Science Excellence Award that included a $10,000 grant. The grant was used to purchase materials for the unit and refurbish the school's greenhouse. We hope to eventually turn the area into a true outdoor classroom.

I do not have a daylily business yet but call my city lot the "Little Garden of Big Dreams" and the school daylily beds are called "Greendevil Gardens".

There is nothing more rewarding on a summer morning then to wake up, get a cup of coffee and go out back into my living, growing rainbow! There is a sense of accomplishment that comes with growing daylilies - I did that! And when you start hybridizing and have your own babies bloom! Well, that defines pride. Besides the personal satisfaction I get from growing daylilies, there is sharing the knowledge and the love with my students. And finally, there is the daylily community. I love the people I get to met because of our common interest in daylilies.

As far as my hybridizing goals, I am keeping the genetic pool large and diverse in the school gardens, at home my goals are tall large northern hardy spiders/ufs on well branched scapes with good bud count (Hey, I guess I should shoot for the moon and add doubling and patterned eyes in there too!)

Lisa Klette
317 6th Ave.
Dayton, KY 41074