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Hello!
WELCOME TO DAYLILY E-NEWS, a free electronic newsletter brought to you by the American Hemerocallis Society, also known as AHS. Daylily E-News is for all who share an interest in daylilies, including members of the American Hemerocallis Society and other horticultural organizations, educators, garden writers, news media, and anyone who loves to garden. In this issue, we have two great feature articles. Need a little inspiration for what to do in the garden right now? Nikki Schmith suggests 7 Things for Spring to help you get started on all those projects you've been wanting to try to make this year's garden the best ever. The next article, A Key to Your City, tells how you can get your city designated as an official AHS Daylily City!
Carol Sims, an AHS member and hybridizer, has contributed many of the photos for your enjoyment in this issue. Carol lives in Jackson, Tennessee with her husband Phil, who is also a hybridizer. They grow approximately 700 registered cultivars, and have registered 150 daylilies. You may recognize the prefix "Elohim" on many of their introductions. Their garden is open to visitors during the month of June. You will find them in their garden with coffee most mornings during bloom season around 8:30 a.m., and visitors are welcome.
Be sure to click on the Facebook "like" button and share this issue with your friends!
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For much more about daylilies and daylily events, visit the AHS website (see QUICK LINKS on the sidebar).
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We hope you enjoy
Daylily E-News!
Elizabeth Trotter
E-News Editor
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Thank you to our advertisers for sponsoring this issue of Daylily E-News!
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CONTEST TIME
YOUTH NEWS
The spring/summer issue of the Youth News was distributed in March. If you did not receive your copy, contact the Youth Chair at youth@daylilies.org.
Last year's issues of the Youth News are on the Portal at www.daylilynetwork.org for all to view. Find them under "Youth" in the drop-down menu of the "AHS File" tab located on the site's navigation bar.
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7 Things for Spring
by Nikki Schmith
1. Replace plant markers. I just bought these from Paw Paw labels to replace many that are now too short in the garden and to make new ones for this year's additions. I love these plant markers, and I still use the Avery 5660 labels in my laser printer to make for great identification of the daylilies.
2. Jot down two things you always wish you would have done early in the Spring. Make it a priority to do those things as soon as you can get outside. These tasks quite often do not get done because they aren't the most fun ones to do. So, make a commitment that you will do those most unpleasant, but quick, tasks first so you aren't kicking yourself later in the season. Remember: THIS IS THE YEAR OF JOY. Little and big joy.
3. Think about those waning days of Fall, when you find yourself reflecting in the garden about what "could have been." What is the one goal you want your garden to meet this year? Is it to get all your roses pruned just right? Do you always wish you had shared more, or culled more, or taken more photographs, or invited more people over to enjoy your daylilies? Consider that your BIG GOAL this year. Be conscious not to let this garden season pass with any regrets. My big goal is to significantly bolster the butterfly-beneficial plants in my garden, and find ones that play well with the daylilies. I also want to add more fragrance in the garden. Those are two goals I'll be working toward this year.
4. Pick out some daylilies from your collection to donate as door prizes for guests or new members at your next local club meeting. Pick out two or three GOOD ONES and just unexpectedly show up with them at the first spring meeting. You certainly need to cull a few, and there are certainly some new growers who will not forget your generosity. I dig clumps very early in the spring and plant one-gallon pots. By the time a plant sale rolls around in late June, these pots have healthy fans, probably with scapes, that sell themselves.
5. Update your databases and garden maps. I'm still using PlantStep and I can't say enough amazing things about what it does for my enjoyment of the daylilies in my garden. Read this past post where I gushed on it...
6. Write some thank-you notes. Not emails. Not Facebook messages. Get out an ink pen and use your cursive skills to thank some of your daylily friends for their support, their creations, their efforts or for just being who they are. You might even write a note to a hybridizer you don't know personally, but whose daylilies you admire. Drop them a line to tell them you appreciate what they do. Send some hand-written happiness to your local club president or neighborhood kid who cuts your grass in the summer. Make the mailbox a happy place for some unsuspecting daylily friends or fans today.
7. Join a new Facebook group called "Monday Night Lights." Daylily enthusiasts from all over the world come together on Monday nights at 7:00 p.m. (Eastern Standard Time) to enjoy a live presentation by a daylily-specific person. Each night features two, sometimes three presenters. It is an innovative use of Facebook I just ADORE, and it's worth checking it out. (P.S. I am scheduled to present on April 21.)
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A Key to Your City by K.D. Cobb  | |
Highway in Bloom, I-240, Asheville, North Carolina
photo by C.L. Kunst
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No, I am not talking about that big ceremonial key your mayor gives to visiting dignitaries. I am talking about your key - a key to sponsoring your community as an AHS Daylily City. Interspersed within this article are examples from around the country and Canada showing public uses of daylilies that could qualify as part of an AHS Daylily City designation.
An Applicant 's Guide To The AHS Daylily City Program is on the AHS website at www.daylilies.org/AHSDGarden.html. This is your key to developing a plan and preparing the proper documentation, which will designate your city as a Bronze, Silver, or Gold level AHS Daylily City. Now, why would you want your city to acquire this designation - just what is the objective?
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Waterfront Park, Gloucester, Massachusetts
photo by Bobbie Brooks
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The objective is "to create and maintain an awareness of the benefits of daylilies for landscape usage in public locations and increase the overall usage of daylilies through educational and promotional events within the city." Pretty simple, right! Your city will need to use named daylilies around some public access areas, e.g., parks, zoos, golf courses, botanical gardens, retirement communities, traffic medians, schools, and/or government or commercial buildings. In addition, promotion must ensure that a reasonable percentage of your citizens are aware of the daylily. This can be accomplished through flower shows, presentations, the news media, and/or other creative activities associated with daylilies. It is very important to always keep in mind that this program is recognition for community efforts, not recognition for internal daylily club functions.
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Stout Medal Bed,
Meadownlark Botanical Gardens, Vienna, VA
photo by Oliver Billingslea
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Will your city be interested? Yes, cities compete with each other nationally for a variety of honors which will make them seem more attractive to corporations and new residents, for example, All-American City and Tree City, USA.
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Children's Discovery Garden, Simpson Garden Park
Bowling Green, Ohio
photo by Charlie Harper
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An individual, a city official or department, a business or civic group, or a daylily club may sponsor an application. The first AHS Daylily City (West Bend, Wisconsin, population 29,000 in 1999) achieved the Gold level with an application sponsored by the only AHS member in town, the executive director of their city's Beautification Committee. Accomplishing this through a daylily club certainly makes the process easier, however!
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Mississippi Golf Club, near Ottawa, Ontario, Canada photo by Sue Bergeron
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What's the first step? Read the Guide. The documentation step may be the only thing standing between your city and the designation. Many of your communities have had public plantings, flower shows, and private display gardens in place for decades. Others may take longer if interactions with the city must start from scratch. Upon approval, the AHS Regional President for the region in which your city resides will involve AHS in a recognition ceremony.
Now that you have the key, see what doors open to you!  | |
Glenaire Retirement Community
Cary, North Carolina
photo by Oliver Billingslea
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Ken Cobb, an AHS past president, has been the AHS Archivist/Historian since 2003. He chaired the AHS Daylily City Committee before it merged with the AHS Daylily Display Gardens Committee. |
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| The American Hemerocallis Society, Inc., is a non-profit corporation organized exclusively for educational and scientific purposes, and especially to promote, encourage, and foster the development and improvement of the genus Hemerocallis and public interest therein. |
| AHS Daylily E-News Committee: Elizabeth Trotter (KY), Editor, E-News; Sue Bergeron (ON, Canada); Ken Cobb (NC); Julie Covington (VA); David Kirchhoff (KY); Nikki Schmith (IL); John Ware (VA). |
| Daylily E-News © 2014 by the American Hemerocallis Society, Inc. |
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Hemerocallis 'Unlock the Stars' (Petit, 2005). Click photo for larger image.
| | Locate an AHS group near you! | |
The American Hemerocallis Society is all about daylilies and people.
AHS is organized into 15 Regions including USA, Canada, and International designations. Each offers a variety of regional and local club daylily activities.
When people join AHS, they also become a member of the AHS Region in which they live. AHS Regions do not charge additional dues. Most AHS regions publish their own newsletter and mail it to all regional members at no extra charge. Members often participate in events outside their own region.
To learn about daylily activities and events near you, visit the webpage:
AHS Regional Activities
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'Orchids and Gold'
(Smith-FR, 2008). Click photo for larger image.
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Why Join AHS?
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Learn about daylilies.
Receive the quarterly publication, The Daylily Journal.
Receive a regional newsletter 2-3 times per year.
Enjoy a members-only social networking site with forums, blogs, calendars, and more.
Meet daylily growers and hybridizers.
Vote for favorite daylilies in the Popularity Poll.
Participate in daylily exhibitions.
Become an AHS Exhibition Judge.
Become an AHS Garden Judge.
Have an AHS Daylily Display Garden and/or AHS Historic Daylily Display Garden.
Attend daylily symposiums, garden tours, meetings, conventions, and more.
Participate in on-line discussion groups.
Join special interest snail-mail groups.
Become a better gardener.
Form friendships for life!
AHS members belong to one of 15 U.S./Canadian regions. Those outside the U.S. and Canada may join as International members. Over 180 local clubs form the backbone of every region, and you may find that one of them is near you. If not, meet with local gardeners and form a daylily club of your own!
It's easy to become a member. Just use this link: Join AHS
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Hemerocallis 'Jurassic Fiesta' (Stamile-Pierce, 2011). Click photo for larger image.
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What is the AHS Membership Portal?
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The AHS Membership Portal is a feature-rich website operated by AHS for the benefit of its members.
In 2013, the Portal was completely redesigned for easier navigation and user convenience. A new tour of the Portal's features and benefits has been created by Portal Help Desk member Michael Bouman, with recorded narration for every slide. A video of the tour is available for people who don't have PowerPoint on their computer. Both the PowerPoint download and the streaming video are posted on the Portal's Help Page. (The "Help" button is located on the right side of the listing of drop-down buttons near the top of the page.) The Portal home page is located at www.daylilynetwork.org.
We hope members will take a look around the site to see the changes that have been made. If you are having a problem accessing any of the features, hit the "Contact Us" button at the very top row of buttons on the right of the page or click on the "Contact" button just to the left of "Help" in the row of buttons near the top.
If you are not a member of the AHS and are interested in joining, you can do it right from the home page noted above.
Want to learn more about the benefits of joining the AHS? Click on the "Membership" button near the top, pick "Join/Renew" from the drop-down menu, and then pick "Membership Benefits."
We hope you enjoy the new look of the site!
Mary Collier Fisher,
There is something for everyone on the AHS Membership Portal.
Discover it today!
Visit:
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Advertise in the Daylily E-News!
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Hemerocallis 'Sense of Wonder' (Trimmer, 2005). Click photo for larger image.
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SPELLING LESSON
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How to spell
"daylily"
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The word "daylily" is properly spelled as one word. Many of today's spellcheckers and media style books incorrectly use the old-fashioned spelling "day lily" instead. The single word has been the preferred spelling for decades.
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Hemerocallis 'Barcode' (Stamile, 2007). Click photo for larger image.
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What is a Daylily?
| A daylily is an herbaceous perennial that will return year after year in a suitable climate. Some are evergreen and will retain their green foliage throughout the year in a mild climate.
Daylilies may be hardy or tender, depending on genetics, so gardeners should choose cultivars based on their local growing conditions
Daylilies belong to the genus Hemerocallis, from the Greek meaning "beauty for a day." A typical daylily bloom lasts for one day, but an established clump will produce many flowering scapes with plentiful buds that will produce a fresh flush of blooms over many days.
Daylilies do not form bulbs (as do members of the genus Lilium, otherwise known as "true" lilies).
Due to the distinctive characteristics of Hemerocallis, taxonomists have removed daylilies from the family Liliaceae and placed them in their own family Hemerocallidaceae.
Daylilies form a crown, with fibrous roots below and foliage and flowering scapes above. The daylily crown is the essential growth center of the plant. Neither true daylily root structures nor daylily foliage will grow without a piece of the crown.
Some daylilies form rhizomes - special underground structures with scales and internodes - that can produce new plants. The species or "wild" types often have this trait. Many modern hybrids do not form rhizomes, although there are some that do.
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Hemerocallis 'Ten Carat Ruby' (Holley-S., 2010). Click photo for larger image.
For previous issues of DAYLILY E-NEWS visit the archives:
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Hemerocallis
'Outer Limits' (Gossard, 2008). Click photo for larger image.
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Donations & Endowments
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Have you told family and friends not to give you any more birthday presents because you don't need more stuff? Whether it's an anniversary, graduation, or other celebration, it's still nice to be remembered on a special occasion, so why not ask them to make a donation to the AHS in your name? With a minimum donation of $25, your name and that of the donor will appear in The Daylily Journal.
Donations can be made online using the AHS website, or by check. Make checks payable to the AHS and mail to:
Kathleen Schloeder,
Endowments Chair
2501 St. John Place
Alexandria, VA 22311
(703) 671-6635
endowments@daylilies.org
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