|
My son Randy grew up showing Angus cattle at numerous shows including those on a national level. His experiences and competitive spirit are the reasons he has enjoyed being so involved in daylily shows. Randy is both an accredited AHS Exhibition Judge and Garden Judge. His occupation is site manager at an Allied Waste facility.
Our daylily venture began in August 1999 when both families were camping on the banks of Jonathon Creek near Maggie Valley, North Carolina. Sandra went into the wash house on the campgrounds, and noticing a brochure rack and picked up a leaflet that showed a colorful flower on the front cover. The brochure advertised a garden called "The Lily Patch" which was nearby and the visit was free. We learned there that you could cross-pollinate daylilies and create a daylily that was new and different, which was similar to breeding cattle and looking forward to the next calf crop. Randy and I each purchased nine different daylilies. Before this visit, Randy only had one daylily, which was given to him by a neighbor, Shirley Feduccia. He later named an introduction after her.
In the fall of 2008, we built a 26’ x 48’ greenhouse. Since then, we have built an 18’ x 35’ cold frame and just completed a much larger one that is 34’ x 60’. We have been able to set more seed and hybridize longer because of the greenhouse environment.
This past August 2009, we planted over 6,200 seeds. About six weeks later we started transplanting the 5,000 seedlings that came up, into trade gallon pots. Many of these should bloom this summer.
The first daylily I registered was named "Bluegrass Memories" and we use it a lot in hybridizing for blue eyes. Randy's first to register was named after his wife, "Schanta Preuss", which is a reddish purple with a gold edge.
Our grandson and young daylily hybridizer, Greg, was the first member of our family to win an AHS Achievement Medal for his spidery form daylily "Papa Slow-Poke". Randy's highlight to date was being presented the pretigious AHS Ophelia Taylor Horticultural Award in 2007.
We are all members of AHS, and daylily clubs in Hattiesburg, Jackson and Meridian.
If you are in the area, stop by to "shake and howdy" at River Road Daylilies. Email would be appreciated. We look forward to your comments and suggestions. Our email address is: tspreuss@wb4me.com.
|
