Born and raised in the flatlands of the Toledo, Ohio area, I moved to the southeastern part of the state upon graduating from the University of Toledo in 1968. The rolling, wooded hills and tranquility of this area drew me here. For 32 years I was a public high school teacher specializing in Spanish and social studies.

Janice, my wife, and I were looking for a more rural existence than even the little town of 1000 in which we lived and so in 1972 we purchased 40 acres of farmland with open fields and deep woods. As city people, we knew little about farm life but felt drawn to the land.

My paternal grandparents were very early pioneers in Webster County, Nebraska. Shortly after they constructed their “soddie,” my great grandfather died leaving my great grandmother alone in the wilderness with two baby girls, Addie and Edie. Facing certain starvation, they were offered help from the famous Indian, Chief Red Cloud. The aid of this fine human got them through the first winter. In the spring, Red Cloud and his braves returned and planted the first crop, which ensured their survival for the following year. You will see future introductions to honor some of these wonderful and brave people. Addie Edson Norris will be a very special daylily. I just need to find a flower worthy of her. Roger Mercer beat me to the name, Chief Red Cloud, so I will look for another way to honor his memory. David Kirchhoff beat me to the name of Bill Norris, by coincidence, the name of my grandfather, so I shall think of another way to honor him.

Throughout the seventies and the eighties, Jan and I dabbled in farming until we came to the conclusion we needed to find a better way to get rid of our money. The purchase of a packet of tetraploid daylily seed from Parks sealed my fate as a hybridizer. I started the seeds in my small greenhouse just like the dozens and dozens of other perennial seeds I did that fateful year. The plants bloomed each in their own time, but, when the daylilies made their appearance, there was a revelation. “This was too easy, too much fun and too rewarding to not be explored further! A purchase of some fifty plants from the Wilds brought further delight. I took up the role of bee with the first summer’s blooms.

We had built our new home on a knoll of ash and dogwood trees, sheltered to the northwest by an Indian signal mound. Thus the name Ashwood Knoll was coined. We altered the name to Ashwood Garden when we entered the daylily business.

We now raise some 1000 of the newest registered cultivars, mostly tetraploids, along with perhaps 15,000 seedlings from recent years’ pollinations. In 1999, we introduced our first and only introduction, FLIGHT OF THE RAVEN. In 2002 we expect to introduce several including a very special one, which will be named to honor a former student, Mary Lightfine. In 99 Mary, as a leader of the group Doctors Without Borders, was chosen to be a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. Our small honor for Mary pales by comparison, but I wanted to let her know that we are proud of her. Mary now grows her namesake in Titusville, Florida not far from daylily Mecca of Orlando.

Jan and I both retired after 32 years in the classroom this last year (2000). I now have only one fulltime job. I love it!

I hybridize in the greenhouse but only raise plants outdoors. This is to be able to select for adaptation to the conditions in which daylilies are meant to be grown. I am most distressed by the trend to bloom seedlings under conditions other than outdoors. My theme has become Northern Performance. This past year some 1000 of the seedlings were reblooming here in August and September. In Ohio, rebloom is not easy or common. We are confident that we will have some very fine rebloomers to offer in the coming years. Combining rebloom with early morning opening (EMO) has become central to our program here. We feel there is little use for rebloom much farther north than the Ohio-Michigan border unless the reblooming plants are able to open properly under very cold conditions. We expect to set out between 20,000 and 25,000 seedlings from the greenhouses this spring (2001).

Jan and I are avid readers and enjoy classical music. A highlight of the year 2000 was to meet Placido Domingo backstage at the Met. About ten seconds and a handshake made the whole trip to New York special indeed. Forrest Gump still makes me laugh and cry every time I see it and Frazier is not missed if it is possible. After all that the moments that confirm the wonder of life must include seeing the seedlings bloom for their first time. That is what makes the work worth it.