I always liked the daylilies my Mom had from her family "home place"... and brought pieces of them with me to my new house in 1984. They really grew well, with no care.
I wanted to cover a hill that was to steep to mow in daylilies. I bought some from a local woman, who just happened to be Dottie Warrell. then, thought I might as well try making seed. I tried for 3 years to cross the same two plants with no results. Little did I know that I was trying to cross tets to dips. I finally did get some seed to set, using different plants, and to grow. I still have one of those original 24 seedlings. It is a nice dip double pink.
I went to a class on witch hazel at my nearby arboretum. They gave Curt Hanson as a source. So, I called him up, and he invited me up to see his witch hazels. Then took me to Tim Bratsman's - he is HUGE in witch hazels. It was awesome. Anyway, that is during February. I saw this big area of raised beds covered in snow and ice, and asked what else he grew. He said daylilies. He was only the second person I had ever met who hybridized them. He invited me to the garden when they would bloom - told me just come on up mid July. I went. I drove in and my life changed. I was astounded by the daylilies he had. I was used to seeing Dottie Warrell's lovely dip spiders and UFs with a few tets here and there. She has some mighty fine plants, and wonderful colors and plant habits. But her garden was so different from Curt's. Dottie's plants (back then) were planted in perennial beds, in with iris, peony, phlox, columbine, all sorts of things. Seedlings were lined out in rows, and she had some beds with intros and futures lined out. Curt has his in a huge fenced in area, out in full sun - just daylilies. Rows and rows and rows. Curt had thousands and thousands to look at. I think I made a trip up there every weekend that year. I took photos, notes, all sorts of things, and Curt showed me about making crosses -- the right way --- and I was hooked.
I always thought breeding horses, dogs etc interesting, but never did any of it myself. I showed dogs for years in obedience, and became friends with an Australian Shepherd breeder. She taught me a lot about breeding and genetics. I think that primed me for wanting to make my own daylilies.
That is the only thing I have ever bred. Dottie used to do iris of all kinds, daylilies, hosta -- and Curt will cross anything that has pollen. He has big collections of hellebore, hosta, arum, oaks, magnolias - all kinds of things. I've been lucky to live here in Ohio, and to have known Steve Moldovan, been guided by Richard Norris, Steve and Roy, Charles Applegate (he hybridized BLESSING).... Sharon Fitzpatrick, Shirley Farmer, Jamie Gossard, Gerda Brooker --- and the many more that I saw at meetings and symposiums like Bob Faulkner, John Benz, Dan Bachman - there are really so many. All of them friendly and open to helping a new person. I've tried to pay that forward and help as many people as I can - especially new people.
