ATP Series: The Daylilies of Oscie Whatley
I first came across Oscie Whatley's name many years ago, when I ordered a booklet from the AHS, The Art of Hybridizing, a series of articles that ran in the AHS Journal in the late 1980's. Michael Bouman, a close friend of Oscie's, has the articles on his website. If you have not read these articles and are interested in hybridizing - I think you will find them fascinating and educational… a must read.
http://www.daylilylay.com/libr...
Oscie Whatley, Jr. (OH-see WATT-ley) was born in 1923 and died in 2005. His father was named for the Indian leader, Osceola, and the name was shortened to Oscie. Oscie grew up in Longview TX, where his family had a plant nursery. During WWII, Oscie was in the Navy, and they sent him to St. Louis, where he learned to fly and he flew troop transports in the Atlantic Theater during the war. After the war, Oscie graduated from Washington University and worked in the engineering field for 20 years. He and his wife Dorothy were married for more than 60 years.
Oscie became interested in daylilies around 1950, while living in St. Louis, encouraged by his Aunt Mary. She owned a nursery in Ft. Worth, where she sold various plants and she hybridized daylilies. Will Dill, who introduced daylilies for Doc Branch, was a leading plantsman in the area, was an early mentor to Oscie.
Oscie registered 143 daylilies. Oscie was very interested in improving color in daylilies, and admired the color found in the Spalding lines. He was also interested in superb plant habit and in converting diploids. Known primarily for outstanding yellows, reds, and whites, he also worked with other colors. One of his first introductions was JAKARTA. Several years later came YUMA, which was a parent of 73 daylilies. YUMA and BEAR CLAWS were well known for their fringed edges, and YUMA was a parent of Forest Lake Ragamuffin. RAM is a huge golden yellow and widely grown. His conversion of Pauline Henry's Siloam Medallion resulted in some wonderful yellows. Isosceles, Solar Music - and a seedling from Solar Music called Butter Cream.
Oscie won the Bertrand Farr Silver Medal in 1984 for outstanding results in the field of daylily hybridizing. Oscie's cultivars won 6 Awards of Merit, 39 Honorable Mention Awards, 10 Junior Citations, 1 Florida Sunshine Cup and 1 Extra Large Diameter Award.
The Greater St. Louis Daylily Society honored Oscie by naming an award for him. The AHS Region 11 Oscie Whatley Seedling Award. You can read more about it here.
http://ahsregion11.org/oscie.h...
Like many hybridizers, he was also interested in many other types of plants, including daffodils, dogwoods, and hellebores.
I feel fortunate that I was able to meet Oscie and talk with him for quite some time at one of the Region 2 Symposiums. We had talked on the phone and by letter several times before that and he knew that I adore yellow daylilies - not a love that many share in the daylily world. Once, on the phone, I was telling him how I loved the ridging that was showing in the throats coming from the Tet Siloam Medallion line such as in Crumple, Isosceles, Solar Music and Curt Hanson's Supreme Empire. I was hoping for advice on how I could enhance this trait. Instead, He gave me some really good advice that I have tried to pass on to others. He told me not to focus so hard on one goal that I miss seeing something new and different when it shows up in my seedlings. That I should not chase what others are doing but try to find that one thing, even if it is a small thing, that is unique and different in my seedlings and follow where it leads. I think he was right. It is easy to get so focused on a certain trait that you can't see a breakthrough right in front of you because you were not looking for it, you were looking for something else.
If you want to learn more about Oscie Whatley, and I hope you do… check out Michael Bouman's site, scroll to the bottom to the link for The Library at Daylily Lay. There are several articles about Oscie, including Oscie's articles on hybridizing.
http://www.daylilylay.com
One of my favorite Whatley's in the perennial garden is Maple Hues. I surround it with blue Platycodon, (Balloon Flower) and the combination is a winner. Please enlarge the photo for the full effect.
Another of Maple Hues. I've tried with different cameras, over many years to capture the vibrant color of Maple Hues, and so far my photos pale in comparison to the color of the flower. Maple Hues has given me some very interesting seedlings.
Crocodile Jaws
Crumple
