This week we travel to Georgia with the cultivars of the talented trio Tim, Katisue and Heather Herrington.
The families’ interest in daylilies began with a $2.00 purchase in 1978 of the daylily Viewpoint (Lambert 1965). Heather, a teenager at the time, soon developed an interest in growing and hybridizing daylilies. Her first registration was Selma Long Legs in 1988, a 9” tangerine with cinnamon overlay Unusual form, which received an Honorable Mention in 2006. Introductions from her parents were to follow as the hybridizing bug spread through the family. For Tim and Katisue, who both worked in the field of education, becoming involved with daylilies and the AHS, learning, encouraging and sharing their growing passion for daylilies was a natural progression. Katisue first introduced Katie’s Kaleidoscope and a 1998 Junior Citation winner Private Showing in 1998, while Tim’s first introduction was Baby Boomer in 1996. A 3 ½ inch yellow with a purple eye, Baby Boomer won an AHS Honorable Mention in 2000 and at the North Carolina AHS National in 2003 the Florida Sunshine Cup, a National Convention award for the best clump of a small or miniature flower . The family is well known for two very successful name series the “Oz” series and the “Cupcake” series of Double forms from Tim. In 2008, after 38 years of marriage, Tim’s best friend, wife and soul mate Katisue passed away. Tim is now retired and shares his home and garden with daughter Heather and grandson Hans.
A few of the many other AHS Award winning cultivars hybridized by the Herrington’s include Honorable Mention winners Almost All Green ( Herrington-H 1993), White Tuxedo (Herrington-H 1991), Cherry Pie Delight (Herrington-H 1992) and the 2003 Award of Merit and 2005 Harris Olsen Spider Award winner Magic of Oz (Herrington-H 1995) from Heather and the Honorable Mention winners Journey to Oz (Herrington-K 2001), Over Achiever (Herrington-K 2000), Memories of Oz (Herrington-K 2001) and Star over Oz (Herrington-K 2005) from Katisue. Katisues’ Dorothy and Toto (Herrington-K 2003) received the 2009 Ida Munson Award for most outstanding Double flower and an Award of Merit in 2012. AHS Award winners hybridized by Tim Herrington include Everybody Loves Earnest (Herrington-T 2005) which received a Junior Citation in 2005, an Honorable Mention in 2010 and the 2012 Don Fischer Memorial Award for most outstanding miniature flower measuring under 3”, Honey Crunch Cupcake (Herrington-T 1999) received an Honorable Mention in 2003 and is the 2012 Annie T. Giles Award winner for most outstanding small flower measuring 3” to 4 ½” and Twice as Nice (Herrington-T 1999) which received a 2008 Honorable Mention and the 2012 Eugene S. Foster Award for best registered late or very late blooming cultivar.
Magic of Oz
The talents of this families hybridizing doesn’t end with the Awards and Honors system of AHS. They have also seen much success in AHS Exhibitions, the society’s daylily shows organized for public education, proving their passion for daylilies and hybridizing talent extends beyond their cultivars outstanding performance in the garden. Tim has received the AHS Achievement Medal for the entry of three scapes of the same seedling being given an average score of 90 or above from a three judge panel with his seedlings later registered as Little Gold Nugget (Herrington-T 2005), Red Light Green Light (Herrington-T 2005), Green Rainbow (Herrington-T 2005), Everybody Loves Earnest (Herrington-T 2005), Little Boss Man (Herrington-T 2004) and Lollipop Kid (Herrington-t 2002) . In 2005 Katisue Herrington received the Ophelia Taylor Horticultural Award for exhibiting in one exhibit, one scape each of five different registered cultivars and receiving 95 points or above on each scape in the exhibit from 3 different judges. Since 2002 there have been only 13 recipients of this award. Included in her 18 Best-in-Show wins, Katisue had the distinction of exhibiting, in 2005, at three consecutive shows and winning the Best-in-Show AHS Rosette in each of them. She also received the AHS Achievement Medal 5 times. One of these medals was awarded in 2010 for the seedling later registered as Meet Me in Oz (Herrington-K 2010) hybridized before her passing and exhibited by her daughter, Heather.
Please join us in celebrating this wonderful family, their adventures, involvement, cultivars and success with daylilies and the AHS.
Dorothy and Toto
Honey Crunch Cupcake
Green Rainbow
Creek Ruffles
Memories of Oz
