ATP Series: The Daylilies of Bill and Joyce Reinke
Stephens Lane Garden, Bells TN
This weeks hybridizers are known for polymerous daylilies, as well as spiders and unusual forms.
I remember seeing 'Give Me Eight' at a Region 15 Summer Meeting in Charlotte NC. I can't remember which garden it was in, but it really created a lot of talk back then. This must have been 15 to 20 years ago. It was the first "on purpose" poly daylily I had seen, and it was something to see - tall, with many blooms open - you could not miss it. Sure left a lasting impression on me!
The Reinke's daylilies are fairly well represented here in our ATP database. There are so many beautiful photos, it was hard for me to choose which ones to include with this write up.
'Gussie Harris' (Harris-Reinke-1997) was one of their earliest registrations, a 38" tall, 10-1/2" gold diploid.
Bill and Joyce have focused on intense colored daylilies, with beautifully formed large blooms held on impressive tall scapes.
Joyce received the Virginia Peck Outstanding Hybridizer Award in 2005.
Bill and Joyce have registered 200 daylilies and have won 15 Honorable Mentions, going back as far as 1995, when they won with 'Gadsden Goliath' up to their most recent HM, won in 2004 with 'Lacy Reinke.'
Karen's Curls is another of their HM winners, a lavender and cream, cascade unusual form.
When researching for this write up, I found many instances noting the Reinke's involvement with the clubs they belong to, their region and AHS, giving talks, educating etc. Bill and Joyce are Garden and Exhibition judges, and are quite involved in helping put on daylily shows. The Lee Pickles Outstanding Service Award was presented to Bill in 2005.
Joyce and Bill have written a book,
Into the Golden Years of Gardening - Easing into Retirement at Stephens Lane Garden
http://mspbookstore.com/ingoye...
I also found a cookbook that may have been authored by them in 2000 and was possibly self-published, but seems to be unavailable, and I could not find out much information on it.
For more information, there is an article on the Reinke's in the Spring 2013 Daylily Journal.
I did find this website but I am not sure how current it is.
http://daylily.net/gardens/ste...
Some other intros from our database that I thought showed their wide range of interest….
Lavender Spider (Harris-Reinke)
If you can add more information about the Reinke's, please do. From what I read in the Journal article, their garden sounds quite impressive, including an English style perennial garden complete with peacocks. If you have toured their garden I would love to see some photos!
