I'd love to have a day lily named after me. It's nice to dream, especially in these times.
I've been writing almost every year about the Cutler Botanic Gardens in Binghamton, New York. Maintained mainly by volunteers, it was recently recognized as an American Daylily Society Display Garden.
It has also been an AAS Display Garden for many years.
I've been visiting their rose and their daylily gardens for years. This time, I went towards the end of the season.
One thing that has always fascinated me is how daylilies get their name. It's actually complicated, but a nursery in Vermont gives you the chance to name one of their daylilies for a price.
Or, I could hybridize daylilies and hope for the best. This is something actually an amateur can do, although it can get expensive. (Incidentally, I've met the man who wrote the articles on how to hybridize that I am linking to. Small world; turns out he worked at one time in Corporate America not that far from where I live.)
Come with me now and explore the day lilies (and their name, in one instance) at Cutler that are blooming towards the end of the daylily season.
Like history? How about Mary Todd. (Actually I don't know if this was named after Mary Todd Lincoln.
Not all day lilies are named after people.
Peggy Jeffcoat .
I did find the story of who this one was named after.
I am not quite ready, with my small daylily garden, to start hybridizing.
But I could pay my money and have someone do the work. But one more thing. Besides paying that naming fee, you also have to buy at least one plant of your namesake.
One day, will there be a daylily called Ramblin' with AM?
I bought many of my daylilies from a man who hybridized them back in the 70's. I briefly thought about it. Very briefly.
ReplyDeleteOf course a flower should be named after you!
ReplyDeleteRamblin' is a good start to a daylily name! I wouldn't try to hybridize, but I am growing from seed. They aren't supposed to grow true to type, so we'll see. I want them to, they are big lemon yellow ones from the library.
ReplyDelete...I would prefer to have a tree named after me.
ReplyDeleteI think if you go to the trouble of having a daylily named after you, the least you can do is purchase the plant.
ReplyDeleteNot sure what flower I want name after me, maybe a hollyhock.
ReplyDelete