A chance to strut your stuff…ENGLERTH AWARD

Attention pollen dabbers in Region 2! Two opportunities to strut your daylily kids to a regional and national audience in the next two years are here!

Since 1987, Region 2 hybridizers have competed for the Englerth Award for Hybridizing Excellence. The purpose of this award is to encourage and promote Region 2 hybridizers. The award is named in memory of Lawrence and Winifred Englerth of Hopkins, MI. Winifred was known for introducing daylilies with high bud count such as 'Mini Minx', 'Skippy Skeezix' and 'Pinkie Pinkerton'. Visitors at the Summer Meeting view seedlings in a special bed designated the "Englerth Bed," and vote on which submitted seedling they think is the most outstanding. This summer, visitors to the Region 2 Summer Meeting will view the Englerth Seedling beds at the Kingwood Center gardens in Mansfield.

Each medallion is engraved with the winner's name and is awarded at the Awards Banquet on Saturday night of the summer meeting. Hybridizers who win this award are expected to register and introduce the daylily that is selected as the winner, so make sure you have enough of it to support this if you happen to win!

Previous Winners of this prestigious award:

2009- Martin Kamensky  (winner seen in photo at the top of this post)

2008- John Sheehan - Seedling 00-11-1

2007- Lea Ann Williams - Seedling 00WSXRH

2006- TIE - Ken Blanchard (Seedling BLA 01-1) and Charles Applegate (Seedling 21398A)

2005- Dan Bachman - Seedling 00-53

2004- Jamie Gossard - Seedling JG/00/2

For 2011:

The Englerth Bed for the 2011 Region 2 Summer Meeting, hosted by the Southern Michigan Daylily Society will be planted at the gorgeous country gardens of Ric and Lynn Adams.

Send the appropriately identified seedlings to:

Ric Adams

6117 S. State Road

Goodrich, MI 48438-9706

ricadams@charter.net

810-636-7416

For 2012:

Region 2 has the special treat of hosting the AHS National Convention, so a national audience will be viewing and voting on this award as part of the tours. What an honor! The Englerth Bed for 2012 will be hosted by Lee Miller, and being coordinated by Karen Ciula.

Englerth Bed Coordinator: Karen Ciula (kciula@columbus.rr.com; 614-471-3246)

Send the appropriately identified seedlings to:

Lee Miller

6221 Condit Road

Centerburg, OH 43011

miller.lee.1000@earthlink.net

740-965-3940

Both of these gardens are ready and waiting for your entries!

There is no limit on the number of seedlings one hybridizer can send, and hybridizers should contact the garden owners prior to sending plants with any questions.

Plants sent for this contest can be returned at the request of the sender, and arrangements for such return should be made at the time of sending the plants. It is always good to clarify expectations before sending your seedling(s) in!

I just sent my seedling for 2012 and am still considering what to put in for 2011.  I hope you will consider doing so, too!

Howard Hite Award for Hybridizing Excellence...DEADLINE!

Only a few more days to get your nominations in for the 2010 winner of the Howard Hite Award for Hybridizing Excellence!! 

You can download the nomination form, see a list of past winners and get more information here.

The Howard Hite Award for Hybridizing Excellence was started in 1989 at the Region 2 Summer Meeting. It is sponsored by the Southern Michigan Daylily Society. The winner receives a sand-etched glass plate showing an engraved image of Hite’s H. ‘Indonesia’ (1978.)

The 2009 winner was Jamie Gossard, pictured below receiving his award from AHS Region 2 Director, Gisela Meckstroth last Fall.

The award is meant to honor years of effort on the part of a hybridizer to improve daylily cultivars. Any Region 2 member, including members of the Awards and Honors Committee may submit names of candidates for the award to the Regional President before March 1 of each year.  This year, the deadline has been extended to April 1, to allow for more nominations.

Visit the link above, download a nomination form and get it to me ASAP.  I will forward all the received nominations to the head of the Awards and Honors Committee 7 days after April 1, to allow for the post office to deliver all nominations postmarked by April 1.

The criteria for selection of a recipient are as follows:

1.)  The award is to honor a region 2 AHS member who has contributed notable achievements in the field of hybridizing from years of a dedicated hybridizing program.

2.)  The award may be given each year only if a recipient is selected.

3.)  A person may receive the award only one time.

4.)  Deceased hybridizers may be considered for the award.

5.)  Any region 2 member, (including committee members) may submit names of possible recipients to the RP before March 1 of each year. The final selection will be determined by the Hite Award Committee composed of four members and the current RP representing the five states in the region.

6.)  Names of past nominees may be considered as possible candidates for future years.

7.)  The selection committee needs to notify the president of SMDS as soon as the candidate is selected, but no later than one month preceding the annual Region 2 Summer Meeting as to give ample time for the award to be engraved for presentation at the Region 2 Summer Meeting.

8.)  The committee members will be appointed by the current RP to serve a two-year term (a) four members will be carried over by each succeeding RP (b) in the event that the choice of a new RP creates a vacancy in one of the five states that the committee represents, the new RP will select and appoint a replacement to complete the unexpired term.

9.)  The new RP will choose new committee members for his or her second year of term in office.

The most important things to note are the facts that previous winners are not eligible and previous nominees are automatically "in the pool" of candidates for the following years.

You can download the nomination form here.

Get in your nominations now!!  Don't delay!! 

New Members for Region 2!

I have received the latest AHS membership rosters from the wonderful AHS Executive Secretary, Pat Mercer.  I get these lists a few times a year and they are very useful.  It shows me how many members are in our region, how many new members have joined and how many have not renewed.

This information is available for any local club president or representative who may want to use this information to communicate to new members in their area.  Please contact me if you are interested in receiving a copy.  Today (March 3) I will email it to the local club contacts I have for just this purpose.  If you do not receive it, or would like a new copy, please let me know.

The good news is that renewals are up for AHS and for Region 2.  So far for 2010 there are 10 new members in Illinois, 6 in Indiana, 9 in Michigan, 16 in Ohio, and 6 in Wisconsin.  Club presidents and membership chairs, please reach out to these folks.  Send them a flyer, send them a voucher for your next plant sale, send them a set of your clubs newsletters from last year...send them some daylily love!  We all remember what it felt like to be a new member, and for some of us, that experience was not all hearts and flowers - do your best to make it awesome for someone else!

Speaking of hearts and flowers, here is David Kirchhoff's H. 'Hearts and Flowers.'  Stunning, stunning, stunning, and not typical of a daylily done by "the David."  I have grown this since 2002 and it gets better every year.  This last summer it decided to exhibit polymerous characteristics on many of its blooms, which made for a real interesting display.

And speaking of David, he is the featured speaker at the SMDS Spring Banquet coming up on April 18th in southeast Michigan.  For more details, please visit http://www.daylilyclub.net/.  All are welcome and encouraged to attend.  I know I will not miss it.  They have a raffle and auction to die for!

Back on topic, I would encourage you to reach out to the folks on the "New member" list in your area and invite them to your next club event, or your next open garden. 

Friends are found everywhere...

Here's me (far left) clerking at the 2008 Southern Michigan Daylily Society Exhibition Show.  I look like I'm in deep thought, don't I?  In the photo with me are L-R: AHS Helen Field Fischer Medal Winner Hal Rice, Pam Klein and Elaine Schultz.  Clerking is a great way to learn about judging, exhibiting and most of all, patience!  It sure is hard to keep your mouth shut while clerking when you also are an accredited judge and seasoned exhibitor.

That's all for now, friends.  I hope to see you along the garden path sometime this summer.