It couldn't be easier... | AHS Popularity Poll Deadline...

IT COULDN'T BE EASIER TO HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD!

The deadline for this year's AHS Popularity Poll is in one week. The deadline to cast your ballot is SEPTEMBER 1. You have less than seven days to vote, and it couldn't be easier.

Visit this link and vote. There is nothing to mail, no need to find just the right pen, and no paper ballot to find in that stack of to-do's on your desk.

Just visit the above link and cast YOUR vote for YOUR favorite daylilies.

Our regional publicity director has let us know that only 210 Region 2 members have voted so far. That number is down from last year and is only a small percentage of our membership. She says that our number one selection for "most popular" daylily is a runaway (so far) but the battle for the second through fifth spot is a tight race.

Here are our results from last year:

As a service to its members and to the general public, each year the American Hemerocallis Society (AHS) conducts a popularity poll among its members to determine the favorite daylilies from each region. It is the hope of the AHS that this Popularity Poll presents a true picture of which daylilies perform well in a given area and which are best liked by the membership.

At their Fall 2008 Meeting, the AHS Board of Directors voted to make several changes to the Popularity Poll to improve the quality of the results and to emphasize the regional nature of those results. Each Region will now have its own ballot based on past regional favorites. Each member will still have 10 votes, and up to 5 of these may still be write-ins. Garden Judges in particular are encouraged to use those write-ins to keep the ballot fresh with newer cultivars that have been observed to perform well in their region.

Will you please (pretty please with sugar on it) visit the AHS website here and vote in this year's AHS Popularity Poll?

End of Season Reminders...

Hello friends and fans of Region 2!

There are many important deadlines coming up that you should be aware of...

1.)  Club Presidents and regional members who donate money to the AHS Endowment funds (Memorial or To Honor) should send these checks to Mary Lou Lundblade at the following address:

Mary Lou Lundblade

Endowments Chair

511 W. Ness St.

Valley Center, KS 67147-4920

2.)  We've almost reached August, so the September 1st deadline for receiving your nomination letters for Service and Personal Awards is just around the corner. I encourage each of you to consider those worthy individuals who have performed outstanding service in Region 2 to take a moment to write a letter supporting their nomination for the Regional Service Award. Or perhaps you know of those who deserve to be nominated for either the Helen Field Fischer Award, the Bertrand Farr Medal or the Moldovan Mentoring Award. The specific requirements for all of these awards can be found on the AHS website and in the 'Judging Daylilies' Handbook. A list of previous winners is also available on the website.

3.)  If you are an AHS Garden Judge, your ballot is due in just a few weeks.  If you lost yours, you can get a new one here.  Get it mailed to the AHS ASAP.  To date, only 19 of our 158 Garden Judges in Region 2 have returned their ballots.

4.)  Popularity Poll voting is going on right now.  As a service to its members and to the general public, each year the American Hemerocallis Society (AHS) conducts a popularity poll among its members to determine the favorite daylilies from each region. It is the hope of the AHS that this Popularity Poll presents a true picture of which daylilies perform well in a given area and which are best liked by the membership. Popularity polls are important to daylily growers -- both AHS members and nonmembers -- who make daylily selections for purchase.

Although our blooms are waning, there is still lots going on in our daylily community!  Dont miss the deadlines!

Picture above is H. 'Granite City Belle,' bybridized by Region 2 hybridizer and resident from my hometown in southern Illinois, Agnes Miller.

Spotlight on the Wisconsin Daylily Society | Daylily Club in Action!

In past years, the Wisconsin Daylily Society (based in Madison, Wisconsin) has been a leader in financially supporting Region 2. 2010 is no exception. Ed Kraus, our regional treasurer recently received two donations from this group totaling $1600.00!

This brings many thoughts to mind: 

• How thoughtful. In the current economic times, when memberships and plant sale revenues are reportedly down, WDS still writes the region into its yearly budget and faithfully donates to the regional cause. Could they do other things with the money? Of course, but they choose to fund color in the regional newsletter, and allow us to more comfortably explore creative ways to get our membership engaged in regional and national activities.
   
• WOW- this is a lot of money. Some clubs do not have $1600.00 in their treasury, let alone that much to willingly donate to the region. This says a lot about their dedication to the overall educational mission of the AHS.
   
• Why don’t other societies donate to Region 2? Well, probably for many sensible and realistic reasons. It takes a focused budget to make donations like this possible. It also takes the support of the whole membership to raise the funds so the budget can be executed as planned.

Their website is colorful and well-thought out. It features some interesting content, including a picture gallery of WDS Top Ten Daylilies of 2009 and galleries of past photo contest winners. All of their newsletters are also available as PDF documents, as far back as 2005. At this link, visitors can find some awesome resources to picture galleries and scientific articles.

This group also has become known as the planners of the "Wisconsin Bus" at regional meetings. They often charter their own bus for trips to regional meetings and subsidize much of the cost for its members. The calendar of events is full of colorful, diverse programs for all levels of interest.

Thank you to the members of the Wisconsin Daylily Society! You should be very proud and the region appreciates your financial support!

 

A little more self promotion, please...

There are a plethora of awards for daylilies through the American Hemerocallis Society. You might wonder what these awards are, or how some daylilies get nominated and some others do not. Here is my interpretation of the AHS "Pyramid of Awards."  (click picture to see larger version)

I wanted to take a moment to explain the fact that the first step in path to a Stout Silver Medal is the Honorable Mention.

I was talking with Greg Schindler, hybridizer of H. 'Matchless Fire' and H. 'Morningcloud Marmalade,' and mentioned to him that he should definitely consider nominating H. 'Matchless Fire' for an HM next year. He asked me what the process was, and was unaware of one key fact:

Hybridizers nominate their own cultivars for both the Honorable Mention section of the ballot as well as the Specialty Awards.

Julie Covington, chair of AHS Awards and Honors sends out letters to hybridizers each November, asking them for nominations for the Honorable Mention and Specialty Awards. Anyone who wants to be added to the hybridizer's list may contact her to have their names added to the list. Approximately 10-15 new hybridizers are added each year. Once the letter goes out, it is also available on the AHS website and can be downloaded from there.

There are two items that are super important to note if you are a hybridizer considering nominating your own cultivars for an Honorable Mention (126 were awarded in 2009) or a Specialty Award. First, note that cultivars nominated for the HM section must have been registered for a minimum of three years. The date that you see for eligibility on the 2010 ballot will be moved back one year for the 2011 ballot. Many hybridizers (except for those perhaps in the Deep South) will actually wait 4-5 years before nominating cultivars to allow ample time for distribution. So first, you must have been registering cultivars for several years in order to have some cultivars which meet the time requirements. For the Special Awards, note that those must have been registered a minimum of 5 years before they can be placed on the ballot.

The second item - which I can't emphasize enough - is that anyone who nominates cultivars for the ballot should know that those nominated have fairly good distribution to OTHER regions of the country besides one's home region. For a daylily to win an HM Award, garden judges in at least 4 AHS regions must see it growing and be impressed enough to vote on it! Julie urges those who are nominating for the first time to start out small - perhaps only nominate two or three the first year to see how they will do.

So, in summary, if you are a hybridizer and think you'd like to get your daylilies on the ballot for Garden Judges to consider awarding an Honorable Mention to, you must nominate them yourself.

A little self-promotion never hurt anyone – that I know of!

Thank you to Julie Covington who provided some of the content for this post.  She does a thankless and hectic job managing Awards and Honors.  THANK YOU, JULIE!

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.