An inherited avocation
The last daily bloom faded away one day this past week ending another season of daylily delight. Growing the flower technically called hemerocallis is a pastime I inherited from my grandmother, Jessie Isaman. Watch out! Growing daylilies is catching; my daughter has the bug as well.
How it started
I started growing daylilies while at my first church in Bentley Creek, PA. When I visited my parents, I would dig up a shovelful from the huge clumps on the farm and transport them to my parsonage in northern Pennsylvania. When I moved from there I took a shovelful from each clump and threw the daylilies in a crate in the back of the moving truck. In spite of being packed away in the closed up semi-body for a month, every plant lived. They are tough. I had the start for a new daylily garden at my second parsonage in Kirkville, New York.
How it grew
While in Kirkville, I discovered a daylily farm at Grace Gardens on Angus Road just off Route 14 south of Geneva, NY. Over the years that I lived in Kirkville I purchased many more daylily varieties and planted them around the property until I had more than 30 varieties. A few more came from Roots and Rhizomes by mail. When I moved to my third parsonage in West Granby Connecticut, my plan was to take a shovelful from each clump and pack them in the truck again. But this time, I was using a moving company and they would not do that. So, I clipped a double fan or so from each clump that I had dug and gave the rest away. I filled my car trunk and brought them with me. Some ended up at my daughter’s house. Most of them form the nucleus for my collection here.
My latest additions
This summer, I was meandering home from an Adirondack vacation when I drove by Jim’s daylily farm in Ticonderoga, New York. He has the healthiest daylilies I’ve ever seen and lots of them. Though his lot space is limited, every square foot was growing daylilies. I brought the car to a screeching halt, turned around and somehow found room for about six new varieties on top of all our camping goods. My wife was not so happy about some dirt that filtered down through. But then I’m not noted for keeping my car pristine. I’d rather carry some things that I need and clean up later. Anyway, with these new additions, I now have about 40 varieties of daylilies here at West Granby parsonage. Fortunately, there’s lots of room. Of course, the beds are young, so the displays are just getting started. Here are a few pictures from this summer.
