Blackberry Cupcake Daylily
Plan on stopping by the MACC on Sunday, June 9, from 1-3 p.m. and pick up a few stellar daylilies for your yard. Even if you don’t want to anything to your garden, you are still in for a treat at the Tennessee Valley Daylily Society’s annual show. You will be bombarded with hundreds of unusual blooms from 40-plus members of the TVDS, many of them modern cultivars.
Imagine the colors of Arizona Sunset grown by Tucker Gaby; you don’t have to have much imagination to picture the spectacular colors of this one. Tucker’s dad, Todd Gaby, said the entire family is in on the family hobby that Tucker became interested in at age 12. The Gabys have about 900 of these plants on their one-acre lot in their Harrison subdivision, with vibrant blooms around the side of the house, the front of the house and behind the house. An added bonus is that you don’t have much lawn to mow, Todd laughed.
The Gaby family jumped in with both feet, initially planting 100 plants, which sounds like a lot, but those quickly became 400, then 800 then 1,200! And they are prize winners to boot! The family enters the plants in three or four shows a year, traveling a few hours for each one.
Yes, the Gaby yard is a show-stopper and you might imagine they are all professional gardeners. But Todd scoffs at this idea, saying if you can grow grass, you can grow daylilies.
These herbaceous perennials are not bulbs. They are tolerant of drought and can be planted anytime of year here in Tennessee. “If they get too thick it will impede them from blooming. Divide every five or six years, give them away or sell them,” said Todd.
For best results, give them anywhere from six to 12 hours of sun a day, and the better the soil, the bigger the blooms. A rich soil like Black Gold is awesome, but they will also do fine in a couple of inches of dirt surrounded by chert.
But, he also says, “We have some daylilies in this much dirt (two inches) and the rest of the dirt is chert and they do fine.”
The American Daylily Society says there are more than 90,000 registered varieties with hundreds of hybridizers working on its modern form.
“We have more hybridizers in the South than anywhere in the country. You could pay $200 for a new plant or up to $500. The plants get cheaper every year because they multiply,” said June.
Come see this incredible array of over 100 daylilies that will be judged and awarded ribbons. They are all available for public viewing at the MACC and admission is free!
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Ferris Robinson is the author of three children’s books, “The Queen Who Banished Bugs,” “The Queen Who Accidentally Banished Birds,” and “Call Me Arthropod” in her pollinator series “If Bugs Are Banished.” “Making Arrangements” is her first novel. “Dogs and Love - Stories of Fidelity” is a collection of true tales about man’s best friend. Her website is ferrisrobinson.com and you can download a free pollinator poster there. She is the editor of The Lookout Mountain Mirror and The Signal Mountain Mirror.
Wild Horses Daylily