Home
*TODAY'S NOTES*
Real Gardens
Garden Finds
More Garden Finds
Plantsellers
What's New Here
Our Climate
Our Soil
F.A.Q.
Gardening Archives
The Mailbag
About Us
Contact Us
The Botanical Blog
SPRINGFIELD BOTANICAL GARDENS
Search

s.gif

The Daylily Garden
'Ozark Lass'Enlarge photo

The Daylily Garden in the beautiful Springfield Botanical Gardens in Springfield, Missouri, is a singular attraction in the Midwest.
   Created in 2007, the Garden today displays more than 5,000 daylily plants in more than 800 varieties, a collection so colorful that when in peak bloom in mid-June to mid-July, it's often described by visitors as "spectacular," "awesome," and "breathtaking."
     Such superlatives are no exaggeration. In late 2012 the Garden achieved national recognition by being named an "American Hemerocallis Society National Daylily Display Garden" by the American Hemerocallis Society (AHS). The Garden's bed of heritage daylilies was also named by the AHS an "American Hemerocallis Society National Historic Daylily Garden" and now stands as one of only 18 daylily gardens so recognized in the United States.
     The honors came after a Garden visit by AHS Region 11 president Randall Barron, who, according to Ozark Daylily Society President Frieda Alexander, "described it as one of the most beautiful daylily gardens he's ever seen."
     Society members are always refining, improving, and adding new varieties to the Daylily Garden. in 2012, for example, they achieved a major goal by labeling for visitors every single variety in the Garden.
     On a personal note, we really love this Garden. We're also most happy for the Daylily Society members that their hard work has been recognized nationally. We also want to thank them for creating an attraction that will bring people from all over the nation to the Springfield Botanical Gardens. These people. we think, are doing real good in this world.
     The Daylily Garden may be seen at 2400 South Scenic in Springfield. Here is a bit of its story, and when you're ready, you can, if you like, use the following links to see photos of its labeled varieties.
     (Note: We're hoping that the link that leads to the garden's unidentified but nonetheless gorgeous daylily varieties might inspire visitors to help us identify them.)

                                   LINKS TO THE GARDEN'S DAYLILY VARIETIES


                                                 A - H     I - N     O - S     T - Z


                                            Beautiful But Unidentified Varieties



What is a Daylily Anyway?
 fire-chief-nichols.jpgDaylilies are so called because among the many flowers the plant produces each lasts only about a day. Nonetheless, gardeners love the flowers for their literally astonishing range of colors and color combinations -- there are more than 64,000 registered daylily hybrids on the market. The plants are remarkably easy to grow. The best resource for learning all about these wonderful plants is the FAQ page of the American Hemerocallis Society website. You'll find it here.


2-this-is-why.jpg
Enlarge photo		 This is Why...
 "This is why we organized--to do the Daylily Garden," said Frieda Alexander, who has a sense of humor and also serves as the Ozark Daylily Society president. At the time this photo was taken, Frieda said, "We're hoping the garden eventually will be recognized as a National Display Garden," and sure enough, as noted above, it was. Frieda says that the Society would love to have more members, that annual dues are only $5, $8 for couples, and "We give away about five plants at every meeting."


3-making-the-garden.jpg
Enlarge photo		 Making the Garden
Cliff Garland, vice president of the Daylily Society, digs in compost during the garden's beginnings. Cliff, who said he has been cultivating daylilies for about 12 years and now grows 260 varieties in his own garden, has donated--and planted--hundreds of this beautiful garden's denizens.


4-preparing-the-beds.jpg
Enlarge photo		 Preparing the Beds
 Bev Long, the Society's secretary, cleans 5-combing-the-beds.jpgone bed of debris. Meanwhile, Walt Long, her husband, combs the beds for weeds. "We're having a daylily sale," says Walt. "It's in conjunction with the Master Gardeners Plant Sale in the park. We'll have a separate display." The annual sale offers choice daylilies from garden divisions at very, very low prices.


8-a-different-climate.jpg
Enlarge photo		 A Different Climate
 Mississippi native Janet McWilliams politely suggests that Ozarkers only think they know about summer heat and humidity. Now, however, she's lived quite a few years in Springfield, Missouri, and says with a big smile, "I love it." Janet, a Daylily Society board member, was busily pulling weeds, cutting away old growth, and brushing cedar mulch back to expose the season's first green daylily shoots.


The Daylily Fare
 6-the-daylily-fare.jpgOn the menu for the first spring feeding was 7-feeding-the-daylilies.jpga basic 13-13-13 fertilizer for a good start, mixed with slow-release Osmocote for sustained feeding. At right, Cliff Garland broadcasts fertilizer pellets over the beds. "We should see the first blooms around the end of June, first of July," he said. Cliff knows about daylilies--he's donated hundreds to the garden, as have Frieda's brother, Duane Cookson of the St. Louis Daylily Society, and Pat Kost of Republic, Missouri. 


11-the-garden-and-gazebo.jpg
Enlarge photo		 The Garden and the Gazebo
 Cliff at work with compost and mulch near the garden's gazebo. This photo shows only a small part of the garden in its early stages in 2007. It contained seven beds in the beginning and today occupies 11 beds.


9-the-view.jpg
Enlarge photo		 The Early View
 A view of the Daylily Garden at its very 10-the-first-shoots.jpgbeginnings, empty beds stretching into the distance. At right, the very first shoots, soon to be followed by those of thousands more daylilies and the promise that if all went well, the results would be spectacular.


12-the-garden-before-blooming.jpg
Enlarge photo		 The Garden About to Blossom
 Just before its very first flowering, the Daylily Garden looked especially lush and promising.


13-the-first-daylily.jpg
Enlarge photo		 The Very First Flowers
 The very first daylily to bloom in the garden was this beauty, 'Saratoga Springtime', caught by the camera on May 23rd, 2008. Soon to come, an amazing display of thousands of blossoms.


16-the-beds.jpg
Enlarge photo		 Color and Design
 All of the Daylily Garden beds have been 17-full-to-bursting.jpgbeautifully arranged along lovely, curvilinear paths for easy viewing. At right, by early June they were packed with plants, flowers, and buds about to burst into blossom.


A Treasury for Photographers
 malaysia.jpgThe Springfield Botanical Gardens are a alissa-the-photographer-jpg.jpgunique resource for photographers both amateur and professional, and the Daylily Garden especially stands out for its awe-inspiring range of colors. At right, Alissa Beatty, a professional photographer with Christine Bonnevier Photography in Springfield, takes focus.




A Rare Treat for Visitors
 18-visitors.jpgVisitors to the Daylily Garden today marvel 19-a-sea-of-beauty.jpgat the sheer numbers of flowers and their amazing variations in colors, shadings, and patterns. At right, It's easy to slip into reverie when surrounded by so much color and life, especially in midsummer, when the garden reaches peak bloom.


Now that you know a little of the Daylily Garden story, you can go to the top of the page and take advantage of the links to see a great many gorgeous varieties of the flowers.



Email this page  Printer friendly version

Powered by Machineware  Contact the webmaster
s.gif
©2004-2011, OzarksGardens
 Close   Email 


Close