On Sunday, June 11th we were in the garden very early selecting scapes and preparing for our daylily club's show. Once again this year, our show was held at the Barn Nursery in Chattanooga. In years past our club has held the show at Northgate Mall but decided to return to the Barn Nursery. We liked the site last year and found the foot traffic more interested in daylilies. Tucker decided to enter eighteen different scapes in the Youth Division. Kendra entered nine different scapes in several different divisions. After entries were entered into the show, Tucker had the opportunity to assist the judges by serving as a show clerk. Todd and I served as co-chairs for the club plant sale. TVDS club members donated plants. We had a few seedlings and some named varieties of daylilies. All plants were sold for $5 for clumps or double fans. The plants went pretty quickly and generated a nice donation for Lana's Love. During the course of the afternoon, we met several daylily enthusiasts and shared information. We hope to see many of our new friends at our garden for a visit. Tucker and Kendra both did well in the TVDS show. Tucker earned nine purple, nine blue and Best in Youth Section for Yazoo Elsie Hintson. Kendra earned one purple, three blue, and five red ribbons. With show season in full swing and two shows this weekend, we had an "all hands on deck" approach for preparing for these shows. The entire family worked in the garden live-heading the plants and making lists for the possible entries for the show. Our morning preparations started with an early morning wake up and out in the garden by 6:30 am. Todd, Tucker and Kendra were cutting scapes and loading plants into our carriers. We were on the road around 7 am and headed for Nashville. Tucker and Kendra groomed their plants on site at the Ellington Center. Kendra had twelve entries and Tucker had thirteen. Tucker chose to enter all of his flowers in the Youth Division. Kendra didn't want to compete against her brother so she entered plants in the adult divisions based upon the plant classification. We had a great lunch and enjoyed some family time over our early lunch and waited for the judges to finish scoring plants. Around 11:30 pm we were able to see the results. Tucker earned eight purple, three blue, and two reds along with Best in Section for Peanut Butter Frenzy. Kendra had four purple, five blue, and three red ribbons. Although she didn't make it to the head table, she was proud of her work since this was her second time to exhibit plants in a show. During the afternoon we met and visited with many MTDS Club members and fellow daylily enthusiasts. We also spent some time viewing an iris garden at the Ellington Center. We waited until 4 pm to remove our entries from the exhibit site and head home. After a long day, we arrived home around 8 pm. With our local show the next day, we restarted the process of show preparation. We all felt a sense of accomplishment and made great memories together as a family. ,On Thursday, June 8th, leaders of Hamilton County were present to officially dedicate the Louis Prosterman Daylily Garden. We had the opportunity to meet members of the Prosterman family, the County Mayor and other area officials. We were honored to have Steve and Karen Newman and Papaw Teddy and Nana Kaye Gaby present at the dedication and for lunch afterward. Tucker made sure to share our business cards with our captive audience. We were also asked to leave our new garden sign on site for a few days as advertisement for our garden. It was a great day on the Tennessee River Park Tucker started his Daylily Show season this year on Saturday, June 3rd at the Cobb County, GA Daylily Show. He entered twelve cultivars in the Youth Division of their show. He earned nine purple ribbons, three blue ribbons, and Best in Youth Division for the Show with Gadsden Meshack.
During the spring we were contacted to assist with the installation of a daylily bed at the Tennessee River Park. The bed is in honor of Louis Prosterman who was a very active individual for the development of the Tennessee River Walk in Chattanooga, TN. Also, he is a former Tennessee Valley Daylily Society President. After several conversations and meetings we planted the garden on Good Friday, April 14. We have made several visits back to the garden to monitor the progress of the daylilies. On Thursday, June 8th at 10 am there will be a dedication for the daylily bed in honor of Mr. Prosterman's service to Chattanooga, Hamilton County and daylilies. For the past two weeks we have been preparing for our annual Daylily Open House. We've been sprucing up the gardens and making several last minute cosmetic changes to our gardens.
The excessive daily heat rising to the mid 90s each day have caused us to begin early, rest mid day during the heat, and work until after sundown most days. This has been a entire family effort. Most of the man power work has been done by Todd and Tucker. Joey and Kendra have been able to do their part as well. We're hoping our annual Open House is a huge success again this year. This morning Todd & Tucker prepared for one last daylily show. They awoke before 6 am and were in the garden selecting scapes and blooms for the Northwest Georgia Daylily Society Show in Cartersville, GA.. Tucker entered eight scapes in the Youth Section and eleven off scape blooms in Division 2. He earned Best in Youth Section with his Whisper in the Rain Drop and 2nd Place in the Off Scape Division with Solomons Robes, On another note, since last summer's TVDS Youth Meeting at Shady Rest Garden in Cartersville, GA and learning about Mrs. Doris Bishop's fairy garden, Kendra has wanted her own. We went to a make and take minatures workshop at The Barn Nursery in Chattanooga, TN. Kendra was joined by Lauren HIckman from her TVDS Youth Group. The girls had a great time making their own gardens. We found their accessory collection limited and over-priced. The girls focused on plants for their gardens later we went around Chattanooga to JoAnn's, Hobby Lobby and Michael's in search of reasonably priced fairy and gnome accessories. The end result were some very nice minature gardens and great memories making them together. I believe this is the beginning of a new gardening venture for both young ladies. On Tuesday, June 7th Mr. Jim Mullins shared his daylily grooming expertise with the TVDS Youth. We were hosted by Mrs. Libby Hickman (TVDS President) at her lovely outdoor facility. Mr. Jim discussed the importance of plant selection, highlighted grooming tips, and shared judging scoring characteristics. This was a very timely topic for our youth members who were exhibiting cultivars at upcoming daylily shows.On Saturday, June 11th, Todd took Tucker to the Cobb County Daylily Show. Tucker entered 7 cultivars in the Youth Division this year. He won the Best in Section for the Youth Division with Quirky. It was a special treat for Tucker to serve as a Clerk for the show.
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AuthorJoey Gaby is River Rock Gardens Blogger. She is a high school chemistry teacher in Chattanooga, TN. In her spare time she manages the technology side of River Rock Gardens. Joey is married to Todd and together they have two children-Tucker and Kendra. ArchivesCategories |