Show me what you've got! | Daylily Blog on Exhibition Show Day

"It was a dark and stormy night..."

And as the sun set last Friday night, I worried about how the next days blooms would fare for the SMDS Daylily Exhibition Show. I was scheduled to be an on-scape judge this year, so I did not have the worry of what I would do if my scapes were ruined by the storms. I usually get up at 4am to cut scapes and groom them for an exhibition show, but this year I did not have this stress. However, I did plan on taking off-scape blooms and two designs, so I spent most of the night before preparing those for showtime.

I won the Design Division, which was determined by public vote- how cool! The beautiful lady featured above came home the winner! I alson entered another design, in a unique, tall glass vase. I featured a massive bloom of H. 'Banana Cream Beauty' with tovara, speedwell and reindeer moss. I liked the one below the best from a design standpoint, but I liked the lady because of her whimsy. Im sad to report that when I got home from the show, the vase below rolled out of the car and onto the driveway, shattering into a hundred sparkling shards. I kept this vase for two years waiting for the right opportunity to use it, and well, at least I did get to use it once.

Second, my miniature entry of H. 'Cinderellas Dark Side' won me the section for off-scape (see first photo on left below.) You can also click here to see another photo of it. I won a very nice four-fan clump of H. 'Bermuda Breeze' for my prize in the off-scape and a gorgeous crystal serving platter for the design win.

H. 'Cinderella's Dark Side,' H. 'Royal Kaleidescope,' and H. ' Sandra's Smile.'

I entered about 12 blooms in the off-scape, and had 10 others I decided were not show-quality once I got to the show.

On top of the "official" prizes I won, the gift plants I received from my friends were the most treasured. Patrice brought me a wonderful box overflowing with several kinds of sedum for my new fairy plantings and to spill over the edge of my retaining wall beds. She is very thoughtful. Very. Teresa brought me three adorable miniature hostas for the same gardens. She, too, is extremely thoughtful and always very supportive. Nicole brought me a potted fan of H. 'Entwined in the Vine' (with a scape) and a car load of other plants. She carefully prepared a window box full of tiny sedum jewels for my new projects. These gifts were an unexpected delight. I must find a cool way to repay the kindness, and with their gifts, they remind me that it is okay to be outwardly generous and to do so out of the blue. I have had several experiences with sharing stuff and giving gifts that have left me a bit gunshy to do so again, but I'm going to try that this week and be randomly generous with some goodies from my garden. Look Out!