Daylily Haiku Thursday | Highlights and resolutions...

deep colors, dark glow-

in the blinding white winter,

how i love you so!

photo: H. 'Tuxedo Whiskers' (Shooter, E. 2001)

Another year is behind us. I look back at 2010 and almost lose my breath thinking of everything that was attempted and accomplished in my little part of the green universe.

Here are some stats:

Gardens visited - 24

Miles traveled for daylilies - 3000+

New daylilies added to my collection - 61

Entries posted on "A Girl and Her Garden" - 154

Pictures shot (and kept) - 2165

Presentations given - 17 (in 10 states and 2 countries!)

Spider bites - 1

Spectacular nervous breakdowns - 2

Moments of real joy- countless

There are so many good green memories from 2010.  Two real fun highlights include serving on the Master Panel and being an auctioneer at the AHS National Convention in Georgia. I also recall my whirlwind weekend with the Chicagoland Daylily Society and the tumultuous weather I battled driving to judge the daylily show in Indiana the next day.  That will always be a story I tell from 2010. Riding around Kingwood Center in northern Ohio on that golf cart with Charles Applegate when our tour bus broke down during the regional meeting was one of those moments in which I actually felt myself breathe.  It was magical.  Winning the blue ribbon in the standard flower show for my novice design is the cherry on an otherwise delicious 2010 cake.  I am so thankful for daylily friends who transcend the garden.  We may connect through the dirt of our gardens, but we also stick together for the dirt in our lives.  You are most precious. 

Kimberly McCutcheon naming one of her daylilies H. 'Nikki Schmith' stands as the most humbling happening from the year. If you haven't seen all my photos of it yet, I'll dedicate a whole post to it later this month. I'm not sure she has any left, but you can see it and contact her from here if you are interested.

As 2010 fades into our memories, 2011 is coming into focus. Here are some garden-related resolutions I posted near my potting bench to remind me to level-up as a gardener in this year...

• I resolve not to buy any more daylilies by picture and catalog description alone. 
• I resolve to get plants into pots or ground as soon as possible after purchasing them. 
• I resolve to freely share more daylilies with people who like them. This includes donating more to the local club meetings, regional sales and visitors to the garden. I resolve to do this with reckless abandon.
•  I resolve to have more patience with people who did not learn how to "act right" in kindergarten.
•  I resolve to edit and tag my garden pictures on a weekly basis this summer.
•  I resolve to wield the pruners in a more responsible way. My hydrangea paniculata does not get pruned the same time as other woody bushes. (Who knew?!?) I resolve to learn the difference.

Did you make any gardening resolutions?