Daylily Haiku Thursday | Daylily Blog on The Gardening Gospel!


<posted May 16, 2013> In one of the daylily groups on Facebook I recently posted about my reading this back issue of the fabulous HORTICULTURE magazine (2011).  If you don't subscribe, you should.  I am always inspired by the writing.  The final page in this particular issue has a great story about eccentric gardeners that I could read 1000 times.

As you can see, this 2011 issue features daylilies on the cover, so I have it saved with other magazines which highlight daylilies.  I quite often set this stack of magazines out when garden tours come through, or when groups visit that aren't daylily-centric.  

Now, answer this question for me:

I often wonder why so many people who "discover" daylilies for the first time are so astounded with the forms and diversity in the flower.  Looking at the cover of HORTICULTURE, such prime real estate features basically a dark burgundy fulva-ish face.  

"They" have left us in 1950.   

Why would such a magazine leave such a diverse flower so mid-century?  It's not like VOGUE or TIME look so far in the past for cover photos.  They feature today's look and feel and influence the buying patterns of people who subscribe.  They feature today's fashion.

Today's issues.  Today's "prime stuff."  

Why would HORTICULTURE choose to put such a safe face on the cover?  I'm sending a package to its editor, complete with back issues of our amazing Daylily Journal and the Region 2 Newsletter.  They will be so excited.

God Bless the historic cultivars and their place in our space, but its time more general-gardening fanatic folks understand that it's not your grandmother's daylily anymore.

What do you think?  Would a cover be better with something like this?


Let's discuss.

7 comments:

Roth Daylilies said...

You are so right about that cover. I am amazed at how your brain works! I don't think I would have contacted the magazine, but you did and that's how things get changed. I told you before you're my hero.

Nancy said...

So well said! I love it that you are taking up the cause and sending them a package of "evidence". That should get their attention! They need you to write a monthly daylily column-with pictures and all!

Unknown said...

Nikki, good for you for being proactive with this magazine. Just this week a call came in from a state -circulated magazine ( Virginia Living) asking for a quote about my friend Gary's garden. They are doing a big feature on his garden. Although it's only one state, I was so happy to think that people in this state who pick up this magazine will get a chance to see some modern daylilies in a beautiful garden! Let me know if you receive any feedback from them, please. Best wishes, Julie

hemeroca7 said...

I leave in France and it is amazing to see that most of the people who think they know daylilies get the image of fulva, crimson pirate, pink damask and other dip and old cultivars.

I am daylily lover that is why I created my own blog to show the modern ones. This year I got many recent cultivars and I hope to show them all through differents gardening forums !

In conclusion, I think you are absolutely right !!

Have a nice season ;-)

Jean Campbell said...

That looks like 'Sammy Russell' on the cover, an historic landscape daylily. Small, not very colorful but loved by some of us.

Not everyone wishes their daylilies to have chicken fat and teeth.

Maybe it's because I am old but I enjoy retro photos. Gives us an idea of where we've been.

Nikki Schmith said...

Showing "new" stuff doesn't mean only chicken fat and gaudy edges - it could have been a double or an unsual form or a spider or a polymerous daylily - or even one with an eye or a pattern. Just something to show the flower continues to develop and change...into better things.

Nikki Schmith said...

I think the magazines tend to like things that are available from landscape companies - something their readers can get their hands on easily. Maybe that motivates their cover choices...but for a COVER?!?! This red fulva-like thing doesnt make me grab this magazine and flip through it...the marketing department would want to know that.

 

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