Action vs. Spectacle | Daylily Blog

Action = emotional reaction.  something you can see/feel. the fact or process of doing something, typically to achieve an aim.

Spectacle = intellectual reaction. no change in tone. a visually striking performance or display. 

Each year thousands upon thousands upon hundreds of thousands of new daylily seedlings are bloomed around the world.  I believe "action" determines if these daylilies will be successful and lasting in today's collectors gardens.

Whatever the bloom shows me, it has to spark an internal narrative to prove distinction.  What does it DO?  What does it make me remember, or smell, or see, or even taste?  What emotion does it evoke? Do I inhale abruptly when I see them or do I raise my eyebrows with interest?

There are plenty of beautiful daylilies that are just that.  Beautiful.  

They don't move me; I am simply pleased in passing by their presence in the garden.  If my visit to a garden full of spectacle were reading like a heart monitor, the printout would look "normal."  No high (or low) spikes in emotion. 

I need more than that.

Where are the moments of action in your daylily collection?  

Where are the daylilies that DO something for the onlooker?

This post was inspired by a conversation I had with someone at this event shown here:

This is the 2011 Summer Meeting for AHS Region 2, held in Troy, Michigan.  

We coordinated an off-scape show during the opening day of the event and invited all our travelling guests, and local club members to bring in their blooms.  The result was HUNDREDS of blooms in the hotel hallway that captivated the attention of all our visitors. 

We used ACTION and SPECTACLE to make this a successful event.  The mass display (length and width) of daylilies brought the spectacle.  The spectacle was the "Wow.  That is a boatload of flowers.  Wow."  Some folks cant get past this level of interaction.  That is where they stop.  The spectacle is how we draw new daylily lovers in to the black hole of daylilydom.  

The ACTION came in though the organization of the show.  By displaying flowers by like color and/or form, viewers are able to connect with the display on a more personal level.  They find themselves drawn to highly-saturated blooms, or extra large blooms, or miniature flowers, or heavy-substanced faces...whatever makes their heart sing.  Remember this post?   

There is no better way to determine what type of daylily-lover you are than by attending a daylily show.  On July 6, 2014, there will be an accredited Daylily Exhibition Show in Springfield, Illinois at Washington Park Botanical Gardens.  Mark your calendar right now.  It's the state capitol, tons of stuff to do and totally centrally located by highway from a lot of cities around our region.  More details coming later.  You can also check here for other shows across the country. That page will be updated as shows are officially scheduled for 2014.