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Our next meeting of 2008 will be on Tuesday, May, 13th. Be here at 6:45 to greet your friends and see a great program by Herbie and Gale Phelps of Wonderland Gardens.
One of my goals for club speakers this year was to make others aware of the up and coming greats in the world of daylilies. I wanted hybridizers that will be in the forefront of maintaining the future in daylilies. Each year, more and more people are pollen dabbing, blooming seedlings and introducing a few wonderful plants into commerce. I am always watching for those chosen few, who introduce remarkable daylilies of distinction and quality, but are not well known “household names.” I want as many people to see the talent that I see in them. Herbie Phelps definitely fits into this category. I have yet to see a hybridizer with his dedication and passion.
Last year, I was surfing the internet for new Spring introductions to get. I was eagerly awaiting some of the big names to post their new intros and I stumbled upon Herbie Phelps web page. I was immediately blown away by his new introduction H. ASHTON'S GIGGLES. I have never seen a UF quite like it. Browsing through his other 2007 intros there were several others I could not do without. H. HEAVEN'S ARTWORK and H. ALL ABOUT TOMORROW, to name a few. Last year was the first time Herbie had introduced daylilies. By the looks of these registrations, it seems like he has been a pro at it for years. Herbie has a very keen eye for daylilies. He only introduces the finest flowers with distinctive character and superb plant habits.
Herbie and his wife Gale started hybridizing diploids in the early 90’s. Soon after, what was a simple little hobby had “Gone Wild.” Herbie credits his early guidance from Joe Huber of Huber’s Farm in Starlight, Indiana. He showed Herbie a whole new world of daylilies. Herbie continued to grow as a hybridizer and met various well know hybridizers, like John Rice, John Shooter, Dan Trimmer and others, who furthered his understanding of hybridizing. It wasn’t until the late 90’s where he met two people from Graceland Gardens, Larry and Cindy Grace, where his daylily program changed forever. Larry’s progeny student must have been a star pupil, for Herbie’s first introductions are astonishing. Like Larry, Herbie used many converted diploids into his program and made some giant leaps forward. He still breeds about 20% diploids of his 30-40 thousand seedlings per year, for future conversion material. Herbie is an excellent speaker (Call him and three hours later you will find out too…LOL). He has some incredible future introductions coming down the pike. His new 2008 intros are some of his best to date. We are very lucky to have someone of his caliber come and speak at our club. Please check out Herbie and Gale at Wonderland Gardens. You will get hooked like I did.
Herbie and Gale plan to be bring a lot of plants with them, so have your checkbook handy.
Please come and give Herbie and Gale Phelps a Southern welcome to our club. You will not be disappointed!
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