Carolyn and John Albright Garden
Whitsett, NC

Carolyn and John Albright have turned a gardening challenge into a traffic stopping display of daylilies and perennials. Their home is at the top of a sharply slanting hillside between highway NC-61 and lovely lake MacIntosh. The Albright's love of gardening is evident in the neat beds of daylilies and perennials that step up the hillside beside the steep driveway to the koi pool near the summit.

There are more daylily beds across the bottom near a natural spring and more still going back up the hill on the lakeside of the property. The front row of the largest daylily bed is planted with Scarlet sage (red salvia) and hosta and ferns are planted along the drive. Near their pond a dahlia bed vies with the daylilies in showing color. The sight and sound of water is all around this garden - from the waterfall at the koi pool to the lake. Some benches, one near the koi pool, are placed on the hillside to allow better viewing of the beds and fish.

Carolyn and John Albright's interest in daylilies began in 1997 with a visit to Marlette Daylilies. Although they grow many recent introductions, Carolyn says her over all favorite (today anyway) is SILOAM DOUBLE CLASSIC for it's prolific blooms and blooming period. Their collection of 500 named cultivars is a good cross section of all daylily forms and styles. NOT TONIGHT JOSEPHINE and NOW YOUR TALKING by speaker Bob Schwarz, are guest plants being grown by Carolyn and John. Some other cultivars to watch for are: PICK OF THE LITTER (Douglas), WAITING IN THE WINGS (Stamile), LEMON BERRY TRUFFLE (D. Kirchhoff), SANFORD ROSE CROWN (D. Kirchhoff), MARLETT GRAPESTOMPER (Marlette), MARLETTE PADDLE WHEEL (Marlette) and MARLETTE WELL ENDOWED (Marlette).