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AHS Region 2/Great Lakes Newsletter
Region 2 Symposium – Year 2000
Cleveland, Ohio
On behalf of Region 2, I wish to extend appreciation for a job well done to Curt Hanson, host of our 8th annual
AHS Region 2 Symposium, March 3-5 in Cleveland, Ohio. Curt provided us with a great lineup of speakers
whose subjects were varied. Dwight Alsbach, curator of slides and noise makers, provided the entertainment
enjoyed by all, and Registrar Juli Hyatt was the glue that binds an event together. Plans are already being
formulated by Curt for Symposium 2001 (the true millennium). The following is a recap of events, and we
certainly hope this inspires you to make plans to set next year’s date aside and attend. Thank you Curt, Juli,
Dwight, and all who attended this informative, uplifting, fun-filled event.
Mary Milanowski
A Presentation by Dr. . Kevin Vaughn
It’s A Small World After All…..
Breeding Miniatures
Dr. Kevin Vaughn informed the Region 2 crowd
that growing daylilies in the Mississippi delta
was easy, since all of us Midwesterners sent
our best soil to the delta for the cultivation of plants.
Originally from New England, Kevin has been interested
in miniature daylilies for quite some time, and
has developed a lot of his ideas and techniques about
daylily hybridization from his work with food crops for
the USDA. The three main characteristics that Kevin
finds appealing in a miniature daylily are:
1.) density of blossoms, 2.) compact flowering, and 3.)
the “look of a bouquet,” which are all related to the
propensity of miniature daylilies to gain clump strength
rather quickly.
Dr. Vaughn has developed both miniature diploids and
tetraploids, with the most promising diploids being
converted by Kevin for use in his tetraploid programs.
In the round diploids, Kevin showed seedlings from
his many different lines of breeding that were developed
from his introductions such as BEAT THE BUG,
a 3 ½ " bright yellow with a red eyezone (1996; BEAT
THE BARONS X SILOAM DOODLEBUG); SEE MY
ETCHINGS, a 3 ½ " cream with a blue-violet eyezone,
ala Elizabeth Salter (1996; SILOAM BO PEEP X
WITCHING HOUR); and DELTA BELLE, a 4" clear
pink (1996; TRUE HEART X SILOAM APPLE BLOS-
SOM). One kid in the blue-violet eyezone program, D-
115-1, which is out of (EXOTIC KISS X (SUMMER
ECHOES X SILOAM TINY TIM) has a very prominent
spiky “blue eyezone” on a white petal. It appears
as if the eyezone has been pulled with a thin painter’s
brush up onto the petals at 1/8" intervals around the
Page 20 Spring/Summer 2000
by Greg McMullen, Indiana
Dr. Kevin
Vaughn
holding the
AHS
Publication:
Some Basic
Hemerocallis
Genetics
by J. Norton.
petal. Another plant, FAIRY BALLET, which is from
the DELTA BELLE line, is one of the tiniest plants
that Kevin has produced to date, with a 12" scape and
2 ½" diameter blossoms. Most of these lines owe a debt
of gratitude to Pauline Henry, who has paved the road
for many of Kevin’s successes.
Kevin is also exploring miniatures with prominent edges
and no eyes, from crosses involving plants such as BEAU-
TIFUL EDGINGS (Copenhaver 1989) and RAINING
VIOLETS (Wild 1983), with some successes such as an
unnamed seedling that was yellow with a pink edge.
Kevin also spends time daubing with miniature doubles,
which are also called “popcorn doubles”. These seedlings
have been developed from such notable award winners
such as SILOAM DOUBLE CLASSIC (Henry 1985)
and JANICE BROWN (EC Brown 1986) crossed with
lesser known plants such as BUBBLY (Joiner 1986) and
(continued on page 19)