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AHS Region 2/Great Lakes Newsletter
Another First for Region 2:
Nick Lucius, First Youth to Receiv
eceive e AHS Display Garden Status
by Cynthia Blanchard
aving one’s garden accepted as a Display
Garden, is an honor for any gardener. Accomplishing
this when you are 17 years old
becomes a newsworthy feat. Nicholas Lucius, a member
of the Metropolitan Columbus Daylily Society, has
recently become the first youth member to apply for
and to receive A.H.S. Display Garden Status. Bravo,
Nick!
A high school junior, Nick lives in Gahanna, Ohio, with
his parents and three younger siblings. Those of you
attending last summer’s Region 2 Meeting in Columbus
will remember touring the beautiful, manicured
Lucius Garden. Everyone in the family is involved in
gardening but Nick and his father, Charles, do much
of the manual labor. Charles has grown daylilies, along
with other perennials, for a long time. About five years
ago Nick became interested in hemerocallis, and their
daylily collection began enlarging. At the present time,
the family’s 3/4 acre property grows approximately 550
different cultivars. According to Nick, their wish list is
also rapidly expanding!
Some of Nick’s favorite daylilies include the Stamile
“Candy Series” and LAVENDER RAINBOW. Although
he enjoys collecting daylilies, Nick also likes the challenge
of hybridizing. He bloomed 75 seedlings in the
garden this past summer and expects several hundred
Special Youth Activities During
Region 2 Summer Meeting 2000
The Chicagoland Daylily Society, the host club, is offering a
special registration rate of $65 to youth members. If you
have never participated in a Region 2 Meeting, we encourage
you to attend. The tour gardens are spectacular, the
food is great, you’ll meet interesting people dedicated to
the improvement of genus hemerocallis, and you’re sure to
come home with new plants for your garden! The youth will
be gathering together at least twice during the weekend
meeting, with the first meeting scheduled for Friday at 5
pm. We will be contacting youth registrants in June about
the activities we have planned.
Hope to see you in Burr Ridge, , Illinois!
Nick Lucius receiving a commemorative plaque
from MCDS President Pete Mondron.
Photo: Gisela Meckstroth
to bloom this coming summer. Hoping to see results
more quickly, he now has seedlings growing under
lights in the basement of his family’s home. His hybridizing
program focuses on eyed daylilies and on
purple daylilies with white edges.
Those who know Nick comment on his willingness to
help, his strong work ethic, and his enthusiasm for
daylilies. What impressive acclaim for a gardener of
any age. It is heartening to see these qualities in one
of our Region 2 youth members. In the future, Nick
hopes to earn a college degree in business management
and, eventually, operate his own landscaping business.
We wish him well in his dreams and aspirations, and
we look forward to hearing more about him in the daylily
future.
Congratulations Nick, on your A.H.S. Display
Garden Status. Well done!
Did you know...
that an AHS Youth
membership costs only
$8 per year
See inside front cover for details.
Page 8 Spring/Summer 2000