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AHS Region 2/Great Lakes Newsletter
Region 2 Summer Meeting Tour Gardens (continued)
The Chuck k and Pat at Bell Garden (cont. from page 21 )
chooses a cultivar, she looks for distinctive flowers, particularly
dark reds and purples, but also for eyed cultivars,
so they can play off their colors against the perennials.
Bells do have occasional problems with “critters” visiting
the garden, but they have had some success in deterring
deer by using Morganite while plants are still
small. They also believe in relocating the various “critters.”
The Bells do not plan to start hybridizing since they
are content to be kept busy maintaining their garden.
They want to devote their time to provide a garden to
educate the public as much about daylilies and their
companion perennials. They have had about 200 visitors
from the National Garden Conservancy Organization
this year, an organization whose members are
devoted to conserving gardens in America.
Pat’s advice for a beginning gardener, or someone wishing
to revamp an existing garden, is to start with one
area and then continue working with another, so the
beginner is not overwhelmed with work.
Pat also likes to buy one plant to see how it will grow
in a certain area. If the plant thrives in that area, she
will go back and purchase more of the same plants to
make a grouping for which more than one plant is
needed to emphasize a certain area.
The Bell garden, indeed, projects a labor of
love.
The Larson Garden
by Paul Meske, from Sun Prairie, Wisconsin
I have this weird idea that all Chicago area gardens
are on postage stamp size, lots in busy neighborhoods
with noises invading your senses. With an idea like
this in my head I was not prepared for the garden of
Joanne and Gaylen Larson in Barrington, Illinois.
The large front yard features several raised daylily beds
for display, with a plaque announcing an official AHS
display garden. All the cultivars are clearly labeled as
should be for an official display garden. The fact that
the plants were thriving in their location attests to the
care given them. The surprise comes when going
around the corner of the house entering the back yard.
You find yourself looking down into a cozy scenic valley
with a meandering creek. Lining the far bank is a
display of multiple daylilies, originally planted there
to reduce erosion. The lawn and garden cover 2.5 acres.
Donna Vinke from Kankakee , Illinois, expressed it well
A view across the creek in Larsons’ garden
as “a park like setting with casual elegance.”
Crossing over a forty foot bridge, you have the feeling
that you are on a lush, isolated tropical island. Colorful
flowers, tall stately oak trees pruned high accentuating
their height, and the sound of birds and insects
collectively add to the ambiance. It is the sort of place
where a person can feel his tension and troubles leave,
even if only for a little while.
Joanne calls herself an “ex-farm girl who likes to grow
things,” and she grows things very well, especially daylilies.
She wants to have her garden serve an educational
purpose, she takes great delight when people
tell her, “I never knew that daylilies came in so many
different colors!”
Her collection includes many proven performers rather
than the latest and greatest hybridizers plants. For
example GRAPE ICE (Childs 1971) and PAPRIKA VELVET
Daylilies on the creek bank in Larsons’ garden
Page 24 Fall 2000/Winter 2001