A Day with a Daylily Collector | Volunteer Gardener

Annette Shrader tours the beds of an avid gardener whose passion for daylilies is evident. His garden features more than 1,200 varieties, and he says 750 of those are currently in bloom for this visit. In addition to looking at particular favorites, this grower shares his care and maintenance regimen.

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– It’s that time of year in Tennessee when the rural roadsides are covered with what people call “ditch lilies.” Those lilies were brought in from Europe and Asia. Right here before us we’re gonna learn what eventually happened with those day lilies and how they began to get hybridized.

Al Brewer is an expert to tell us how they’ve evolved through the years. And Al, this is a glorious morning. – It is, a little bit warm, but when you see something like this, you’d endure the heat, in fact, this morning. I’m a counter and I counted 750 that were blooming yesterday.

– [Annette] Oh my goodness. With 750 blooming yesterday, Mr. Brewer, you’ve got like 1,200 varieties. – [Al] Yes. – [Annette] Well, it’s obvious you have done a very good job choosing the varieties that you’ve planted in here. Now, to build this bed of day lilies, you like to put some excitement in there

At different times of the season. – Right. – Don’t you? So what do you do? – [Al] Well, I had a hybridizer that spoke to us at the North Alabama Day Lily Society, and he said “Don’t just have daily lilies in your garden.” He said, “Bring in something else that puts some variety.”

So if you’ll notice here in front I have iris. – I do. – And they finished blooming. A beautiful perennial that you can put in with your day lilies are daffodils. – Yes. – Daffodils are tulips because you never cut those leaves off. – Right. – You let them go back

To the strength, get into the bulb, and then when those leaves are dying, your day lily leaves begin coming up. – Are coming up. – Yeah. – Yes, yes. – People will buy things because they want always to have a day lily blooming from sun-up to sundown, from

First frost to last frost. (Al laughs) But now, are there truly day lilies that will rebloom in this area? – Yes, but a rebloomer, it may be a rebloomer registered in Florida. – Mm-hmm. – But it may not be a rebloomer here. Or it may be registered from New York or Michigan,

But it won’t rebloom here. And even if it’s registered here in middle Tennessee as a rebloomer, they need at least an inch to an inch and a half of moisture a week. So if the Lord doesn’t send it, I have to provide it, – Right. – pay the water bill.

– Okay. – You need to deadhead them. I tell people at least twice a week. I do it every day since it’s my hobby. And then make sure that when the last bloom has died, that stem technically it’s called a scape. – Right. – Cut it down to the top of the soil.

– All the way down? – All the way down, yes. What I will do about the middle or the end of August, I’ll cut all these leaves down to about four to six inches from the top of the soil. It’s a mixture of a commercial topsoil, sand, and peat moss.

– Okay. – I try to do a third of each when I’m making a new bed. – Okay, well, I can see color, I can see different heights and I guess, I wanna start right here – Okay. – with this little precious thing. – This is a little wine and it’s several.

I don’t, every scape that you see or every stem means it’s a plant down there. – [Annette] Oh, okay. You don’t have a fan that has more than one bloomscape? – Generally, no, no. – Okay. – Each fan or each plant will send up as a stem or scape and it will bloom.

– Yeah, I see a variety right here, that is just beautiful with those ruffled edges. That’s something new, isn’t it? – That was a hundred dollars day lily. (Annette laughs) Maybe a little more originally, Midnight in Paris. What makes a day lily more expensive?

If you notice the gold edge around that one, it’s textured. – Yeah. – It’s textured. – [Annette] Well, wonder how many years it took to hybridize that, you gotta- – I have no idea. – Wow. – I have no idea. – I know it’s interesting here with the- – This is called

The Heavens Declare, – Oh! – again, that’s a hundred dollar day lily. – Well- – And if you notice again, the edge, it’s ruffled, it’s just different, unique. – Yeah, and then right on into the left of that one that one that’s got that glow to it, that darkness there. – Yes.

– [Annette] And it’s also got a stripe up the petals, too. – Yes, the center, which is called the eye, – Uh-huh. – when they’re different colors, by and large most day lilies will have either a yellow or a yellow green eye. – Mm-hmm. – But if you notice the one

Next to it, the Heavens Declare – Yes. – that purple eye. – Yes. – Maybe a deep mauve. – Yes. – Because it’s there different, and because the edge is different, that makes the price of that day lily more expensive. – Yeah, now, I can’t help but notice as far as scapes go,

– Uh-huh. – this tall peach one back here, the size of those scapes. Now, is that because of variety or because – The variety, yes. – of your cultivation? – You can, something you might be interested to know that you can have early, early bloomers. – Yes. – This year,

Because spring was somewhat later this year. – Right. – They didn’t start really blooming till 1st of June. – Mm-hmm. – Then you can have early early, early middle, middle, middle late, late, or late late. – Yes, and if you can believe I have a book that’s got

Every one of those marked, (Al laughs) so I could have one of the, every of those. – Right. (laughs) (Annette laughs) – but I hadn’t acquired that yet. Right on down. – Going on a little further, that pink is a spider, what they call a spider. – Why? – ‘Cause it looks

Like a spider. – Yes, and I have a few of those and my first one was Kindly Light. – Yes, yes. – Some say yellow. – I’ve had that. – Al, through the years you’ve gotten a lot of experience. Now the trends and everything, and you have customers, what are they looking for?

Do they want to go new, stay with the old? What’s going on? – I think it depends on the individual. Sometimes they want an old one. Many times we’ll say, “I’m gonna get rid of the old ones.” But if somebody’s just getting started in day lilies they think they’re beautiful. – Right.

– And if they’ve had been growing day lilies for several years, they’re looking for something different, something new. – And you know, they’re not ready for the ticket shock – (laughs) No. either, are they? That’s a good thing. So the double, then, are they a good blooming day lily,

Or do they have troubles with weather? – No, no. Here’s a double. – Right. – It’s called pink peppermint. – Oh. – It’s a double. – That is really pretty. Pink peppermint. I’d like to look at perhaps some of the ones that will have short fans and diminutive blooms.

– Okay, you’re coming up to one down here. That’s a shorter one. – Right here? – Yes. It’s called the Blue Parrot. – Hmm. – There’s one that’s a little further back in this bed and it’s called the Orange Sky. – Al, it’s been a beautiful day in your garden

– Well, thank you. – and I found the appropriate place. (Al laughs) This day lily is called None Like You. – Like you, mm. – Well, I have to say when it comes to day lilies, there’s none like you. – Thank you, you’re kind. – You persevere. You have a beautiful collection.

– Thank you. – And thank you for the sweat off of your brow this morning. – That’s all right. – It was beautiful. – I live with that. – [Annette] Beautiful gardens. – [Al] I turned 83 last month and our daughter feels that it’s because I’m out here

So much. – I think so. Absolutely. – I’m sure you’ve heard of people who retire. – Yeah. – [Al] And in a couple months you’ll go to their funeral. – [Annette] Well, you’re not pushing up lilies yet. – No, no, no, no, no. – Okay, thank you.

– [Al] Nope, not for a while yet. – If you like gardening, you’ll want to subscribe to this channel. We showcase gardeners, plants, and the joy that growing can bring.