Heirloom Seed Suppliers

     In the current age of GMO, plant/seed patents and big business seeming to have too much to hide, I think it's extremely important to attempt to preserve as much genetic diversity as possible.  In light of this, I do my best to only grow heirloom and open pollinated food varieties.  Don't confuse genetically modified organisms (GMO) with hybrids, which is, by technical definition, genetically modified.  What I'm specifically speaking of is genetic modification by manipulation of genes, either by insertion, deletion or mutation.  Hybrid plants are the offspring of two plants from different species but the same genus or family, this happens in nature and by human involvement and the parents must have matching ploidy or number of chromosomes.  These plants do not breed true and their offspring can look wildly different from each other and their parents.  Open pollinated or OP plants have fairly stable genetics so one can expect similar fruit year after year, allowing for slight variability.  An Heirloom is an open pollinated, seed grown variety that dates before 1945 according to some or 100 years according to others.  They are usually grown in specific locales and have become adapted to those growing conditions, showing some resistance to local pests, diseases and weather extremes.
     Thankfully, there are several seed companies that feel the same way I do and have made it their mission to helping to preserve and distribute these rare or unknown seeds and plants.  The next few  entries will be an introduction to the specific varieties I've chosen to grow in my gardens.  In the fall, I'll post evaluations of each variety based on my specific growing conditions.  These are the companies I chose to order from for 2015.

Bakers Creek Heirloom Seed Co.
Jere Gettle, at the age of 17 printed his first catalog in 1998.  The company, located in Mansfield Missouri, now sells over 1,750 varieties of rare, open pollinated seeds from around the world.  They host several heirloom festivals throughout the year and have recently added two more locations in Petaluma, California and Wethersfield, Connecticut.  Jerre and his wife, Emilee launched the nationally distributed magazine Heirloom Gardener which is now in it's 11th year of publication.  They work to distribute seed to several of the worlds poorest countries, free of charge, in addition to providing seed to schools and educational projects.  Their goal is to introduce everyone, everywhere to a safer food supply and to fight genetically modified 'food' and the companies that support it.  This is my go to company and where I order the majority of my seeds.  They can be contacted at their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/rareseeds or through their website http://www.rareseeds.com/

High Mowing Organic Seeds
Started in 1996 with just 28 varieties, founder Tom Stearns turned his shed into a seed packing area, where he had no trouble selling the seed he produced that first year.  The company now offers over 600 varieties of organic heirloom, hybrid and open pollinated and still grow the majority of their seed offerings on their 40 acres.  The people at High Mowing are passionate about food and farming and believe that understanding and supporting food systems can support health on all levels including healthy bodies, economies, communities and environments.  They can be contacted through their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/highmowingorganicseeds or their website http://www.highmowingseeds.com/home.php?xid=e1eef2a586523fa0e63729d8a2cf5849

Tomatofest
Gary Ibsen has been providing organic heirloom tomatoes, along with Dagma Lacey, through his website since 1994.  All varieties are grown, trialed and harvested by him.  Selections are made based on rarity, flavor and detailed notes are kept on each of the 600 varieties.  This helps to ensure the best quality and true to name seeds.  You can learn more at http://www.tomatofest.com/heirloom_tomato_seed_home.html

Native Seed/Search
This is a non profit founded in 1983 by Gary Nabhan and Mahina Drees with the mission to preserve the biodiversity of the American southwest.  Their state of the art seed bank now houses more than 2,000 varieties of seeds adapted to the arid region, although only around 500 are offered through their website and catalog.  If you're interested in learning more or growing some of their really cool offerings (especially beans and corn) check out their website at http://www.nativeseeds.org/

Mariana's Heirloom Seeds
Located in Copemish, Michigan (about an hour north of me, cool right?) they stock over 5,000 varieties of heirloom, non GMO and non hybrid, tomato, pepper and eggplant varieties.  You have the option of ordering seed or plants, having them shipped or picking them up in person, they even offer exhibition seeds from the biggest and best of each variety.  You can order your selections from https://www.mariannasheirloomseeds.com/

Pinetree Seeds
Pinetree Seeds is a family run business started in 1979 with the mission of supplying high quality, low cost seed selections to the home gardener.  In addition to the now approximately 1,300 seed varieties, they offer a huge selection of books, tools and craft supplies.  You can order a catalog or order online at http://www.superseeds.com/

There are, of course, many other great companies with some spectacular offerings, these are just the companies that I have personally ordered from for 2015.  I'd love to read some of your thoughts and recommendations in the comments section.

Heirloom and Open Pollinated Tomato List 2015

Anna Russian  75 day, indet, med, pink slicer.  Russia

Black From Tula  80 day, indet, med, black slicer.  Ukraine

Black Prince  80 day, indet, med, black slicer.  Russia

Bonnie Best  75 day, indet, med, red slicer.  USA

Boondocks  80 day, indet, potato leaf, lg, pink slicer.  USA

Black Early   70 day indet, black, med, slicer.  France.

Bordo  80 day indet, black, med, slicer

Brave General  80 day indet, lg, pink slicer.  Russia

Break O Day  70 day indet, med, red slicer.  USA

Creme Brulee  75 day indet, med, black slicer.  Russia

Cherokee Chocolate  80 day indet, lg, black slicer.  USA

Cherokee Green  80 day indet, med, green slicer.  USA

Copia  85 day indet, med, yellow/red bi color slicer.  USA

Cosmonaut Volkov  80 day indet, med, red slicer.  Russia

Gilbertie Paste  85 day indet, med, red paste.  Italy

Great White  85 day indet, lg, white slicer.  USA

Gypsy  80 day indet, sm, black slicer.  Russia

Heinz  75 day indet, med, red canner/slicer.  USA/Canda

Homestead  65 day det, med, red canner/slicer.  USA

Indigo Apple  70 day indet, sm, blue/red slicer.  USA

Japanese Black Trifele  75 day indet, sm plum, black canner/paste/slicer.  Russia

Jaune Flamme  60 day indet, sm, orange slicer.  France

Julia Child  85 day indet, lg, pink slicer.  USA

Large Barred Boar  85 day indet, lg, black/red striped slicer.  USA

Manitoba  70 day det, sm, red slicer.  Canda

Martha Logan80 day, indet, potato leaf, lg, yellow slicer.  USA

Moskvich 60 day, semi det, med, red slicer.  Russia

Mountain Princess 70 day, det, med, red slicer/canner.  USA

Mr. Stripey 80 day, indet, lg, bicolor slicer.  USA

Noir De Crimee 75 day, indet, med, oblong black slicer.  Russia

Northern Lights 90 day, indet, med, bicolor slicer.  USA

Oaxacan Jewel 90 day, indet, lg, oblate, bicolor slicer.  Mexico

Orange Icicle (Sosulka Oranzhevaya) 70 days, indet, sm, orange canner/slicer/paste.  Russia

Orange Strawberry 80 day, indet, med, orange slicer/canner/paste.  USA

Peppermint 80 day, indet, lg, bicolor slicer.  USA

Perth Pride 70 day, indet, med, dwarf, black slicer.  Australia/USA

Pork Chop80 day, indet, med, yellow slicer.  USA

Principe Borghese 70 day, semi det, sm, red salad/paste/drying.  Italy

Purple Dog Creek  85 day, indet, lg, pink slicer.  USA

Purple Prince 85 day, indet, med, black slicer.  Russia

Rebekah Allen 70 day, indet, med, pink slicer. 

Rose De Berne 70 day, indet, med, oblate pink slicer.  France

Rutgers70 day, indet, med, oblate red slicer.  USA

San Marzano 70 day, indet, med, red canner/paste.  Italy

Stupice 60 day, indet, sm, potato leaf, red salad, Czechoslovakia

Summer Cider  85 day, indet, lg, orange slicer.  USA

Tsarskiy Podarok 75 day, indet, med, pink slicer.  Russia

White Queen 90 day, indet, lg, white slicer.  USA

Meet Ron Livingston: Hybridizer of Hosta

Ron Livingston

   Ron Livingston was born one of three children in Detroit, MI.  He has been with his partner for twenty one years and has a daughter from a previous marriage.  For almost 36 years, Ron was a science teacher in the Detroit Public School System.  He also worked at Lawrence Technology University, where he taught operation physics, plant sciences and heredity.  Retired now, he spends his time on photography, hiking, traveling, body building and, naturally, breeding Hosta which he has been doing since 1997.
   

Hosta Garden

  Ron credits his grandfather and his contagious enthusiasm for plants for sparking his own horticultural love.  "My grandfather got me started.  He taught me to enjoy to enjoy the joys of the soil, the smell, the feel, and other unlimited possibilities to produce life of all kinds."  Since childhood he has had a fascination with genetics of all kinds, spending time breeding guppies also.  He says he'd like to work with canine genetics eventually. His garden style is pretty eclectic, doing what ever he feels like doing. Space is always short in a hybridizers garden, so the neighbors are lucky to get free Hostas that didn't quite make the cut.  Ron loves producing his own plant varieties, but he feels that those doing the breeding aren't given the recognition they deserve for their hard work, creativity and vision.  'I am not fond of the “big business” end of things, where as usual, the large companies get the lion’s portion of the profits and the hybridizer gets a meager tidbit. I feel that there should be some way that the person doing the creative portion of the job gets properly compensated. I am not sure why that cannot happen.'

Pink Flamingo

   He chose to work with Hostas because of their popularity, easy to access sexy parts, sometimes bees do the work for you, and the genetic diversity available.  When he first breeding Hosta, a good friend, Stuart Asch was there to mentor him and pass along the knowledge he had gained while he was mentored by Pauline Banyai.  Ron says that the hardest part of actually breeding Hosta is that the plants you've produced and become very fond of either die for no apparent reason or don't survive the winter.  His other least favorite part of the hobby is when it becomes work and no longer fun.  He used to do 5,000 different crosses per season, it became tedious, back breaking labor.  Now he stops when he wants to and it's back to being fun again.

Tremont Spice

   Ron says he doesn't keep track of the number of seeds he produces and sows, 'it is not how many you plant that counts, it is the quality of those you plant that counts. Also, as they grow, it is extremely important to be able to closely monitor them. If you grow too many of them, you have less time to observe each one.'  The initial selection process is to pull the fastest growing, best looking seedlings and give them bigger pots.  The other smaller seedlings will usually get a chance to prove themselves over winter in the same flats they were sown in.  The ones that don't impress him get composted or given away.  Space is at a premium and plants that aren't worthy don't get the garden real estate.  The evaluation process can take anywhere from five to twelve years, depending on stability of variegation.  He doesn't believe in registering his plants, subjecting them to other peoples rules and regulations, after all, it won't make them better plants and he doesn't seek notoriety.  There are too many factors that go in to what makes a plant worthy of introduction to make an accurate list.
'I am often best guided by serendipity. I may follow a direction for a while then something will pop up and redirect me…some things are so unexpected, for instance, “ I didn’t know hostas could do that !! “…next thing I know I am using the “new” look in my breeding program.'
    

Afterglow

    Ron's advice for the new hybridizer is 'The green world is full of many miracles, don’t think one will not happen to you. Don’t let you hobbies become jobs, maintain “sane” limits on them'
 

Tenny Up

   More on Ron Livingston and pictures of more of his Hosta introductions can be seen here.   http://www.foosf.com/ron.php

Spring 2014 Pictures

Corylus avellana 'Contorta' Harry Lauders Walking stick

Sedum Angelina and Juniperus horizontalis 'Blue Rug'

Bergenia cordifolia

Amalanchier sp.

Trillium cuneatum

The new shade bed from last year

Primulas

Fallopia japonica 'Freckles' new growth

Meet Luke Marion: Garden Vlogger

   If you were to happen upon the YouTube channel, MIGardener, and saw the number of videos posted and the mass of followers of the channel, you would probably be surprised to learn that the person responsible for all of it's content is just 20 years old.  At 16, Luke Marion started MIGardener to give advice to other gardeners through weekly video entries.  Four years later, he's never missed an episode.  You'll find episodes on everything from vermiculture (worm farming), composting, saving and starting seeds to aquaponics.  All videos are delivered in a friendly, straight forward manner to anyone willing to watch and listen.  Topics are based on what is happening in his own northern region and on questions his viewers are seeking answers to.

  Luke's garden is located on the east side of Michigan and is both organic and strictly edibles.  He grows only the things he enjoys eating and varieties that give multiple fruit so that he can share with family and friends, things such as tomatoes, zucchini and peppers.   He is self taught, owing his horticultural education to books.  Luke's favorite part of the whole gardening experience is the satisfaction he gets from starting everything from seed.  Watching the tiny seedling emerge and grow and produce something amazing.  "I like to say it is old fashion gardening brought into the 21st century. I like putting a modern twist on my garden to inspire the youth that gardening is for more than just "old people."  His first foray into gardening was caring for the single tomato plant his mother designated as 'his'.  From there the passion grew.  "I look at people like me as the next generation of food production. We need to start learning how to grow our own food or we will meet starvation and poor quality right at the intersection of overpopulation and industrialization." 

  "I see the future of the garden going into the city. As we urbanize and industrialize we are going to eventually run out of good farming land. I also see a reduction in monoculture since that has caused so many problems with peats and depopulation of certain animal species. I lastly think that gardening is going to go from the back yard to the whole yard, and we will be more organic. As a society we were so clueless of what was being fed to us, and we just settled for convenience. But now we are taking more time to prepare meals, look at ingredients, and become aware of what is going into our bodies."

   To anyone looking into starting their own vlog, he offers this advice; always trust yourself first.  No matter how many times someone attempts to tear you down or tell you that you're wrong, trust your gut feeling.  A vlog is a lot like a garden, growing and evolving over time and you get better at it the longer you do it.  " If someone told me what I couldn't film, I would not be where I am today."
Luke's YouTube channel can be found here  https://www.youtube.com/user/MIgardener  or you can find him on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/MIgardener

Meet Brooks Garcia: Hybridizer of Sarracenia

Brooks Garcia

   Brooks was raised with a gardening sensibility from a very early age.  By the time he was in his  mid teens he was entering horticultural competitions...and winning.  He attended and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in environmental design.  Twenty five years ago he moved to Atlanta, GA where he still lives.  For the last twenty three of those years Brooks has been the owner and operator of his own company, Fine Gardens, a design firm, http://www.atlantafinegardens.com/.  He also writes the blog Sarracenia Obsessed, http://www.sarraceniaobsessed.com/ where he shares his adventures in growing and breeding this temperate, carnivorous plant.  When he's not gardening at work, then he's at home working in his garden and if he's not doing that, well, he's probably still gardening in the production vegetable garden for the local Georgian restaurant, Home Grown GA.  He also enjoys just being outside, hunting or hiking the countryside.

Bog Fever

   "I find horticulture rewarding in so many ways. It feeds my soul and my client’s.  It is an artistic expression and allows me to shape a space and create a mood."  Brooks loves the 'hort-head' community for the shared passion of plants; how they grow and bloom and for the ups and downs one experiences in learning the cultural requirements of some exciting, new precious.  "I am greatly discouraged by the dumbing down of plants in our culture, the attitude of mow, blow and go and of instant gratification, the big box store mentality of marketing plants."  He says that he can't imagine a life where he isn't working with plants.  Goody Davis, a close friend of Brooks is credited with being his biggest garden influence.  She is/was directly responsible for his love of horticulture.  Beck Cherry and Mary Izard also helped the gardening passion along, they believed in him and hired him to be their personal gardener and the early age of sixteen.  His personal garden is fairly small and designed utilizing classic English and cottage principles.  Brooks sees horticulture as a series of trends and feels the ornamental garden is on the downward slope.  Ornamentals will eventually regain their popularity, but until then, small, local, organic farming is the new horticulture.

Blood Moon

  Brooks true horticultural love is the Sarracenia and the only plants that he breeds.  Sarracenias are a carnivorous, pitcher plant native to the United States and Canada, that prefer to grow in acidic, full sun bog conditions.  He's completely fascinated by their primal nature and their ease of care once a few cultural requirements are met.  He starts thousands (or maybe tens of thousands) of seeds each spring where only the strongest survive.  Perhaps 1% of these seedlings make it to registration.  He breeds for vigor, interesting pitcher shapes and a bright, stable color.  He's hoping to see the elusive, good, clear orange emerge from his lines.   After being grown out by Brooks for four or five years, divisions are sent out to some of his grower friends in varying USDA hardiness zones for further evaluation.  Temperature has a lot of impact on pitcher color, so it can't always be trusted to be true for everyone.  If all of his strict criteria are met, the seedling is given a cultivar name and made available to the general public. 
 

Savannah Fire

   He offers this advice to all new breeders, which I believe applies to all genera.  "Choose excellent stock plants to work with, dogs only beget dogs. Think through your crosses but don’t be afraid to experiment. Stay away from freakish trends. Develop your own style and vision. Be ruthless in your culling, raise your standards of what is good. Don’t be too quick to proclaim something cultivar worthy and be patient for the cream to rise to the top. Trial your plants with other top growers to ensure stable plants that produce even results."
 

Wilkerson's White Knight

Humerous Garden Memes

Meet Helen Yoest: Garden Coach and Author

  Helen is a highly creative and energetic woman with an infectious enthusiasm for plants that you can't possibly be immune to...if you can keep up with her that is.  She is the author of two fantastic books on gardening (so far); Gardening With Confidence: 50 Ways to add style for personal creativity (2012 GWC Press)  and the newly released Plants With Benefits: An Uninhibited Guide to the Aphrodisiac Herbs, Fruits, Flowers, & Veggies in Your Garden (2014, St. Lynn's Press).  She also maintains a blog where she gives gardening and lifestyle advice as well profiles some of the up and coming young professionals in the horticulture industry.

   She has an advanced degree in environmental engineering and spent 20 years as an environmental air pollution field engineer, a profession she loved until she and her husband adopted their first child.  After a brief  3 year stint as an office engineer, that hat was hung up and she went back to her gardening roots.  "I didn't wait that long for children only to be separated from them while I was on the road," said Helen.  She spent the first four years of her horticultural career in garden maintenance and then garden coaching for people who wanted to learn more about plants and gardening.  Gradually, Helen began to get a few writing assignments and got to realize her dream of being a full time writer.  She recently celebrated her 12th year in business and divides her time between gardening, writing about gardening and spending time with her husband and three teenage children.  Even though she has no formal horticultural training, Helen is an honorary member of the national horticulture society, Pi Alpha Xi.  http://gardeningwithconfidence.com/blog/2012/03/14/pi-alpha-xi/

   Helen chose garden writing because she's a gardener and likes to write (simple enough explanation).  "If I were a lawyer, I'd write about the law."  Her writing style is inspirational and unexpected, saying "I don't like being typical."  She writes about whatever happens to inspire her,s ometimes it's wildlife or design or a garden/er. With the new book Plants with Benefits, she began to write about sex.  Specifically, plants with aphrodisiac effects.  She writes for the new gardener and hopes that when they're looking for a little guidance or inspiration, they'll turn to her writings.

   Helen would rather be outside digging in the dirt than sitting in an office and credits her father with being her biggest gardening influence. She loves garden maintenance in general, whether it be pulling weeds, planting or pruning.  She says propagation is her least favorite aspect of the gardening experience, other than starting a few seeds, stating she just doesn't have the patience for it.  With the mild winters they experience in her home state of North Carolina, she can spend more time in the garden, even if it's just building a fire and settling in to read a new book.  Her personal garden style is highly eclectic including; organic and sustainable practices, xeriscaping (gardening with little water use), a wildlife haven and food production...all done in the confines of formal, straight lined borders.  Her favorite plants to work with are the ones that attract bees, birds and butterflies or plants with an interesting architecture such as Taxodium distichum “Cascade Falls”(Weeping Bald Cypress).  Any plant in a Helen's garden has to be one tough cookie and able to survive fairly harsh conditions like wet winters, dry summers and acidic soils.

   She believes that the future of horticulture is gardening with purpose, whether it be for wildlife, food or as private art installments.  "I see [the future of] garden writing diluted to how-to's with whole books trying to paraphrase how to plant tree, shrub, or perennial by saying, dig a hole the same depth as the nursery container and twice as wide."  She offers this advice to new authors "Stay true to yourself. Write about what you know, and write every chance you get."

Adventures In Vermiculture

   I finally jumped on the vermiculture (worm farming) band wagon recently and thought that some people might be interested in my experiment.  Worm castings make fantastic fertilizer!  It can either be applied whole as a top dressing/soil amendment or brewed, put in cheesecloth and soaked, with water to make compost tea. After doing a little online research, including watching a few videos on youtube, I decided to get 250 European red night crawlers, for the castings and fishing bait, from Uncle Jim's Worm Farm.  http://unclejimswormfarm.com/  Although there are many other worm suppliers. Two days after placing the order I got an email notification that my worms had shipped.  After a full week of waiting for the package to arrive, I began to get really worried that they were stuck in a frozen warehouse somewhere between Michigan and Pennsylvania.  I called Uncle Jim's and it turns out that the email was generated by computer and my crawlers hadn't actually shipped out yet.  They were scheduled to go out two days from then.  Anyway, after they were actually shipped, they arrived in a timely fashion.  I had set their habitat up the previous week so all I needed to do was add them to it.  

   I started with my plastic 18 gallon tote.  They're cheap and readily available.  It's best to use to darker, opaque colors to decrease the amount of light that permeates the tub.

     Next, I drilled a row of holes along the top edges the longest sides and then drilled holes in the lid to make sure there was plenty of airflow as there would be in nature.  I also drilled several small holes in the bottom of the tub for drainage.  You don't want want your worms and media sitting in water and becoming stagnant.

   You'll want to make sure you have something to catch any water that drains from the bottom of the tub, I used an extra tote lid that I happened to have laying around.  You'll also want to have something to raise the tub up off the floor for increased air flow.  I started out using a small stack of recycled yogurt containers, but those proved to not be strong enough.  I switched to recycled aluminum cans instead, but you can use bricks or chunks of left over 2x4's.  The tub only needs to be raised a couple of inches.

   It's time to decide what media to use for the little guys.  It being January when I decided to do this really limited my choices.  I definitely suggest doing it in the spring or fall.  My choice of media was a 1:1:1 ratio of composted sphagnum peat, garden soil (mostly sand) and shredded paper.  After getting it all mixed up well, I added enough water to moisten the media, but not drench it.  When you squeeze a handful in your fist, it should clump together but no moisture should escape.  It'll take a lot more water than you might think to get the peat moist.  It's extremely hydrophobic (won't absorb water), but holds water very well once damp.

   If you find that the peat won't take in any water, you can add a few drops of dish soap to the media/water mix.  The soap helps the water molecules bond to the peat.  Just a heads up, this can also be done with potting soil in your house plants that won't take water.

   Time to add the worms.  It's not really a scientific method, just dump them on top of the soil and spread them out.  Leaving a light on above the tote will encourage them to dig down into the media.  I checked on them after about an hour and noticed that there were a few of them kept trying to escape no matter how many times I put them back.  I think I lost 10 of them total.  The worms need to be kept in a dark place with an even temperature, my tub is in the basement in the darkest corner.  45-70 degrees fahrenheit is the ideal temperature range.
   After about a week I noticed that the worms were piling up on the edges of the tub.  After some quick research I figured out that the peat made the media waaaay to acidic.  The fastest way to fix the problem would be to add a little lime to some water and pour it over the soil.  Since I have no lime right now, I had to use the next best thing, wood ash.  I built a small fire in the BBQ with a pie tin under the grating so catch the ash.  Once it was cool, I added it to a small pitcher of water and poured it in and mixed it around really well.  Problem solved after about 24 hours.

  After about a week to let them settle and to make sure you pH is correct, it's time to feed the worms.  You can give them pretty much anything that you compost such as dry leaves, grass clippings, kitchen scraps, etc.  Avoid putting meat scraps in the tub, these will rot and stink.  If you put your scraps into a food processor or chop it up really fine, the worms will be able to compost it much faster.  Keep in mind that you need to put in an even ratio of green compost to brown to avoid drastically changing the pH and that items like coffee grounds are highly acidic.  Dig down into one corner of your tub, about two inches from the bottom and pour your worm food there.  A good rule of thumb is not to feed any more than the size of your fist.  Your worms will compost at different rates, depending on how many worms, what type of compost and what size the pieces are.  I find that mine go through their food in about ten day to two weeks.  The next time you feed, repeat the process, but put the food in the opposite corner of the tub to encourage the worms to move around.
   I'll keep updating my vermiculture adventures as they progress.  Hopefully you're inspired to attempt this for your garden.  I have plans to start four more of these worm farm tubs once the weather improves here in Michigan.  If you decide to dismantle your worm bins, please don't release them into your gardens as they won't stay there.  These non-native worms are more voracious than our native earth worms and will quickly over take available resources.

Meet Bob Faulkner: Hybridizer of Hemerocallis

Bob Faulkner and Rachel Lambertson

This has been a very difficult entry for me to write.  Anyone who has seen one of Bob's presentations or read anything has written, has realized that he has an outstanding way of describing his world.  I don't feel that I could have taken what Bob wrote and translated it into my own words and come away with the same picture.  So, even though this is the lazy way, here is my interview with Bob Faulkner, unedited  in his own words.
1. Do you have another job? If not what did you do before?
Ans—I retired from Hobart Corporation in 2008 after working there in the National
Service, Technology Center for 30 years. Before that I worked at Sears Department Stores
for 13 years. I sold shoes (before Al Bundy)…I would come home at night and my hands
would smell like feet.  I helped decorate the windows …that was a huge learning
curve…I didn’t even know colors had to match…I worked in the maintenance
department, the display department, the sign shop and in sales….all things that helped me
later on in life.
   The shoe department was on the main floor of a 3 floor building and right next to the
escalator.  I remember people getting their totes stuck in the steps and having them tear
right off their feet, I remember a 90 year old lady trying her best to run up the down
escalator, her wig was bobbing up and down on her head. One day a lady said she needed
a pair of sneakers, so she grabbed her left leg, twisted it off and handed it to me: “if the
left shoe fits this, then the right one will fit too.”  Customers on either side of her gasped.
Sales was interesting to say the least.
   I worked part time at a liquor store, keeping the goods stocked, I worked in a nursery
doing custom orders for customers and sales….and I worked at a small grocery just
around the corner from my house to put myself thru college.

2. When did you first discover daylilies?
Ans—We always had a clump of ‘lemon’ lilies by the back door when I was child, but I
didin’t know they were actually daylilies…they were very species looking but had a
fragrance.  Once I bought my childhood home and began to collect plants, my Uncle gave
me several clumps of his very old daylilies. They were pretty but would bloom in a flush
for about 2 weeks and be over for the year. 
   I was learning to amend the soil and I had removed all the perennials from my front bed
which was 10 feet by 80 feet, and was adding copious amounts of coarse sand to loosen
up the hard clay soil.  A friend stopped by and noticing my ‘old’ daylilies he told me that
I really needed to get some new ‘hybrid’ daylilies.  “They are much prettier, bloom longer
and are just all-around a better choice for your display bed.” Well, I didn’t know what
‘hybrid’ meant and was kind of interested, but where would I find those?  So we took a
trip to a local hybridizers’ yard.  The guys’ name was John Benz and he had a riot of
unusual daylilies like I had never seen before. One really grabbed me, it had two colors on
it…imagine!  He told me it was rather new and was a named daylily called “Fooled Me.”
Man, I’d love to have a start of that……John said; “I can get you a start for $50.”

   $50!!!!!  Well, once I picked myself up off the ground, I told him I didn’t think I was
ready to pay that much for any flower, or tree…Thanks anyhow.  I thought to myself,
“what’s wrong with someone who thinks a flower is worth that much money.?”   Are they
crazy?
   On the one hour trip back home I told Mike that rather than pay someone all that money
for a daylily that I will just grow my own from seed. I have two acres of good soil, why
should I pay someone else that much money when I can do it myself for a lot less.  So that
was my snap decision that led me into hybridizing.

3. What drew you most to the patterns you’ve become known for?
Ans—Good question. That next year I started buying some very inexpensive daylilies
from a close-by hybridizer, Dave Jackson. He was very helpful, friendly, had a ton of
named varieties and sold me my first ever named daylily. He said if I was going to
hybridize I needed a good one and he recommended one named “Always Afternoon.”  So
I bought it along with some seedlings he would part with. I made a nice bed for them and
that was my beginning.

   The first three years was spent learning all the details of hybridizing, following all the
instructions and warnings that I read from any magazine (including the AHS Journal) and
just getting my feet wet into daylilies.  I would do all the careful crosses, no purple to
yellow, no big to little, no eyes to selfs…and after 3 years I was really bored with what I
was getting. 
   Begin a member of the AHS I would get several catalogs from hybridizers, (this was
before the internet was a big sales tool) and I would look at what they had and realize that
my daylilies were falling way short.  But another interesting thing was that when I would
see a ‘pattern color’ daylily I would think to myself, that’s the best one in the book!  Or I
would go on short trips and visit hybridizers and if they had a pattern seedling I would be
much more turned on by it than anything else in the beds.
   So in 1999 I had a light-bulb moment.  Why in the world don’t I just try and grow pattern
color daylilies? I like those the best, it would be worth the effort and maybe I’ll get some
daylilies that I really like. Nobody had ever done just patterns before, so It was
frightening to throw all my eggs into one basket, but I thought I’d either have great
success or nobody would ever know me.  But at least I would follow my passion.  Three
things I thought that the pattern color needed were (1). The pattern was so small in those
days, maybe the size of a quarter, so I needed to work on making the pattern larger, (2)
the flower needed to be flat and not trumpet shaped. A flatter flower will show more of
the pattern and (3) the sepals needed to show as much as the petals, because if the pattern
on the sepals could not be seen, it would take away from the appearance of the flower.  So
those 3 goals were what I had in mind when I started to work towards pattern colors in
daylilies.

4. What other forms/styles do you enjoy?
Ans--I’ve learned that I look at things with an artistic bent. So to me a flower needs to
have some kind of symmetry to get my attention.  Now that symmetry can come from the
entire plant and not just a bloom, for instance a nice unusual form may not have a very
symmetrical flower, but if  the entire clump has a kind of symmetry that is very pleasing
to the eye, I could like that.  I love good color, I love good contrast. Big is good, small is
good…long as they are pretty to me, I like them.  My biggest criticism is a dirty
background color. So many new intros are dirty…..if you would check the muddy pinks
against a nice orchid for instance and you will quickly see how bad the color might just
be.  A big edge isn’t the entire flower, nor is huge wide petals that hide the sepals. I look
at the whole flower.  Of course like in anything there might be an exception.  The reason I
stick mostly with pattern colors is the fact that it takes so much time and energy to just do
one area well.  I might take on another at some time, if I feel I can handle the work load.
So far that isn’t the case.
5. What other hobbies or plant loves do you have?
Ans—That’s an easy question. I try to limit myself to only those things that contain
chlorophyll.  I love plants, period. When I was a very little kid I can remember being in
awe at a plant, to watch it grow and get larger and bloom was simply a miracle to me. I
couldn’t get enough of that.  I started with petunias from seeds, I would grow them at the
edge of our vegetable garden. Then I would walk back into the woods and find unusual
trees and shrubs and one by one move them into the yard. I am blessed enough to be
living at the house where I was born, so I still have some of those trees I planted when I
was a kid.  One blue-spruce which I bought thru the mail for a dollar is now 60 feet tall.  I
collect rare and unusual perennials, weeping trees, I have a collection of unusual
Magnolias, 6 horse chestnut trees, a raft of rare and interesting conifers and lots in
between.  
   I also raise and show pigeons, baldhead rollers to be more exact.  I’ve had pigeons since I
was nine years old. I’ve learned so much about genetics, line-breeding, inbreeding and
color inheritance techniques from doing pigeons all these years that it was a rather simple
transition to daylilies using some of the same practices.  To not know basic genetics it to
do many more crosses than you would ever need to. I recommend to anyone to study
genetics for a while, go on line and look up some things about dominant and recessive,
dilute and primary colors…and other genetic factors.  It’s wildly interesting and valuable
to any hybridizer.
   If you go to study mutations in daylilies for instance…you will be hard-pressed to find
much information about where all our breaks originated. You can research pigeons and
find out where every mutation occurred, how it was obtained and more important, how to
go about getting it in your own line.

6. What do you feel makes a daylily worthy of registration?
Ans—Because the AHS has no standard for daylilies; what they should look like, how
they should perform, plant habit….it makes this question so subjective.  And I really
don’t think they should have a standard.  
Each person seems to have their own slant on this, and that is what makes this hobby so
interesting and so varied.
Having said that, on a scale of 1 to 10 I would think the number one quality would be that
it thrives well….at least in its own territory.
Number two is that it is pretty to look at. For a hybridizer you might need to add distinct
from any other daylily available. But then distinct is subjective too.
Going on from there…lots of blooms over an extended period of time.   Then, for a hybridizer it needs to be fertile, at least one way…for a gardener this wouldn’t
be an issue.  Other conditions would be disease resistant…weather resistant…sun resistant.  Blooms above the foliage would be pretty important…height is again so subjective. When
I began in the early 90’s for instance, hybridizers would cull anything that was too tall.
The daylily of that period had to have its blooms setting just above the foliage.  That trend
has all but died and now tall is very important to lots of people.  Given enough time I
imagine that we will see that reverse itself, or least moderate in the next 5-10 years.
   How fast it multiplies is important, unless you want the value to stay high, then a slow
increaser would be good.  “Angels’ Smile” would be the consummate example of this.
Introduced a long time ago, it still holds its value due to how slowly it increases.
   Taking all these qualities into consideration, for me then the most important thing for a
daylily to be worthy of introduction is that it has little resemblance to one already
available.

7. What are your hybridizing, tagging and storage methods for seeds?
Ans—I use the white paper hang tags for marking my crosses.  Some people don’t like
them because they fall apart before the seeds are ripe. If you go to Office Depot, they
carry a ‘heavier’ version of hang tags that will hold up well all summer. The paper is
thicker.
   I am finally deep enough that almost on any given day I can use fresh pollen to hybridize
with.  There are some flowers I want to use that aren’t blooming that day, so I use frozen
pollen from them. 
   Seeds are stored in small zip-lock baggies in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator. I
don’t dry them, they go right in from the pod.  Perennial seeds need a little moisture to get
thru the storage period, especially in zone 5 where they get stored for nearly 6 months
before planting.  I go thru them once during the winter to remove any moldy seeds from
the bag.  It’s been my experience that a seed molds because it wasn’t good to begin with,
although it felt like it at the time.  Mold does not spread fast to other seeds, so you can
wipe them off and they are good to go until planting time.

8. Where would you like to see your line go?  Daylilies in General?  The AHS?
Ans—My goal has been all along to have the most beautiful pattern daylilies that ever
existed. Adding to that, I would love to produce one day a pattern that will be a great
enough plant to be a standard in landscapes…the “Stella D’Oro” of patterns.  Another
goal is to consistently produce daylilies that when purchased by others will produce a
wonderful line of flowers for them, and will be beautiful to look at and totally hardy. To
know that you made an impact long after you have left is a lofty and important goal to
me.
   In general I think daylilies will not need my help in where they should go.  The public
already has dictated to us that they aren’t so keen on the newest and greatest thing to
come out of a hybridizers’ yard.  There are two schools of thought. One is the value a
daylily has to another hybridizer….the second is the value a daylily has to a petunia
grower.
   Supply and demand will always dictate where the daylily goes. We can’t ‘advertise’ our
daylilies enough to make the average gardener want to pay a lot for them.  The average
gardener will obtain daylilies when they are old enough to be affordable and pretty
enough and hardy enough to be a flower they look forward to seeing each and every year
in their own landscape….like an old friend. 
   As far as where I would like to see the AHS go….I believe they are already making
strides in some areas. For instance, when I first became interested in daylilies the AHS
seemed like an “Avatar” World somewhere out there in Pandora, which would take 5
years of suspended flight in total unconscientousness to become a part of.  Already I feel
the past few years have greatly changed that perception. It seems much easier now to be a
part of the team and to be counted, whereas before, it seemed like one had be a part of an
in-crowd in order to be heard. It was quite frustrating to think that one just didn’t have a
voice. I think some still believe that, but if they will put an effort into assisting the AHS,
even thru local clubs, whatever it is, they won’t go un-noticed for very long.  The AHS is
mainly volunteers and any help we can give them is so much more appreciated than you
can ever imagine.  I challenge anyone to give it a try. 
   I do think the AHS Editor and team could do themselves a big favor by finding a way to
make even more voices count. Perhaps a ‘letter from readers’ section where the good and
the bad could be aired out.  It is much easier to keep members, even frustrated ones, if
they feel their voice is at least heard by someone who cares.
   I think another good idea would be if when the local clubs have a flower show,  that they
advertise in the local paper.  There lie a vast number of plant lovers who troll all the
nurseries and catalogs looking for something different, new and exciting to add to their
landscape. I run into people like this everywhere….but 99% of them would never had an
idea that there was such a thing as a daylily show.  Advertising is cheap and if it would
bring in one more member, it would be money well spent. 
   I still think a seedling contest for the entire membership would be quite interesting,
especially in the winter months…but the details would be a difficult thing to iron
out…plus the cost.

Almira Buffalo Bone Jackson (2011)

9. Who would you consider a major influence in your program? Why?
Ans—all former hybridizers in one way or another have been an influence in my
hybridizing…Shirley Farmer would always drill into us the fact that “we all stand tall on
the shoulders of those who came before us.” I would like to have a more flowery answer,
but I don’t.  Liz Salter for pattern color was certainly an influence, Pauline Henry for
form and consistency was a major inspiration…but there are many I have admired in the
past and many going on right now that are inspirations. I am more drawn to a hybridizer
who is kind, sharing, fun and down to earth, than any of those who need to brag on their
product.

My mentor in plants in general is a local friend, Mike Walters who is the most well
informed and intelligent plant person I have ever met. When we visit nurseries he usually
teaches the Nursery Owners something about plants. It is his influence that showed me
how to grow plants, how to prepare the soil, the importance of water and the importance
of learning botanical names.  Everyone should have a friend like Mike. I call him the
walking encyclopedia.

Dish Ran Away With The Spoon

10. Who else helps with the daylilies?
Ans---when it comes to gardening in general, I think most people find it very difficult to
find anyone who wants to just come over and do yard work.  I have some help…Tom
Polston for instance…but mostly I do the work myself. This summer when I developed a
bad case of pneumonia, I had several people, including relatives come over and help me
line out my daylilies and move my select seedlings. If it hadn’t been for them it would not
have been done in any timely manner.  I’m happy that I can still do most of the work and I
believe it keeps me fit to boot.

11. What are the unique challenges or benefits of growing where you are?
Ans—I really do think that our zone 5 is one of the best zones in which to grow daylilies.
I hear horror stories from others around the country fighting rust, rot, armadillos, wide
drops in temperatures, lack of rain etc.  We hardly ever experience any of those things.
The daylilies like the 4 equal seasons pretty well.  I think the biggest challenge for a
hybridizer in this area is to get adequate increase of a daylily in a fairly quick amount of
time.  That to me is the biggest drawback, but in light of all the other challenges, I can
surely live with that.

12. What are your talks/presentations about?
Ans---my talks are about goals, dreams, challenges and how to’s of hybridizing daylilies.
That is topped off with nice photos of my work.  I love doing talks, I really enjoy meeting
the different daylily enthusiasts all around the country…the AHS is very blessed to have
such a large number of quality people everywhere….it is a dream for an organization to
be that fortunate.  I love answering questions and I also really enjoy the enthusiasm that
giving a presentation seems to bring about.

13. Display beds or lined out rows?
Ans—display beds for show….lined out rows in the hybridizing areas.

14. Any Horticultural background?
Ans---nothing that comes with a certificate.  I’ve been growing plants my entire life, and
learning. I’ve never attended a session other than at daylily functions.  Although the
corporate standard today is that you don’t have a title unless it comes with written proof,
a hundred years ago, you just ‘were’ because that’s what you did….and everyone knew it.
Funny how things and technology change.

15. Advice for amateur hybridizers/growers?
Ans---Well, I get this question a lot.  Funny how it sounds like a great question, and
interestingly enough, you would think people would lean on every word, but that’s
usually not how it plays out at all.  What I find is that most people enjoy hearing your
advice, then when they get to their own back yard, they will do it their way anyhow.
   So I think that experience is the best teacher..honestly.  “Good judgement comes from
experience, experience comes from bad judgment.”  And I’m the same way…the first
three years I hybridized I did everything people said you should….and the results were
terribly boring. The forth year I began to do unlikely crosses, yellows to purples, big to
little, and that’s the point at which I began to become a hybridizer.  You can’t possibly
know what works unless you find out what doesn’t work.  Edison did hundreds of light
bulbs before he did one that worked well.  Were the others a failure?  No; they were
learning tools.
   My advice is to listen, read and watch everything everyone does….then, when you get to
your garden, do what your instinct tells you.  If you learn to rely on your gut feeling (your
spirit) you will soon realize it will quickly gain an abundance of credit.