The Fayette County Master Gardener Volunteers (MG’s) along with the Fayette County Agriculture Society sponsored their first daylily show at the Fayette County Fair on July 19, 2016. When local hybridizers Karen Whiteside and Ed Mongold approached the MGs about sponsoring and organizing a daylily show, they quickly approved the idea and began working. The fair board liked the idea and approved the show. Plans included a class for the public on how to properly prepare a daylily for a show.
The show was a one-day show that anyone could enter. On the day of the show, the judging was open to the public and interactive. This made the show educational as well as competitive. Twenty-five people attended the judging. Future exhibitors will be better trained on how to enter daylilies. The grooming information should also be helpful for exhibitors entering the general horticulture judging held on other days at the fair.
The daylilies were judged by Dan Bachman who owns Valley of the Daylilies. Valley of the Daylilies is an official American Hemercallis Society (AHS) display garden located near Lebanon, Ohio. It grows over 3800 registered daylilies and specializes in spider, unusual forms, and historic daylily cultivars. Historic daylilies are those registered with the AHS before 1980.
There were 67 entries from ten exhibitors. Individual scapes were placed in a class based on size, color, form, and whether it was a named cultivar. Exhibitors that no longer had the names of their daylily could enter unnamed classes.
First, second, and third place received ribbons and monetary prizes in their class. A Sweepstakes ribbon and cash prize went to the exhibitor with the most points based on their placement in the classes. In addition, there was a Best of Show chosen by the judge. All participants received a daylily provided by the judge.
Written by Sara Creamer, Fayette County MGV Coordinator