Daylilies

The wait has been long but daylily season is finally here! On this episode of Down the Garden Path, Tim Hobbs from TrueNorth Daylilies joins me and Matthew to talk all about hybridizing daylilies and their low-maintenance characteristics. For the past 25 years, Tim has gardened on a two-acre property just south of Warkworth. He creates shade gardens, with sun gardens covering the majority of the property. The property boasts an extensive collection of hostas, lillium and hemerocallis (daylilies). Around 2007, Tim bought some daylilies from a daylily hybridizer and was fascinated with the idea of making new, never-seen-before daylilies. It wasn't too long afterward that he tried some hybridizing. Slowly but surely, the flowers expanded beyond the two acres, jumping the fence onto an additional two acres which now houses a greenhouse and approximately 50,000 daylilies. About five years ago, TrueNorth Daylilies was born offering daylilies for $15 each or three for $40. Tim's goal as a hybridizer is to create beautiful, fancy faces on cold-hardy strong well-branched plants. TrueNorth Daylilies cross modern southern plants with cold-hardy dormants. Mother Nature weeds out those not suitable for our climate. As dormants display the desired traits, they are selected and moved for further evaluation and continuous hybridizing with southern and dormant plants. Interested in making a visit to TrueNorth Daylilies? They are open every day in July from 9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. at 59 Hutchinson Rd., Warkworth. To learn more or purchase plants online, visit them online at www.truenorthdaylilies.com.