Last week’s visit was with Van Sellers and Vic Santa Lucia of Iron Gate Gardens in Kings Mountain, North Carolina. This week we go north to Valley of the Daylilies in Lebanon, Ohio and the hybridizing program of Dan Bachman.
Dan stumbled into daylilies while mowing his lawn. In the 1980’s Dan and his wife Jackie were owners of a restaurant and bar and had purchased a home with overgrown gardens. While cleaning up the yard Dan almost mowed a clump of grassy looking foliage which turned out to be a clump of 'Hyperion' ( Mead 1924). From there he began collecting a few daylilies and later attended a daylily exhibition leading to the Greater Cincinnati Daylily and Hosta club and the AHS. His early efforts at dabbing pollen took focus in 1994 as his interest in spider and unusual forms grew in the early 1990’s. In 1997 the Bachman’s purchased 12 acres of hayfield and overgrown vineyard which became home to the Valley of the Daylilies when they left the restaurant business behind in 2001. The garden is a combination of AHS Display Garden, sales garden and hybridizing garden. With a large collection of pre- 1970 historic daylilies and what Dan refers to as the most complete collections of spiders and unusual forms, the Valley of the Daylilies is a wonderful source for hard to find daylilies or visiting to see the history and evolution of the spider and unusual forms of daylilies.
Suzy Cream Cheese (Bachman 2001)
The way a hybridizer chooses names for their introductions can vary, but many use inspiration from their own lives. A few of Dan’s inspirations come from sci-fi, blues and jazz performers, lyrics, song titles and personal friendships.
Howlin Wolf (Bachman 2004)
Dan White (Bachman 2005)
The 2008 introductions were named for his favorite “Far Side” cartoons.
Gods Gift to Warthogs (Bachman 2008)
When Clowns Go Bad (Bachman 2008)
Like our other previous ATP Series hybridizers, cultivars bearing the Bachman name have been recognized with AHS Awards. The first awards were in 2005 when ‘Coco Davis’ and ‘Dan White’ each received Junior Citations and ‘Big Ross’, ‘Mascara Snake’ and ‘Suzy Cream Cheese’ Honorable Mentions.
Mascara Snake (Bachman 2002)
‘Mascara Snake’ later went on to a 2009 Eugene S. Foster Award for the best late blooming cultivar while “Suzy Cream Cheese’ received the same award in 2008 and the 2012 Harris Olsen Spider Award for best spider. In total 23 Junior Citations, 22 Honorable Mentions, 2 Eugene S. Foster Awards and 1 Harris Olsen Spider Award have been awarded to Dan Bachman’s cultivars.
To see more Dan Bachman introductions and listing of his other offerings visit the Valley of the Daylilies website or check out the ATP Database ( Search by Characteristics, in the Hybridizer box type Bachman then click “search”)……
http://www.thevalleyofthedayli...
