On May 11, the Plantation Garden Club enjoyed a “field trip” to end the year.
The meeting began with lunch at The Crown Restaurant in Indianola, followed by a tour of Blooms on the Bayou, Dr. Hilliard Lawler’s extensive daylily garden.
Dr. Lawler, who is well-known for his expertise in daylily breeding, demonstrated how he produces new varieties by taking pollen from the male reproductive structures of one plant with desirable characteristics and applying it to the female reproductive structure of another lily with different desirable traits. Seeds from the cross are harvested and planted. The resulting plants will all be different, but each having some qualities of the parent plant — much like children within a family.
When the seedlings produce blooms, Lawler selects his favorites and allows them to grow freely. The lilies can be divided as they mature, and all of the plants from the division will have the same genetics, producing a consistent new variety.
Some of the things growers look for in their seedlings are height of stem, size of flower, number of flowers per stem, edge of the petals (smooth or ruffled) and coloration.
In addition to daylilies, Dr. Lawler showed the club his fig orchard with 60-plus varieties. There aren’t that many trees, though there are quite a few. One root stock can support numerous types of figs through grafting, another of Lawler’s skills; so, he can try new varieties without waiting for a new tree to grow.
Blackberry vines stretched over string and just turning pink finished the tour of this remarkable garden planted by a remarkable man.
Anyone who would like to see a video of the daylilies in full bloom can visit https://bloomsonthebayou.com.
Lilies are available for purchase, as well.
