HORThappenings

Daylily Exhibition at Meadowlark Gardens

By Jackie DiBartolomeo

On Saturday, June 26, the Northern Virginia Daylily Society held an exhibition and competition at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna, VA. Since 2006, Meadowlark has hosted the competition, showing off dozens of daylilies for the public to vote on. “It’s a way to see hundreds of daylily blooms all in one place and to see what the variety in the blooms can be,” said Janice Kennedy, a member of the Northern Virginia Daylily Society. Kennedy took home first place for her daylily called ‘Stop the Car’. More than 120 votes were cast for the daylilies on display. It was a great turnout, especially since the event was not held in the Meadowlark Visitor’s Center the previous year, Kennedy said. Out of the 200 daylilies on display, no two were completely alike. The entries included spider, double, and self daylilies. (In a self daylily, the petals and sepals are all the same shade of one color.) The daylilies also ranged from miniatures to extra-large ones, which can be over 9 inches in diameter, said Kathleen Schloeder, Region 3 director of the Northern Virginia Daylily Society. Schloeder placed second for her daylily called ‘Ruby Spider’. Meadowlark hopes to hold similar events in the future as things return to normalcy, said Jeff Hill, visitor service specialist at Meadowlark. “It’s great of Meadowlark to allow us to hold it here because whenever we can do an event at a botanical garden, we get a lot of people who are interested in plants, and therefore, we can educate them about the daylily,” Schloeder said. o Daylily Show at Brookside Gardens

By Molly Cuddy

The National Capital Daylily Club hosted their Daylily Exhibition at Brookside Gardens in Wheaton, MD, on Sunday, June 27. Anyone visiting Brookside on the day of the show could come into the visitor center, view the entries, and vote on their favorite daylilies. Participants in voting could choose up to four of their favorite flowers. There were rows and rows of lilies to look at, with whimsical names such as ‘Mystic Pizza’ or ‘Baby Lemonade’. There were 176 flowers entered and 111 of them received votes from the public, according to Kathleen Schloeder, director of Region 3 of the Daylily Society. Schloeder took home first place with her ‘Ruby Spider’ lily, which received 52 votes. ‘Magnify the Lord’, grown by Carol and Gregg Savard, received second place. The Savards have been growing lilies since 2000 and have grown more than 350 different varieties. Juliet Blackford got third place for her daylily, ‘Wild Cherry Wine.’ Chris von Kohn received fourth place for ‘Dearest Mahogany’. More than 100 visitors at Brookside looked at the daylilies and cast their votes, including Alison Miller, who is local to the area and visits Brookside with her family often. When she saw the sign for the exhibition, she decided to stop in. “The aroma actually brought us into the room.” She was in awe of all the varieties of daylilies presented. “I don’t see how you can pick one winner… or even four!” o

Temporary Sculpture Exhibit at Ladew Gardens

By Amanda Cash

With summer officially here, there is no better place to spend the weekend than at Ladew Topiary Gardens in Harford County, MD. The garden encompasses 22 acres of award-winning gardens, a few “houses” to visit, and more than 100 topiaries. The gardens were designed and created by Harvey S. Ladew. Ladew Gardens were also named “One of the Top 5 Gardens in North America” by the Garden Club of America. The plethora of gardens for visitors includes the Pink Garden, Keyhole Garden, Cottage Garden, Iris Garden, and many more. Some iconic features of the gardens are the Great Bowl and the Hunt Scene at the main entrance.There is also the Manor House and Butterfly House for visitors to enjoy. The historic Manor House harbors Ladew’s “English antiques” and “equestrian-themed art” from the 18th century, according to Ladew’s website. The Butterfly House opened in 2014 and provides an indepth look at the life of a butterfly. As Ladew celebrates their 50th year as a public garden, they have installed several beautiful bronze statues throughout the property that are available for purchase. The 21 statues were created by sculptor J. Clayton Bright and artist Anne Blackwell Thompson. The statues range from a dog kicking an imaginary soccer ball to a sneaky fox named Justin. The statues will remain in the gardens throughout the 2021 season. Aside from strolling the gardens, there is also a mile-long nature walk. The Ladew Cafe is currently closed, but the Ladew Gift Shop is open to visitors. For more information about the statues at Ladew, visit www.jclaytonbrightstudio.com. For information about Ladew, go to ladewgardens.com. o