2019 Region One Tour Garden—Daylilies on the Fritz, Cedar Creek NE—Rita & Lyle Kahnk

Fireworks in the Gardens

2019 AHS Region One Meeting • Omaha, Nebraska • July 5-7, 2019

Hosted by the Nebraska Daylily Society—click HERE for registration form

Charles and Heidi Douglas of Browns Ferry Gardens, Guest Speakers

Daylilies on the Fritz, Cedar Creek, Nebraska—Rita and Lyle Kahnk

Rita and Lyle Kahnk’s cabin and garden, Daylilies on the Fritz, is located on a large lakeside acreage lot in Cedar Creek, Nebraska, about 30 miles from Omaha.

Lakeside daylily display bed—picture courtesy of Robin Lowe

Rita and Lyle grow about 300 daylilies there along with companion plants such as iris, hosta, phlox, and clematis plus two Korean lilacs and two Althea bushes.

Lovely island bed and admirers—picture courtesy of Robin Lowe

Lyle does all the heavy lifting. Rita selects the daylilies, plants them, and weeds the garden. Rita and Lyle do not live at their cabin and spend a few days a week there during the growing season, where their main focus is on—you guessed it—daylilies!

Butterfly-shaped island bed—picture courtesy of Robin Lowe

Rita and Lyle do not have a favorite hybridizer. Rita primarily acquires daylilies from Nebraska Daylily Society (NDS) and regional meeting auctions, as there are a wide variety of speakers who bring a wide variety of plants, and it helps the club with sales. Rita and Lyle have been NDS and ADS members since 1999.

Lookin' spectacular!—picture courtesy of Robin Lowe

Each tour garden includes a collection of Nebraska Daylily Society club plants from a hybridizer selected by the tour garden owners. Rita and Lyle’s club plant collection consists of introductions from Paul Owen’s Slightly Different Nursery. Rita selected Paul Owen because she likes his daylilies and Paul supports Region One events. 

'Kangaroo Court' (Paul Owen, 2014)—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk

'Unhinged' (Paul Owen, 2017)—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk

Daylilies on the Fritz features some of Rita’s sister Phyllis McIntosh’s seedlings, as there is ample room for them.

Rita dabbles in hybridizing. She likes to experiment, and her main goal is to produce a pretty face. She likes all flower forms and sizes. 

 Diploid seedling D14-757 'Stargate Portal X Sandhill Crane'—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk

Striped diploid seedling out of unknown parents—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk

Diploid seedling out of 'Tuscawilla Tranquility' X 'Fried Green Tomatoes'—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk

Diploid seedling out of 'Ravishing Rita' X 'Fried Green Tomatoes'—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk

Rita registered four tetraploid daylily cultivars in 2017: CEDAR CREEK ELAINE REMEMBERED named after her sister Elaine, CEDAR CREEK MOON GLOW MAGIC, CEDAR CREEK SHADES OF PINK, and CEDAR CREEK TOMATO SLICES.

'Cedar Creek Elaine Remembered' (Rita Kahnk, 2017)—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk

'Cedar Creek Moon Glow Magic' (Rita Kahnk, 2017)—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk

'Cedar Creek Shades of Pink' (Rita Kahnk, 2017)—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk

'Cedar Creek Tomato Slices' (Rita Kahnk, 2017)—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk

Rita’s favorite color is orange, and her least favorite color is purple. Rita likes yard art and makes some of it.

Purple contrasts nicely with orange—picture courtesy of Robin Lowe

Rita and Lyle invite you to visit their lovely garden, complete with beautiful daylily-framed views of the cool and tranquil lake. They enjoy meeting new daylily friends and treasure daylily friendships that continue over the years.

Gorgeous daylilies framed by the beautiful lake—picture courtesy of Rita Kahnk