Fireworks in the Gardens
2019 ADS
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
Keast
Daylily Gardens, Oakland, Iowa—Tom and Mary Keast
Keast
Daylily Gardens is a state-licensed and inspected daylily nursery located in
Oakland, Iowa. Tom and Mary Keast started growing daylilies over 20 years ago,
and attended their first ADS Region One Meeting in 1996.
Welcome to Keast Daylily Gardens—all pics courtesy of Tom and Mary Keast unless otherwise noted
Tom
and Mary’s garden is about one acre in size. It was one of four tour
gardens during the 2002 ADS Region One meeting, and was featured in the past as an International Garden
of the Week (GOTW) on Charlotte Chamitoff’s Daylily Diary.
Paths lead the way through many beautifully landscaped flower beds
Attendees who last
visited Keast Daylily Gardens in 2002 will be surprised at how the garden has
grown and all the changes since 2002. The wheel beds, first planted in 2001,
contained small daylily clumps in 2002. Today, most daylily cultivars in the
wheel beds consist of multiple clumps that produce large displays of gorgeous,
saturated color.
Front yard wheel beds
Since
returning to Oakland on a full-time basis a few years ago after living in
Colorado, Tom and Mary added and incorporated many companion plants. They enjoy
growing hardy perennials like salvias, ornamental grasses, clematis, mums, and
asters in addition to many beautiful Asiatic and Orienpet lilies.
Early morning in the garden, promising a spectacular day
'Mary's Pride' (Mary Keast, 2010) and companions
One shady
area showcases a beautiful hosta and heuchera bed where gnomes and garden
fairies dance among the greenery. Several benches are scattered throughout the
gardens for visitors to rest and enjoy the blooms. They updated the shade house
with a floor and furniture for visitors to sit and relax away from the hot sun.
Restroom facilities are available for attendees.
Imagine relaxing on this lovely bench taking in the scenic, peaceful view
Tom
and Mary presently grow over 1,000 registered varieties of daylilies in
addition to their own seedlings. They grow all daylily forms from miniatures,
doubles, large flower, unusual forms, and spiders. Registration dates range
from mid-1950s to 2018.
Large daylily line-out beds
Keast Daylily Gardens also features several newer
cultivars hybridized by Jamie Gossard. Many season extenders grow throughout
the gardens, so bloom season starts early and persists into fall.
Beds in front of the house
Backyard flower beds
Each
tour garden also includes a collection of Nebraska Daylily Society club plants
from a hybridizer selected by the tour garden owners. Tom and Mary’s club plant
collection consists of 2017 introductions from Jamie Gossard’s Heavenly
Gardens. They are a mix of diploids and tetraploids, ruffled round forms,
toothy cultivars, unusual forms, and spiders.
'Black Wolf' (Jamie Gossard, 2017)
'Cliffjumper' (Jamie Gossard, 2017)
Tom
and Mary hybridize daylilies, and they have registered several diploid and
tetraploid introductions. Their main hybridizing goal is to create beautiful garden
plants that grow and perform well in northern gardens.
'Grandma's Lipstick' (Mary Keast, 2012)
'Mountain Orchid' (Tom Keast, 2012)
'Mountain Radiation' (Tom Keast, 2012)
'Fifty Years of Love' (Tom & Mary Keast, 2015)
'Carnation Sunrise' (Tom & Mary Keast, 2014)
Tom and Mary work with unusual
forms, spiders, toothy edges, and some doubles. They like to incorporate green
throats.
'Hilltop Green Eyed Gal' (Tom & Mary Keast, 2017)
'Prettiest Girl I Know' (Tom & Mary Keast, 2017)
'Eyes Only for You' (Tom & Mary Keast, 2018)
'Praise on High' (Tom & Mary Keast, 2018)
'Wings of Love' (Tom & Mary Keast, 2018)
In the near future, Tom and Mary will register and introduce some round
full-formed tetraploid cultivars with heavy ruffles. Click HERE to visit Keast Daylily Gardens' website to see more of Tom and Mary’s beautiful daylilies.
Seedling 'Heartbeat of Heaven' X 'Mountain Radiation' (Tom & Mary Keast)
Seedling 'Heartbeat of Heaven' X 'Sparkling Champagne' (Tom & Mary Keast)
Tom
and Mary also grow and offer tetraploid cultivars for sale hybridized by their
good friends, Dave and Val Jean Hansen, of Papillion, Nebraska.
'Papio Kylie Rae' (Dave & Val Jean Hansen, 2018)—pic courtesy of Dave Hansen
Tom
and Mary invite you to attend our 2019 ADS Region One Tour, “Fireworks in the
Gardens.” Come and see the color on their blooming hill!
Beautiful daylilies illuminate the blooming hill
No comments:
Post a Comment