Groundbreaking and Dedication for NDSU's Arboretum and AHS Historic Daylily Display Garden

Two October Weekends in Fargo–Groundbreaking (2003) and Dedication (2004) for North Dakota State University’s Arboretum and AHS Historic Daylily Garden
by
Mary Baker

North Dakota State University (NDSU) President Dr. Joseph A. Chapman and his wife Gale invited me to attend NDSU’s fall 2003 homecoming weekend festivities, in particular the groundbreaking ceremony for the new 15-acre arboretum at the northwest corner of 12^th Avenue North and 18^th Street. Since the NDSU Bison played my alma mater, the University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks for the homecoming football game, President Chapman graciously included two football tickets with his invitation. 

A new College of Business Administration building and parking lot will occupy the original location of NDSU’s Horticultural Demonstration and Research Plots. Plants growing in the original location that will be relocated to the new arboretum site include NDSU’s AHS Daylily Display Garden, which features the largest public AHS historic daylily collection in the world in addition to a nice modern daylily collection. 

Per NDSU Plant Sciences Department Chair Dr. Albert Schneiter’s quote excerpted from the October 8, 2003 issue of Fargo’s newspaper, The Forum, “This will be a tremendous addition to NDSU. It will make a nice welcome for visitors coming to campus from Interstate 29. The first thing they’ll see coming over the 12^th Avenue overpass will be the NDSU gardens.” The Forum goes on to mention that the project’s first phase encompasses annuals, perennials, an iris collection, and the modern and historic daylily collection. Future plans will incorporate a rose garden, turf research plots, and a garden composed of plants native to the Fargo, North Dakota area. 

Karen Schock; Bryce Farnsworth; NDSU President Dr. Joseph A. Chapman; Mary Baker, NDSU Vice President Patricia A. Jensen, J.D.; Janice Dehod; NDSU Plant Sciences Research Specialist Barbara Laschkewitsch; and NDSU officials (summer 2002)

What an exciting celebration! Rich and I arranged to take Friday, October 10^th 2003 off work as a travel day, as it’s an 8-hour drive on Interstate 29 from Omaha, Nebraska to Fargo. In South Dakota, we took the Aberdeen exit to fill up with gas and saw a beautiful dog sitting in the driver’s seat of a Ford F-350 pickup. One paw was on the steering wheel while his owner gassed up. The owner told us his dog is a very intelligent Weimaraner who thinks he can drive as he always moves to the driver’s seat whenever his owner fills the truck’s gas tank. Inside the convenience store, two women were engaged in a lively discussion about country music. One of the women said country music always makes her cry, and that the only time she listens to it is when she visits South Dakota.

We arrived uneventfully in Fargo and checked into our motel. We then met Bryce Farnsworth at Red Lobster for a delicious seafood meal. 

During the next morning, it rained heavily. Bryce picked us up, which was a good thing, as many of the streets were being blocked off for the Homecoming Parade. Bryce took us to the new arboretum site for the arboretum groundbreaking ceremony, where a large tent had been erected for the speakers and groundbreaking attendees. Region One Web Master and Science Liaison John Becker, who is an NDSU student, met us there. We had a wonderful time visiting with John. John, who is a gifted photographer, took many photos during the ceremony. 

We saw NDSU Vice President for University Relations Keith D. Bjerke and Plant Sciences Department Research Specialist Barbara Laschkewitsch there and exchanged greetings. NDSU Plant Sciences Department Extension Horticulturist Dr. Ronald C. Smith opened the ceremony. He described the arboretum project, pointed out a drawing exhibiting its beautiful design, and commended everyone for their hard work and dedication. Ron introduced Dr. Joseph A. Chapman, who spoke briefly but eloquently. Dr. Chapman introduced Vice President and Dean of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources Patricia A. Jensen, J.D., who provided further detail about the arboretum’s future plans, including a building that will house an on site classroom, a visitor information area, drinking fountains, and public restroom facilities. After Pat finished speaking, NDSU Alumni Association President John Shotwell said a few words. The groundbreaking ceremony followed. Bryce joined the speakers and others to turn the first earth with golden shovels. 

After the groundbreaking ceremony concluded, I visited with Pat and AHS Region One member Jean Johnson. At that time, Jean owned Jean’s The Right Plant Place, a nursery specializing in perennials for northern gardens in Perham, Minnesota. Perham is close to Ottertail Lake, which I remember visiting as a child during family fishing trips. Pat invited Jean and I to join her in an ad hoc arboretum advisory committee to exchange ideas and information – we enthusiastically agreed! 

After our chat, Barbara, Bryce, John, Rich, and I joined Kay and Jill, who donated their late father Art Jenson’s iris collection to NDSU in a walk through the daylily and iris gardens. We had to walk through an area of wet Fargo clay while it was raining heavily to get there. We’re all gardening fanatics, because only diehard gardeners would tramp through heavy clay during a downpour in autumn despite the fact that no blooms remained in the garden. 

We said our farewells and went our separate ways. Bryce dropped Rich off at the hotel. Rich then drove to the FargoDome to get a parking spot for the upcoming Bison-Mavericks football game. Bryce and I proceeded to FWB Industries, formerly known as Fargo Rubber Stamp, to get information about a commemorative sign for NDSU’s historic AHS daylily collection. FWB Industries isn’t normally open on Saturday, but Sheri Larson made special arrangements to meet us shortly after the arboretum groundbreaking ceremony. Sheri greeted us with a pot of freshly brewed coffee, which was just what the doctor ordered after a cool, rainy morning. 

While there, I fell in love with a bison. I’m not referring to any current or former NDSU students or staff, but to a lovely bison sculpture made from a lightweight tarnish-proof aluminum alloy. I purchased the bison sculpture, which is proudly displayed in my home office as a fond reminder of Fargo and North Dakota State University. 

Bison in hand, Bryce and I left with samples and other information for NDSU Plant Sciences Department Chair Dr. Albert Schneiter. Bryce dropped me off at the FargoDome where I met Rich for the homecoming football game. I purchased an NDSU sweatshirt that I wore during the game. The Bison annihilated the UNO Mavericks by a score of 34 – 7. Mark Sanders, an NDSU right guard, played an awesome game. Mark is the nephew of Jeff Willer, who is Consulting Services Director for plaNet Consulting, the company I contract for. Jeff, who is an NDSU alumnus, is a former Bison football player. It’s a small world! 

After the game Rich and I returned to our hotel to freshen up. We later met Bryce and Don for dinner at Guadalajara’s, a Mexican restaurant with a full line of authentic entrees, including many seafood choices. Bryce treated us to an excellent meal – thanks, Bryce! 

The following morning, Bryce met us at Denny’s for breakfast with NDSU Plant Sciences Chair Dr. Albert Schneiter. Al had returned from a trip to Tennessee late the previous evening, and we were delighted to have the opportunity to finally meet him in person. During a delicious breakfast, we discussed various types of commemorative signs for the AHS historic daylily collection as well as layout for the sign. Al thought of the fantastic idea of setting the sign atop an angled monument that would rest on the ground. After we finished breakfast, we said goodbye to Al and gave him a copy of our AHS Region One Daylily Pioneer Cookbook as a memento. 

We followed Bryce to NDSU, where we toured the potato grading facility and greenhouses. Bryce showed us where the potatoes are stored as well as the grading equipment, and then he gave us four bags of gourmet North Dakota potatoes to take home, including Yukon Gold and Gold Rush, which became mouthwatering mashed potatoes for a follow-up family dinner. The russet potatoes were the very best baked potatoes we’ve ever eaten! 

We went through the greenhouses and saw mass quantities of potatoes in various stages of growth. Rich was first to spot what might be the first-ever ornamental potato cultivar, and he excitedly called us over to look at it. It has something Bryce has never seen in all his years of potato breeding – a bright red central stamen area, which is usually a soft golden orange color. The flowers, which resembled morning glories, were perfectly flat and round in a stunning shade of lavender mauve. Each perfect bloom contained a darker central star-shaped area that in turn was centered with a brilliant emerald green starburst throat. Stems were reddish purple and the healthy compound scalloped leaves were green with a subtle red cast. Plant habit is cascade, which would make this lovely gem perfect for a hanging basket. Bryce marked the potato and showed it to his boss Susie Thompson on the next day, with the result that it’s been selected for evaluation. I’m keeping my fingers crossed – if all goes well, this potential future ornamental potato introduction might some day be available at garden centers near you! 

Asunta "Susie" Thompson, Associate Professor NDSU Plant Sciences (September 5, 2019; pic courtesy of Mary Baker)

I don’t think there’s anything Bryce Farnsworth can’t do. On Friday, October 24, 2003, Bryce became the first non-Canadian to receive the Prairie Garden Award for Excellence for excellence in horticulture from the Prairie Garden Committee during an awards ceremony in Assiniboine Park, Winnipeg, Manitoba – congratulations, Bryce! 

Bryce Farnsworth (pic courtesy of Debbie Monbeck)

All too soon, it was time to leave Fargo to return to Omaha after a fabulously fun groundbreaking celebration weekend. 

But wait – there’s more! North Dakota State University officials invited me to return as a speaker for the arboretum and historic AHS daylily garden dedication on October 30, 2004. I accepted and flew to Fargo, where I attended Friday night’s Harvest Bowl activities along with fellow AHS Region One members and their friends Bryce Farnsworth, Don Martinson, Barbara Laschkewisch, John Becker, Amber Langford, Central North Dakota Daylily Society President Karen Schock, Canadian Prairie Daylily Society President Janice Dehod and her husband John White, and Terrie Mann. At 9:00 am the following morning, I had the honor and privilege of speaking with NDSU President Dr. Joseph A. Chapman, NDSU Vice President and Dean of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Natural Resources Patricia A. Jensen, J.D., and Central North Dakota Daylily Society President Karen Schock during the NDSU arboretum dedication. Unfortunately heavy rain before and during the weekend forced the dedication ceremony to move indoors to Loftsgard Hall. 

pic courtesy of Mary Baker

As there were no daylilies in bloom and much of the foliage had gone into dormancy, the well-designed layout and beautiful structure of the new arboretum was quite apparent despite the weekend’s rain. The enriched soil will grow NDSU’s daylilies to their fullest potential. The AHS Historic Daylily Garden sign is gorgeous and visible from quite a distance, as is the plaque acknowledging donors. There is ample room for additional daylilies in both the historic daylily area as well as the area featuring modern daylily cultivars. Both areas combine to comprise NDSU’s AHS Display Garden. 

Thanks, NDSU, for everything you have done to showcase and highlight the Plant Sciences Department’s gardens, especially the AHS Display Garden featuring the largest public historic daylily collection in the world. We appreciate you preserving and sharing these beautiful daylilies in a spectacular setting where they will be cherished and enjoyed for years to come! 

Note: This article was first published in the Fall/Winter 2004 issue of the ADS Region One Daylily Pioneer newsletter

Attention, Region One Garden Judges

 Don’t Forget to Vote Your Awards & Honors Ballot

2022 ADS Awards & Honors Ballot Voting Deadline is September 1

About Garden Judging

American Daylily Society (ADS) Garden Judges evaluate daylilies as they naturally grow in the garden. Each pretty daylily bloom is more than just its face; that face is attached to the rest of the plant. Garden Judges look at the entire plant.

Garden Judges Workshops 1 and 2 instruction provides the knowledge and tools to consistently and impartially evaluate daylily performance in garden settings. Garden Judges annually vote the ADS Awards & Honors ballot. The Awards and Honors system relies heavily on Garden Judges, because Garden Judges select a majority of the ADS Cultivar Awards each year. Most awards are based on cultivars observed in the Garden Judge’s own region, so it is important to have Garden Judges in each region. Currently each region is allowed to have up to 20% of their membership as Garden Judges.

There is a $5 fee to take each workshop for credit, and a $3 fee to audit a workshop. Daylily lovers often audit workshops simply to learn more about their favorite flower as it grows in the garden.

The 2022 edition of Judging Daylilies in the Garden is informative and helpful, and is available for a free download to AHS members from the ADS Membership Portal Store. The handbook contains a comprehensive illustration of all the various parts of a daylily. My favorite section of this handbook is the informative Chapter 3: Characteristics of Daylilies, which I refer to often. Click HERE, scroll down to the AHS Garden Judges Handbook - updated March 2021 Judging Daylilies In The Garden section, and then click in PDF format here to order the free download version. You can also purchase a printed version of the handbook from Amazon.

Why and How to Become a Garden Judge

Consider becoming a Garden Judge if you love daylilies and want to learn more about them. Garden Judges learn to evaluate foliage, plant vigor, scape height, bud placement, overall beauty and distinction of the bloom and plant, resistance to disease, form, and bloom substance. Garden Judges grow all forms and types of daylilies and visit other daylily gardens in their region.

To begin training as a new Garden Judge, you must have been an AHS member for a minimum of 12 calendar months. When you finish taking Garden Judges Workshops 1 and 2 and are ready to submit your application to become a new Garden Judge, you must have been an AHS member for 24 consecutive months.

Before taking Garden Judges Workshops 1 and 2, you must read and review the 2022 edition of Judging Daylilies in the Garden.

           

You can take the Garden Judges Workshops in any order. Garden Judges Workshop 1 takes about two hours and is taught by a Garden Judges Instructor (or group of Garden Judges Instructors) in a classroom setting with a PowerPoint presentation. There is a brief (and easy) test at the end of the workshop with a 70% grade required to pass. You can also take both Garden Judges Workshop 1 and the test online when it is periodically offered by ADS.

Garden Judges Workshop 2 takes two to three hours and is taught by a Garden Judge Instructor (or group of Garden Judge Instructors) in a daylily garden during bloom season. Hands-on instruction is provided so students learn to evaluate and point-score registered daylily cultivars and daylily seedlings.

When you finish both workshops, the next step is to fill out and submit an Application for Appointment as a Garden Judge form to ADS Garden Judges Records Chair Steve Horan by the October 1 deadline. This application form is in your Garden Judges Workshop 1 and Garden Judges Workshop 2 packet. If you want to vote the current year’s Awards & Honors ballot, don’t wait until October 1—mail the application form to ADS Garden Judges Records Chair Steve Horan right away. 

Garden Judge Responsibilities

A Garden Judge's primary responsibility is to annually vote the Awards & Honors Ballot. The voting deadline is September 1. You can either vote online by September 1, or by paper ballot postmarked on or before September 1. Our current ADS Awards & Honors Chair is Rhonda Veroeven.

During your five-year Garden Judge term, you must visit a minimum of 25 daylily gardens during bloom season, including at least 15 in your own region and at least ten different gardens. Garden Judges should visit as many daylily gardens as possible. Keep track of your daylily garden visits on the ADS Garden Judge’s Five-Year Visit Log form.

Garden Judges must take Garden Judges Workshop 2 once during years three through five of their Garden Judge term to renew for another five years as a Garden Judge.

During year five of their term, Garden Judges must fill out and send their Application for Reappointment as an ADS Garden Judge form along with their ADS Garden Judge’s Five-Year Visit Log form to ADS Garden Judges Records Chair Steve Horan by the October 1 deadline. Garden Judges will receive both of these forms in the mail from the ADS Garden Judges Records Chair early in year five of their five-year term. The forms are also available on the ADS Membership Portal on the Garden Judges Home page.

Garden Judges should grow a variety of daylilies of various forms and sizes to see examples of the complete garden plant and to familiarize themselves with all types of daylilies in their gardens. Garden Judges should especially focus on growing daylilies hybridized in their own region. Garden Judges should also attend regional meetings as well as ADS National Conventions, where they will see many daylily gardens.

Garden Judges must pay their ADS membership dues on time.

For more information, contact your region’s Garden Judges Liaison. In Region One, that’s Phil Fass. He is happy to help you and answer all of your questions. You can also contact ADS Garden Judges Records Chair Steve Horan.

Why and How to Become a Garden Judges Instructor

Once you have been a Garden Judge for one full five-year term, you are eligible to apply to become a Garden Judges Instructor. Consider becoming a new Garden Judge Instructor if you are passionate about garden judging, and if you love to help others learn. Each region needs qualified, active Garden Judge Instructors.

To become a new Garden Judges Instructor, you must have served one full five-year term as a Garden Judge. You must also assist an accredited Garden Judges Instructor with instructing one Garden Judges Workshop 1 and one Garden Judges Workshop 2 (in any order). You must then fill out and submit an Application for Appointment ADS Garden Judges Workshop Instructor form and send it to Garden Judges Records Chair Steve Horan by October 1 during the year your qualifications are met. 

Becoming a Garden Judge Instructor does not change the timeframe of your Garden Judge term. For example, if you are a Garden Judge in year two of your five-year term and become a new Garden Judge Instructor at that time, you are still in year two of your five-year term.

Once you are a Garden Judges Instructor, you must instruct Garden Judges Workshop 2 once during years three through five of your Garden Judge term to renew for another five years as a Garden Judge and Instructor. There is no fee for instructors to teach Garden Judges Workshops.

Garden Judging—A Privilege and a Responsibility

I am passionate about Garden Judging, and have been a Garden Judge since 2000 and a Garden Judge Instructor since 2004. As a hybridizer, the Garden Judge’s method of evaluating daylilies assists me with selecting seedlings for registration. I examine balance and proportion of scapes to foliage, branching and spacing of buds on branches, foliage, vigor, flower substance and sun resistance, color clarity, etc., and especially look for distinction. As a collector, I want to grow daylilies that make beautiful, healthy clumps and bloom over a long period of time. Garden Judge training provides the tool kit to analyze overall performance of my seedlings, registered cultivars, and the many beautiful daylilies from other hybridizers that dazzle in my garden.

It is an honor to represent my region as a Garden Judge. It is a great privilege and responsibility to vote the annual ADS Awards & Honors Ballot. It’s wonderful to see daylilies on the ballot growing in several gardens throughout my region, where I can evaluate their performance in locations other than my own garden.

Consider adding your voice—become a Garden Judge!

Nan Ripley wins AHS Moldovan Mentoring Award!

Nan Ripley from Nevada, Iowa, was awarded the AHS Moldovan Mentoring Award at the AHS National Convention in Hattiesburg, MS last qeekend. This award is for for lifetime achievement in mentoring others through daylilies and is one of the top three personal awards given by AHS. 

Nan was not able to be there with us in person, but was watching the live-streamed show. "I am so blessed", she told me when I called her. "Personal relationships are so important."

Nan has given freely of herself and her garden to many groups, including youth groups, Master Gardeners, garden clubs, etc., for many years. She is a gem in our region.

Kris Henning, AHS Region 1 Director

Val Hoefer wins Regional Service Award!

Regional President Val Hoefer was announced as the winner of the Region 1 Service Award this weekend at the AHS National Convention in Hattiesburg, MS. She was in attendance and was very surprised and excited when her name was announced. "I did not expect this!", she said. I told her she deserved it with all the hard work that she has done, especially this past year. 

Congratulations to you, Val!!

Kris Henning, Region 1 Director