New daylily introduced

The Nova Scotia Association of Garden Clubs (NSAGC) has introduced a new daylily, Silver Thaw, that had its genesis in Canning.

This flowering plant, hybridized by Wayne Storrie and Wayne Ward of Canning Daylilies, was named in a contest among association members and will be distributed in early June to every garden club member in the provincial association.

The Future Directions Project, to make 2008 a year to honour the daylily, will see approximately 1,500 fans of Silver Thaw planted throughout Nova Scotia. This particular daylily is a diploid with a four-inch, near white flower with a green throat that should form clumps quickly.

Peak bloom in the Canning Daylily garden usually starts around mid-July and extends to mid-August.

“We currently have over 900 daylily cultivars in our garden, as well as 100 varieties of hosta,” says Storrie.

The gardens are open June 1 until Sept. 30 for 11 hours daily, except Wednesday. Open house week is set for July 19 to 27.

The NSAGC is made up of 52 garden clubs from all areas of Nova Scotia and is affiliated with six societies. It is the co-ordinating body for organized gardening groups and has elected board of directors from each district of the province.

The association provides a variety of services to the garden clubs, has a website (nsagc.com), where clubs can post their upcoming plant sales, flower shows or special events. It provides training and certification for horticultural judges, putting on workshops, such as a recent propagation workshop, as well as sponsoring various contests, lists of speakers, a quarterly newsletter Scotia Gardener and liability insurance.