A visit with Kirsten Hatfield

Kirsten and Jason Hatfield's house. Built in 2013.

Dorsets and Daylilies. www.dorsetsndaylilies.com

  I first became aware of Kirsten Hatfield's daylilies through Facebook. I come to find out since we both live in the great state of Ohio, that she only lived a couple hours away.  Kirsten and her husband, Jason own this lovely farm that is 245 acres, built in 2013. They raise sheep and cattle in addition to Kirsten's daylily hybridizing.  They have 150 registered Dorset Ewes and 50 head of Angus Cross Cattle. Kirsten has been raising sheep since 1980 and daylily hybridizing since 2012.  Her daylily program is very impressive and she has a lot of neat things in the pipeline. It amazes me how she finds time to juggle raising the sheep and cattle with taking care of the garden and selling introductions. It's a full time job and then some. Here is our visit with Kirsten.

INTRODUCTION written by Kirsten Hatfield:

I was born in Montclair, New Jersey and grew up in a small town called Johnsonburg in the Northwest corner of New Jersey. I graduated from SUNY Cobleskill with a AAS in Animal Science. I have worked a lot of different places in my life including a stable, a dairy farm, a cut flower greenhouse operation, a Animal Shelter, local grocery store, and a daylily operation. The daylily operation was Henknoll Farm, in Hope, New Jersey and was the garden of the late Sam Baker...I worked for the folks that purchased it from Sam, Larry, and Loretta Trumpore. It was there that I caught the daylily bug but just didn't know it yet. I purchased 8 plants and they have moved with me. I had the opportunity to line out Sam's last introduction Melonade. I could not afford at that time but acquired it many years later from Larry and Loretta.

Loretta and Larry Trumpore and Kirsten Hatfield

I moved to Chandlersville, Ohio in December of 1991 to a farm my parents purchased for their retirement. I was 23 years old and I moved 25 head of sheep, 2 dogs, and of course my daylilies (in the Spring that following year). I knew nobody but quickly made a few sheep friends within a few months. In early 1992 Mom was diagnosed with cancer for the 2nd time and she passed in October of 1992. She never made the move and Dad finally came out from New Jersey in 1994. I learned to grow up quick managing a 110 acre farm by myself in a totally new location.

I met my husband Jason in 1995 at the local feed mill and we were married in September 1998. I moved to his grandmother's farm in Zanesville, Ohio with him (we purchased it in 2009) and his daughter, Shelby who was 6 when we were married. We had a daughter of our own, Hainsley in 2002. Both girls enjoy the farm and the livestock. Shelby is a STNA and currently managing an Assisted Living Facility, and Hainsley is a Junior in high school. We have a grandson who will be 2 in September. He's a real spit fire! We own 245 acres and we have 50 head of Angus cattle, 150 head Dorset sheep, grow hay, corn, soybeans, and of course daylilies! We rent an additional 160 acres of hay and pasture ground in Chandlersville, Ohio from my Dad and another friend close by. The original 8 daylilies are still here and have multiplied to over 800 named cultivars, plus around 10,000 seedlings. I began making crosses in 2012....something I swore I would never do....I was only going to breed livestock....yeah, right.  My hybridizing focus is on doubles, both dips and tets, though I do tinker with patterns and teeth.

Now my interview with Kirsten Hatfield:

1. How did you first get interested in daylilies?

Kirsten: Working at Hemknoll Farms as chief weeder and dead header.


2. Which daylily hybridizer or hybridizers influenced you in the beginning?

Kirsten: I don't think any one person directly influenced me....though several have been of great help to me once I realized I was a true addict. I have never been one to name names. Those folks know who they are and I am eternally grateful for their help and guidance.


3. What were some of your initial goals for your daylily hybridizing?

Kirsten: Initial goals were to just make something that wasn't uglier than a mud fence...my first year of hybridizing yielded 2 potential keepers, one will probably be introduced this Fall.


4. What are some of the challenges you have faced with your daylily hybridizing?

Kirsten: I bred doubles....the availability of the parts necessary to hybridize with.


5. How many seedlings do you grow each year?

Kirsten: 3000 to 5000 seedlings.

6. What are some of your favorite introductions from other daylily hybridizers?

Kirsten: Mary's Baby from Richard Norris was my first truly sought after daylily. She will always have a place in my garden....I am a sucker for deep, saturated, sunfast purples. Barbara Watts and Joan Jackson from David Kirchhoff, Prickly All Over from Genni Kleckner, Feng Zhu, Ink and Pink, and AJ Monnin from Bob Faulkner.  Twenty Nine Flags Over Conway from Duane Therrien, Soloman's Sunrise from Subhana Ansari, All the Intangibles from Mike Derrow, Anne's Blue Eyes from JD Stadler, and Disciple of David from Dan Hansen.


7. What are some of your favorite introductions or seedlings that you've hybridized?

Kirsten: I don't have an introduction yet, but I do have several seedlings that I am quite fond of:

 
     Kirsten Hatfield seedling 13-102-1 (Name reservation: Jeepers Creepers)

        Kirsten Hatfield seedling 12-10-1 (Name reservation: It Makes Me Smile)

         Kirsten Hatfield seedling 13-84-1 (Name reservation: Grit and Grace)

                  Kirsten Hatfield seedling 15-1d-1 (a patterned diploid double)

                           Kirsten Hatfield seedling 14-33-1 (a toothy double)

8. What are your favorite daylily gardens to visit?

Kirsten: Any garden besides my own. Time away from the farm visiting other gardens is rare and treasured.

9. What are some of your fondest memories involved with daylilies?

Kirsten: All the friends that I have made and the places I have been because of daylilies.













Now here are some more pictures from Kirsten's Monday Night Lights power point presentation:

                                             









                                                               DOUBLES!!!!

                                         
                                               








                                                     AND MORE SEEDLINGS!!!

Buster the cat.

Talk about flying under the radar! Kirsten has a wonderful program.  I really enjoyed visiting her farm and seeing her seedlings last July.  I highly recommend you all plan a visit.  You can also purchase daylilies from Kirsten at her website. (www.dorsetsndaylilies.com) I'd like to thank Kirsten Hatfield for sharing all these wonderful pictures and her experiences with daylilies. I look forward to seeing her program unfold in the years to come.  Thanks for checking in folks.  Spring is gradually getting here.  I have a few more segments planned in the coming weeks.

Cristate daylilies.

                                                 Curt Hanson seedling

                                   Jawbreaker (Claudia Conway) WOW!

Before I get started, I wanted to post the definition of cristate according to the AHS Daylily Dictionary:

CRISTATE, MIDRIB CRISTATES
(Formerly crested)

A form of sculpting that refers to the appendages of extra petal tissue growing from the midrib or elsewhere on the surface of the petals. When the extra tissue grows from the midribs, the form is called Midrib Cristate.

Having been following my friend, Curt Hanson's program closely over the past couple decades, I couldn't help but notice how he has begun to breed cristates and advance them forward very quickly. That's impressive for a northern hybridizer who doesn't have the luxury of seeing his seedlings bloom in a shorter time period.  At first there was only a couple hybridizers tinkering with the cristate look, but it seems more hybridizers are beginning to take notice. I was even more surprised to see how many cristate daylily seedlings some friends of mine have in the pipeline. With nothing further let me share these fabulous seedling and introduction pics:

SEEDLINGS AND INTRODUCTIONS FROM CURT HANSON FROM OHIO:

 Identity Complex (Curt Hanson 17) Pleated Cristate and 100% consistent! My personal favorite.

Curt Hanson seedling (Identity Complex X After the Riot )

                     



                 




                 

Curt Hanson seedling

Curt Hanson seedling

Curt Hanson seedling

Curt Hanson seedling

Curt Hanson seedling

Curt Hanson seedling 

Curt Hanson seedling

THE SEEDLINGS OF MIKE DERROW FROM WEST VIRGINIA:

Mike Derrow seedling

             




       




       

Mike Derrow seedling

Mike Derrow seedling 

Mike Derrow seedling

Mike Derrow seedling

Mike Derrow seedling

THE INTRODUCTIONS AND SEEDLINGS FROM CHARMAINE RICH FROM VERMONT:

Beast of Bamburgh (Charmaine Rich 16)

Beast of Bamburgh (Charmaine Rich 16)

Weird Anatomy (Charmaine Rich 19)

Sculpted in Vermont (Charmaine Rich)

Charmaine Rich seedling showing Midrib Cristation

Charmaine Rich seedling showing surface cristation

Charmaine Rich seedling showing surface cristation

Charmaine Rich seedling showing a surface cristate eye

DAN HANSEN INTRODUCTIONS FROM FLORIDA:

Snarky (Dan Hansen)

Planned Chaos (Dan Hansen 19)

Lioness (Dan Hansen 19)

DAVE MUSSAR SEEDLINGS AND INTRODUCTIONS FROM CANADA:

Kendra Marie (Dave Mussar)

Bryan Culver seedling that Dave rescued

Claire Anne seedling (Dave Mussar)

Claire Anne seedling (Dave Mussar)

Kendra Marie X Crested French Kiss (Pat Sayers)

OTHER HYBRIDIZER'S INTRODUCTIONS OF NOTE:

After the Riot (Judy Davisson) Photo by Paul K. Lewis

           




             



           

Extra Effort (John Rice) Photo by Dave M.

       

Jawbreaker (Claudia Conway)

Lavender Feathers (Brian Reeder)

         

Mr. Tumnus (Chad Bush)

Wayward Shenanigans (Sunny Caldwell)

To quote my friend Curt Hanson.....he says this about cristate breeding:
"the most fascinating thing about the cristate form is WHERE IT'S GOING.

Typical for any mutation in the genome, it seems to evolve faster in yellow. 

Each year I see new things emerge, subtle but distinct, which leads the imagination to chase after these. For now I'm not so much interested in something I can market as much as seeing how far this thing is going."

I feel fortunate to be able to see first hand what Curt has created.  It truly amazes me how many cristate daylilies there are out there and what great seedlings and introductions there have already been hybridized.  Special thanks goes out to Curt for taking the time to email me these images.  Just a reminder that his introductions will be on website at the end of this month.  Watch for them at www.crintonic.com

Thanks also goes to Mike Derrow, Charmaine Rich, Dan Hansen, Dave Mussar, Claudia Conway, Brian Reeder, Judy Davisson, Sunny Caldwell, and Chad Bush for sharing their photographs for this segment.  Amazing daylilies all of them!

NEXT SEGMENT will be an interview with my good friend, Kirsten Hatfield, so stay tuned!