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.