Claudia Conway seedling
Claudia Conway seedling
Let's start out the 2019 interview season with a visit with my friend, Claudia Conway from New Hampshire. I met Claudia through Facebook and have been really impressed with her introductions and daylily seedlings. I'm sure you will enjoy this segment as much as I have putting it together. With nothing further here it is:
I was born in Lowell, Massachusetts, a mill city....lived there right through college. I went to Massachusetts College of Pharmacy in Boston. It was a grueling 5 year course, but I made it. I worked retail pharmacy at first, then switched to hospital pharmacy. My career has made my daylily passion possible. I met my husband, Dave while antiquing....we had a lot in common including gardening, so this transition to hybridizing and landscaping on the farm was easy for him. When he was young, Dave exhibited rhododendrons at shows with his father. Our farm is in Canterbury, New Hampshire. Zone 5B.
1. How did you first get involved with daylilies?
Claudia: I will never forget the first plant catalog I saw with the picture of the daylily, Catherine Woodbury (Childs) in it. I wanted it so bad!!! I was in love. It was astronomically expensive, I never did get it. When I met Dave, his father was a huge daylily fan. He planted them everywhere he lived, and especially at a condo development in Hooksett, New Hampshire with a garden committee he had founded. Unfortunately his father passed away from cancer. He never got to see us at the farm. After we purchased it in 2007, we planted 2 huge beds of daylilies in his memory. They were so beautiful. This spawned the idea about growing them and hybridizing.
2. Which daylily hybridizer or hybridizers influenced you in the beginning?
Claudia: I was attracted first to Pat Stamile's and Jeff and Elizabeth Salter's daylilies. I had gotten some of their past introductions in the large grouping we bought for the daylily beds. I was taken by their beauty. As my knowledge base widened and I had read almost every article on the internet (and every book in the library), I then discovered The Lily Auction. My daylily world expanded one hundred fold. Since I have been a member of The Lily Auction, I have met James Townsend, Mary Gaskins, Jay Downs, and Barb Allen, who sold me a lot of seeds for my initial plantings. Others whose plants have been critical to my hybridizing efforts have been Tom Polston, Dan Trimmer, Karol Emmerich, Jamie Gossard, Curt Hanson, Mike Derrow, John Kulpa, and Dave Mussar. I have met so many wonderful people that I want to say if you are not mentioned, know that you are so appreciated for sharing.
3. What were some of your initial goals for your daylily hybridizing?
Claudia: Beautiful blooms on robust plants. I started out loving bagels....round and ruffled, but soon was branching out into other forms. I seemed to have started in daylilies right when huge breaks were occurring. Diploids....then Tetraploids....ruffles, eyes/edges, big edges and teeth...and of course patterns. They all seemed to emerge one after another, and they were enchanting. I got in a little of everything and have been hybridizing with them all.
4. What are some of the initial challenges you faced with hybridizing?
Claudia: My initial goals were to keep things ALIVE here in Zone 5B. Since I was attracted to daylilies hybridized in the south, it was a risk bringing them up here. My first few winters were nail biters. People said they would not survive, but they did. We found that mulching right over the crowns of first year plants helped them to pull through their first winter. We slowly added irrigation in sections so that now all our hybridizing and growing areas have water. It is at least enough to get us through bad drought periods. We also garden 99% by organic methods. All weeding is hand pulled or with a machine, no chemicals. Beds are mulched to suppress weeds. We fertilize on a rotating basis and do not over fertilize.
5. How many seedlings do you grow each year?
Claudia: It depends on space and how many raised beds I can free up. It can be as little as 300 seedlings (like this year) or as many as 1000+. They are all planted in raised beds so I can handle the soil amendments, fertilizing, and weeding easier.
6. What are some of your favorite daylily introductions from others?
Claudia: Oh what a difficult question! Ha ha. My loves are based on how good a parent they are, unlike the show and awards rating system. As long as a parent inches me towards a goal, I am thrilled. Among my favorites are Italian Kaleidoscope (Smith), Gnashing of Teeth (Emmerich), Larry's Twilight Bite (Gossard), Veto (Townsend), Heavenly New Frontiers (Gossard), and so, so many more.
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| Dave Conway on his tractor |
7. What are some of your favorite daylilies that you've introduced?
Claudia: Mary Gaskins genetics tops my list of ultimate favorites. We co registered Violet Femme Sheila and Moriah. Both are superb parents. After that I have a soft spot in my heart for Queen's Guard, Maya Blue, Obsession Revisited, Forever Charlotte's Curls, and Darla Joy. So, so many more of course.
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| Claudia Conway and Dave Mussar |
Claudia: My daylily excursions have been limited to my work schedule. Working a week of overnights, then a week off does not leave me too much time to travel. BUT with retirement coming up, I will be getting out there. I have to say the gardens I visited in Kentucky and Virginia (both were AHS Nationals) were beautiful. I think fondly of my visit with Phil Reilly and his wife, Pina in their garden in Enterprise, Florida. I just visited Daniel Matton's garden in Canada this summer. That was one of the most beautiful daylily experiences I have ever had.
9. What are some of your fondest memories involved with daylilies?
Claudia: It is all about the people and the beauty in the blooms. Visiting daylily acquaintances, sharing seeds and plants. Laughing and chatting up daylilies until the sun comes down. Showing people around my garden at peak bloom and seeing their jaws drop, and their eyes light up. Naming a daylily for a special person. Helping people new in daylilies to learn the ropes. Working hard with Dave and our helpers here on the farm, then standing back to look at the improvements. Just a good feeling to do good, honest hard work. Being thankful for my good fortune, and thankful for people that have helped me achieve goals. Just loving being out there, in the sun or a rain shower. In nature...birds, bees, frogs, and butterflies all around. A good feeling. Making good memories.
10. What do you think the future of the daylily will be in the years to come?
Claudia: I am an idealist with I hope a touch of realism. I see smaller hybridizers producing better and better plants and blooms. Dedicated people who value the concept of natural beauty in this technological world. The young hybridizers of today I believe can expect the same gigantic leaps and changes that I have experienced in daylilies. The sky is the limit. The constant evolution of our amazing daylily will keep us enthralled and moving forward.
Now some of Claudia's daylily seedlings:
Claudia Conway seedling (Cosmic Odyssey X Barcode)
Claudia Conway seedling
Claudia Conway seedling
Claudia Conway seedling(Entwined in the Vine X Dragonfly Tattoo)
Claudia Conway seedling
Claudia Conway seedling (Tropical Hot Flash X Fringy)
And now some of Claudia's introductions:
Claudia Conway 2020 introduction (name pending)
Claudia Conway 2020 introduction (name pending)
Brutus Maximus (Claudia Conway)
Don Giovanni (Claudia Conway)
Jawbreaker (Claudia Conway)
A Star for Denyse (Claudia Conway)
Definitely Plumb (Claudia Conway)
White Admiral (Claudia Conway)
Maya Blue (Claudia Conway)
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| Claudia's cat, Ari |
