Elizabeth Nesmith Clump Award

In the 1940s and 1950s, long before daylily enthusiasts flocked to Florida, Louisiana and Chicago, this woman's Massachusetts garden was our Mecca. In the book, Passion for Daylilies, Sydney Eddison said that Elizabeth Nesmith "was the first woman to make an impression on the daylily world." She was "among the first hybridizers to consistently cross hardy dormant varieties with less hardy varieties from the South with a view to expanding the range of the daylily." Just as for our hybridizers today, her goals were "large flowers, firm substance, good branching and many blooms on a scape."

When tetraploids burst on the scene in the 1960s, Mrs. Nesmith embraced the excitement and said, "More power to those who have made such a successful adventure possible, for I have always been thoroughly interested in creating distinctive and better daylilies."

Elizabeth Nesmith introduced 336 cultivars from 1933 until 1966; won 20 Honorable Mentions, 11 Award of Merit and 1 Stout Medal for H. 'Potentate.' In addition, she won the Bertrand Farr Medal for hybridizing excellence in 1953.

To honor the achievements of our Region 4 hybridizers, who also strive for excellence, it is fitting that our Region 4 Clump Award be called the Elizabeth Nesmith Award. At a peak bloom Region 4 meeting, the Elizabeth Nesmith Award will be presented to a Region 4 hybridizer for the most impressive daylily clump seen in a Regional tour garden.
The daylily must have been hybridized in Region 4, be named and registered with the AHS and have been introduced during the previous 15 years by a Region 4 hybridizer still living in, or deceased while living in, Region 4. "Clumps" are defined as 5 or more fans and each garden owner may identify up to 10 eligible daylilies in their garden.

Regional tour garden planners may determine the method of identification; however, the clumps must be clearly labeled for easy identification by meeting attendees. All Regional meeting attendees are eligible to vote, as will all National attendees when the Regional is also an AHS National Convention. The host club will choose the award.