the history of LIDS - Long Island Daylily Society

The History of the
Long Island Daylily Society
Celebrating Our 50th Year
1956 to 2006
H. ‘Flower Basket’
(Peter Fass 1970)
This booklet was created and produced by:
Irene Bossert, Member of LIDS since 1966
Mary Kay Denman, LIDS Historian
Our special gratitude to:
Andre Viette for his photos, correspondence, and printed materials
for LIDS early history
And our thank you to:
Joan Rasmussen for her constant assistance and support
Dan Mahony, Editorial Consultant
Leslie Hegeman, George and Joan Rasmussen, Jack Pine, Roswitha Waterman
for reading the text for its content
Photo Credits to:
Andre Viette, Ken Cobb (AHS Historian), Helen Thiele, Liz Koliadko,
Frank Indellicati, Isabel Hibbard, and Christine Petersen
Photo Collages: Designed by Mary Kay Denman
and Produced by Bob Stanton
Production Consulting and Cover Design by Christine Petersen
Text and Pictures Formatted by Eileen Anders
2005
Cover Photo:
Jack Pine working at the Peter Fass Memorial Garden
at Planting Fields Arboretum in Oyster Bay, N.Y.
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OUR FOUNDERS
The love of daylilies brought our founders
together in the mid 1950’s. At this time Peter Fass
was living in Greenlawn, Esther Deutsch in
Huntington and Andre Viette in Upper Brookville.
All were involved in hybridizing daylilies and surely
were pleased to find others to share their daylily
creations and garden knowledge. These three
exceptional individuals created the gardening club
that was to become the Long Island Daylily Society.
Peter Fass was a charter
member of the American
Hemerocallis Society. He was also
a nationally known and respected
hybridizer. Andre Viette once
described him as: “a tall policeman
who was also a house painter and
artist that you could see reflected
in his hybrids and their names.”
Peter Fass
Andre still tells about a remark
Peter made to his father, Martin Viette: “ Peter Fass
came to see my father and his daylilies and told him
he had a bunch of junk!”
Ned Irish, from Brodbecks, Pennsylvania, gave a
first hand account of visiting Peter Fass’ garden in the
Autumn1971 Region 4 Newsletter: “My own first
junket was a 6-hour round trip from northern
Westchester to Peter Fass’ garden in Greenlawn in
1965. To someone who has never seen a commercial
garden, it was a revelation. I’ll never forget the thrill
of walking around the corner of the house into a sea
of color, thousands of blooms sparkling in the
sunshine. Not only were his introductions grown to
perfection but many of the fabled greats I had only
read about were there.
It was most exciting of all just walking up and
down the rows of his seedlings with the amiable giant
who had helped to create them. Pete’s comments were
knowledgeable, succinct, and absolutely invaluable to
a beginning hybridizer. How much I learned from his
freely shared years of experience in the few hours
I’ve been able to spend with him. The next two years
I gladly made the longer trek out to Anna and Peter’s
new home in the Hampton Bays. There I saw the first
true lavender, the nearest-to-white and the first brown
I had ever seen, along with a host of advancements in
many color directions, all among Peter’s seedlings.”
In the Fall 1972 Region 4 Newsletter, Andre
Viette, then RVP, made some interesting comments
about Peter Fass who was now living in Hampton
Bays. He called Peter “our famous hybridizer and went
on to say that “Peter had something in his garden
Andre had never seen before—a polka-dotted daylily (a
pink flower with white polka-dots which had been true
now for three years). I saw the best pink daylilies of all
my travels at Peter’s garden.”
Esther Deutsch’s home and nursery was called
“Holly Hill”. She specialized in heathers, heaths,
hollies and succulents. She also was a noted daylily
hybridizer. George Friedman recalled that Esther “was
possibly the first in the region to acquire SATIN
GLASS (Fay, 1960) and grow it.” He goes on to say
that “she critically appraised each of the hundreds of
hems she grew and was outspoken in her criticism of
the great number of yearly introductions that proved to
be no better, nor more distinctive, than those already in
commerce. She disliked the narrow petals and poor
color of the so-called lavenders of the time and had
very little regard for the weak yellows that breeders
persisted in calling white.” Jack Pine went to see her
garden in the late 1950’s and also discovered that Mrs.
Deutsch had written an article on heathers for the
Encyclopedia Britannica.
Andre Viette began hybridizing
daylilies when he was 6 years old
at the farm and nursery that his
father, Martin Viette, owned in
Upper Brookville, New York. This
legendary nursery was opened in
1929. Over the years as the
population grew on Long Island,
Martin Viette’s Nursery became
more of a suburban garden center.
Andre Viette Andre took it over in 1962.
In the early 1950’s, Andre studied for 2 years at
Cornell and earned a degree in commercial floriculture.
He and his wife, Claire, were married in June 1956.
Around this time he twice visited Helen Deutsch at her
home and nursery, “Holly Hill, ”in Huntington and
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went over to Greenlawn to see Peter Fass and his
daylily garden many times. Andre wrote in 2003:
“Esther Deutsch certainly gave us the initiative to
form a daylily group, but there were other interested
parties such as Peter Fass, ‘Beets’ Lantis, George
Friedman and myself.”
In a recent article about Andre and Claire and their
nursery, Andre Viette’s Farm & Nursery, in
Fisherville, Virginia that they opened in 1976, Andre
is described as “a man with a passion. In his case, the
object of that passion is the world of plants, especially
those included in the broad term perennials. He loves
iris, poppy, narcissus, fern, hosta, phlox and peony.
But his particular love is the daylily. He has been
growing and hybridizing daylilies all of his life, and
he has hundreds of daylily varieties on display at his
farm in the Shenandoah Valley…When asked why
daylilies, his answer is simple. ‘They’re hardy, they
live forever, and a new flower opens everyday----so
they’re always fresh.’ ”
FROM GARDEN VISITING
TO GARDEN CLUB: 1960-65
In early 1960, Esther Deutsch took the
organizational reins into her hands by contacting
Long Island members of the American Hemerocallis
Society (referred to as the A.H.S.) to discuss starting
a daylily club on the island. Clarence “Beets” Lantis
described this beginning in the Region 4 Newsletter,
Spring 1972: “In 1960 there were 211 members in
Region 4, 89 of whom lived in New York. Of this
number, fewer than 20 were on Long Island. After
threading through Metropolitan New York City traffic
and after 80 miles of travel, one is still only 20 miles
from home on Long Island as the crow flies. It was
largely for this reason that there was little
communication between the two areas at the outset.
In early 1960, Mrs. Esther Deutsch sent cards to
the Long Island members of the Hem Society
suggesting organizing a local group. In March of that
year, Dr. and Mrs. Alec Deutsch, Andre Viette,
Carleton Brewster, William Peck, Harry Kuesel and
Clarence “Beets” Lantis met at the home of Peter
Fass to form the Long Island Daylily Society. Several
meetings followed in the home of Mrs. Deutsch until
arrangements could be made to use the Planting
Fields Building in Oyster Bay.”
At this initial meeting in March 1960, Esther
Deutsch became the first Chairman of the group. The
members decided that their opening project would be
to have a daylily booth at the Long Island Flower
Show held in the spring at the annual Mineola Fair. For
their small booth they printed folders with a brief
history of the daylily and cut up old catalogs to paste
colored pictures on wallboard partitions. This booth
captured the attention of
George and Nettie
Freidman as they were
wandering through the
maze of small booths at
the fair. George
Friedman recalled: “We
stared and moments later
were merrily gabbing
away with two charming
people standing behind
an old wooden table. On
George and Nettie Friedman
it they had displayed
copies of their Hemerocallis Journal, daylily catalogs
and some articles about hems in past issues of
magazines like FLOWER GROWER or POPULAR
GARDENING. We learned of the beginnings of a local
daylily society, represented with this booth to hopefully
attract additional Charter Year members…
We had now met Mrs. Alec Deutsch of Huntington,
whom we soon came to know affectionately as Esther,
first ‘chairman’ of the infant Long Island Daylily
Society and its ‘founding mother’. It didn’t take long to
realize that this little five foot lady knew more about
horticulture and the daylily than we ever hoped to or
anyone else we had yet met. And, we had met Mr.
Clarence Lantis of Sayville, the tall gentleman beside
her, whose effervescent enthusiasm was absolutely
contagious. An accomplished gardener, collector of
rare bulbs and knowledgeable daylily breeder,
Clarence preferred to be called ‘Beets’ by his friends;
and, friends we were before long.”
In addition to the Friedmans, Mr. and Mrs. Philip
Carruthers joined as charter year members during the
fair. Jean Carruthers took over the secretarial duties for
the club. Besides the booth at the fair “to spread the
word” and attract more members, the group decided at
that first meeting to have daylily garden tours each
year at peak bloom time. They announced these tours
through newspaper notices and posters as an invitation
to the general public to attend.
The third project to evolve from the original
meeting was quite ambitious. The population on Long
Island was growing rapidly in the 1960’s with people
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was preserved
moving out from the city. The charter members wanted
through her
to establish an hemerocallis display planting in a
excellent notes.
conspicuous location in Salisbury Park, now
Esther and
Eisenhower Park. The plants for this garden were
Andre planned
donated by it’s members. Later this had to be
educational
abandoned by the park management for lack of
meeting programs,
maintenance help. However, some of the daylilies are
with many
still growing strongly and can be seen at the park today! Julia Keller, Andre and Claire
Viette
programs featuring
The New England
lectures by experts in the fields of genetics and plant
Daylily group was very
vigorous at this time. Dr. sciences. George Friedman also noted that one type of
program was especially enjoyed: “When our own
Currier McEwen had
joined it about 1956-58. ‘Beets’ Lantis, Bill Peck, Carleton Brewster, Harry
When he returned to his Kuesel and Peter Fass just sat around the long meeting
home in the Riverdale
room table sharing their very considerable know-how
section of the Bronx in with us. These were serious students of horticulture
the fall of 1962,
and top drawer ‘plain dirt gardeners.’ ”
A few other people who joined before 1965 were:
he wanted to see if there
Peck Taylor of Port Washington who took on the
was interest in the New
Currier McEwen
treasurer’s duties, Dan and Carol McNamara (Dan later
York area for having a
daylily society. He and his wife, Kay, invited a group of became the first newsletter editor), Mary Churchill of
people living in or near New York City whose names Great Neck who was a geneticist and had worked years
ago with Dr. Arlow Stout of the Bronx Botanical
were on the list of members for the American
Garden (Mary became exhibition chairman), Jack and
Hemerocallis Society to meet at their home. He
recalled: “We had a nice time talking about daylilies, Betsy Pine, and Les and Marge Hegeman. Les
but when I proposed that we take steps to organize a estimates that there were about 20 members then.
In 1965, Esther Deutsch died quite suddenly due to
daylily society, I was surprised to learn that about half
the worsening of a chronic medical condition. Andre
of the ten or more people present (including George
Viette became chairman and served until 1969.
and Nettie Friedman) already belonged to an active
society, the Long Island Daylily Society! Of course, I
joined too and got to know a few of the members quite
FROM GARDEN CLUB TO
well.”
DAYLILY SOCIETY: 1965-1969
Currier reminisced later that LIDS “existed
essentially as a local Long Island garden club with
Under the leadership of Andre Viette, the core of
little if any relationship to A.H.S. in the early 1960’s.” our society’s activities were established: daylily
George Friedman also said that: “We were a very
exhibitions, an annual daylily auction, bus tours,
small group; really a horticultural study group more sponsorship of the Stout Memorial Daylily Garden at
than a daylily society. The daylily was just the ‘glue’ the Bronx Botanical Gardens, the establishment of
that brought us together. All were active and
judge’s clinics, and the creation of the newsletter. By
interesting contributors in one way or another and
1967, “Beets” Lantis noted that “the membership and
rarely missed a monthly meeting at Esther’s home, at attendance at meetings was increasing.” It was 1966,
first, or later at the newly completed small suite of
when Irene and George Bossert joined the club. Irene
offices and meeting rooms added to the main
recalls that Martin Viette’s Nursery was the center of
greenhouse at Planting Fields Arboretum.”
activity then and dues were $2.
In the early 60’s Claire Viette and her mother, Mrs.
The newsletter began in 1966 with Dan McNamara
Julia Keller, joined Andre at the meetings. These two as editor. Janet Lippencott did the masthead design for
ladies, along with Janet Lippencott, became hostesses the publication. When the Society sponsored a
and added charm, as well as tea and cakes to the
“Display and Auction” at Martin Viette’s Nursery on
meetings. Later, Julia Keller became the recording
July 23, 1967, the newsletter described it as “the
secretary, and a good deal of the group’s early history Daylily Event of the year! Hundreds of the latest
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varieties of daylilies will be on display. Many of Peter and others.
In the early days of LIDS, instead of traveling
Fass’ new things will be on display, as well as his
separately to tour gardens on or off the island, members
INLAID GOLD…blooming clumps, not just single
charted a bus and went together. Some of the off-island
divisions, of the finest clones will go at a small
garden tours were combined with Region 4 meetings.
fraction of their retail prices.”
Jack Pine fondly remembers the early informal
These early “displays” held at Martin Viette’s
Nursery had the daylilies exhibited for the first time in ambience of the group and the fun that they enjoyed on
test tubes rather than in glass bottles and were a very the bus tours “swapping stories, singing songs, and
successful attempt to introduce daylilies to the general sharing food during the ride.”
For example in
public. George Friedman noted that “hundreds visited
July, 1967 “a bus tour
our exhibitions each summer and auction attendance
usually numbered sixty or more.” The first
covering the finest
competitive flower show held by the group at Martin
display of daylilies in
the east” departed
Viette’s Nursery was in the summer of 1968. The cofrom Martin Viette
chairmen were Dan and Carol McNamara. They
Nurseries at 9 am en
described this as: “a relatively small effort, as a
route to 3 gardens: the
preparation for the future—for show officials and
Stout Memorial
workers, and most of all for our exhibitors to practice.”
Garden at the Bronx
Even though the exhibitions, auctions and garden
Botanical Gardens, the
tours had 50 to 100 people in attendance from 1964 to
garden of Mr. and
1967, membership in the club had seemed to stabilize
Paul and Louise Watts
Mrs. Paul Watts
at about 20 members. Andre (chairman) and George
Friedman (vice-chairman) decided that they had to do (Paul Watts was A.H.S. President 1964) in Armonk,
N.Y. and the garden of Mr. and Mrs. Ned Irish in
something to increase the membership. George
Chappaqua, N.Y. The price for all was $3, and you
Friedman later told how they concocted a plan to
brought your own box lunch to eat on the bus. In July
increase membership one spring night in 1967:
“It must have been around 1:00 A.M. when we cooked 1968, the bus tour again went to the Stout Garden and
then to Paul Watts for the Region 4 meeting. “At 2:45
up and decided to launch the ambitious plan to give
Dr. McEwen (current Region 4 RVP-1968-1970)
each and everyone applying for membership that
delivered a brief speech welcoming the old and new
summer SIX different daylilies. Going farther, we
members of the regional daylily Society and the L.I.
would at once commence providing door prizes of
top- drawer cultivars at every meeting of the Society. Daylily Society members. A judge’s clinic was held.”
The next major accomplishment in the Long Island
And it worked…In a matter of months, in response to
a sign displayed at the Martin Viette Nurseries we had Daylily Society history was affiliation with the
American Hemerocallis Society. Andre Viette and
about 180 members. Just imagine how many plants
George Friedman aimed their sights to full status in the
were given away. Of course, we didn’t keep 180
national society in 1967. George related: “to achieve
members for very long... But, we now stabilized at
this, it was necessary to prove that a substantial
about 80 members and I believe we have remained
majority of our members also held membership in good
close to that number ever since.”
So in June 1967, The Bulletin of the Long Island standing in the national society. An all-out campaign of
Daylily Society announced this ambitious plan as “Just urging all to join the National followed; and we hit our
Plain Bribery”! It went on to make a special offer to
target of A.H.S. recognition as an affiliated society
current members: “to the person who enrolls the
early the following year. That year,( 1968), too, our
Currier McEwen was elected regional vice-president
greatest number of new members, the Society will
present one of Pete Fass’ latest introductions. This
for the seven states of A.H.S. Region 4 and Andre was
contest closes July 31, 1967.”
chosen as R.V.P. Elect for the two year term to follow.”
And the “bribery” was a grand success. From
In 1968, L.I.D.S. was listed for the first time as an
1967 to 1970 many of the most active members for
affiliate of the A.H.S. in the third Bulletin of The Long
the next 30 years joined, including George and Joan
Island Daylily Society. At that time national members
Rasmussen, Gene Foster, Tony and Dorothy Krupa,
received the additional benefits of a quarterly journal
Bill and Jeanne Fitton, Judy Brenner, Rosemary Mead (in color), Round Robins, hybridizing information and
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an International Registration facility. The yearly dues
for LIDS remained $2 and annual national membership
was $5 (1 person) and $7.50 Family (2 persons).
By the time of Andre’s last year as chairman in
1969, LIDS had become affiliated with the AHS; was
quite active in Region 4 activities; the flower show and
public auction were two separate events; The Bulletin
(newsletter) was issued annually; and judge’s clinics
(Andre was chairman of judges committee) were being
conducted. Eighty members were sent a notice about
their dues for the year. The monthly meetings were
attended by 16 to 20 members.
A final step in becoming a full-fledged society
occurred when Currier McEwen was Region 4 RVP
and he “took part in writing the constitution and
bylaws setting forth the relationship ( of L.I.D.S.) to
the Region and the A.H.S. and also helped revise those
of the New England Daylily Society to make them all
compatible.” LIDS received copies of their new
by-laws in 1969. Now, LIDS had truly become an
established society.
At the regular meeting on February 8, 1969 the
following 16 members were present: Andre Viette,
William Peck Taylor, Mr. and Mrs. Dan McNamara,
Mr. and Mrs. George Friedman, Mr. Jack Pine, Mr.
and Mrs. Peter Fass, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Watts, Mr.
William Peck, Janet Lippencott, Mrs. S.G. Churchill,
Mr. H. Kuesel and Julie Keller.
The calendar of events for 1969 year included:
May 27: 8 pm first members only auction at
Planting Fields
June 28: an exhibition and judge’s clinic at Martin
Viette Nursery.
July 13: public daylily auction at Martin
Viette Nurseries (over $500 in proceeds )
July 19 bus tour: First stop at William Peck’s
garden, then at Peter Fass’ by 12 noon. Tour
and box lunch at the Fass home from 1-2:30,
and a program of 2 clinics.
September 23: slides shown of the 1969
National Convention
October 14: guest speaker, Dr. Harvey Barke
talked on “What’s new in Horticulture“ and
gave interesting insights on methods of pest
control.
On November 15,1969 the nominating
committee of Andre Viette, George and Nettie
Friedman, Jack Pine and Harry Kuesel offered the
following slate for officers who were voted in
unanimously:
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President -Paul Aden
Vice-President—open
Treasurer -Nettie Friedman
Recording Secretary -Julie Keller
Corresponding Secretary -Irene Bossert
Bulletin Co-editors -Andre and Claire Viette
The committees at that time were:
Program Committee -Paul Aden
Flower Show Committee -Jack Pine
Stout Memorial Committee -George Friedman
Publicity Committee -Irene Bossert
Auction Committee -Andre Viette
Plant Selection and Purchases -Mrs. Garton and
Mrs. Churchill
Hostess committee -Marion and Winifred
Gallagher
At this meeting, Andre Viette was the speaker and
presented a slide lecture on “Companion Perennials for
Daylilies”. He also showed slides of Martin Viette’s
home, gardens, and daylilies in St. Thomas, Virgin
Islands.
THE 1970’s
Although LIDS was definitely the “new kid on the
block” in Region 4, it was now in its tenth year as a
group and its former chairman, Andre Viette, was the
Regional Vice-President (R.V.P.) for the next two
years. At this time the region included the seven
northeastern states and there were just 3 Societies: New
England Area Daylily Society, Western New York
Daylily Society and Long Island Daylily Society. There
were 227 members: Connecticut 22; Maine 10;
Massachusetts 65; New Hampshire 10; New York 112;
Rhode Island 3; and Vermont 5. In addition to Currier
McEwen and Andre Viette, other LIDS members on the
executive committee for Region 4 in Spring, 1970
were: George Friedman as regional publicity director;
Gene Foster as the representative for LIDS; and Paul
Watts as the representative at large. Currier remained
on the committee as the past RVP and was also
chairman of the nominating committee. No matter
what the older two societies felt, LIDS was definitely
becoming a strong force in Region 4.
On the weekend of July 18-19, 1970 LIDS hosted
the Region 4 Convention and within that time held
their first AHS accredited flower show. Martin Viette
Nurseries was the center of activity for Saturday. First
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there was registration, then a tour of the Viette daylily
beds. At 10:10 the bus left to tour William Peck’s
garden in Oyster Bay, then to George Friedman’s
garden in Syosset. By 12:20 the bus was at the
Milleridge Inn for luncheon. The afternoon was
devoted to touring the Peter Fass garden in Hampton
Bays. Between 8-10 pm entries were accepted and
set-up for the flower show took place.
On Sunday the entry
and set up for the flower
show continued at C.W.
Post College Auditorium,
in the Humanities
building from 8 –11 am.
The judging of flowers
and arrangements was
from 12 pm to 1 pm and
from 1 pm to 5 pm the
Paul Aden and Jack Pine 1970 show was open to the
public. Jack Pine was the
chairman for this first LIDS flower show accredited by
the AHS.
The AHS Rosettes were awarded to:
Registered Introduced Variety :
‘Fleeta’ George Rasmussen
Registered Introduced Small Variety:
‘Allenhurst Fairy’ George Rasmussen
Registered Introduced Miniature:
‘Ringlets’ Jack Pine
Popularity Poll Winner:
‘Frances Fay’ George Rasmussen
Tri-Color Award :
“Showtime” Eloise Pitkin
Sweepstake Winner: George Rasmussen
At 2 pm Dr. Currier McEwen held the Regional
Business meeting. The main speaker’s topic:
“Breeding Daylilies”, was presented by Dr. .John
Lambert from Raleigh, North Carolina. His pink and
lavender breeding program was one of the best in the
country. Dr. Lambert also donated many cultivars for
the LIDS auction to be held at Martin Viette Nurseries
on Sunday, July 26. At 4:15 Andre Viette gave a slide
show talk on “Gardening in the Virgin Islands”.
Two distinctive developments occurred at a special
Board of Directors Meeting held at Andre Viette’s
home on Sunday evening, October 4, 1970. Andre
made a motion that no business be discussed at regular
meetings so that the members could enjoy socializing
and attend to the program, and that separate business
meetings be held to cover the activities of LIDS. Also,
the current president of one year, Paul Aden,
announced that he was stepping down as president “to
prevent further turmoil at business meetings which had
caused some embarrassment to members and
discouraged possible new members. All present related
a desire that he continue on, but he felt it would be best
that he work with various committees for the furthering
of the daylily.”
By March 1971, Gene Foster was elected as
Chairman and Les Hegeman as Vice-Chairman. LIDS
had $912.63 in its bank account. The schedule of
meetings for that year looked very similar to the current
calendar with a May Members Auction (bringing in a
total of $243.05), open gardens, an auction for the
public (which netted $445), a regional meeting in July,
and an annual business meeting in November.
Unfortunately, the Flower Show slated for July had to
be cancelled due to the closing of Planting Fields to the
public. At this time the Friends of Planting Field was
created to start providing financial assistance for
continuing the existence of Planting Fields as a public
arboretum.
Also in 1971, a Region 4 test garden was begun at
Martin Viette Nurseries which was under the care of
Andre Viette. Andre had always taken a strong interest
in having an annual Regional Science Day in October.
In 1971, Dr. Harvey Barke spoke at this event on
“Basic Botany & Genetics” and Dr. Toru Arisumi
lectured on “Tetraploids—Basic Techniques”. This
Regional Science Meeting was held at the Coe
Residence at Planting Fields. LIDS planned a catered
luncheon for this and served around 75 guests.
At the business meeting in November 1971, held at
the Syosset Library, it was voted to spend $300 on
plants for the 1972 auction. Then, Joann Knapp spoke
about the plight of Planting Fields and asked members
to join the Friends of Planting Fields. The slate of
officers elected for 1972 were:
Chairman -Gene Foster
Vice-Chairman -Al Goldberg
Corresponding Secretary -Marge Hegeman
Recording Secretary -Julie Keller
Treasurer - Joan Rasmussen
News Editor -Irene Bossert
Some of the speakers in 1972 included: Paul Watts
past president and board member of A.H.S., Adrian
Digman who spoke on “Bees, Bugs, and Flowers of
Long Island” Professor Dan Dowd who was a tree and
herbaceous plant specialist; and Alex Summers who
was at that time National President of the American
Hosta Society and also a LIDS member. In September,
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LIDS returned to a favored format: a daylily panel.
The Society voted to have a daylily display table
in the Commack Arena for the Long Island
Nurserymen’s Association Garden Show on Monday,
March 20. Marion and Winifred Gallagher were
chairmen for this event. Irene Bossert created
brochures for giveaways. The suggestions for the
display table included:
1. “10-15 AHS Journals strewn on the table
2. Slide enlargements made and put on a couple
of posters
3. Visitor’s book to be signed
4. A few potted daylilies on a table, and possibly a
few seedlings
5. Sheets including the program for the year,
membership applications, possibly a buyer’s list of
daylilies, an article or two lifted from our newsletter
or AHS Journal.”
The first LIDS picnic was held at Martin Viette
Nurseries in September 1972. The members toured
Andre and Claire’s home garden and then enjoyed
their luncheon. All members were encouraged to
bring a daylily for a grab bag. In the afternoon there
was a panel discussion on “Hemerocallis: Selection,
Breeding and Culture”. The panel members were
Andre Viette, Peter Fass, George Friedman and Paul
Aden.
Sadly this was the last LIDS activity that Peter
Fass appeared as a speaker or panelist. In early 1973,
he passed away. Esther Deutsch gave LIDS its initial
organization. Andre Viette picked up the challenge of
leadership in the mid-60’s and allowed LIDS to make
his nursery the center of its activity. Andre’s
enthusiasm and great skill maintained and supported
the growth of LIDS into becoming a full fledged
affiliate of the National Society and moving it from a
garden club to an official society in Region 4 and in
the AHS. But the heart and founding spirit of LIDS
was Peter Fass. As Andre expressed it in the AHS
Journal, 1973: “It was his spark that initiated the
Long Island Daylily Society which is a thriving, active
group today.”
Gene Foster announced in June, 1973 that plans
were being made to create a Peter Fass Memorial
Garden at Planting Fields. By October, Irene Bossert
reported that the memorial garden “was in a very
sunny spot, a beautiful oval shaped bed, and near the
annex.” She and Joan and George Rasmussen planted
RVP Andre Viette presenting a scroll to
Peter Fass in 1972
over 15 large daylily clumps on the morning of
October 18, 1973. On July 13, 1974 the Peter Fass
Memorial Garden was dedicated at Planting Fields.
“The garden measured 12’x50’ and had 38 varieties of
Pete’s and over 150 plants.” George Rasmussen, Dr.
Currier McEwen, Paul Aden and Andre Viette spoke
in memory of Peter that day.
From 1973 -75 the Society continued to increase
its membership and now followed a program of events
similar to the present. In 1974 the public auction was
changed to a plant sale. Usually a flower show was
held in the summer, as were garden tours. In 1974, the
following members took the judges test: Marge and
Les Hegeman, Judy Brenner, Al Goldberg, Gene
Foster, Eloise Pitkin, Mrs. Edward Buchanan, and
Gene Moglia. Judy Brenner was elected president and
served for 1974-75. The January Luncheon was begun
with Andre Viette being the first speaker.
Some of the members who joined in the early 70’s
were: Isabel and Tom Hibbard, Arthur and Roswitha
Waterman, Helen Thiele, Liz Koliadko , and Dorothy
Krupa. Alex Summers was active in the club at this
time and hosted the now annual September picnic at
his home in 1975. Howard Ahern was welcomed as a
member of the AHS who joined LIDS at the Regional
Science Day Dinner held at the Royal Viking October
18, 1975. Jim Marsh from the Chicago area was the
science speaker for that day.
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Anna Fass and Les Hegeman
The first meeting of 1976 marked the end of an
era for LIDS. At that meeting, Judy Brenner (LIDS),
Paul Watts (AHS) and Bill Peck (3 Iris Society)
represented their organizations in wishing the Viette
Family good luck on their move to Virginia. Andre’s
move posed a real challenge to LIDS. To quote Gene
Foster, “ Andre was our guide, father figure, and
mentor for the years he was president and for years
afterward. Without Andre I suspect, we wouldn’t be
in existence today.”
The club was also losing Claire Viette a warm,
friendly and knowledgeable presence at numerous
events and her mother Julie Keller who had been the
club’s secretary for many years. With the Viettes
relocating to Fisherville and Anna Fass’s death in
1977, all of the original LIDS founders and those
attending the initial meetings were no longer an
immediate part of the society.
Andre was right when he stated that he was leaving
“LIDS in the capable hands of many new and
enthusiastic members” for LIDS continued to thrive
and to be a dynamic society of about 125 members.
In 1976 the following slate of officers was elected:
Chairman -Dorothy Krupa
Vice-Chairman - Irene Bossert
Recording Secretary -Jeanne Fitton
Corresponding Secretary -Dorothy Schuh
Treasurer -Rosemary Mead
Newsletter Editor -George Rasmusssen
Hospitality Chairman -Joan Rasmussen
In keeping with LIDS early history of establishing
public daylily gardens, LIDS voted in 1978 to create
a Daylily Display Garden at Clark Garden. Under
the leadership of Gene Foster, members donated and
planted 108 cultivars. The garden was dedicated in
1979 with long time LIDS member, Ray Scheele,
serving as the speaker.
Around the same time, Carl Totemeier, the Vice
President of Horticulture at the Bronx Botanical
Garden, contacted Roswitha Waterman requesting
assistance in restoring the Arlo B. Stout Daylily
Garden. Roswitha rallied the members of LIDS and
numerous donations of Stout Medal winners as well as
the Stout hybrids were made. In acknowledging these
many contributions Carl Totemeier wrote,
“We were at a loss as to where we might find Stout’s
old hybrids. Then you came to the rescue. Through
your contributions and suggestions we not only were
able to obtain nearly a complete collection of these
plants but a collection of all the Stout Medal Winners
as well. We are indeed grateful for your generosity and
your genuine concern that others might be able to enjoy
the beauty of these plants.” A formal dedication was
held upon the completion of the restoration of the Stout
Garden. LIDS hired a bus to bring about 40 members to
this event. Lunch was held at the historic Snuff Mill
and John Allgood gave a talk on the history of the
daylily.
John Allgood, Roswitha Waterman
And Gene Foster
The involvement of LIDS in the late 1970’s with this
garden seems extremely fitting because our own Currier
McEwen was instrumental in establishing the original
daylily garden at the Bronx Botanical Garden to honor
Dr. Stout. Writing in 1967 he says that “the project has
the interest and encouragement of the Long Island
Daylily Society, the organized group of daylily devotees
in this metropolitan area. Some 125 daylily varieties
were planted in the early summer of 1966. Some of
these were from the Botanical Garden stock while
others were donated by Mr. Peter Fass, Wilmer Florey,
Parry Nurseries Gilbert Wild and Son and others.”
Currier had been fortunate to meet Dr. Stout in 1948
just before Dr Stout’s retirement. Currier liked to tell
how Dr. Stout gave him some hybrids for his garden
and how these plants fostered his love of daylilies.
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Currier was present when Dr. Stout was in the field
digging up his experimental daylily garden. Dr. Stout
said to his assistant,“ Tony, we don’t have to discard
them all. Let’s give the best to the doctor.” Currier
writes, “ I went home to Riverdale section of the
Bronx with 18 of Dr. Stout’s original named
daylilies.”
After 1974, the Flower Show and Plant Sale were
held on the same day. The shows were averaging a
bout 200 to 225 scapes. At the plant sale of 1979,
members were shocked when 1400 plants were sold
in about 30 minutes with the bulk of the plants selling
for $1 and $2 and higher priced varieties at $3 and $4.
This was the infamous Daylily Festival where so
many people tried to get to Planting Fields that traffic
was backed up all the way to Route 25A. We had
advertised that there would be free seedlings for all
and free iced tea. We had expected at most 300
people and instead there were over a thousand.
Ultimately, we were washing paper cups to serve
weak ice tea and after the cup began to disintegrate
we used it for the free
seedling.
As part of the day’s
activities, Gene Foster
and Jack Pine initiated
their informative and
fun daylily clinics. This
“dynamic duo” were a
joy to watch in action.
Gene had a childlike
enthusiasm for gardening
and daylilies and Jack had
a
dry sense of humor.
Jack Pine
They played off each
and Gene Foster
other to perfection
imparting valuable information, but at the same time
keeping the audience entertained. Many
long time members attended the clinic because they
were so enjoyable. To quote Jack Pine, “ We were
like a vaudeville act and we had as much fun as the
audience.”
During the late 1970's, the club continued to
have an excellent selection of gardens for the July
tours. Some of the members whose gardens we
visited included: Gene Foster, Isabel Hibbard, George
and Joan Rasmussen, Paul Aden, George and Nettie
Friedman, Jim Alexander and Mike Ciavarelli, Al
Goldberg, Howard Ahearn, Les and Marge Hegeman,
Alex and Jean Summers, Roswitha and Arthur
Waterman, Enea and Dexter Redding, and Olga and
Bruce Hausser.
The Watts’ Garden in Armonk, NY
We continued our almost annual visits to the
garden of Paul and Louise Watts in Armonk, N.Y.
Their garden was a unique showplace with huge beds
that contained daffodils, peonies, poppies, iris and so
many daylilies that during July it was hard to believe
that all the other perennials were present. There was
also a unique woodland shade and hosta garden. Each
year Paul and Louise added dozens of daylily varieties.
Since Paul was President of the AHS in 1964 and knew
all of the prominent hybridizers, they would send him
their latest introductions. With this broad range of
daylilies and the special display of hybridizers’ guest
plants the Watts’ garden was the place to go to see what
was happening in the world of daylilies.
In 1978, Paul Watts retired and having more
time to reorganize his garden donated 50 mature
clumps of daylilies for the plant sale and auction. The
following two years, he and his wife Louise contributed
42 and 114 large clumps Up to this time, most
members dug daylilies from their own gardens and
brought them to the sale already labeled When Paul
and Louise made these large donations, it was the
catalyst for developing a new system of preparation for
future plant sales. Now a committee drove to Armonk
in the fall to help dig and transport the clumps of
daylilies in brown paper bags back to L.I. The clumps
were grown on until the August sale in individual
members’ gardens. With the vast amount of daylilies
donated by the Watts, for the first time members had to
get together to split, label, bag and price the daylilies.
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THE 1980’s
During the 1980's, the club became more involved
in national activities. The National Convention of 1980
was held in Boston and LIDS had 30 members in
attendance. For most, it was their first national
convention and they not only enjoyed themselves, but
got interested in future national activities. Since the
convention was in Region 4, LIDS told the convention
committee that we would host a social get together in
the room of Irene and George Bossert. The club
expected perhaps thirty people to drop by and were
surprised and delighted when about 80 attendees
showed up including daylily notables like Virginia
Peck, Bill Monroe and most of the national officers.
Not only did they stop by but they stayed to socialize.
The old fashioned sing along accompanied by Irene
Bossert on the autoharp must have gotten a bit too
noisy because hotel security arrived at the door.
Fortunately upon seeing all the guests, they offered us
a hospitality room on the main floor where we
continued to party for several more hours. It was an
exceptional experience and cemented many friendships
with AHS members from all over the country.
During the 1970’s, LIDS garden tours were
concentrated in Nassau County. In 1981, Gene Foster
wrote an article for our Newsletter entitled “LIDS
Moves Into Suffolk.” In it he remarks, “We have been
slowly but surely moving into Suffolk in the last few
years. Last summer, we visited Dexter and Enea
Redding’s place in Smithtown, my place in King’s
Park and Olga and Bruce Hausser’s in Huntington.
The picnic last September was held at Ethel Buccola’s
place. This year , we will visit Grace and Pat Stamile
and Vic Santa Lucia out in Setauket. Yes, we are
moving into Suffolk these days!” This geographical
shift that Gene brought to our attention verified that
LIDS had become the Island wide society we are
today.
The Stamile garden at 11 Shipyard Lane in
Setauket became Region 4's newest display garden in
1981. In describing his garden, Pat Stamile wrote in
the LIDS newsletter that they had “300 named
varieties of daylilies and 200 seedlings blooming for
the first time.” He also said that the most exciting
seedlings were from ‘Shockwave’ and Tet ‘Edna
Spalding’. Isabel Hibbard, editor of the LIDS
newsletter at that time, described the Stamile Garden:“
Their house was perched on hilly terrain overlooking a
cove and private pond designated as a wildlife refuge.
The property was imaginatively landscaped with many
nooks and crannies and
vistas to surprise the visitor.
Having made the rounds of
Southern hybridizers,
Grace, Pat and Vic have
gotten a head start on some
of the newest varieties
including ‘Joan Senior’,
‘Mumbo Jumbo’, ‘Chicago
Picotee Queen’ and
‘Malaysian Spice’. They
have built up an extensive
collection of very recent and
beautiful daylilies in a
Pat Stamile at
relatively few years”
Floyd Cove Garden
It was an intriguing garden
for members to visit but none of those who walked
through that two year old garden could have predicted
that Pat Stamile would rise to such national and
international prominence and be the first hybridizer to
win three Stout Medals, all of which were hybridized
on Long Island. We were privileged to witness the start
of a daylily legend. In hindsight, the LIDS members
saw some of the first blooming Stamile seedlings.
LIDS Bus Trip
We took a two day bus trip in 1982 to New England
where we visited Tranquil Lake Nursery, Don Marvin’s
garden and Suzanne Mahler’s garden on the first day.
We then went to Cape Cod where we visited Jeanne
and Bill Fitton’s distinctive garden that encompassed
the property of their two houses. Bill and Jeanne were
extremely active members of LIDS in the late 60’s and
70’s when they spent the week in New York City and
their weekends and vacations at the Cape. Since they
had relocated to the Cape in the early 1980’s , everyone
was eagerly anticipating seeing their garden in
person. We had a little added excitement with a
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cracked window when our tour bus failed to fit onto
the Fitton’s driveway which was lined with pine trees.
It was a treat to see Bill and Jeanne again and to slowly
explore their garden. Afterwards our gracious hosts
provided the entire party with elegant box lunches for
our trip home.
Bill and Jeanne Fitton and friends at the Cape
By 1984, the club had outgrown Clark Botanic
Garden’s facilities and we moved our November
annual meeting and covered dish luncheon to the
Bailey Arboretum. We were holding our January
luncheon at the Swan Club in Glen Head. This was
arranged by Al Goldberg whose beautiful garden in
Glen Cove overlooked the L.I. Sound and was a
favorite for our July tours. However in 1989, we
moved our January Luncheon once again to the
LaGrange Restaurant in West Islip which was more
centrally located for the members.
Al Goldberg
At the end of 1989, the club was shocked by the
sudden and unexpected death of Gene Foster. In her
tribute to Gene in Region 4’s Newsletter Roswitha
Waterman wrote of the “deep hole in that part of our
life that concerns itself with daylilies. She told of how
Gene “with his infectious enthusiasm fanned our
interest in daylilies and how his generosity was
legendary among his many friends. As soon as he had a
5 fan clump, he would swap or share or donate it to the
club. It gave him pleasure and satisfaction to see others
enjoy a plant he liked. His keen interest in new
introductions was matched by an uncanny ability to
spot quality even in competing mass
plantings.” In the same issue,
George Rasmussen wrote in his
article entitled “Gene Foster – A
Friend for Over Twenty Years” that
it was in Peter Fass’ garden in East
Quogue where Gene first became
interested in late blooming daylilies.
“Fass’ ‘Added Pleasure’, ‘Thunder
Gold’, ‘Autumn Bonnet’ and
‘Autumn Whisper’ were soon part of
Gene’s garden.” As a fitting tribute, Gene Foster
LIDS established the Gene Foster
Award, an AHS award for late cultivars in his honor.
THE 1990's
During the 1990's, the club continued to grow, and
membership stabilized around 180. Many new and
active members joined the ranks. Clark Garden became
part of the North Hempstead Park Department and the
club was forced to relocate the public plant sale. Nelson
Sterner, Vice President of LIDS and Director of
Our local July tours at
Horticulture at Old Westbury Gardens arranged to have
that time, featured many old the plant sale at Old Westbury Gardens. For eleven
favorites and many
years, Dan Mahony was instrumental in coordinating
new gardens. These new
this event. The sale was
ones included: Joe
held under stately trees
Marinello’s, Pat and Bob
with the beautiful
Balletta’s, Beth and Lyle
historic mansion as a
Peters’. Carolyn
background. In
Putterman’s, Carolyn and
addition the club had
Larry Young’s, Jane and Dan
the use of a field for
Trimmer’s, Marion and Stan
growing daylilies, and
Fish’s and Louise
the use of a work area
and Rudy Peluso’s.
.
to split the clumps and
clean, label and bag
them. Members looked
Dan Mahony
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Debbie Farrell’s, Carol and Tom Ramsden’s, Judy
Thaw’s, and Paul Limmer’s.
The 1995 slate of officers were as follows:
President - Dan Mahony
Vice President - Debbie Farrell
Recording Secretary -Judy Rocco
Corresponding Secretary - Pat Sayers
Treasurer - Mike Farrell
Newsletter - Irene Bossert
Member at Large - Marion Fish
During their tenure in office an important
constitutional change occurred. The members voted to
change our constitution and make AHS membership
mandatory. There was some concern that our numbers
would decline since dues had to be paid both to AHS
and LIDS, but after a slight drop in membership, the
club rebounded and continued to flourish. The list of
speakers featured at our meetings reads like a Who’s
Who in hybridizers. They included: Jamie Gossard,
John Benz, Curt Hanson, Matthew Kaskel, John Peat
and Ted Petit, Arthur Kroll, Lee Pickles, Sarah Sikes,
Clarence and Beth Crochet and Elizabeth and Jeff
Salter.
In 1996, LIDS established a plant babysitting
program where members would grow a fairly new
introduction to test for hardiness and vigor in our
region. After several years the members brought the
plants back to the club for the May Auction.. The main
purpose was to bring some new and different daylilies
to Long Island.
Jane and Dan Trimmer with Irene Bossert
In this same year, Marge and Les Hegeman
received the AHS Regional Service Award. In
special Long Island garden.
Fortunately for LIDS, a new outstanding garden was presenting this highly coveted award at the AHS
being developed by Dan Trimmer. Upon his retirement National Convention in Denver Colorado, James
Brennan said, “ A decade as Regional Treasurer , in a
from the Nassau County Police Department, Dan
relocated to Watermill and expanded his garden and
functioning organization that is dependent on funding
hybridizing program. One of Dan’s special talents was through auctions and donations from clubs is enough
converting diploid daylilies to tetraploids. He had a
in itself to merit an award of some kind, but add to
microscope set up in the front corner of his garage and that things like Vice President and President of the
was eager to explain the science involved in his
conversions to all garden visitors. He also served on
the national level as the AHS Display Garden
Chairman for two and a half years from 1995 to 1997.
Other gardens toured in the 1990’s included the:
Roswitha and Arthur Waterman’s, George and Joan
Rasmussen’s, Lyle and Beth Peter’s, Isabel and Tom
Hibbard’s, Ethel and Micky Buccola’s, Bob and Mimi
Schwarz’s, Carolyn Putterman’s, Dinah Foglia’s,
Melanie Vassallo’s, Mike and Pat Schomer’s, Pat
Sayers’, Elsa Bunker’s, Jeff Friedman’s, Judy Rocco’s,
Janet Gordon’s, Jeff and Paula Schmidt’s, Mike and
Les and Marge Hegeman
forward to working together to prepare the plants for
the August sale. Many of our members became
volunteers at Old Westbury Gardens.
Meanwhile Bailey Arboretum was closed for
renovations, so our Fall Covered Dish Luncheon
returned to Planting Fields. Planting Fields was also
home for our July Flower Show. Our previous shows
were held in the Carriage House, but with the
completion of the Horticultural Center, LIDS’ monthly
meetings and flower show were relocated to this
building.
Sadly for LIDS, in 1991 the Stamile’s began
their relocation to Florida. Pat and Grace wanted to
concentrate all of their energies on hybridizing and
working with daylilies full time. We not only lost two
extremely knowledgeable daylily people, but also their
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Long Island Daylily Society, Regional Vice President,
Garden and Exhibition Judging, hybridizing and
introducing new cultivars, writing new club and
regional by-laws and you ask , “Could one person do
all this?” The answer is NO. It’s two people, Marge
and Les.”
The Member’s Auction was always held in May.
Andre Viette was the club’s first auctioneer followed
by Gene Foster. Their knowledge and enthusiasm
made them perfect for the job. Several others
including Pat Stamile and Dan Trimmer served the
club in the capacity of auctioneer, but all were
delighted when Paul Limmer took over the job in
1998 and it was discovered that he was a natural. He
has continued to be LIDS auctioneer and has also
served in this capacity at Regional events.
In 1998, LIDS hosted the Regional Meeting for
the first time since 1970. Region 4 members gathered
for three days at the Melville Marriot which served as
our headquarters. The schedule for Friday included an
Exhibition Judges Clinic conducted by David
Kirchhoff and Roswitha Waterman, a hybridizers’
slide show given by Bob Schwarz and an auction. At
8AM on Saturday, the buses were loaded for garden
tours to the homes of George and Joan Rasmussen,
Isabel and Tom Hibbard, Roswitha Waterman, Louise
Peluso, and Lyle and Beth Peters. Saturday night
LIDS hosted a lavish banquet with David Kirchhoff as
the keynote speaker. On Sunday morning at their
recently established AHS Display Garden, Carolyn
and Larry Young hosted a breakfast, and a garden
judge’s clinic was conducted by George Rasmussen
and Roswitha Waterman.
As we approached the millennium, many recent
members took on elected responsibilities as seen in
the slate of officers for 1998:
President - Melanie Vassallo
Vice President – Paul Limmer
Treasurer- Mike Shomer
Recording Secretary – Judy Thaw
Corresponding Secretary - Larry Young
Newsletter Editor – Bob Stanton
Historian – Jack Pine
Member at Large – Gene Moglia
Working on and chairing committees were Dan
Mahony, Carol and Tom Ramsden, Ira and Phyllis
Weiss, Helen and Jack Passauer, Carol Dwyer, and
Sylvia Warantz .
As President , Melanie Vassallo initiated more
involvement in national activities. She replaced Dan
Trimmer as Display Garden Chairman and served in
that capacity from 1997 to 2001. Melanie was also
RVP of Region 4 from 2002-2003. In 1999 she was
instrumental in arranging for the AHS National
Officers to hold their annual board meeting on Long
Island. In conjunction with this, she arranged a special
banquet to honor retiring AHS President Jim Brennan
and our own Roswitha Waterman for her service as
AHS International Secretary. This event was
unprecedented in our history and was an extremely
important endeavor.
Roswitha Waterman evaluating daylilies
LIDS honored Roswitha for her many
contributions to our club and for fostering an interest in
daylilies. These included: her work involving garden
and exhibition judges; her many clinics teaching
daylily culture at the August Plant Sale; and the
excellent daylily slide presentations at LIDS meetings,
L.I. garden clubs, and the Bronx Botanical Garden.
Roswitha also has a special gift for reaching out to new
club members in order to make them feel welcome and
involved.
On the international scene, Roswitha with her
husband Arthur, traveled to Europe many times during
the 1980’s giving slide show presentations.
Hemerocallis Europa honored her with its first
International Service Award and presents an annual
Roswitha Waterman Award for an outstanding
American daylily introduction.
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THE NEW MILLENNIUM
For the early years of 2000-2005:
• LID’s membership has stabilized around
200.
• The daylily is noticeably more prominent
at local nurseries and in landscaping on
Long Island.
• Our past president and hybridizer Dan
Trimmer and his wife Jane moved to
Florida and settled near their good friends,
the Stamiles.
• The society continues to have display
booths at the Hick’s Flower Show and the
Hofstra Flower Show.
• Added to the list of favorite touring spots
were the gardens of: John and Muriel
Stahl, Bob Stanton, Mary Kay Denman,
Dave Silber, Liz Shaw, Sue Cinquemani
and Barbara Schenk.
• LID’s members continue to maintain the
Peter Fass Memorial Garden at Planting
Fields Arboretum, and Pam Milliken and
other members have created a second
daylily garden there.
• The LIDS website was created in 2001 by
Bob Stanton.
• Our innovative member, Bob Schwarz,
has made the term “UF” part of the daylily
vocabulary and his hybrids and other
hybridizers’ spider and unusual form
daylilies continue to gain enormous
popularity.
• Pat Sayers won an AHS achievement
medal for ‘Crested French Kiss’ in 7/04.
• In 2004 the plant sale moved from Old
Westbury Gardens and was divided
between two locations: Farmingdale
University and Clark Gardens.
in his own right become our leading hybridizer and is
now nationally and internationally known in the
daylily world. He was the early mentor and teacher of
Patrick Stamile and Dan Trimmer.
Joan and George 2005
Both he and Joan have worked tirelessly for the
development and good of the society. Between them
they have held every office available. Joan is currently
also co-chairperson with Melanie Vassallo for
organizing and directing the activities for the
American Hemerocallis Society National Convention
to be held on July 13-16, 2006.
The host hotel is the Melville Marriott that is
centrally located on Long Island. The private tour
gardens for this three day event feature the gardens
of: Paul Limmer, Louise Peluso, Melanie Vassallo,
George and Joan Rasmussen, Pat Sayers, John and
Muriel Stahl, and Carolyn Young. Two public gardens
are also official tour gardens: Planting Fields
Arboretum and the State University of New York at
Farmingdale.
Along with the anticipation for our first National
Convention on Long Island, the Long Island Daylily
Society is celebrating its 50th Anniversary. We are
In the last 10 years Peter Fass’ nephew, George
grateful for the initiative of our founders, Peter Fass,
Rasmussen, has been awarded several honorable
Esther Deutsch, and Andre Viette for establishing our
mentions from the American Hemerocallis Society for society. And we are indebted to and thankful for their
his daylily hybrids: ‘Love Those Eyes’ 1997, ‘King
immediate daylily friends of 1956-60, and all the
George’ 1997, ‘Lady Dancer’ 2000, and ‘Adorable
countless other LIDS members who have gathered
Tiger’ 2004. George, who was our president for two
together these fifty years to honor this marvelous
different terms, and his wife Joan, our current
flower, meet new friends, and “spread the word”!
president, have been members since 1968. George has
admirably carried on the tradition of his uncle, and has
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LIDS PRESIDENTS
1960-1965 Esther Deutch
1965-1969 AndreViette
1970 Paul Aden
1971-1973 Gene Foster
1974-1975 Judy Brenner
1976-1978 Dorothy Krupa
1978-1980 Irene Bossert
1981-1983 George Rasmussen
1984-1986 Helen Thiele
1987- 1989 Les Hegeman
1990-1991 Carolyn Putterman
1992-1993 Dan Trimmer
1994 George Rasmussen
1995-1997 Dan Mahony
1998-2000 Melanie Vassallo
2001-2003 Paul Limmer
2004- 2006 Joan Rasmussen
LIDS Members at 2004 Plant Sale at Clark Gardens
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