Daylily Expert Speaks at Fall Meeting

The keynote speaker for the UAGC Fall Meeting and Symposium was Paul Genho, owner of the Monte Vista daylily farm in Payson, Utah. After a long career as an agricultural expert, Mr. Genho retired to pursue his childhood passion of breeding daylilies. He explained that the common “ditch lily,” Hemerocallis fulva, is a triploid or sterile plant that cannot produce seed. However, after thousands of tries, his mentor was able to obtain seven seeds from plants that had apparently mutated. The descendants of those seeds are the ornamental daylilies that are so popular today. Every year, Mr. Genho makes further crosses and sows the seeds, planting out as many as 4,000 pots. The potted daylilies are evaluated, and only the best are propagated for eventual sale, while the rest go to the compost pile. The entire process takes up to seven years. Dividing his time between Utah and Florida, Mr. Genho is excited about the ornamental potential for daylilies in the Beehive State, as they bloom during mid-summer when all of our spring-flowering plants are done for the year. Garden Club members were impressed with the beautiful photos he showed us of newly developed daylilies that will be on the market in the next few years.