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| A SUNNY DAY AT SEAWRIGHT GARDENS, IN CARLISLE, MA – AN OLDER DAYLILY BREEDERS FARM WHERE ONE CAN HAVE DAYLILIES DUG FRESHLY FROM THE FIELD. THIS MAY BE THE LAST YEAR THAT THEY ARE OPEN, SO THE CLUMPS ARE UNDIVIDED AND LARGE, A VALUE AT ANY PRICE. |
We spent the day at a daylily farm (we intended to spend the day at three daylily farms, but it took so long to get through the first one, that we never made it up to New Hampshire! – Sorry daylily breeder
Mike Huben and
Harmon Hill Farm – we intended to visit, but ran out of time – we know your introductions are more current, a rain check from us.).
Our stop today brought us to an older daylily nursery in Carlisle Massachusetts, on the border of Concord – R.
Seawright Daylilies. Owned by Mr. Seawright who I am not sure is still breeding anymore, but in his 80’s, was still there digging old varieties. He is getting up in years, and I heard rumors that this will be his last summer open, so we decided to see what was left of his breeding, as the deals seemed too good to pass up. Most of the varieties in this field are older varieties from the 1980’s and 1990’s, and most introduced by Mr. Seawright himself, yet as for a value and for garden plants, these are still far better that what you will find at your local nursery. Plus, the price right now can’t be beat ( $7.50 to $10.00 for some enormous field-grown clumps, this was a deal that we could not pass up).
First we walked through the entire field, checking out it was varieties looked the best. Looking at mature field-grown clumps in the best way to see what characteristics are best. Some are tall, others, more floriferous, others have well branches sturdy stems. It’s not easy, for with hundreds of varieties to choose from, it quickly becomes difficult to remember what variety you liked best.
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| FRESHLY DUG DAYLILIES, WAITING TO BE WRAPPED TO TAKE HOME |
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| THIS IS ONE VARIETY I TOOK HOME CALLED ‘DON STEVENS’ – ONCE CLUMP FOR $7.50, WITH 8 FANS! I CHOSE IT BECAUSE OF HOW MANY BLOOMS IT HAS IN THE FIELD. |
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| JESS TOOK ABOUT THREE HOURS TRYING TO CHOOSE THE PERFECT BLEND OF PEACH AND PASTEL FLOWERS FOR HER HOME GARDEN IN RHODE ISLAND. |
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| ‘DAYLILY’ ELEGANT CANDY’ |
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| BUYING DAYLILIES AT A FARM THAT ALLOWS YOU TO PICK THEM IN THE FIELD, WILL OFTEN GET YOU LARGER SIZED PLANTS. |
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| AT SEAWRIGHT GARDENS, YOUR FIRST MAKE YOUR SELECTIONS, LOOKING FOR TAGS IN EACH ROW, THERE ARE HUNDREDS, SO IT TAKES TIME. |
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| THEN, STAFF WILL RUN OUT TO THE FIELD WITH YOU CARDS OF NAMED VARIETIES, AND THEY WILL DIG AND TAG THEM. ON BUSY SATURDAYS LIKE THIS, IT CAN TAKE SOME TIME. |
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| ONCE THE DAYLILIES ARE DUG, THE SOIL IS RINSED OFF, AND WEED ROOTS ARE REMOVED. |
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| WASHED CLUMPS ARE WRAPPED AND LABELED AGAIN, AND THEN YOU ARE READY TAKE THEM HOME AND PLANT THEM IN YOUR GARDEN. |
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| HERE IS OUR LOAD – I ONLY SPEND $35.00! A RECORD FOR ME! |
Related
While many of the daylilies at Seawright's are older varieties, that doesn't make them bad: many of them are classics that are better than most of the newer varieties.
'Don Stevens' is one of the best: it has extraordinary branching and budcount.
Wonderful! Wish I lived within driving distance.
I am astonished! I have never seen anything like this, only wish we had such places in the UK. Amazing!
OMG, HOW AWESOME IS THIS!!!!!! Such a great idea and a great deal!!
I went to Seawright daylilies several years ago, and came home with quite a few nice ones. did he actually close this place down now? what a shame, as I would like to go again. you must make it over to Harmen Hill Farm when you get a chance. Carl Harmon is a great guy, Andy has a huge selection of daylilies.