"ALL-AMERICAN" DAYLILIES FOR 2002

KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI-May 15, 2000 . . .

An unprecedented three daylilies, bred by three different hybridizers, have earned "All-American" status from the All-American Daylily Selection Council. Reserved for those rare, field-tested daylilies that meet the most rigorous performance standards, the Selection Council will announce the names of these new "All-American" daylilies and distribute color photos of them in the summer of 2001. By spring of 2002, the "All-American" award winning daylilies will be formally introduced and distributed to garden and landscape professionals, as well as the general public through independent and mass market garden centers.

The All-American Daylily Selection Council (AADSC), based in North Carolina's Blue Ridge Mountains, coordinates the testing program which evaluates daylilies on over 50 performance characteristics. Among those are bloom and foliage beauty, plant vigor, bloom sun fastness, growth form and balance, fan increase, disease resistance, length and intensity of bloom period, and zone hardiness. The benchmarks for the evaluation process are the 6,000+ cultivars that AADSC has evaluated over the past decade. Daylilies seeking "All-American" designation are tested for at least two years, under code, and in test sites throughout the United States and Canada. The "All-American" status is granted to those daylily cultivars that have shown superior performance across at least five USDA hardiness zones. The AADSC "All-American" daylily award differs from others in that its results are based on rigorous scientific methodology.

Today, there is no other daylily test program worldwide that approaches the rigor and sophistication of the AADSC. The AADSC has screened or tested 6,000 daylilies vying for the "All-American" designation at 20 sites located in USDA Hardiness Zones 2 to 10, stretching from Manitoba, Canada to Naples, Florida.

The popularity of daylilies, especially the All American-designation daylilies which are improved hybrids with performance verification, is just beginning to grow. With their mix of beauty, tested performance and wide utility, industry experts predict better and better cultivars and growing popularity. This will likely generate true excitement among gardeners, landscape professionals and do-it-yourself home landscapers. For more information about the new "All-American" daylilies, please contact Mary McLoughlin at (616) 698-0748.