Geneva Lee (Hubbard) Archer
May 13, 1920 - January 26, 1996
by Ray Houston

Geneva Lee Hubbard was born in West Benton, Missouri, May 13, 1920, the daughter of Guy Henry Hubbard & Cora Jane (Hill) Hubbard. She married Harry Rufus Archer in 1945.

In June 1947, Geneva and her husband visited Wild's Daylily, Iris, and Peony fields at Sarcoxie, Missouri. Gilbert Wild took them for a drive through his daylily fields and helped them select several good daylily plants to be used in a landscape in their yard in Miami, Oklahoma. The Wilds were growing Professor David Hall's (Chicago) daylilies in the 1940s and 1950s. Hemerocallis 'Painted Lady' (Hugh Russell, 1942) was No. 1 on the Daylily Hit Parade. They purchased it for $6 and it multiplied very quickly, enabling them to share the plant with others. The Archers soon became "experts" on what they considered to be the best daylily. They were often asked to help evaluate Professor Hall's seedlings for registration with American Hemerocallis Society.

In June 1948, they were invited to attend the Region 11 Meeting held at American Hemerocallis Society President Rice's home in Bartlesville, Oklahoma. Mr. Rice presented them with a plant of H. 'Mabel Fuller' (Kraus, 1949) for joining the American Hemerocallis Society. They both became very active members and she served as Treasurer of the Houston Hemerocallis Society for eleven years.

Their two sons grew up with daylilies and learned to cross them. Phillip, their youngest son, won a ribbon for an astronaut arrangement at one of the Houston Hemerocallis Society Flower Shows at a very early age.

After her retirement from the business world in 1986, she joined the Houston Area Daylily Society where she worked tirelessly at the flower shows, plant sales, and in other capacities.

Geneva never met a stranger and she shared her enthusiasm for flowers, especially daylilies, with everyone. She recruited members at her church, at garden centers, in her neighborhood, and even at the grocery store; anywhere the subject of flowers came up, people were invited to the meetings. Many came and joined.

Club visitors and new members were invited to her garden where she shared with them not only daylilies but often some of the many other plants she grew.

The Bertha Ella Cone Award is awarded annually in recognition of exemplary service and dedication on behalf of the Houston Hemerocallis Society. The award for 1995 was presented to Geneva on December 9th. She was thrilled and displayed it proudly in her home.

Geneva said, "The daylily is like life itself - one day at a time."

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