Members of Region 6 continue to receive national
recognition for their contributions. Tom and Kirksey are certainly deserving of
this acknowledgment of their long time support of the area clubs and of Region
6.1993 American Hemerocallis
Society
Regional Service Award Winner
Tom & Kirksey Hughes
by Kay Day
(Reprinted from Region 6 Daylily
Newsletter, Fall/Winter 1993)
Members of Region 6 continue to receive national
recognition for their contributions. Tom and Kirksey are certainly deserving of
this acknowledgment of their long time support of the area clubs and of Region
6.
Tom and Kirksey first became interested in daylilies as a result of Tom's father, lovingly known as "Daddy Tom." Both father and son were soon hybridizing. Kirksey supported their efforts while raising three children. Tom and Kirksey are now the proud grandparents of four and are active in their church.
Tom maintains a commercial garden in Mansfield, Texas, that is probably the source for the first daylilies for most of us in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. If you were not enthralled with the plant in the beginning, Tom's down-home humor and genuine good nature soon brought you around. Some of their favorite introductions include Hemerocallis 'Apple Tart', H. 'Corene', H. 'Annie Golightly', and the 1990 registration H. 'Avyn'. Tom indicates that he has a number of good seedlings that are being evaluated.
Both Tom and Kirksey have been Garden and Horticultural Judges. Tom has held most of the officer positions over the years in the Daylily Growers of Dallas. Both Tom and Kirksey are founding members of the North Texas Daylily Society. Tom has also served as Regional Vice President and may be noted as responsible for introducing the Regional Auction as means of financial support for the Region.
When asked about the hybridizers they most respected, they noted W. B. MacMillan, Lucille Williamson, Bill Munson, Virginia Peck, Jack Romaine, David Hall, and Orville Fay. This list represents some of the best hybridizers from the formative years of the modern daylily. These hybridizers experimented with tetraploids and small daylilies. Tom and Kirksey especially admired Lucille Warner, not only for her cultivars, but for the friendship established between the two families.
This brief summary of their accomplishments over the years is paled by the warmth and friendship they extend to all of us. We applaud the well-deserved recognition.
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