Harvey Adolf Shimek was born November 24, 1938,
in Fayette County, Texas, the son of Frederick Shimek and Frances (Kobza)
Shimek.Harvey Adolf Shimek was born November 24, 1938,
in Fayette County, Texas, the son of Frederick Shimek and Frances (Kobza)
Shimek.
Lynn Nell (Middlebrooks) Shimek was born April 10, 1945, in Crowley, Louisiana, the daughter of Hilda "Tot" Middlebrooks (Ratliff). Nell developed a love for flowers from her grandmother. She moved to Houston in 1961.
Harvey & Nell were married on June 3, 1977. That year they dove headfirst into flowers. Guided by the hand of Mary Clark of Alvin, daylilies soon became the focal point of their interest. They started collecting daylilies in 1979 for their garden in Alvin, Texas. At first all they bought were seedlings. They had a flood that put everything under water for five days and their daylilies thrived. Then they decided they needed more daylilies and started buying named varieties.
In 1986, Ray & Mary Houston, members of the Brazosport Daylily Society, visited Shimek's Gardens scouting around just before the 1987 Region 6 Meeting. The Shimeks only had a few daylilies back then, but had quite a large collection of roses. Harvey and Nell were invited to join Brazosport Daylily Society and become a garden host for the 1987 Region 6 Meeting, and they happily accepted. Their garden has been one of the Region 6 tour gardens for many of the annual Region 6 Meetings since 1987.
In 1996, Nell and Harvey were instrumental in forming the Lone Star Daylily Society in Alvin, Texas. They have been long-time active members of the club ever since then.
Harvey & Nell are AHS Senior Exhibition Judges and have judged daylily shows all over the United States and even in South America.
In 1990, Nell served Region 6 as the Special Projects Chair. That year she and Mickey Sanders assisted in the organization of the East Texas Daylily Society in Tyler, Texas.
Harvey & Nell decided they would enjoy being a Display Garden for the American Hemerocallis Society (AHS). An AHS Display Garden represents the Society by growing hundreds of different daylilies from hybridizers all over the United States. In 1991, the Shimek garden was named as an official AHS Display Garden. In 2016, they had their garden dropped from the Display Garden designation.
Harvey & Nell are experienced flower arrangers and have won many local club Tricolor Awards. Nell won the AHS Tricolor Award for her flower arrangements in 1990, 1992, 1995, and 1997. Harvey won the award in 1999.
Nell has also won AHS awards for her photography. In 1990 and 1991 she won the AHS Robert Way Schlumpf Landscape Photo Award. She won the AHS A. D. Roquemore Memorial Award for her photos of daylily clumps - 1991, 1993, and 1994 .
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