Elna
Lee Whitaker was born February 9, 1912, in Grapeland, Texas, the daughter of
Holly Webster Whitaker and Cora Lee (Cutler) Whitaker.Elna
Lee Whitaker was born February 9, 1912, in Grapeland, Texas, the daughter of
Holly Webster Whitaker and Cora Lee (Cutler) Whitaker.
Elna Winniford was one of those gentle natured people that you would never get to know well in a crowd of people. When I became a member of the Daylily Growers of Dallas in 1980, Elna was one of the first members whom I "knew", because she was the telephone committee She called before every meeting, and we sometimes talked for an hour.
My introduction to hybridizing came soon after, when I started visiting the garden where she and her husband, Ury, had been growing daylilies for over thirty years. They would be busily criss-crossing the whole garden with pollen filled stamens between their fingers and teeth. As with many couples, they each had their own hybridizing program, but the plants were all mixed together. Elna's main interest was doubles, and some of the finest in commerce today are her creations. One of the first and best known is Hemerocallis 'Pojo', a lovely small gold double that is a standard in gardens all over the United States. H. 'Frilly Miss', H. 'Pudgie', H. 'Little Peanut', H. 'Double Attraction', and H. 'Sweet Pea' are other notables. The names she chose attest to her wit and humor.
One of her last introductions was H. 'Little Rosy Cloud', not a double but a fitting end to her hybridizing career.
Even after her illness took the sparkle from her eyes and robbed her of awareness of anyone's identity, she would converse endlessly about hybridizing. On a cold Winter's day, she would tell you she'd just come in from the garden to prepare lunch for Ury.
She and Ury were married almost 63 years and the love between them was apparent to any visitor.
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