This is an excerpt from an article by Marguerite Palmer, 
Garden Editor of The Houston Press 
Lily Farm at Spring Proves Worth 
to Houston Area; Many New 
Varieties Developed 
Nearly six years ago there was an 
article in the Garden Page of The 
Houston Press telling of the arrival of a 
hybridizer of hemerocallis, H. M. Rus- 
sell from South Carolina. The Chamber 
of Commerce announced that Mr. 
Russell would start a daylily farm in 
Houston, due to the excellence of the 
soil and climatic conditions of the 
Houston area. An extensive research 
and hybridization were planned for the 
lily farm. 
Today, there is a nine-acre lily farm. 
established at Spring, 23 miles from 
Houston, with more than a half-million 
plants. 
Thirteen species found in Europe 
have been used by Mr. Russell to ob- 
tain new varieties. Many of the new 
lilies have been crossed and hybridized 
for 15 generations, and Mr. Russell with 
his patience and skill has developed 
lilies which will remain open for the 
night, have many new colorings, differ- 
ent textures, a larger expanse in the 
opening of the throat and have been 
climatized to withstand heat, extreme 
cold and to defy the floods and heavy 
rains. 
The Marguerite Palmer, named for 
the garden editor of The Press, has a 
bloom with petals fully reflexed and 
four and a half inches in diameter in the 
rounded bloom. This new variety is 
brownish red in color with a salmon 
sheen. It is a twice bloomer, appearing 
in both spring and fall. The ‘Mary Rice 
Fuller, named for the mother of Mrs. 
Palmer, is a 1943 Russell hybrid, with 
petals a soft canary-yellow with a dis- 
tinct deep rose eye zone. The sepals are 
lemon-colored, giving the softest and 
most pleasing effect. It blooms in April 
and May and again in late summer. 
The Pride of Houston, a Russell 1942, 
has a brilliant flower with dark ma- 
hogany-red petals with almost black 
eye zone. The sepals are a lighter shade, 
with the throat a deep orange. This 
variety with its velvety satin sheen de- 


fies our hottest sun and blooms in May 
and June. 
Mrs. R. C. Meysenburg, 5401 Caro- 
line, who has been horticultural adviser 
for the Southwest region of the Garden 
Club of America, has become an _ en- 
thusiast in planting the Russell hybrids 
and one garden bed is filled with the 
choicest varieties. She is proud of her 
Red Emperior, “‘so appropriately 
named,”’ she said, “‘for the blossoms are 
very large, with reddish brown color- 
ings.’ 
“There is no reason for anyone to 
tire of the colorings of daylilies,”’ said 
Mr. Russell, ‘“‘for they are so varied. 
Too, they do not usurp the garden, for 
the hybrids do not send out runners 
and they remain in compact clumps. 
The division can be left alone from year 
to year, making larger clumps and pro- 
ducing more blooms each season. By 
selecting different varieties, daylilies 
can be in bloom in the garden for four 
or five months of the year. The varie- 
ties also differ in height.” 
Another interesting feature of the 
daylilies is their hardiness; they flourish 
under a varied range of soil and climatic 
conditions. Wet or dry, acid or lime, 
sand or clay, sun or shade, they pursue 
their habit of giving charm to the gar- 
den, and strange to say, they have no 
attractions for insects. 
‘See that field,’ said Mr. Russell. 
“The pigs will be turned in there to feed 
on the roots.’ To the casual observer, 
all the lilies seem to be the best varie- 
ties but to Mr. Russell there were 
faults in them. 
“There is a difference; a true variety 
has life, sheen, color, vigor—it is alive,” 
he said. ““These others do not come up 
to standard and will not be allowed to 
grow in anyone’s garden.” 
Shipments have been made to every 
state in the Union besides Canada and 
Mexico. The industry has grown until 
it has become an asset to industrial 
Houston. 
RUSSELL GARDENS 
