Nova Scotia Daylily Society Baby-sitting Plant Program
In 2005, the NSDS initiated a babysitting program as a means of acquiring new plants for our members to grow in their gardens.
The program is intended as both a fundraiser for the club, as well as providing our members with the opportunity to grow daylilies that otherwise may not be easy to purchase. (If you're new to Daylilies (with a capital D), you may not know that newly indroduced hybrids can cost as much as $200(US) per single fan.)
The program works this way:
Each fall the club decides on a selection of daylilies to purchase for the next spring's Babysitting Program. A power point program consisting of photos & registration information is presented during the November and/or December meeting. Members are given ballot sheets to make their selections. The plants/groupings that receive the highest votes are then ordered for distribution the next spring.
Members grow the plants for two years. At the end of the two-year period, the member keeps one fan and returns the remaining fans to the club. The returned fans are then auctioned at the meeting.
To qualify to receive a plant to 'baby-sit', a member must have joined the club prior to the current year. The member must also have attended a minimum of four meetings during the past twelve months. Attending the July 'Daylily Daze' counts as a meeting.
At the Baby-sitting Plants distribution meeting (usually May), all qualifying members present at the meeting are eligible to receive a plant. Names are drawn at random until all the plants are distributed.
As our membership has increased considerably during the past year, we will be initiating a new step in 2008. Any qualifying members present at the distribution meeting that are already growing a babysitting plant will not have their names entered in the draw until the newer qualifying members that are present have received their plant. This will ensure that all members have the opportunity to grow a plant.
