Everyone has made points I can agree with. Carbon sequestration works better if the roots can go deep. The roots go deep at Rodale because they plow deep 2 years and then use no-till the third year. The organic matter and amendments have been worked deep so the roots go deep. They reduce erosion with cover crops but they do not eliminate it. Any act of disturbing the soil no matter how small allows some erosion. I think we are missing the real solution to the problem. The real solution is to stop buying corn fed beef (eat grass fed). Farmers will grow corn as long as people buy it. It is easier to make beef taste good with corn, but it can be done with grass. It is just harder. If managed properly, permanent pastures are the best way to stop erosion and actually build soil. We should also stop using corn for ethanol even if it is "no-till". It consumes as much as it produces and still causes erosion. It is important to keep pushing for true no-till or even partial no-till, but lets chop off the head of the snake, not the tail. In my garden, I can only use no-till about every 3-4 years. Most of the time I disturb the soil by mowing first. Then I till shallow. Then I till deep if necessary. It gives the insects and worms a chance to withdraw. Then I plant very quickly to cover the soil and feed the mycorrhizal fungus. Everything recovers quickly. Here is a link that might be useful: Garden For Nutrition This post was edited by GreeneGarden on Tue, Dec 11, 12 at 19:25

Hello, my name is David Burris. Other than our daylily nursery, here are some other things about me.. I used to fish on the B.A.S.S., and Red Man Tournament trail(Now FLW)years ago. I'm an avid bowhunter,sportsman, and conservationist. I have 3 boys...20,15,14. I work full time at our hospital as well. I have a cousin who drives Nascar (Mark Martin). Mark and my Dad are actually first cousins, so I'm a second cousin. I'm developing a real passion for our Bluebirds here on our farm and we annually have an average of around 40-50 nesting pairs that raise many MANY babies. I use to draw and paint some when I was younger and I'm kind of rediscovering that in the last few years...One thing I have noticed is that hardly anyone does daylily portraits, other than a few I have seen that are copied from photos...So that is an interest to capture daylilies and wildlife(especially Bluebirds) together on paper and canvas. We have Sicillian minature donkeys, pygmy and angora goats, many different exotic chickens and Mango our cat, in which my intro H. "Mango Kitty" was named for. We are going to add 3 acres or so of Blueberries,Blackberries,Raspberries,Currants, Gooseberries,Strawberries and some other oddball fruits and berries over the next few years. I have an orchard of cherries,apples,pears,peaches, and plums. We are currently adding a new pond as well. I'm 42 years old but hope to retire from my "regular" job in a few more years and pursue gardening more and more. Well that's it for my condensed life story..LOL.

Hi Julie, I think that the best advice I could give is that you decide on how much you can spend on travel (and of course the daylilies you will want to buy when you see them in person!) and then see how far from home you can go. There are display gardens all around the country, but I see only one in Oregon although there are three in Washington. You can look them up on the AHS web site which is http://www.daylilies.org/daylilies.html Then click on Regional ACtivities. You are in Region 8. If your buget allows, there is also something called Daylily Mecca - one in the upper midwest (Ohio, Michigan and Kentucky) and another in Florida where hybridizers' gardens are open over a several day period. I looked briefly and could not find anything about the one in Florida for 2009, but if it is happening, it would likely be in late May or early June. The one in Ohio is in the planning stages. It will likely be a 2 - 4 weeks after the one in Florida. You can see a bunch of gardens in a relatively short time. Info for this is at http://www.northernmecca.com Other than that, if you can find individual growers in your area, or somewhere that you would not mind going to for those three days, nearly all of them will be glad to tell you when their peak bloom season occurs and they will welcome your visit. Besides the National Convention mentioned above, each AHS Region generally has their own annual get together which revolves around garden visits and a lot of good food. I'm in Georgia, and our Regional meeting is the first weekend in June with tours planned for both Saturday and Sunday. Good luck finding what you want. I'm sure that there are other regional meeting closer to you. They should be listed (or will soon be listed) on the AHS web site Larry

TG is not shared at least in MA- it was a winner in a "Largest Leaf" contest at First Look a few years ago, and became an immediate "Must Have!" for me. Found it;bought it in 2009. Still a baby. Ebb Tide is a stunner- deserves better placement in my yard. Have owned it for years-before the database that would remind me where I got it.In my Top 10. Many heartfelt thanks to Steve for the wonderful garden photos and writeups. I cherish the compliment that mine is a garden that you are not afraid to step into. Just pull a weed on your way out!