2017 Winner of Carolina Seedling Award

​ Sponsored by:   Foothills Daylily Society

      Presenter:    John Martin, President

       Cultivar:   #5  Ed Zahler

The Region 15 seedling bed competition was established around 1977 as the Alma Webb Coe Award sponsored by the Allgood family. It was later sponsored by the Western NC Daylily Club and is currently sponsored by the Foothills Daylily Society. Unfortunately, the original contest rules have not been uncovered. Thus at the 2010 Region 15 fall business meeting, the region approved the following rules presented by the Awards Management Committee in an attempt to reconstruct and establish a comprehensive policy and procedure based on our traditions as well as the best practices of other regions holding similar competitions.
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Carolina Seedling Award Contest Rules:
1.)  The Carolina Seedling competition is open to all AHS member hybridizers from Region 15. To be eligible for the competition, seedlings must remain unregistered until after the summer regional meeting.
2.)  Award recipients remain eligible in successive years.
3.)  As soon as practicable, the host club for the summer regional meeting will provide prospective entrants notice through the Region 15 newsletter and through electronic postings of the following:
                         *  the name and shipping address of the host garden
                         *  when the garden will begin accepting entries
                         *  how many entries per hybridizer may be exhibited.
4.)  Entries will be accepted no earlier than two years prior to the tour date and no later than the fall meeting of the year preceding the garden tour. The hybridizer is responsible for getting his/her entries to the garden host.
5.)  The hybridizer may enter up to five (5) seedlings unless space is limited, in which case entries may be restricted to three (3) per entrant at the request of the garden host.
6.)  Entries may consist of no more than three fans each at time of submittal.
7.)  All entries shall be located in one bed which is identified with appropriate signage. If at all possible, the bed shall not be shared with named cultivars, or there must at least be a clear delineation to avoid any possibility of confusion. The bed shall be situated both for suitable viewing and to ensure growing conditions which are as equal as possible for all entries. The regional meeting chair shall be responsible for assuring that the bed is maintained according to acceptable horticultural practices.
Each seedling will be clearly identified with a unique number assigned by the garden host and known only by the garden host and the Awards Management Chair prior to the announcement of the winner.
Should a plant die, upon notification by the garden host, a replacement of no more than three fans is allowed if provided within the original time window as stated above.
8.)  Each registered attendee for the Region 15 summer meeting, AHS member or not, will receive a ballot to choose the seedling he/she believes exhibits best overall bloom and plant habit. Ballots will be distributed by bus captains and collected at the end of the garden tour, or optionally a sealed box may be provided in the host garden. In either case, the ballots or box shall be promptly turned over to the Awards Management Chair upon conclusion of the tour.
Ballots will be counted by the Awards Management Committee and will remain secret until the time of the announcement of the winner. The winning hybridizer will be presented an appropriately chosen award by the president of the sponsoring club or by the president’s designee at the summer meeting banquet .
9.)  Should a plant die, upon notification by the garden host, a replacement of no more than three fans is allowed if provided within the original time window as stated above.
10.)  Each registered attendee for the Region 15 summer meeting, AHS member or not, will receive a ballot to choose the seedling he/she believes exhibits best overall bloom and plant habit. Ballots will be distributed by bus captains and collected at the end of the garden tour, or optionally a sealed box may be provided in the host garden. In either case, the ballots or box shall be promptly turned over to the Awards Management Chair upon conclusion of the tour.
11.)  Ballots will be counted by the Awards Management Committee and will remain secret until the time of the announcement of the winner. The winning hybridizer will be presented an appropriately chosen award by the president of the sponsoring club or by the president’s designee at the summer meeting banquet
12.)  Ethical Conduct:

• The seedling bed host is expected to treat all seedlings equally in terms of number of fans planted, placement, irrigation, and fertilization.
  
• The garden host shall not use the pollen or seed pods on the guest seedlings  
  
• Before the balloting is complete, a hybridizer shall not identify that a seedling is his/hers or that he/she even has a seedling in the competition.
  
• Anyone else who can identify a seedling’s hybridizer, however innocently, (ie. having seen it in the hybridizer’s garden or in a slide show) must not discuss this knowledge with others.                  
  
• A seedling not in bloom on a tour day may be resubmitted in a future competition.
  

13. )  Disposition of Plants:
The hybridizer will designate the final disposition of his/her plants, including a request that they be destroyed. If any portion is to be returned, he/she shall arrange pickup or pay the garden host’s shipping fees. Any plants remaining with the garden host may be kept or disposed of as the host sees fit.


If you have questions regarding these rules, contact the current Awards Management Chair.

Previous Winners of the Carolina Seedling Award Since 2008:
2016--John Smythurst
2015—Ed Zahler
2014—Dan Walker
2013—Jim Jeffcoat
2012—Ken Dye
2011—Peggy Jeffcoat
2010—(No seedling bed in 2010 due to short notice of summer meeting)
2009—Raymond Lockaby
2008—Ken Dye