2020 Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award Winner
Pat Mansfield
I respectfully would like to nominate Pat Mansfield of Coastal NC Daylily Society (CNCDS) for the Herman Pruitt
Mentoring Award for 2020. Pat exemplifies the daylily lover that goes above and beyond to promote daylilies as the
“perfect perennial.” She does this on professional level as the owner and grower of Mansfield’s Daylilies and on a social
level as the president of the CNCDS, and on a personal level in the mentoring of her grandchildren on the joy of growing
daylilies.
Pat retired in 2018 from her position of Engineer for the Division One N.C. Department of Transportation’s Roadside
Environmental Unit where she was charged with developing harmony between the natural and man-made
environments along North Carolina’s roadways.
If you pass under an interchange on Highway 64 with landscaped slopes, visit a beautifully landscaped state Welcome
Center like the one in the Dismal Swamp, or look at miles of daylilies planted on a highway median, well, Pat might have
had a hand in making them all happen.
As Pat approached retirement, she and her husband Bill committed to establishing a nursery devoted to daylilies. To
date, they boast over fifteen hundred cultivars and have plans to expand.
I have been in her gardens and watched Pat’s interactions with the general public. Her approach is not one to sell any
given cultivar, but more to explain the characteristics of the plant and how it might fare in a new location. She is
extremely knowledgeable and enjoys sharing that information without personal bias.
Pat regularly meets with any garden group that is in search of a speaker. As president of the CNCDS, she makes sure
every meeting has an educational component. Every monthly newsletter has an educational component which may be
as simple as how to assess the soil in a garden or how to hybridize and track a new daylily. She speaks from her personal
experience as a gardener but is open to new ideas and techniques.
Her passion for promoting daylilies was demonstrated in the planning for the Region 15 Fall Meeting. Pat insisted on an
“A” list set of speakers for the event. She wanted speakers that would have relevance to all levels, from beginners up to
the professional grower. And she wanted voices that hadn’t been heard before in the Region. As a personal goal she
shared with everyone on the OBX Autumn 2020 committee was that we need to produce an event at least as good as
Lilyhemmer. An event our guests will talk about for a long while.
On a personal level, Pat has instilled a love for daylilies in her two granddaughters. Visiting the garden on any given day,
it’s obvious that the two young ladies know their stuff when it comes to daylilies. To grow our Society and the ADS ranks
in general, Pat proposed that the CNCDS create a Junior level membership, which was approved.
I have been a member of the Region 3’s Tidewater Daylily Club, have been to numerous Regional Meetings, and have
been to two ADS National conventions, meeting the movers and shakers of the daylily world. I can honestly say that I
have never met a person quite like Pat in her seemingly endless energy and passion for promoting any and all things
daylily. It is for all the examples listed that I again think she is most deserving of the Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award.
Submitted and photo by Ken Ferguson
Mentoring Award for 2020. Pat exemplifies the daylily lover that goes above and beyond to promote daylilies as the
“perfect perennial.” She does this on professional level as the owner and grower of Mansfield’s Daylilies and on a social
level as the president of the CNCDS, and on a personal level in the mentoring of her grandchildren on the joy of growing
daylilies.
Pat retired in 2018 from her position of Engineer for the Division One N.C. Department of Transportation’s Roadside
Environmental Unit where she was charged with developing harmony between the natural and man-made
environments along North Carolina’s roadways.
If you pass under an interchange on Highway 64 with landscaped slopes, visit a beautifully landscaped state Welcome
Center like the one in the Dismal Swamp, or look at miles of daylilies planted on a highway median, well, Pat might have
had a hand in making them all happen.
As Pat approached retirement, she and her husband Bill committed to establishing a nursery devoted to daylilies. To
date, they boast over fifteen hundred cultivars and have plans to expand.
I have been in her gardens and watched Pat’s interactions with the general public. Her approach is not one to sell any
given cultivar, but more to explain the characteristics of the plant and how it might fare in a new location. She is
extremely knowledgeable and enjoys sharing that information without personal bias.
Pat regularly meets with any garden group that is in search of a speaker. As president of the CNCDS, she makes sure
every meeting has an educational component. Every monthly newsletter has an educational component which may be
as simple as how to assess the soil in a garden or how to hybridize and track a new daylily. She speaks from her personal
experience as a gardener but is open to new ideas and techniques.
Her passion for promoting daylilies was demonstrated in the planning for the Region 15 Fall Meeting. Pat insisted on an
“A” list set of speakers for the event. She wanted speakers that would have relevance to all levels, from beginners up to
the professional grower. And she wanted voices that hadn’t been heard before in the Region. As a personal goal she
shared with everyone on the OBX Autumn 2020 committee was that we need to produce an event at least as good as
Lilyhemmer. An event our guests will talk about for a long while.
On a personal level, Pat has instilled a love for daylilies in her two granddaughters. Visiting the garden on any given day,
it’s obvious that the two young ladies know their stuff when it comes to daylilies. To grow our Society and the ADS ranks
in general, Pat proposed that the CNCDS create a Junior level membership, which was approved.
I have been a member of the Region 3’s Tidewater Daylily Club, have been to numerous Regional Meetings, and have
been to two ADS National conventions, meeting the movers and shakers of the daylily world. I can honestly say that I
have never met a person quite like Pat in her seemingly endless energy and passion for promoting any and all things
daylily. It is for all the examples listed that I again think she is most deserving of the Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award.
Submitted and photo by Ken Ferguson
The Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award was established in 2010 by the Central Daylily Club in memory of its founder, Herman Pruitt, and to honor and perpetuate his mentoring efforts in Region 15. Generous with both his time and personal resources, Herman Pruitt exemplified the term “role model” for others. The award is open to any Region 15 member who has made outstanding efforts in mentoring others regarding daylilies. This may include mentoring youth, new hybridizers, or a new daylily club.
The Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award was sponsored by the Central Daylily Club from fall 2011-fall 2015. When the club dissolved in 2015, the newly formed Triad Daylily Fans and Gardening Club agreed to assume sponsorship.
Nominations for the Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award must be presented to the Awards Management Chair by September 1 of each year. Nominations should be in narrative form and should include details of the nominee’s mentoring efforts as well as provide any other information about the nominee’s contributions to AHS and Region 15. Nominations will be reviewed and voted on by the Region 15 Board. An engraved plaque will be presented to the winner at the Region 15 fall meeting by the president of the sponsoring club or the president’s designee.
Previous Recipients of the Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award
James David Stadler 2019
Van Sellers and Vic Santa Lucia 2018
No nominee 2017
Raymond Quin 2016
Ken Cobb 2015
No nominees 2014
Jim & Peggy Jeffcoat 2013
Linda Sue Barnes 2012
Roger Mercer 2011
The Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award was sponsored by the Central Daylily Club from fall 2011-fall 2015. When the club dissolved in 2015, the newly formed Triad Daylily Fans and Gardening Club agreed to assume sponsorship.
Nominations for the Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award must be presented to the Awards Management Chair by September 1 of each year. Nominations should be in narrative form and should include details of the nominee’s mentoring efforts as well as provide any other information about the nominee’s contributions to AHS and Region 15. Nominations will be reviewed and voted on by the Region 15 Board. An engraved plaque will be presented to the winner at the Region 15 fall meeting by the president of the sponsoring club or the president’s designee.
Previous Recipients of the Herman Pruitt Mentoring Award
James David Stadler 2019
Van Sellers and Vic Santa Lucia 2018
No nominee 2017
Raymond Quin 2016
Ken Cobb 2015
No nominees 2014
Jim & Peggy Jeffcoat 2013
Linda Sue Barnes 2012
Roger Mercer 2011