Jennie Paul’s Lillie Patch Is A Little Glimpse Of Heaven

7/9/2015

Jennie Paul, holding one of the hundreds of varieties of daylilies on her rural acreage.

Of all the lovely places to find oneself on a summer evening, Jennie Paul’s Lillie Patch is perhaps one of the most enchanted spots on Earth. The rural Elgin area native’s flower gardens particularly shine in July, when her hundreds of varieties of daylilies are in full bloom.

While the lilies put on their 24-hour display, few people even know her gardens exist. Many drive past the snug, grey house tucked in by blankets of flowers without realizing the beauty that lies just a few yards away. Paul’s historic home is located southwest of Neligh on 846th Road, and she insists that all are welcome to stop by and stroll through her gardens.

“Anyone who wants to tour my garden is welcome. All I have is a cat—and she won’t bother you,” Paul laughs.

The mother and grandmother keeps busy tending to her grounds during the growing season, and while all varieties of flowers are accounted for, Paul’s love of daylilies is in evidence around every turn. She estimates that she has over 200 varieties, most of which she has gathered from friends over the years. Her garden is named after her friend’s mother, Lillie, who passed away, and whose own daylilies were a large starting place of her own budding collection.

Daylilies are often described as “the perfect perennial,” due to their ease of growth, natural disease resistance, and overall beauty. The scientific name for daylily is Hemerocallis, derived from two Greek words meaning "beauty" and "day," referring to the fact that each individual flower lasts only one day.

But what a glorious day it is! And since the 1930s hybridizers have been working to create ever more stunning hybrids each year. Paul remembers when the Stella de Oro re-blooming hybrid came out. She paid $12 for one plant, which is the second most she’s ever paid for a variety. All the others have come from friends, and she often remembers those friends when she sees the plants blooming along her garden walks.

Raising four kids, it was often a challenge to find the time to dedicate to flowers.

“I always tried to have a garden. My own mother and grandmothers had flower and vegetable gardens. I guess it’s in the DNA.” Her Aunt Willetta even hybridized a common “ditch” daylily years ago, and Paul proudly shows off the descendent plant in her own garden.

After Paul’s husband, Bill, passed away in 1996, she decided to expand her backyard garden, going so far as to cut the sod away from her existing lawn in order to accommodate her burgeoning blossoms. Over the course of several years, her gardens kept expanding.

“It just sort of happened,” Paul explains with a shrug.

The greatest challenge initially came with amending the Valentine sand that makes up most of her yard, and she has added truckloads of wood chips to the ground to make the soil more amenable to growing flowers—something the energetic 74 year old has evidently pulled off.

The other ongoing challenge is something gardeners have faced since the beginning of time—weeds. While wielding a hoe is not every gardener’s favorite, it has clearly helped Paul stay active until the summer is over. Once the garden is put to bed, she keeps busy by refinishing and reupholstering furniture for people during the winter months.

It’s hard to keep up with Paul as she briskly leads visitors through the blooms, and one marvels at her ability to cite each variety’s name with ease. However, when it comes to naming her favorite variety, Paul can locate it, but ironically forgets its name. She has scoured catalogues trying to identify it, but has so far come up short.

While that mystery remains, Paul is looking forward to canning in a few weeks, as her garden vegetables yield their harvest. Until then, she is enjoying the daylilies at the height of their beauty, and looks forward to many more evenings in their midst.