by Tina Cotter
The Connecticut Daylily Society eagerly awaits spring’s arrival with a highly anticipated presentation by horticulturalist Dan Pessoni on Saturday, March 21 at the Avon Senior Center. Mr. Pessoni is an accomplished grower whose expansive gardens feature daylilies, hydrangeas, and hosta, along with many companion perennials.
Mr. Pessoni, known in horticultural circles as “Dan, the Lily Man,” resided in Newington, CT prior to retiring to East Orleans, Cape Cod where he is a member of the Cape Cod Hydrangea Society, the Wellfleet Gardeners, and treasurer of the Cape Cod chapter of the American Rhododendron Society. He is past president of the New England Daylily Society, and current Region 4 treasurer of the American Hemerocallis Society. He is also a senior daylily exhibition judge and serves as chairman of the New England Daylily Society’s annual daylily exhibition. His breathtaking mixed perennial gardens in East Orleans are an official AHS display garden.
Get a jump on spring with fresh inspiration for your own backyard paradise by joining us for this fun event! Social hour with refreshments begins at noon. Following a brief business meeting at 1:00, Mr. Pessoni’s program will begin at 1:30. Using slides that showcase his designs, Mr. Pessoni will discuss his gardening wisdom and challenges and also will answer audience questions.
In this presentation of his Driftwood Gardens, which is the outer Cape’s only nationally registered American Hemerocallis (Daylily) Display Garden, there are 800 different varieties of labeled current and modern daylilies.
Leaving the daylily garden, the presentation continues into his huge shade garden, where over 300 labeled varieties of hosta are interspersed with heuchera, ferns, and Solomon’s Seal. Special beds have been created for small and miniature hosta.
From there, we enter the hydrangea garden where there are more than 50 labeled varieties.
The first part of the presentation ends with a look at his extensive rhododendron garden.
The second part of Dan’s program will feature the history of daylilies, showing how hybridizing has changed the original species to the modern daylily.
The Connecticut Daylily Society invites all interested gardeners to attend this and all of its educational programs. Join us and enjoy the camaraderie of fellow gardening enthusiasts! This event is free of charge.
The Avon Senior Center is located at the Sycamore Hills Recreation Center, 635 West Avon. Road (Rt. 167) at the junction of Sycamore and Scoville Roads.
Further information and detailed directions can be found here.
Connecticut Daylily Society 