Marjorie Tanner--The Daylily Lady
by Nettie Harper (originally printed in ARKLA)
I am so pleased to be able to tell you a little bit about the "Daylily Lady," the late Marjorie Tanner.
Having moved to Dupont, LA, four years ago with a collections of over two hundred daylilies, we
Started making raised beds. Neighbors seeing all of these plants told me that there was a "Daylily Lady"
that lived in Cheneyville, LA. I attempted to see Mrs. Tanner, but her faithful helper, Hattie Harris, said she was
ill and wasn't receiving visitors. To my sorrow I never did get to meet her. Mrs. Tanner died in September
of 1998. To find out something about this legendary lady, I called her daughter Julia Monk and she
very graciously invited me over.
"Both of my parents hybridized daylilies," said Julia. "My father had the green thumb and my mother had the
determination". She stated that her father, C. T. Tanner, originally grew and hybridized amaryllis as a
hobby until a hard freeze killed most of them. They were introduced to daylilies by Louise Simon and
Mary Louise Rider. "When my parents started growing daylilies, the daylily groups were more family-oriented
than they are now. We grew up withe the children of other hybridizers, such as the Durios, the Crochets,
and the McKinneys". She said she remembers only one vacation that had nothing to do with daylilies.
All other free time was spent visiting with daylily people such as dear friends the MacMillans in Abbeville,
Van Sellers, Edna Spalding, and Joan and Luke Senoir, to mention a few.
When her younger brother was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, they were unable to travel as often or have
many visitors. They then started to devote more time to their sales garden and to hybridizing. "My Dad was
more interested in tetraploids," said Julia. "My mom like big, rolled-back daylilies".
BALLERINA PINK--6.5" rose pink, tetraploid, 1968; SUMMER FASHION--6" yellow with red eye,
tetraploid, 1970; PAY CHECK--6.5" yellow with henna eye, 1973. These are but a few of the many daylilies
hybridized by C. T. Tanner. He died of cancer in 1976.
"Mom's determination payed off. She learned how to run the Kaboda tractor and tiller, and with the help of
Hattie Harris, farmed three to five multicolored acres of blooming beauty," said Julia. "Her garden reflected her
interest in and knowledge of daylilies. She sent me to four years of college with those daylilies. My mother
was a gracious lady and outspoken perfectionist. She loved to teach the novice about daylilies".
Her most active time was from 1976 to 1984. She held many daylily tours, was active in many daylily
functions, and spoke to several garden clubs. She won Best News Article and Special Appreciate Award
at Regional Convention in 1980. She was RPD of Region 13 in 1979 and 1980.
In an article written in the Alexandrai Daily Town Talk, May 17, 1992, Mrs. Tanner stated "Used to be there
were just a few people who really knew about daylilies. Now everybody wants them. You don't have to
water daily. You don't have to prune daily. You can group them and make splashes of color. They are low
maintenance plants".
BERYL QUINN--6.5" dusty rose with a lavender eye and greed throat, 1984; LAVENDER CHARM--5.5
lavender self with green throat, 1973; TORCH SONG--5.5 red self with a yellow green throat, 1973;
CENLA PECAN--4" light pink with a maroon eye, 1979. These are but a few of the many daylilies
hybridized by Majorie Tanner.
Julia said in closing our conversation, "I know that my mother wasn't old shen she died. She said that she
wouldn't be old until she reached eighty". Marjorie Tanner died in September of 1998, one month before
her eightieth birthday.
Michael Turley, a long-time friend of the Tanners, and daylily enthusiast and hybridizer himself, gives his list
of the best Tanner cultivars.
-----------------------
ITS OURS--very dark red
ROCKET BEACH--dark red
JOHNNE RAYBURN--red, not fully sunfast, but nice branching and colorful
MICKEY MARCOTTE--lavender pink
MICHAEL OMAR--big, round, ruffled, creamy yellow, named for my son
BERYL QUINN--6.5" dusty rose with lavender eyezone
LITTLE FELLOW--small bluish lavender
LELAND RYDER JUNIOR--big burgundy self
ANNE MCNUTT--beautiful pin, lighter midribs, ruffling, lavender cast
CENLA MARVEL--large recurved yellow
LIGHT SABER--5.5" purple, white midrib, darker eyeszone, distinctive
ROBERT TURLEY--another pretty red
SERENITY MORGAN--big round cream pink out of HOPE DIAMOND and ZAIDEE WILLIAMS
SPIDERWEB--classic big gold self spider variant
STACY COX--4.5" butter yellow double, 1980 Emma Middlebrooks Award Winner
