John Lambert by Joanne Huff
Dr. Lambert was born in New Windsor, MD. He and his wife, Dorothy, grew up, went to high school, and got married in Thurmont, MD. Their ashes have been scattered on the family plot in the cemetery at the top of Altamont Avenue, Thurmont.. When I read the information sent to me by Lambert's son, John, and from the AlumnaeOffice at Hood College, it became apparent to me that this marriage was a true partnership in that they shared so many interests. It is almost impossible to write about Lambert without mentioning his wife and family. Both were well-educated, loved music, were well-traveled, enjoyed fine food and drink, and assisted each other in their endeavors.
John R. Lambert received his MA from Western Maryland College, Westminster, Maryland and his Ph.D. in history from Princeton. Dorothy Wiseman Lambert graduated from Hood College, Class of 1936, attended the Peabody Conservatory of Music, and the Eastman School of Music. Lambert wrote in his notes about his daylily named IVY LEAGUE, "Although I have studied at both Harvard and Princeton--the former, learning to be a Navy officer, the latter, an historian---I still resent the inherent snobbery characterizing the so-called Ivy League." He served in the Navy and wrote in his notes about his daylily introduction named TANFORAN, "Tanforan Racetrack, San Bruno, California was the site of the U. S. Naval Advance Base Depot during 1944-45, where I was in turn Enlisted Personnel Officer and Advance Base Liason Officer." He retired from the US Naval Reserve as a Lieutenant Commander.
Both John and Dorothy Lambert were teachers. John taught at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh, PA, and in 1952 joined the staff of North Carolina State University (the Raleigh branch of the University of North Carolina.) He later became the Director of Division of University Studies there. Dorothy Lambert was an organist, choir director, teacher in public schools, junior colleges, and University of Pittsburgh.
Dr. Lambert was a man of varied interests. In addition to teaching social studies in the NCSU Division of University Studies, he had a particular passion for classical music and was one of the founders of the Friends of the College concert series. He and his family traveled widely and maintained extensive correspondence with friends around the globe. He bred Pembroke and Cardigan Welsh Corgi dogs, was a dog show judge, wrote a regular column for the AKC Gazette, and for a time wrote for the Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America, too. He also wrote articles for the AHS Journal.
Although it is not clear what inspired him to take up his horticultural avocation, it is believed that he may have been influenced by some of the first people he met when he moved to Raleigh---- local daylily pioneers Robert Baker Wynne, a NCSU professor of English, and Isabelle Bowen Henderson, who was also famous for her irises. What IS clear is that Lambert began hybridizing almost immediately after moving to the country residence that he named "Hermitage."
In his son's words, "Actually the daylily side of the house was basically Dad's undertaking. They also operated Hermitage Kennels, raising pure-bred Pembroke and Cardigan Welsh Corgis for many years, and that was her primary interest, although he did most of the 'heavy lifting' in the kennels. The names (in both cases --dogs and daylilies) were shaped in large measure by their great passion for the arts, science, literature, and travel. In the case of the dogs, there was a pattern that helped them keep the titles straight: the names of members of each litter were drawn from the letters of 'Hermitage Kennels' (and, after litter number 16, the rest of the address of their place in the country.) (It wasn't named for THE Hermitage---it was an hermitage, and it was selected after a snide colleague at NCSU complained that 'those Lamberts have moved to the country--they're anti-social--they're hermits!')"
Lambert, as a hybridizer, was a meticulous record-keeper. He viewed his work as developmental so he made no effort to retain early daylilies that he didn't think he'd need for breeding purposes. He had a small garden which he tended by himself for the most part until near the end. After he had a leg amputated he had the help of a young man from the neighborhood. His son wrote, "As you may know, the market is dominated by 'new' introductions, and prices drop precipitously after a few years, so there is little eonomic incentive for growers to retain older stock. I hope that when I get going on this project (and there's no telling when I will do so!), I will be able to find older, established gardens that have not been updated very often. It's probably our best hope for tracking down some of the early Lamberts."
The Raleigh Hemerocallis Club and the City of Raleigh Parks and Recreation Department, in a joint project initiated by Pat Wheeler, a life-long friend of the family, dedicated a display garden to the memory of Region 15 Bertrand Farr medalist, Dr. John R. Lambert, Jr. Through donations of generous growers, approximately 400 of the 500 plus Lambert introductions were planted there. The search for the missing ones continues.
In December, 1990, when Dr. Lambert's work was basically over, a master list of Lambert registrations was compiled with the help of Jim Whitacre, a gardener and grower with a penchant for desktop publishing. Dr. Lambert's son, John W, was recalled to active duty for Desert Storm, and by the time he returned, the Lamberts had decided to move to a retirement community. John W. saved a copy of the book of registrations which contained some illustrations, and in most cases an explanation of the name, along with a description of the cultivar including height, color, etc. He shared a simple copy of the book with me (84 pages without the illustrations and photos) and stated, "Since you have seen some of his correspondence I trust you will not take offense at some of his comments in the book. Dad was a highly opinionated person and he never minced words." John W. added, "Dad had many disagreements with the AHS registrar, thinking that he was always being arbitrary. Talk about pots calling kettles.............( One example I recall hearing concerned the registration of his series, WHO'S WHO, WHAT'S WHAT, and THAT'S THAT. He had registered the first two previously ---apparently with no difficulty, but when he tried to register THAT'S THAT, there were some exchanges of words about why it couldn't be done because the name contained an apostrophe. Apparently Dr. Lambert won that battle because THAT'S THAT was registered as such.)
When Dorothy Lambert died in Feb., 2002, and information about the obituary was sent to the AHS Robin, Bill Watson posted the following message; "Because of sudden renewed interest in the daylilies of Dr. John Lambert, I think this might be of interest to some." "I did not meet Dr. Lambert until the early nineties by which time he had had a leg amputated and was in a wheelchair. Virginia Peck was supposed to speak at a Region 15 meeting about the notorious Chicago national tetraploid storm. She had eye surgery and could not attend, so Dr. Lambert read her speech for her."
"Later, I toured his garden during another regional meeting held in Raleigh. He sat in thegarden in his wheelchair with Dorothy by his side. That was the first time I met her. I remember someone saying to me, 'Lambert is just a cantankerous old man.' I also remember thinking, 'If that wonderful lady loves him, he can't be bad.'"
"Not long after that, the region, which had been giving an annual award to an outstanding regional hybridizer..."The John Lambert Award"....received instructions from Dr. Lambert to change the name of that award. It became The Region 15 Hybridizers' Award."
"Fast forward to Dr. Lambert's death. By the time I was Region 15 RPD and editor of our Hem-alina, I received a message from the family that Dr. Lambert had left instructions that no emorial of any kind was to be published in either the AHS Journal or the Region 15 Hem-alina. This seemed so odd, since he had been a major force in our region and in AHS for years. He received the Bertrand Farr Silver Medal for excellence in hybridizing in 1976. Frances Gatlin, the Journal editor at that time, contacted me in a quandary. Finally, we both included only a brief statement of his passing."
"Later someone told me that Dr. Lambert had a major falling out with AHS. I
never learned the details."
"It was a great surprise to me a couple of years later that the family sanctioned the Lambert Memorial Garden in a public park in Raleigh. I am glad they did. I attended the dedication and got to meet Rosemary Whitacre. If not for that function, I would probably never have met that wonderful lady."
"I know Dr. Lambert was a generous man. His grandson was enrolled in the Landscape Gardening program at the college where I taught. Dr. Lambert donated over 200 of his daylilies to the college's Horticultural Gardens."
"Just another trip down 'Daylily Memory Lane.'"
"Bill
"Bill Watson, Pinehurst, NC"
Dr. Lambert was indeed a generous, kind, and compassionate man. On numerous occasions he donated entire stocks of his introductions and other daylilies to individuals or organizations. Hood College and Sandhills Community College were two previously mentioned recipients and the Raleigh Jaycees Center and Springmoor Retirement Community were others. Stock of his daylily NELL HIRSCHBERG was given to Temple Beth Or. He noted, "With Gerry Cate a key figure in Raleigh's musical life, Nell was for years Raleigh's only professional music critic. By profession she was a biologist for the state and later at NC Central U." He noted that the stock of his daylily OLD SALEM was donated to the Old Salem, NC restoration project. On various occasions he named daylilies after friends, their wives, colleagues, and judges, often giving them the daylilies. On other occasions, individuals requested that he name a daylily after someone they knew and/or loved and he often did so. Some examples are:
ALLARD LOWENSTEIN: "Al was a colleague in the NCSU Department of Social Studies prior to his civil rights activities in Mississippi, political career, and subsequent assassination. We gave his children Corgis. Al was the perfect idealist."
ANNA SHEETS: "One of NC's early hybridizer-collectors and a long time friend and judge."
ANNE LAND: "The wife of Dr. Aubrey Christian Land and a friend going back to our early Carnegie Tech days. Their two daughters are our god-daughters, Alison and Alexandra."
BIRGIT NILSSON: "We got to know Birgit Nilsson when we engaged her for the 1962 F.O.T.C. concert series. We subsequently saw her at the Met in TRISTAN, GOTTERDAMMERUNG, TURANDOT, ELECTRA, and DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTERN, at Bayreuth in TRISTAN, at Covent Garden in TURANDOT. She sang again in Raleigh for F.O.T.C. in 1968. She selected her namesake from slides
after luncheon with us and her husband, the day subsequent to the TRISTAN at the old Met. A great singer, and amusing friend."
DOTTIE YOUNG: "Dottie is the wife of John David Young, Chief of Urology at Maryland University Hospital. We have been friends since 1941--our families in Carroll County, Maryland 'chased the Indians out together' as first settlers. It was at the Young home in 1941 that we first heard of the attack on Pearl Harbor."
ELINOR COCHRAN: "Elinore Harkness Cochran was one of our bridesmaids. Her husband taught at Shadyside Academy when we were at Carnegie Tech."
ELSIE KEARNEY: "The head of our longtime dear Irish family. Elsie and Jim are longtime Corgi breeders we met when we imported Gerona's Irish Colleen."
ETHEL BIEHL: "Ethel Biehl is the wife of retired Baltimore surgeon, Harold Paul Biehl, known as 'Cotton.' His father was principal of Thurmont High School. Cotton was one of the Camp Airy gang. I introduced him to Ethel at the time I was dating the visiting 'Skip' Beard, who summered in Thurmont and were nieces of Phil Rogers, who taught me gardening and photography. He was an usher; she sang at our wedding."
HELY WEGENBERGER: "The Wegenberger family are our closest Austrian friends, in whose apartment we stayed on one of our visits to Vienna. Hans is an excellent painter and gardener. His lovely younger wife, Hely, died of cancer in 1984 when I was in the hospital for the amputation. The daylily BELLE HELENE is also named for Hely."
JEANNETTE DUPRE': "Jeannette was a charming South Carolina judge in Region 15. She wore a huge lavender garden hat, which this daylily attempted to duplicate, colorwise."
JULIA PERRY: "Julia, a resident of Fayette, AL, was a longtime collector of Lambert hems and a good pen pal before we finally met at the Birmingham convention."
MARILYN BRIGHT: "Wife of Dr. Bill Bright, my oldest friend, going back to Thurmont H.S. days. Bill is a nuclear physicist who worked at Los Alamos during WWII and was at Almagordo when the first bomb was exploded."
MARRIOTT MANESS: " 'Sis' is the wife of Harvey Maness, one of the area's few WWI survivors. A founding member of the Raleigh Hem club, they stood in front of this seedling and asked when we would name a daylily for Sis....."
MILDRED UMSTEAD: "Mildred was my very first daylily customer, later my introducer-promoter. When we first met, her husband L.W. was a Wake County Commissioner and former Prinipal of the Garner H.S."
MYRTHA: Mildred Umstead suggested that we name this one for her friend--later also our dear friend--Myrtha Wilson. Myrtha later hybridized some excellent cultivars and won the Lambert Award with her YALLA MOUNTAIN ROAD."
OLD ACQUAINTANCE: "The old acquaintance in this instance is Mildred Umstead."
PEGGY BARRETT: "Peggy Deringer was Dot's best friend and our Maid of Honor prior to her marriage to Morris Barrett, a distinguished cancer research specialist. Both worked at the National Cancer Institute prior to Morrie's death. Peggy later married Robert Miller---see H. MAGGIE MILLER."
THREE GRACES: "In 1966 we shared a house with Phil Gray's three sisters, Annie, Ada and Elsie, on Woodpecker Way, Woking, Surrey."
From his notes, it appears that Dr. Lambert was ill for some time. He named a daylily UNA VAUGHN (1982) for "The Rex hospital nurse who had got me through all medical crises since 1972. " The daylily DOTTIE TATUM (1986) was named after his chief nurse who attended him "during the long amputation hospitalization at Rex Hospital in 1984. In the process, she became 'like a daughter' to us. She and her husband Mike now live in San Antonio, TX." Notations about another daylily, CHOCOLATE PUDDING (1972), stated, "We went though a 'hungry period' after several bouts of hospitalization." He noted for the daylily FAREWELL TOUR (1976), "After months of hospitalization with a blood infection I was feeling quite 'terminal,' thus a number of end-sounding daylilies." For GRAND FINALE (1980) he noted, "Another one when one was feeling terminal." Dr. Lambert died in 1994 at the age of 77, leaving a number of seedlings pending introduction and several unnamed cultivars selected for possible use. If he was "cantankerous" or "arbitrary", as some might have thought of him, perhaps his illnesses contributed to his actions.
At other times, Dr. Lambert showed a sense of humor. One of the last daylilies Dr. Lambert registered was THAT'S THAT ( 1990, introduced by Sellers, 1994.) His notes stated, "At the 'Lambert Roast' in Charlotte [Region 15 meeting, 1990], Reggie Register said he'd believe John had retired when he named a daylily THAT'S THAT. Well........."
Sprinkled throughout his notes were other signs of Dr. Lambert's sense of humor:
AYES HAVE IT (1970): "Strongly eyed; the name is an obvious pun."
BOSOM BUDDIES (1981): "Not for the TV comedy series. Rather, for Jane Russell's ads for "us full-figured girls'."
CARROT TOP: "For all urchins whose hair is that singular orange-red color that goes so well with freckles."
DOROTHY LAMBERT (1966): "When this first bloomed down under the oak trees, I knew Baker Wynne would want pollen, but since there were only 7 buds, I carefully harvested all of it before he got out here. 'Help yourself,' said I. (It isn't easy harvesting pollen without taking off stamens and anthers, but I managed.!)"
FAIT ACCOMPLI (1975): "Obviously, we 'did it,' but in retrospect, I am not sure why or whether we should have!"
MINI SKIRT (1966): "Returning home from an opera in Covent Garden, as we embarked on a train for Woking at Waterloo Station, a young blonde 'bird' in a black velvet miniskirt squeezed in beside me. She smoked, using my crotch as an ashtray.... We had wanted to call this daylily STRAWBERRY SUNDAE, but at the time it was illegal to name a flower after another flower or vegetable. Thus MINISKIRT became a substitute name."
PLUM PUDDING (1970): "This was a fabulous form and color for its time. But I forgot that plum puddings were served with flaming brandy...and this excellent pollen parent just wasn't sunfast. If it has ever been released, I did not do it!"
PRUNE WHIP (1982): "Maybe if I liked prune whip, this would have been a more successful daylily. I withdrew it after introduction."
RIGHTEOUS INDIGNATION (1985): "Named for one of my frequent (blank) periods about (blank)'s behavior. I should have named it in 1976 when Virginia Peck and I caught him harvesting pollen from Lambert lilies while our garden was loaded with people from tour buses attending the AHS National Convention in Raleigh. But it could just as easily have been a decade earlier or a decade later....." .
SERPENT'S TOOTH (1986): "From KING LEAR: 'How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have an ungrateful child!'---or an exhibition judge from (blank) who blackballed PATRICIA WHEELER. Descriptive of the behavior of (blank), who didn't like the sepals. Since she obviously does not like spiders, we named this black one for her!"
TENNIS SHOES (1987): "Diploid named for Dorothea Boldt's shoes that appeared as I was saying that I like to shock little old ladies."
VIRGINITY (1969): "Overheard in the garden in its year of introduction, one old lady to another: 'I don't think John Lambert's virginity is worth $25, do you?' "
WIT'S END (1976): "Must have been at mine when I inadvertently used the name of Ned Irish's garden---onetime head of the AHS."
**Author's note: The "blanks" were inserted to protect the sensitivities of readers and the names of the guilty parties mentioned above.
It appears there was another side to Dr. Lambert that perhaps he might have kept hidden from view of strangers--a much softer, gentler side He grew up at a time when boys were taught not to cry and many men displayed crusty veneers so as not to show their vulnerability. No doubt he was a tough task master, demanding excellence from those around him and challenging his students to perform to their utmost ability... it seems from his notes that he demanded this of himself as well. When reading through them, however, one could sense a bit of nostalgia, sentiment, and the great love he had for his family and friends.
Many names of his daylilies reflect happy memories of his childhood, school years, early married years, and places near where he grew up:
AQUAMARINE (1983): "Early in our married life I bought Dot an aquamarine ring at Samuel Kirk's in Baltimore. Subsequently they made us a pair of matching
earrings."
BLUE BLAZES (1968): "A childhood memory was of the bootleg liquor still at 'Blue Blazes' outside Thurmont, MD. We became aware of it only after it had been blown up by the Revenooers."
BORROWED TIME (1975): "A favorite play of yesteryear about a Grandpa who kept Death trapped in a tree so that he could care for his young grandson."
BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1974): "Noel Coward wrote a one-act play later made into an excellent movie starring Celia Johnson, about the fleeing affair of a married English woman. I was in the play version at Western Maryland College about 1936."
CATOCTIN FURNACE (1974): "One mile east of Thurmont, Maryland is the site of a Revolutionary War iron furnace, which was said to have cast some of the cannons used at Yorktown."
COVERED BRIDGE (1975): "There is one of these at Loy's Station, the Martin-Loy territory of Dot's ancestry (the Empire sofa that graced the family living room came from this area)."
DEVIL'S DEN (1982): "An area of the Gettysburg Battlefield where a cool spring is surrounded by huge boulders. Early in July 1863, both Northern and Southern troops got water from this source."
FEDERAL HILL (1969): "A hill overlooking Baltimore's inner harbor. Must be spectacular now that the inner harbor has been updated."
FORT PITT (1969): "When we lived in Pittsburgh, Fort Pitt was buried in a slum area. Now it is a focal city park at the union of the Allegheny and Monongahela rivers."
ISLE ROYALE (1974): "The Isle Royale in Nova Scotia, where we spent several happy summers--before getting bogged down in dogs and daylilies."
LAVALIERE (1963): "Dumas wrote an historical novel about Louise de la Valliere in his Three Muskateers series. Mother owned a small 'lavaliere' which she wore around her neck on a gold chain. Hers had an amethyst, but the heart of this daylily is emerald. Incidentally, I once saw in a S.C. garden a scape of this with nearly 50 seed pods. It is very fertile!"
LAWN FETES (1972): "A fetes champetre in France is a rural festival. In New Windsor, MD, the term Lawn Fetes used to be used to describe an out-of-doors strawberry and ice cream festival held annually on the Methodist Church lawn. I've wondered whether the 'fetes' part has not come from the number of Huguenot families that settled in this part of Carrol county. Names are badly corrupted in some cases: the Lescaleets were the Les Caillets; the Buzzards in nearby Frederick county were, alas, the Bourchards..."
NEW WINDSOR (1970): "The Lambert birthplace, New Windsor, MD; and Bob Savage's residence area, New Windsor, NY."
OPEN HEARTH (1976): "A strong recollection of our Pittsburgh days is the sight of the open hearth belching smoke and fire from the J & L Steel mills as we rode downtown on the trolley."
PATHWAYS (1973): "I walk down the garden path and all the daffodils are blooming, and the bright blue squills..." From Amy Lowell's poem 'Patterns'."
PATTERNS (1969): "Amy Lowell wrote one of our favorite poems with this title."
PORTUGUESE SONNET (1963): "For Elizabeth Barrett Browning's collection of SONNETS FROM THE PORTUGUESE, including the famous 'How do I love thee? Let me count the ways'...."
SALAD DAYS (1966): "The days of one's youth."
Then in the twilight years of his life....:
GENTLE FAREWELL (1982): "The title of Helen Fike's last book of poems, written just before her death."
SILVER THREADS (1985): "Darling, we are growing old: Silver threads among the gold."
When John W. was asked what his father's goals and favorite daylilies were, he replied, "Dad worked for form, color, and texture. I am not sure he had a favorite, but he called one FIVE JOHN LAMBERTS (there were that many in our family) to prevent anyone from naming one for him. The one he named for Mother, DOROTHY LAMBERT, was surely his favorite at some point, but he continued to refine his work and found magic in every new day when he went out to see what had appeared overnight."
Dr. Lambert noted, however:
APRES MOI (1973): "This is the closest I have come to naming a daylily for myself--fortunately!"
OLD ROUE (1981): "Named for myself?"
Many daylilies were named after family members:
AMANDA EMBREY (1975): Named for his maternal grandmother with whom he lived while a student at Western Maryland College.
BEATRICE MARTIN (1975): "Named for Dot's Mother who died when she was a little girl. We know her only through her pictures."
DOROTHY LAMBERT (1966): Named for his wife, "Dot".
ETHEL RUTHRAUFF (1980): "My mother's older, unmarried sister--the longtime secretary to the president of Carnegie Tech. Aunt Ethel was the intellect in the family, and had a great influence on my esthetic and academic career. She graduated summa cum laude from Western Maryland College, giving me a precedent to strive for. She died during WW-II."
FRANCES NORWOOD (1976): "Nancy Lambert's charming mother --and an excellent gardener."
LAURA LAMBERT (1975): "Laura Lambert was my paternal grandmother, to whom I was devoted. As a child, I was taken to the Methodist Church 'Lawn Fetes' in New Windsor, where she lived when I was born. Featured along with homemade icecream was my favorite angel food cake. It was held during fresh strawberry season."
MAUDE PEACOCK (1975): "Maude Peacock was Dot's maternal grandmother, who reared Dot subsequent to her Mother's death during the influenza epidemic."
NANCY LAMBERT (1969): "Nancy Lambert is our daughter-in-law and the mother
of our two grandsons, Wallace and Michael."
SARAH LAMBERT (1978): "My Mother, Sarah Ruthrauff Lambert
The Lamberts were well-traveled, often taking trips connected with the breeding of Corgis, to attend musical events, visit friends, attend daylily conventions, or for sabbaticals.
Dr. Lambert named many daylilies after kennel prefixes of other breeders, names of award winning dogs, or the breeders themselves: Some include:
BIG DRUM (1967): "BIG DRUM was the kennel prefix of Bob & Louise Haight of NJ. He was the long-time president of the Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club of America. His most famous dog was CH. STORMERBANKS BIG DRUM, CDX."
BLUE DIANA (1979): "CH. SWANSEA BLUE DIANA, sired by CH. ROZAVEL TINWHISTLE ex CH.SWAN-SEA BLUE SKY OF HERMITAGE, won the Cardigan Corgi National Specialty in Raleigh for Margaret Douglass, to whom we had transferred BLUE SKY in whelp so Margaret could have one 'final litter'. She won from the puppy class under English judge Arthur Bridge. She was, of course, a
lovely blue merle..."
COTE DE NEIGE (1968): "The kennel prefix of the late Marjorie Butcher, breeder of top-winning Pembroke Welsh Corgis."
CRAWLEYCROW (1967): "The kennel prefix of Jane Firbank's Pem and Cardi-breeding enterprise, originally at Hoplands in England, later at Le Valon in Guernsey."
DOUGLASS SANTI (1968) "Named for Margaret Douglass and her business partner Pat Santi, who then operated a Cardigan Corgi kennel named SWANSEA in the Los Angeles area. I gave them a piece of the daylily, but decided not to introduce it, though it was registered. I have no slide of it."
DROEDNOETH (1969): "Ed McGough owned this top-winning Cardi Corgi. Ed, who used to work at Duke and lived in Hillsboro, brought the first Cardis to N.C. about the time we bought the first Pems." (See author's note)
HEATHERHONEY (1966): "ROZAVEL HEATHERHONEY was a Pem Corgi sired by the Queen Mother's stud, WINDSOR HONEYBUN. Thelma Gray let us have her to save the ROZAVEL RAINBOW bloodline, since we owned one of her sons. The Queen owned a litter sister, WINDSOR HONEYBEE, who 'received us' at the Gamekeeper's Lodge, Great Windsor Park when we were there in 1966. HEATHER, although raised in a kennel, decided she was royalty when she got here, sleeping beside Dot in Dot's Mother's doll bed. She never even looked at our kennels!"
HELARIAN (1967): "One of the great 'characters' in British Corgidom was 'Mother Helarian,' Eve Forsythe-Forrest. We visited her a number of times when we lived in Surrey--her pheasant with bread sauce was excellent! During the war she was chauffeur to a British general. Famous story about how she drove off without him when both stopped by the roadside 'to spend a penny.'"
HEY NONNY (1974): "With a hey nonny, nonny," etc. But also the nickname of HERMITAGE ERNANI DA GAVEA, one of our Pem Corgis."
LARKWHISTLE (1974) "Evelyn Boyt's Welsh kennel prefix. Originally a Corgi breeder, Evelyn later went in for Chihuahuas. She gave us a guided tour on our one visit to Wales."
OYSTER BAY (1964): "One of our favorite lady dog show judges had an estate here near the T. Roosevelt one. We toured this area when giving a talk to the L.I. Daylily Society on invitation of the Viettes."
ROZAVEL (1965): "For Thelma and Phil Gray's kennel prefix. We stayed with Phil's sisters in Surrey when we had our sabbatical, Johnson having stayed there the year previously during his summer holiday. Mrs. Gray handled all the (Corgi) breeding for the Royal Family. They stayed here while she judged several times. Died in Australia in 1984" (See author's note.)
TASHA TUDOR (1973): "Illustrator of cards and books, someone not unlike Beatrix Potter. Tasha is a Pem Corgi fancier, one of whose best children's books is CORGIVILLE FAIR. She is a long time friend of Jane Firbanks."
The Lambert's love of music was apparent by the large number of daylily names that had some connection to music whether it be classical compositions, opera, ballet, or contemporary musicians of the time. Their travels to attend music festivals and events took them to Germany, Austria, England, etc. Daylilies were named for places visited, sights seen, and food and drink enjoyed at that time. Some include:
ABENDSTERN (1990): " 'Evening Star' in German -Wagner..."
APPALACHIAN SPRING (1974): "Named for the Martha Graham ballet for which Aaron Copland wrote music. The hem, alas is a very tender evergreen."
APPASSIONATA (1970): "Named for Beethoven's Piano Sonata, Op. 57."
BARAK'S WIFE (1981): "Named for the role we saw Birgit Nilsson sing in Richard Strauss' DIE FRAU OHNE SCHATTEN at the Met."
BATTLE HYMN (1975): "For Julia Ward Howe's Civil War hymn-- a favorite of Winston Churchill, whose funeral we thought of when we named this."
BLACK FOREST (1973): "We drove past the Black Forest with Waltraud Busbach and Hermann Hald some years ago. But this daylily in that cold summer climate is really a Brown Forest-- not enough heat to lay on the black overlay."
CARNIVAL OF VENICE (1963): "For the tune with variations adored by skilled trumpet players and coloratura sopranos alike."
CORNWALL (1966): This was selected and named the day--pouring rain--Dr. Currier McEwen and Lady Cynthia Carew-Pole visited the garden as Jim Cooper's guests. I was taking off bloom barefoot in our son's too-small swimming trunks, waiting for a call that John had safely arrived in England to spend the summer with the Grays. Lady Cynthia was married to the Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall. The following year we spent a weekend at Anthony House as their guests. (The house was the inspiration for REBECCA, the Daphne DuMaurier novel and movie)..."
DOBOS TORTE (1983): "Hungarian chefs developed this multi-layered cake with choolate filling and burnt sugar glaze, now a Viennese favorite. (Recipe in Rombauer's JOY OF COOKING is very good.)"
FRANZ LISZT (1986): "1986 is the Liszt Anniversary year."
IMMOLATION SCENE (1982): "For the big conclusion of Wagner's long TWILIGHT OF THE GODS."
ISOLDE (1981): "One of Birgit Nilsson's most famous roles. She grows this at her farm in Sweden."
JUNGFRAU (1964): "We named this early near-white before we had seen the Jungfrau in Switzerland. Later we viewed it from the incline of an opposite Alp. Really impressive!"
MAESTRO TOSCANINI (1973): "Johnson's 'love', and the inspiration for a near-total collection of recordings."
MILADY GREENSLEEVES (1978): "The title of an old English folk tune, best known now for the variations on it written by Ralph Vaughan Williams."
MOOD INDIGO (1966): "Named for the blues song written by Duke Ellington."
MY OLD FLAME (1978): "Henry Bussey made a recording of this song years ago. As for the flower, if God had created a fertile tawny nocturnal, it might have looked like this."
NEUCHATEL (1973): "For the Swiss wine and its area."
PARADISE GARDENS (1982): "The closing scene of Frederick Delius' opera VILLAGE ROMEO AND JULIET is the 'Walk through Paradise Gardens', an amusement park."
RHINE JOURNEY (1971): We took one from Mainz to Köln on a rainy day in the summer of 1966, but not with Siegfried or Brunnhilde's horse Grane..."
RITE OF SPRING (1971): "For I. Stravinsky's ballet score."
SACHER TORTE (1973): "The rich Viennese chocolate cake devised by the owner at the Hotel Sacher."
SATCHMO (1971): "Named for the late Louis Armstrong, trumpeter extraordinary."
STARS AND STRIPES (1971): "For the Sousa march and the NYC ballet featuring it."
TOFFEE (1976): "The English candy, of course, but also for the call name of our first Pem Corgi from TRED AVON."
TZIGANE (1977): "Ravel wrote a brilliant 'gypsy' solo piece for violin, so named."
VERDI (1966): "Verdi stands tall in the hierarchy of opera composers; but in maturity this reaches nearly six feet!"
VIENNA WOODS (1972): "Vienna's hilly suburbs, lovely for walking, picnics, etc."
WENSLEYDALE (1973): "Wensleydale is an English town making a white cheese....this hem must have been moldy..."
YARDLEY (1969): "For the English toiletries."
(Author's notes):
Added by John W. for clarification:
"A note on DROEDNOETH: "...about the time we bought the first Pems." [This was during the summer of 1954, when the Lamberts moved to what came to be known as Hermitage. They had had their first Pembroke Corgi ("Buzzin' Around," call name "Buzz") in the late '40s.]"
"Where Dad uses the name Johnson in connection with his family, he means me. This was a nickname conferred on me by Birgit Nilsson during her first visit to Raleigh, when she repeatedly said 'John' and both of us answered. (Curiously, Dad was known as Ralph when he was growing up. He disliked this and when the Navy put him on a first-name-plus-middle-initial deal, he switched over to John R. permanently.) Nilsson finally solved the problem by saying that JRL, Jr., was John and I was John, Son of John, or Johnson for short (in the Swedish manner). It stuck within the family."
Dr. Lambert registered more than 500 daylilies. The first two Lambert daylilies were introduced in 1961. Over the years there were peaks and valleys in the numbers introduced but most often ranged from twelve to twenty introductions per year. In 1990, at the time of his retirement, however, more than 50 daylilies were introduced. Perhaps he sensed a need to take care of unfinished business:
SPIRIT OF 76 ( R.1961, I. Wynne 1963, J. C. 1961) : "Our first registered introduced cultivar, a selection from the 1957 crop."
At various times, Dr. Lambert named daylilies in "runs" as he sometimes referred to them.. Whereas in naming his dogs he used a pattern drawn from the letters of "Hermitage" to help keep the titles straight, for daylily names he chose to use the prefix "HERMITAGE" to honor scientists and hilosophers -- with one exception:
HERMITAGE CAROLYN WILLIAMS (1982): "Carolyn Williams was once my son's receptionist. She got a piece, but no one else, as it was never introduced, when I decided I would use the Hermitage prefix only for scientists or philosophers."
There were at least thirty-one daylilies which have this prefix, ranging from HERMITAGE AQUINAS , HEMITAGE ARISTOTLE, and HERMITAGE BEN FRANKLIN to HERMITAGE NEWTON, HERMITAGE RENE DESCARTES, to the last one, HERMITAGE WILLIAM HARVEY.
Another run included:
CARTE BLANCHE (1966): "One of the several seedlings named in this run, including COTE DE NEIGE and WILLIAM GARDNER. All are pastel near-whites and pollen sterile. Fortunately, there was an unregistered pod sister with fertile pollen, so that I could follow Dave Hall's advice: If you have a hem with white pollen, use a fertile pod sister. (My one exchange of letters with the great hybridizer of near-whites.)"
Dr. Lambert tried to avoid using the prefix "LITTLE" for daylily names choosing instead to use fractional currency for the small ones:
CENTAVO (1974): "At the time this was registered, I had a run on the names of fractional currency for small ones."
COPPER PENNY (1990): There was no notation made for this one.
FARTHING (1973): "Fractional currency, of course--"
HALFPENNY (1973): " 'If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do' -- line from an English ditty."
TUPPENCE (1973): "An English one-time fractional coin."
He used names from Gilbert & Sullivan's MIKADO for a run. Some include:
INNOCENT MERRIMENT (1973): "From a line in Gilbert & Sullivan's MIKADO."
NANKI-POO (1981): "Part of our Gilbert and Sullivan MIKADO series."
TITIPU (1981): "The mythical town in Japan where G & S set THE MIKADO."
TIT WILLOW (1981): "One of the best-known songs from THE MIKADO."
Several daylilies were part of what Dr. Lambert described as his "French Collection," one of his last runs. They include::
BRAS D'OR (1990)
C'EST MAGNIFIQUE (1990)
C'EST NOEL (1990)
CHANSON DE PAN (1990)
CHATEAU D'IF (1990)
CHATEAU D'YQUEM (1990)
DUCHESSE D'ORLEANS (1990)
Other notes perhaps of interest were:
CRYSTAL CHANDELIER (1970): "It is risky to name daylilies for things that are tall or hang high. I have seen this lovely thing blooming in the branches of small
trees."
DOUBLE ENTENDRE (1966): "The first Lambert double. The name is, of course, French for 'pun'."
HOLYROOD (1968): "The rood screen, protecting the holy cross, in Anglo-Catholic churches. But also the name of the Royal residence in Edinburgh, where Mary Queen of Scots lived, and where her secretary was killed -- blood stains presumably still on the floor! The daylily is chalice-shaped. In the Viette garden in Oyster Bay it was once identified as 'John Lambert's Holy Rod'..."
IN SPRINGTIME (1974): "Late reblooming raises some question as to whether this should have been named IN AUTUMN."
MORTAR BOARD (1973): "One of my favorite blacks, named for the academic cap."
OPENING NIGHT (1963): "We were very impressed by this hem which was nocturnal but also an extender."
PARIAN MARBLE (1978): "Color of antique marble, but it never developed the branching it should have had. Maybe like some of the Greek statues, its arms were lost?"
PEACH SOUFFLE (1970): "Our very best double, winner of the Munson Award in 1979."
PIPSQUEAK (1977): "An effort to find a name for little ones without using 'Little' in the prefix."
PURPLE TIDE (R.1966 I. Hardy 1965): "Julia Hardy selected this for its purple buds, named it and released it. I got $50 for the stock when that was 'big money' here."
Dr. Lambert's contribution to the daylily world is immeasurable The color of many of his daylilies is outstanding. He hybridized both the bagel form and the unusual form, both diploids and tetraploids. Perhaps what he will be most remembered for is his contribution to the gene pool for the "Spideries" which are increasing in popularity now. One can only imagine how much more he might have contributed if spiders had been more accepted back in the '60s and '70s. Among some of the more popular "spidery/unusual form" types he hybridized are:
ASTERISK (1985): "In the patch a small white spider, in the garden, a big one."
BORN YESTERDAY (1972): "The name of a famous movie starring Judy Holliday, of course, but what better name than to name a nocturnal 'born yesterday'."
CERULEAN STAR (1982): "A beautiful spider and parent of same, but it should never have been named and introduced, since in maturity it was sky-high and unbranched, with a bud count of seven. I was in the hospital when it bloomed in the test beds, and didn't know its faults. I returned checks for all orders when I saw its behavior in 1985." (See author's note.)
CHATEAU LAFITE (1976): "One of the historic names in the Bordeau wine area, now marketed as Chateau Lafite-Rothchild. In 1952 we were 'poor' but could afford to buy bottles of the famous 1947 vintage for about $5 at Rex Liquor stores in Bethesda, MD. Truly the 'good old days'."
DERVISH (1977): "I recall one of the dances of Ted Shawn, twirling in the form of religious ecstasy."
DIABOLIQUE (1987): described as "Purple spider with yellow-green throat; dormant."
EMERALD EYE (1970): "I couldn't sell any of this spider at the introduction price of $5, so little were spiders admired in 1970. As a result, I stopped breeding them until Lois Burns, et. al. revived interest in them."
FACE THE NATION (1973): "There was at the time a Sunday interview show by this name that we used to listen to."
named."
OPEN HEARTH (1976) described as "Cuba red-carelian copper blend, ruby halo, olive throat; dormant."
PATTERNS (1969): described as "Violet, belladonna eye, fragrant, dormant."
PAVLOVA (1963): "One of our very best spiders."
PLACE D'ETOILE (1990): "Purple spider with large green star throat, diploid, dormant."
SERPENT'S TOOTH (1986): described as "Burgundy self spider with yellow-green throat;dormant."
PRAGUE SPRING (1985): "A musical festival now in Czechoslovakia's capitol."
STAR SPANGLED (1961): "One of our best spiders -- still grown in many gardens."
(Author's note: Clayton Burkey wrote the following, "Regarding Cerulean Star....John Lambert was very displeased with the bud count on this clone after he had already introduced and sold it. He wrote to all the customers asking them to send the plant back and he would refund them the purchase price. Rosemary loved the plant so much, and told him there was no way he could have her plant back. John later found out after letting the plant grow without dividing it and letting it get to be a small clump, that the bud count was much better. However, were it not for Rosemary's refusal to return her plant, none of us would have it today. Can you see what a shame that would be.......can't tell you how many introductions have come out of CS, including later ones from Lambert, (many of which can be found in the check list like Asterisk, Prague Spring, etc.) It and its progeny are in the background of many of Ned Robert's intros, and in some of my seedlings here too....and I'm sure many others have used it also. It is one of the best Unusual Form Spatulates ever produced, and the color is magnificent......I consider it an important landmark in daylily development")
Other present day hybridizers who are introducing spider/unusual form daylilies with some of Lambert cultivars in their background include Brian Mahieu and Marc King. Marc King (Casa Rocca Gardens) stated on his website that ASTERISK for many years was his "absolute favourite daylily." He credits Rosemary Whitacre for guiding him in his breeding attempts for the butterfly form and claims that ASTERISK is a "favorite pollen parent." At least 9 of his later introductions are from ASTERISK pollen. Some of Brian Mahieu's recent introductions have as parents CERULEAN STAR, RIGAMAROLE, PRAGUE SPRING, SATCHMO, HOOD COLLEGE, and FIVE JOHN LAMBERTS. Clayton Burkey recently wrote, "For me the most valuable breeders are ASTERISK, BORN YESTERDAY, CALDERA, CERULEAN STAR, DAMSEL IN DISTRESS, CHATEAU LAFITE, EMERALD EYE, NEMESIS, OPEN HEARTH, PETER AERNE, RIGAMAROLE, STAR SPANGLED, VIEWPOINT, WENCELAS SQUARE, and WUTHERING HEIGHTS. " He continued, "Most of my best past and present introductions came from progeny with Wuthering Heights and Open Hearth in the background, but I don't have enough seedlings yet to judge many of the others. "
In another message, Clayton Burkey wrote about Dr. Lambert, "I think it is so sad that he is getting so much recognition after his death, when it would have meant so much to him to know what his genius and genetics have provided to so many of us now. RMW and her husband Jim were close to him and had the greatest respect for him and his work. " (Auth. note: RMW is Rosemary Whitacre).
In a recent post to the AHS Robin, Ken Cobb wrote, "I don't think John should have ended his hybridizing with THAT'S THAT. I think there should have been one last one called NOT QUITE."
It appears that Dr. Lambert's work has not ended yet, at least....."NOT QUITE!"
And,...THAT'S THAT!
