Hi Gentle Folks Sadly, I know nothing of genealogy methods. I'm trying to trace some remaining decendants of Mrs W.C. Branch of Saluda Hill SC. She died, I believe around 1973. I don't know if some of you could help me or maybe just tell me how to help myself using the internet. Either way, I'll tell you what I know about Mrs Branch and why I'm trying to find some of her decendants. I love daylilies, especially spider daylilies, and history. I write about both. Mrs Branch hybridized and introduced some 63 spider daylilies between about 1955 and 1973 when she died. I've been able to identify 5 of those daylilies but I can find only two of them still in commercial cultivation. I fear her history and her daylilies may be lost. If they still exist, I think it likely that they will only be found in a SC garden or possibly preserved by one of her descendants. She may have introduced a 16 inch spider daylily. That is almost unknown. To think that she may have done it and the flower lost is enough to make you cry. If its still possible to recover her history and some of her daylilies, I desperately want to do it. Printed below is an article I wrote recently on the subject. Everything I know about Mrs Branch is included. If you could help me trace her or tell me how to go about it, I would be most grateful. Thank you for your assistance. Dianne Taylor Poquoson VA ------------------------------------------------------------ ARTICLE…Mrs W. C. Branch, Spider/Spider Variant Hybridizer … A Quest Begins Who was Mrs W. C. Branch? Does her red 12" diploid spider, RED UMBRELLA, still exist? I like quests. This one began when our own Jerry Dickerson (TWIGGY, ARACHNAPHOBIA), world-famous spider hybridizer, asked me to use the resources of the AHS Email Robin to locate RED UMBRELLA. My first thought was, "Oh, that should be easy." The Robin consists of daylily people literally from all over the world interested in every aspect of daylily culture. I’ve never asked a question for which I did not get multiple good answers, usually within a few hours. Unfortunately, I have not located RU, but I do know a little more about Mrs Branch and her introductions. This is what I know so far. Mrs Branch hybridized large spider/spider variant daylilies from approximately 1955 to 1972. Her garden was called Fruit Hill Garden and was located in Saluda Hill, SC. Bob Clary tells me she registered a total of 63 cultivars, with the last eight in 1972. Twenty-five were eight inches or larger with one at 16 inches. She is believed to have died sometime in 1972 or 73. Her husband is also deceased and their descendants may have disposed of the Fruit Hill Garden property. To date, I’ve identified five of her introductions. My friends on the Email Robin sent me two Journal references and these descriptions from the AHS checklists. SALUDA QUEEN: WC Branch, 1964 36" M 6" pink and yellow polychrome with purple eyezone and yellow throat SEV (Satin Glass x Sdlg) Advertised in The Daylily Journal, Vol. 20 No. 1:72. SONNY GWIRE: WC Branch, 1965 40" M 12" yellow self Ext Dor (Marguerite Fuller x Atlas) Advertised in The Daylily Journal, Vol 20 No 1:72 RED UMBRELLA: WC Branch, 1966, 36", M, 12", red self with green throat, ext, semi-evergreen. Advertised in The Daylily Journal, Vol 20 No.1:72. COLONEL BRANCH: WC Branch 1966, 36", MRe, 10", red self with green throat, dor, (RED UMBRELLA X Sdl). Advertised in The Daylily Journal, Vol 20 No.3:52. PUZZLING PRIZE: WC Branch 1967, 24", MRe, 5", red with white band and green throat, noc, semi evergreen, (no parentage given). Advertised in The Daylily Journal, Vol.21, No. 3:48. I’m interested in the history and pioneers of the spider and unusual form movement. I’d like to see their plants and hybridizer information preserved. These were often small regional hybridizers working at a time when the focus of the daylily world was on the round pink donut. I fear their flowers and hybridizing history are rapidly being lost. I had stumbled on Mrs Branch last year when -6- I noticed a flower called COLONEL BRANCH in Clayton Burkey’s catalog. Clayton is known for his huge and often rare collection of spiders and unusual forms. I ordered CB and then assumed that the "Branch" listed was Dr C. E. Branch, Piper City, IL, of the famous SMUGGLER daylily series (SMUGGLER’S GOLD). As it turns out, this Branch was no relation to "Doc" Branch. So I let the matter drop. Now Jerry Dickerson’s quest for RED UMBRELLA has renewed my interest in finding out about Mrs Branch. Several people in South Carolina are asking questions and one is looking into genealogy as a way to trace Mrs Branch’s remaining family. If RU and many of her other introductions still exist, they will likely be found only in local SC gardens or preserved in the gardens of some of her descendants. I haven’t been able to locate a picture of RU, but I do have one of COL BRANCH taken by Clayton Burkey. This article published in the March 01 Tidewater Daylily Society Newsletter.