I feel somewhat responsible for Ernie’s interest in Daylilies.

Ernie was a gardener and just liked to grow things. His son, Paul, and my wife, Becky, had known each other for a long time. Paul had been Becky’s son’s Scout Master. One day Paul called, asking if he could bring his Daddy over to see our daylilies. Ernie had seen BRIGHT EYED blooming in our yard and thought it was the most beautiful daylily he had ever seen. He had been growing some of his Aunt Teel’s daylilies that she had given him years ago. These were daylilies that she had acquired at a lumber yard in town many, many, years ago. Anyway, they came by and Ernie began to explain to me that sometimes daylilies put a little shoot (proliferation) on the scape that you could plant and the shoot would “make” a daylily. He asked if I would be willing to share one with him if the plant produced one. In the Fall, when I reworked the bed, I divided BRIGHT EYED and took a plant to him. You would have thought I had given him a sack of crawfish. Ernie, being Cajun, had a particular fondness for crawfish. Later, he would tell me that BRIGHT EYED had cost him over $10,000. From then on, whenever he saw something he liked, he got it, price didn’t seem to matter. I told him about Lone Star Daylily Society, a daylily club tht had recently formed in Alvin. He and Mildred attended and became very active members in the club.

Ernie had definite ideas and thought everyone should be treated the same, no matter who they were.

Living close to Ernie and Mildred, we visited fairly often. Becky and I consider them both to be very dear, valuable friends. There is a certain void in our hearts now and we will miss Ernie and his wit.

Edgar & Becky Tarrant