midaylilysociety.com

The Southern Michigan Daylily Society (SMDS) is an educational, social, and scientific society that promotes daylily (Hemerocallis) propagation and good earth stewardship through gardening. It is based in southern Michigan and affiliated with the American Hemerocallis Society (AHS), according to its website. If you are a daylily grower, hybridizer, or general gardening enthusiast in the region, you can attend a meeting as a guest (with a reservation) or join as a member through the "Join SMDS" section of the site.

What SMDS Is and Who It's For

SMDS describes itself as a club built around three purposes:

• Educational — sharing knowledge about daylilies and gardening practices
• Social — bringing growers together at meetings and events
• Scientific — supporting daylily propagation and, for some members, hybridizing

The society's site includes sections for hybridizers, a newsletter, and tips on exhibiting daylilies, which suggests it serves both casual gardeners and more serious growers who show or breed plants. If your interest is simply learning how to grow a daylily, the club's educational focus fits; if you already hybridize, the hybridizer resources and member network are the draw.

How Meetings and Events Work

The club holds meetings and events where members "share and learn about Daylilies (Hemerocallis) and good earth stewardship through gardening." Key practical points from the site:

• Guests are welcome at all upcoming meetings, but a reservation is needed.
• To reserve a spot, contact the club by email at the address listed on the site.
• Details for each event are posted under the "Calendar of Events" tab.

So the sequence for a first visit is: check the Calendar of Events, then email the club to reserve your place before attending.

How to Join

The site directs prospective members to the "Join SMDS" tab for information about becoming a member. The homepage itself does not list dues, membership tiers, or a signup form, so those specifics have to come from that page or from contacting the club directly.

Current officers listed for 2026 are:

The club's contact email is published on the site and is the route for both meeting reservations and membership questions.

Member Discount: Kincaid Garden Markers

One concrete member benefit mentioned on the site is a rewards program with Kincaid Garden Markers. Under the program as described:

• Members ordering plant markers from kincaidplantmarkers.com can receive a discount at checkout by entering the rewards code assigned to the club: DAY-SMDS.
• The site states the member discount was doubled to $1.00 for each bundle of 25 plant markers ordered.
• The code must be used during the checkout process on the Kincaid website.

Note that this program notice carries an update date of 03/23/2023, and the site says the program "is being revised," so confirm the current terms with the club or at checkout before relying on the discount amount.

What to Do Next

1. Open the SMDS site and go to Calendar of Events to find the next meeting.
2. Email the club contact address to reserve your guest spot.
3. If you want to join, check the Join SMDS tab for membership information, or ask about it in your email.
4. If you order plant markers, apply the DAY-SMDS code at Kincaid checkout and verify the discount that appears.

The main open questions the homepage doesn't answer are membership cost and meeting frequency — both are best confirmed directly with the club, since only the calendar and the join page carry those details.

A bridge club is an organised group that meets regularly to play contract bridge, usually in a hired hall, community centre, or dedicated room. Most clubs run a mix of duplicate sessions (the competitive, scored format), social or rubber bridge, and teaching sessions for newcomers. If you are new to bridge in Cambridge, the typical route in is a beginners' course followed by supervised play, then a regular duplicate session where the club helps you find a partner. The sections below explain what actually happens at a session, what it costs in general terms, and how to find a club near you.

What a bridge club actually is

A club is less a building than a recurring arrangement: a venue, a set of dates, a director who runs the play, and a membership or casual entry list. The Cambs & Hunts Contract Bridge Association in Cambridge is one example of a local organising body in this space; BridgeWebs is the web service many clubs use to publish their schedules, results, and contact details.

Clubs differ mainly in format and competitiveness:

If you are unsure which suits you, start with a supervised or teaching session. You will meet people at your level and learn the club's conventions before sitting down at a competitive table.

What happens at a typical club evening

The sequence is fairly consistent across clubs:

1. Arrival and sign-in. You arrive 15–20 minutes early, pay your table money, and check the partner list. If you have no partner, the director will usually pair you with someone.
2. Assignment to a table. In duplicate, you are given a table number and direction (North–South or East–West). You stay at your table; the boards and opponents move around you.
3. The director's briefing. The director announces the number of boards, the movement, and any special rules. Listen for the scoring method and the time per round.
4. Play. Each round lasts a set number of boards (commonly 2–4). You bid, play the hand, and record the result on a traveller or in a scoring app.
5. Scoring and results. After the last round, results are calculated — either by hand or by software. Many clubs publish them the same evening via their BridgeWebs site.
6. Departure. Most evenings run two to three hours. Some clubs have a bar or refreshments; others finish promptly.

A useful thing to know: in duplicate, your score depends on how well you did relative to other pairs holding the same cards, not just on whether you won the hand. That is why a "bad" result on one board does not sink your evening.

How beginners get started

The standard path at most clubs is:

• Take a beginners' course. These usually run over several weeks and cover bidding basics, play technique, and etiquette. The Cambs & Hunts association is one local source of information on lessons in the Cambridge area.
• Move to supervised play. Here you play real hands with a teacher or experienced player on hand to answer questions. This bridges the gap between lessons and open competition.
• Join a regular session. Once you are comfortable, you can enter ordinary duplicate sessions. Many clubs run a "novice" or "restricted" section so you are not thrown straight in with experts.
• Find a partner. Clubs typically maintain a partner list or a host system, where a designated member plays with anyone who turns up without a partner. Ask the director before the session.

If you have never played before, you do not need to own anything special to start. A basic understanding of the rules and a willingness to ask questions is enough for a first lesson.

Membership, fees, and what to bring

Clubs vary widely, so treat the following as general expectations rather than fixed figures:

• Table money. Most clubs charge a per-session fee (often a few pounds) to cover venue hire and equipment. Some offer a reduced rate for members.
• Annual membership. Many clubs have an optional membership fee that lowers your table money or gives you voting rights. Casual players can often pay per visit without joining.
• Lessons. Courses usually carry a separate fee, sometimes including materials.
• What to bring. Yourself, a pen or pencil for scoring, and — if you have one — a convention card. Many clubs provide everything else, including bidding boxes and boards.

Because fees and membership terms differ from club to club, check the specific club's website or ask the director before your first visit. BridgeWebs sites typically list session times, venue, and contact details.

Finding a club near you

To locate a club:

• Search by area. Association websites and directories list affiliated clubs by town or county. The Cambs & Hunts association covers the Cambridge area.
• Check the club's BridgeWebs page. These pages usually show the weekly schedule, results, and a contact for the director or membership secretary.
• Ask about beginners' sessions. When you make contact, say you are new and ask which session is most suitable — this saves you turning up to an advanced game by mistake.
• Visit once before committing. Most clubs welcome visitors. A single visit tells you more about the atmosphere than any description.

If you are in Cambridge specifically, the Cambs & Hunts Contract Bridge Association is the natural starting point for finding a club, a teacher, or a partner.

A daylily is a hardy perennial in the genus Hemerocallis, grown for its trumpet-shaped flowers that typically open for a single day. It is not a true lily (Lilium): daylilies grow from fibrous, fleshy roots rather than bulbs, their leaves rise in arching fans from the crown, and they are far more forgiving about soil and division. The Southern Michigan Daylily Society describes itself as "an educational, social and scientific society promoting daylily (Hemerocallis) propagation and good earth stewardship in gardening," which is a fair summary of why the plant suits beginners and collectors alike. The guidance below applies to garden daylilies in temperate climates; tropical and container-only situations need separate adjustments.

Telling a daylily from a true lily

The distinction matters because the two have different planting and care needs.

If you dig up a plant and find a fan of thick roots with no bulb, you have a daylily. That root structure is also why daylilies transplant and divide so readily.

Choosing a planting site

Daylilies are adaptable, but they perform best with:

• Sun: Full sun for most cultivars; at least six hours of direct light produces the heaviest bloom. In hot-summer regions, light afternoon shade reduces flower fading.
• Soil: Well-drained loam. Daylilies tolerate poor soil but rot in waterlogged ground.
• Drainage: The single most important factor. If water stands after rain, amend with organic matter or plant on a slight mound.
• Spacing: 18–24 inches apart for large cultivars, closer for small ones, so fans have room to multiply.

Planting, watering, and dividing

Planting. Set the crown — where roots meet leaves — about 1 inch below the soil surface. Deeper planting invites crown rot; shallower planting exposes roots. Firm the soil, water thoroughly, and keep the new planting moist for the first few weeks.

Watering. About 1 inch of water per week, including rainfall, is a reasonable target. Deep, infrequent watering encourages deep roots. Avoid overhead watering late in the day, which keeps foliage wet overnight and favors leaf problems.

Dividing. Clumps become crowded and bloom less after several years. Lift the clump with a fork, wash off soil, and pull or cut it into sections, each with several fans and healthy roots. Replant at the same depth. Division is also the easiest way to share plants, which is exactly the kind of propagation the SMDS mission highlights.

Bloom habits and deadheading

Each individual flower lasts roughly a day, but a healthy plant opens new buds over a period of weeks. Some cultivars are described as reblooming, meaning they flower again after a rest. Removing spent flowers (deadheading) and cutting old bloom stalks keeps the plant tidy and can encourage further bloom in reblooming types. Foliage should be left intact until it dies back naturally, since it feeds the crown for next season.

Common problems and basic fixes

• Crown and root rot: Caused by poorly drained soil or planting too deep. Improve drainage and reset the crown higher.
• Rust: Orange pustules on the undersides of leaves. Remove affected foliage, improve air circulation, and avoid overhead watering.
• Aphids and thrips: Distorted buds and sticky residue. A strong water spray or insecticidal soap handles light infestations.
• Leaf streak and scorch: Often environmental rather than infectious; check watering and sun exposure before treating.

Getting local help and plants

Regional clubs are a practical resource for cultivar recommendations suited to your climate, division swaps, and show-and-tell events. The Southern Michigan Daylily Society, for example, welcomes guests at its meetings, though a reservation is required, and it maintains a calendar of events, a hybridizers page, and tips on exhibiting daylilies. Its site also notes a member discount program with Kincaid Garden Markers using the club rewards code DAY-SMDS. If you want locally tested plants and advice, contacting a club near you is a faster route than guessing from catalog photos.

AHS stands for the American Hemerocallis Society, the national organization for daylily (Hemerocallis) growers, hybridizers, and exhibitors in the United States. It is the body that registers daylily cultivars, sets exhibition and judging standards, and publishes material for members. If you garden with daylilies and want recognized cultivar names, show rules, or a network of local clubs, AHS is the umbrella organization you would look to.

What AHS does

• Cultivar registration — new daylily cultivars are registered through AHS, which is why registered names carry an AHS registration number.
• Exhibition and judging standards — AHS maintains the standards used at daylily shows, including how entries are judged and displayed.
• Publications and education — the society produces journals and educational material for members.
• Local affiliates — regional and local daylily clubs affiliate with AHS, giving members a way to meet other growers in person.

How local clubs connect to AHS

Local societies operate as affiliates. The Southern Michigan Daylily Society (SMDS), based at midaylilysociety.com, describes itself as "an educational, social and scientific society promoting daylily (Hemerocallis) propagation and good earth stewardship in gardening." That wording matches the typical affiliate mission: education, social meetings, and scientific interest in the genus.

SMDS lists these activities and resources on its site:

• Calendar of Events
• Join SMDS
• SMDS Hybridizers
• Newsletter Sources
• Tips on Exhibiting Daylilies 101
• Photos
• Society Information

Its stated officers for 2026 are President Jason Coleman, Vice President Mary Batke, Treasurer Onita Fitz, Secretary Sandi Combs, and Directors Marietta Crabtree and Ken Polzin.

How to get involved

1. Check the local club's calendar. SMDS says to click the "Calendar of Events" tab for meeting and event details.
2. Ask about attending as a guest. SMDS states that guests are welcome at all upcoming meetings, but that a reservation is needed. Contact is by email at the address listed on the site.
3. Join the local club. SMDS directs visitors to its "Join SMDS" tab for membership information.
4. Reach AHS directly for national membership, registration questions, or judging and exhibition standards, since those functions sit with the national society rather than the local affiliate.

A member perk worth noting

SMDS publicizes a "Grow Your Rewards" program with Kincaid Garden Markers. According to the site, the member discount was doubled to $1.00 for each bundle of 25 plant markers ordered when the club's unique rewards code is used at checkout on kincaidplantmarkers.com. The code given is DAY-SMDS, and the page notes it was updated 03/23/2023. Treat that date as a signal to confirm current terms before ordering.

Quick reference

If your goal is simply to grow daylilies, you do not need AHS membership. If your goal is to register a cultivar, exhibit at shows, or plug into a local grower community, start with the affiliate club nearest you and use AHS for the national standards and registration side.