January 10th CVIDS Meeting
Our first meeting of the New Year will be held this coming Saturday, January 10, in the Hiawatha Public Library, 150 W. Willman St., Hiawatha, IA. Set-up is at 11 am, social time at 11:30 am, with a potluck dinner at noon.  A presentation by Lisa and Jeff Schmidt on their North Dakota club's work at the International Peace Garden in North Dakota will be of interest to all. If you are unable to attend the meeting in person, you could participate via Zoom. The Zoom link details are in Diane Derganz's January 4th e-mail. Please remember to have your microphone muted before you enter the meeting.

The agenda of this meeting can be accessed here. We shall vote on approving the November meeting minutes and the proposed 2026 club budget. The latter document can be found as an attachment to Diane's January 4th email. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Diane.

We will also be asking each of you to sign up for a committee (or two) to help our club through this year's activities.  Committees needing members include the May & August plant sales, program, nominating, membership, photo contest, garden tour and others.  Several members will continue helping on certain committees from last year, but we always need more people involved.   A chairman or co-chairman of a committee satisfies one of the three eligibility requirements for receiving a club plant in the current year as well.

Ho, Ho, Ho! Santa Has a Surprise for You!
You must have been REALLY good this year, because Santa has arrived a few hours early to deliver a wonderful present for you from Lyle Moen and Nancy Rash! Please click here to access the January 2026 edition of the CVIDS Newsletter. Thank you, Nancy and Lyle, for taking time during the Holiday Season to create this edition! Wishing every member of CVIDS all the very best for the Holidays and New Year!

Lyle and Nancy Have Created Two Newsletters in November
Many apologies to you all but especially to Nancy Rash and Lyle Moen! Susie and I have been traveling in New Mexico without access to a computer, so I wasn't able to post their latest newsletter creations. Please take a moment to read their November edition and their Fall Banquet Special Edition! Thank you, Lyle and Nancy, for your dedication and talents!

2025 Fall Banquet and Betty Miller Photo Contest
These exciting events took place on November 8 at the Holiday Inn and Kinnick Conference Center, Coralville, IA. Our speaker was Kirsten Hatfield, Dorsets N Daylilies. Our thanks go to Heather Harroun for creating the Powerpoint that captured the beautiful selection of daylilies being offered in the 50/50 Auction. Our thanks also go to Sherry Moffit for taking banquet registrations and to Peggy Rash-Daniels for organizing the Photo Contest. This year's contest winners and their winning photos are shown here. Thank you, Lyle, for serving as banquet photographer!

To view additional photos taken by Lyle Moen at the Fall Banquet, click here!

October 2025 Meeting
Our October meeting took place on October 11 at Washington Public Library, Washington, Iowa. The main meeting began with a business meeting. The agenda can be accessed here, and you are referred to an October 9 email from Diane Derganz for the October Treasurer's report. The minutes are available here. Barb Papenhausen and Heather Harroun presented a program called "Daring to Dabble", providing insights into daylily hybridizing. Finally, in the annual Roundup, club hybridizers presented photos of their latest seedlings and introductions. Our thanks go to all the speakers for their presentations and to Peggy Rash-Daniels for assisting with the technical end of the Zoom process.

October 2025 CVIDS Newsletter
While in the process of moving house and scores of daylilies, Nancy Rash and Lyle Moen have published the October 2025 CVIDS Newsletter for us! Thank you so much! Members, please grab a cup of your favorite warm beverage and take a moment to read this edition that is packed with information about the upcoming Hybridizers' Roundup (October 11) and Fall Banquet and Betty Miller Photo Contest (November 8)! Peggy Rash-Daniels thanks the many CVIDS friends who sent her get-well wishes and provides a health update for us. In our Meet the Members section, we learn about new member Gina Snyder. Welcome aboard, Gina! We are delighted to have you join us. Last but not least, President Diane Derganz urges members to consider becoming a club officer. There are several openings at this time. Please consider using your talents in this way!

September 2025 CVIDS Newsletter
Lyle Moen and Nancy Rash are just amazing for the number of spectacular editions of the CVIDS Newsletter that they've created for us over the years. On this first day of September, I'm delighted to announce that they have the September edition ready for you! How is that for punctuality? Enjoy! Thank you so much, Nancy and Lyle!

Saying Farewell to a Great Daylily and Iris Enthusiast
It is with great sadness that we have learned that our longtime CVIDS member and friend Diann Pavelka passed away at UIHC on August 14th at the age of 68. We extend our condolences to her husband Dan and other family members. Diann's obituary may be accessed here.

A Celebration of Life for Diann was held on Saturday, August 30th, at 1:00 - 4:00 PM at the Avacenter in Anamosa. Photos courtesy of Lyle Moen and Heather Harroun.

The Busiest Day in our Club Calendar - A Recap
On August 23rd at the Jones County Fairgrounds in Monticello, not only did we have the daylily club plant returns but also the public fall plant sale, our noon potluck, a short business meeting (agenda), and the live auction of daylilies and iris. Minutes can be accessed here. Thank you to members who signed up for the Fall Plant Sale committee, including Tom and Linda Jones, Sue and Dave Kramer, Heather Harroun and Scott Feddern. Our thanks go also to Ellen Jones for creating the colorful flyer. We are very grateful to those members returning daylily club plants this year who submitted their information to Diane Derganz by August 3rd, allowing compilation of their evaluations in the field as well as corresponding photos.

This fall, we had a very special first-time event celebrating the 35th year of CVIDS, namely an Iris Club Plant drawing for members who were eligible this year for a daylily club plant. Diann Pavelka and Jackie Westhoff had purchased over 50 varieties of iris from Mid-America Gardens (Salem, OR) for this event. Here is the Powerpoint of the  Iris Club Plants, along with a list of those members eligible to receive one at no cost. These plants are theirs to keep and will not have to be brought back in two years. Those irises not selected in the drawing, together with club daylilies not previously chosen in the silent auction, were then auctioned off for any member to purchase.

Many thanks to Lyle Moen for providing great photos!

Here is a recap of the day's events from our club president Diane Derganz:

"We had a beautiful day for our annual outing to Monticello on August 23th where we hosted a public plant sale as well as our silent and live auctions, business meeting and potluck.

I usually include some other facts from that day that are interesting. We had 40 members in attendance all or part of the event. Plenty of help was evident as the majority pitched in wherever needed. This year the shelter had plenty of tables which Tom and Linda Jones covered with tablecloths of daylily colors.

Some comments regarding the club plant silent auction: Initially I was expecting 58 varieties to be returned. However, after contacting each member grower, only 28 cultivars returned after growing two or more years. Holdovers, those plants not sufficiently increased, totaled 25 and there were four that did not survive and two from a person no longer a member.

I have some concerns regarding the returning club plants. Particularly, I'd emphasize the importance of taking special care of these expensive daylilies regarding planting, spacing, watering, etc. to assure that your plant is getting the utmost attention.

Diann's husband, Dan, contacted Jackie Westhoff following Diann's passing, and asked if our members would take the dozens of iris that she had also purchased for herself. They had been stored in a refrigerator for a few weeks when Jackie picked them up.

Jackie sorted them into classifications, labeled them and brought them on Saturday and all present had the opportunity to pick an iris or two of their choice. We should all thank Dan Pavelka for this gift as it is his and our feeling Diann would have wanted to share these iris with her CVIDS friends.

I want to thank all who helped that day which is basically everyone who came! We welcomed four new members who were introduced at the meeting. Our potluck was bountiful so no one should have gone home on an empty stomach. After all the auctions were finished, everyone received a free iris thanks to the Pavelkas.

What more can I say, a great time was had by all!"

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