Hemingway Nursery offers more than Just Daylilies
The Darlington Garden Club spent many hours in the summer of 2020 planting the median on Main Street, which is one of the first things motorists see when coming into Darlington from Florence. When an out of control car ran into that median, taking out a mature 20-year-old cypress tree, that work needed to be revisited. Not only were many of the plants wiped out, but a shady spot had become sunny. Cathy Bailey, chair of the horticulture committee with the Darlington Garden Club, decided that daylilies might work well in the median, so she began researching where she could buy the plants, and that is how she found Hemingway Nursery and Scott and Lucille Williams. Until a few years ago, the Williams lived in Raleigh, but when they sent their last child off to college and retirement was in sight for Scott, they revisited a dream both of them had long had of leaving city life and moving to a more rural area where they could have more land and indulge their love of gardening, a hobby they both shared. Although Scott’s work with a hospital takes 40-plus hours a week, he can largely do that from any location, so they found a colonial home with 5 acres in Hemingway. They thought their dream had been fulfilled and that might have been the end of their tale, but while Lucille was waiting in a doctor’s office one day, she overheard a conversation about a daylily farm going out of business in Georgetown. She visited the farm thinking she would buy some nice daylilies, struck up a conversation with the owner who was selling, Bob Roycroft, and one thing led to another culminating in the Williams buying Roycroft’s daylily farm in May 2019 and transporting the daylilies to Hemingway. Thus Hemingway Nursery started. The Williams have developed a warm relationship with Roycroft and a respect for the work he has done hybridizing daylilies to make some beautiful varieties. Roycroft has shared his knowledge with the Williams, and the Williams have been mindful of giving him full credit for his creations. With Roycroft as a mentor, the Williams have begun to create their own hybrid varieties. Scott and Lucille realize that they cannot compete with larger suppliers in many ways, so they have compensated by offering services that larger suppliers cannot. This can include advice and suggestions or even coming to help plant the daylilies bought from them, as they have offered to do for the Garden Club. If you are looking for a day trip, Hemingway Nursery may be just your answer. The nursery happens to be in close proximity to Scott’s Barbeque, the restaurant made famous by Southern Living. The nursery and the restaurant could make for an interesting trip and a nice lunch.