Howard Hite Award
The Howard Hite Award is to honor a Region 2 ADS member who has contributed notable achievements in the field of hybridizing. These achievements have been the results of years of dedication to a hybridizing program and have greatly influenced the world of daylilies.
The Award, established in 1989, is sponsored by The Southern Michigan Daylily Society and is named for the late Howard Hite.
Howard was an avid fan of daylilies. In the early 1960’s he began working on a hybridizing program which focused on the entire plant. Strong plants which could withstand the cold winters of Michigan. In 1968 he registered his first daylily “Angelus Bells” and for the next 35 or so years he worked tirelessly, and registered 125 cultivars.
Like most daylily hybridizers, Howard had dreams, he was working for a true blue daylily and he wanted to live to be 100 years old. He didn’t make it to his 100 birthday; however, a week prior to his 99th birthday he submitted his last registration. The daylily was registered as “Christine Walser Hite”, and was named for his mother. Shortly after submitting the registration he passed away.
Although the Howard Hite Award was established in 1989, it wasn’t until 1995 when Howard was presented the award. At that time he joined the ranks of other highly regarded hybridizers, Dr. Charles Branch, Bryant Millikan, Charles Recamp, and Steven Moldovan.
Criteria For Howard Hite Nominations
The Howard Hite Award is a free-form, sand-etched glass plate with an engraved image of Howard Hite’s H. ‘Indonesia’. The award is not based on the quantity of nominations for any individual, but on the quality of the individual’s years of hybridizing efforts to improve daylily cultivars.
The criteria for selection of a recipient are as follows:
- The award is to honor a Region 2 AHS member who has contributed notable achievements in the field of hybridizing from years of a dedicated hybridizing program.
- The award may be given each year only if a recipient is selected.
- A person may receive the award only one time.
- Deceased hybridizers may be considered for the award.
- Any ADS Region 2 Member (including committee members) may submit names of possible recipients to the Awards and Honors Chair before April 15 of each year. The final selection will be determined by the Hite Award Committee composed of four members and the Regional President representing the five states in the Region.
- Names of past nominees may be considered as possible candidates for future years.
2023 Howard Hite Nomination Form in .pdf format available HERE.
