God Told Her To ‘Paint The World With Flowers’

God Told Her To ‘Paint The World With Flowers’ Karol Emmerich had an exciting career as a senior executive at a major Minnesota corporation. She could have retired easily, but she says God had other plans for her. Today, she is “living her dream” by creating spectacular new daylily varieties on a 140-acre farm near Jordan, Minn. She and her husband, Dick, were living in a Twin Cities suburb, and she had run out of space to grow flowers on their city lot. That’s when God spoke to her, saying, “Karol, I want you to paint the world with beautiful new flowers, and to do this you’re going to need more space...a LOT more space!” Today, Emmerich’s daylily farm is part of a sprawling river-bluff property overlooking the Minnesota River Valley. At Springwood Gardens, she hand-pollinates thousands of daylily blossoms each summer. She then nurtures her daylily seedlings in a giant greenhouse at the center of several acres of beautiful garden beds. Emmerich estimates that one out of every 400 seeds she plants results in a new daylily variety that reaches commercial introduction. Emmerich says she decided to specialize in daylilies because they’re easy to grow and display marvelous, surprising colors, shapes and sizes. When she discovers a new daylily that excels in every category, she gives it a name or phrase from the Bible. “I always thought that daylily names were kind of boring, so I decided to give my new varieties Biblical names,” she says. “I love the Lord, and it was a way to trigger spiritual conversations.” Her biblical names sometimes lead to interesting discussions.  “One lady who visited came up to me and asked where she could find the variety named ‘Women at the Wheel.’ It took a few seconds, but then I realized she was asking about ‘Woman at the Well.’” (John 4:4-42). The house at Springwood Gardens, where Karol and Dick live year-round, has quite a history. It was built in 1862 by a railroad baron, had many owners over the years, and at one point even served as a stagecoach stopover. “When we first saw the giant old house, it looked like it was haunted, with spooky vines growing up the side, bats in the top floors, and snakes in the foundation,” she says. The house was constructed with 2-ft thick limestone-block walls covered with a brick facade. The couple hired contractors to completely remodel and restore the house, adding additional rooms, an attached garage, and living quarters, which became a 2-year project. Springwood Gardens is now a daylily breeding and propagation business, selling daylily plants to wholesale growers across the U.S. and by mail order to daylily collectors around the world. Emmerich loves hosting tours during the growing season. In addition to garden clubs, many visitors come for the spectacular photo opportunities among the colorful daylilies and the surrounding river valley. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Karol Emmerich, Springwood Gardens, 7700 Old Hwy. 169 Blvd., Jordan, Minn. 55352 (ph 952-941-9280; www.springwoodgardens.com).

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