"Consider the lilies of the field how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin; and yet I say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these." The Bible
Tommy Thompson painted the representational, impressionistic oil painting, "Keeper of the Lilies," portraying a daylily farmer, who lovingly cares for his lilies. Thompson was drawn to paint him because of the farmer's dedication to hard work, as evidenced by weed-free paths through lilies, and his willingness to share their beauty with thousands of visitors.
Flower lovers flock to countries like the Netherlands to see fields of tulips but also thousands of visitors have journeyed to Florence, AL, to see the thousands of day lilies on Roger Daniel's "Rabbit Patch Daylily Farm" over the past 16 years. Daniel cares for about 2 acres of day lilies of every color in the rainbow--yellow, orange, red, pink, purple, and melon. "Each daylily has its own unique 'face' just like people," says Daniel. His daylily fields contain more than 4,000 faces, that is, 4,000 varieties are represented on his farm.
