Shropshire Magazine

Day Lilies are the major attraction at Mynd Hardy Plants.

Andy Richardson visits south Shropshire and discovers a hotspot for Hemerocallis overseen by an American devotee of the day lily

Mark Zenick and Bryher.

Bryher won’t sit still. Mark Zenick’s constant companion is fed up with the swifts. As one zips above his head, landing on a rafter in a new field shelter, Bryher huffs and puffs. “You know,” says Mark, pointing to the shelter: “I put that shelter in so that the visitors could have a place to enjoy tea and refreshment. The moment the roof went on, the swifts moved in.

“It was like they were waiting for it, as though I were installing it for them. What do you say, Bryher?” Woof. Woof.

Mark Zenick owns Mynd Hardy Plants, a delightful nursery on the Delbury Hall Estate, at Mill Lane, in Diddlebury, off the Corvedale Road in south Shropshire. He relocated from his former premises, New Hope Gardens at Brown Clee, two years ago. “I do love it here,” he says. “I’ve been growing for 30 years but this is the first time I’ve been in a walled garden.

“Somebody told me once that the word paradise was derived from the Persian word for walled garden. It’s a beautiful thought. I’ve finally arrived in paradise. I get to spend every day here.”

Mark is an intelligent but uncomplicated plantsman from Western Massachussets, in New England, USA. He is the quintessential nursery keeper, an avuncular, pipe-smoking, beard-wearing keeper of tall stories and amusing anecdotes. After 30 minutes in his company, he reminds me of a favourite uncle. His knowledge of plants is astounding and he speaks in a soft, reassuring burr.

“I began gardening 30 years ago,” he says. “I dug a roadside day lily one day and watched it grow. I was instantly fascinated. Then I had to buy more and learn more. What started as a curiosity became a hobby. That became an obsession. That became an addiction. 

“In New England, I was known as the ‘rural day lily’ guy by many people. Here, I’m seen as something as a missionary for day lilies.”

Mark’s passion for the plant is infectious. He describes how there are 57,000 varieties in the world but only 2,300 in the UK. “I don’t understand why that is,” he says. “The climate is ideally suited to them.”

His journey from New England to south Shropshire took some years. Ten years after starting to garden as a hobby, he sold his first day lily. Somebody had visited him to view his collection and asked if he could buy one. 

Hemerocallis.

“That was my eureka moment,” says Mark. “It was like a lightbulb going on in my head. I loved gardening and day lilies especially. I also figured that you took a plant and doubled your money on it each year. What else provides that sort of return? All you have to do as a nurseryman is find customers.”

Mark had worked for many years as the executive director of a small land conservation organisation. During his years in that role, he managed to save around 12,000 acres from development. “I was very pleased with that achievement,” says Mark. “All of that land would have gone to housing. Instead, it’s still intact. It’s a nice legacy.”

Eleven years ago, Mark met his wife, Marie. “She was an Englishwoman. I was blessed to meet her.” They fell in love, married and set up home in America.

But, after a short while, Marie mooted the idea of a move back to the UK so that she could be nearer to her parents. They settled on a move to south Shropshire in 2001, after holidaying near Clun. “I remember waking up in this beautiful cottage on an April morning, when the spring lambs were in the field. I just thought it was idyllic. I’ve also been a country boy and I knew that we had to come here. I had great empathy with south Shropshire.”

Initially, Mark and Marie opened New Hope Gardens at Brown Clee. They attracted a steady flow of customers but, being in such an isolated spot, realised they would struggle to make their business viable. Providence intervened. 

“I remember coming here, to Delbury Hall Estate, and the guy who used to run it had been away in Spain. He used to go to Spain each year and I said to him ‘Boy, you’ve been gone a long time. I didn’t think you were coming back this time’. The owner turned to me and said ‘Well, I’ll tell you something, if I could find a buyer for this place, I wouldn’t come back’.”

Mark put in a bid and on October 1 he became the proprietor of Mynd Hardy Plants. He inherited a selection of 500 herbaceous perennials and also moved in many of his beloved day lilies.

“You know,” he says, drawing on his pipe. “I think there’s an unenlightened bias against day lilies on this island. It’s inscrutable as to why they are not more popular. They are vibrant and full of colour. They really are stunning.”

To spread the word, Mark organises regular open days – there were three during weekends in July. He also encourages people to visit at different times of the season, to see the plants as they grow. His collection at Mynd Hardy Plants comprises more than 100 day lily varieties and he’s proud of them.

Bryher shuffles over to Mark as he talks. He harrumphs and sits at his master’s feet, still annoyed with the swifts. “Good boy,” says Mark, as he surveys the scene. It is his own little bit of heaven, a colourful, fragrant and tranquil space far from the madding crowd. 

“I’m so lucky to be here,” he says.

• Mynd Hardy Plants can be contacted on 01584 841222 and is open from April to September, 1pm–5pm Wednesday–Friday, and 10am–5pm on Saturday. Further details are available at www.newhopegardens.com

Other than day lilies, Mark offers a host of other varieties at his walled garden site.