Health economist by day, lily grower by night (and weekend), Wayne State professor Gail Jensen Summers divides her time between complex analysis of Medicare data and coaxing delicate lilies into breathtaking, perfectly timed blooms.  She won big on both fronts this year. 

Not only did peer-reviewed economics journals publish two of her papers this spring, but Summers also won the Best in Show award at the 66th North American International Lily Show, held in June in Des Moines.

Both endeavors require patience and close attention.

On the lily side, Summers has competed for a decade; her husband Warren has grown and hybridized lilies for 30 years.  The two met at a lily show.

The couple took three prizes in June — their species lily won the Isabella Preston Trophy for Best in Show and the Harold Comber Award for Best Lily Species.  Another lily of theirs, called Sweet Irene, won best stem of a named lily of New England origin. 

The Isabella Preston win is noteworthy because species rarely beat out all the magnificent hybrids for Best in Show.