Monday, January 12, 2009

GRANNY SMITH Dormant Seedling







Hello Daylily Friends,
Do you remember Frank Smith's GRANNY SMITH? I was fortunate to receive this daylily, and I used it to make a number of new seedlings. GRANNY SMITH has the most "green color" on the edge of its petals that I have seen. GRANNY SMITH is really a nice daylily, but it has one shortcoming: It is registered to be only 18" in height. However, Frank did say that GRANNY SMITH was to be used as a "hybridizing flower."

So, I crossed GRANNY SMITH with one of my seedlings that I numbered 7-144, and the result is the first picture shown above. I have given my new seedling the number 8-231. One very interesting point about the new seedling is that it is dormant. This dormancy is shown by the second picture that I took this morning. The seedling had started to grow out of the ground because the weather here has been mild over the past three weeks. However, this morning the outside temperature was 28 degrees. Cold! 8-231 is doing well, and, even though it is cold this morning, 8-231 is not at all bothered. We have to remember that daylilies are not tropical plants. They originate in China where the temperatures are frigid during the winter.

I took a proliferation from 8-231 that I created by using BAP-10. I later potted this proliferation and it is now growing in the greenhouse. The greenhouse 8-231 has grown through its dormancy. Its appearance this morning in the greenhouse is shown above in the third picture. It is growing in a 3-gallon container.

In my estimation, Seedling 8-231 is an improvement over GRANNY SMITH because 8-231 is 25" tall and it also has an attractive green edge. I would note that 8-231 bloomed outside about one year after it was planted. Seedling 8-231 had two-way branching, about 10 buds, and a 6 1/2" flower. I hope that when 8-231 blooms again this coming spring and summer that there will be more branching and bud count. I just need patience, patience and patience.

Bill




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