During February, 2008, my good friend Jamie Gossard from Ohio came to speak to our Cobb County Daylily Society here in Marietta, Georgia. Of course we were very pleased that Jamie stayed here at our house during his visit so we had considerable access to his time. One visit that we made several times was to my greenhouse. Jamie pointed out that the plants in the rows that were very small and not apparently
growing were dormants. Jamie "advised" that these should be removed from the rows and so this is what we did.Jamie helped move the plants, my friend David Arthur helped move the plants, and I also helped. We ultimately had about 38 dormants. We put them in their own rows and left them to grow.
In early May, 2008, one of the dormant seedlings bloomed. It was a cross between VARSITY ORANGE and TET. SPALDING MEMORIES. It was just magnificent. The orange color was so bold! The sepals were so wide, long, and extended. There was lovely green in the throat. The flower was just everything you might want in an orange. I gave the new seedling the number 8-96.
During the early summer of 2008 I planted seedling 8-96 outside, and I just let it grow.
I noticed about two weeks ago that 8-96 was "so" dormant that, indeed, it went below the soil with no foilage left above the ground. Today I noticed that, perhaps because of the mild weather, that the fans have pushed up through the soil. Just lovely to see. There are now three fans.
It is truly a winter thrill to see a documented, gorgeous, beautiful seedling coming back.
Bill
Hi Bill, Lanny here. I am very much enjoying this blog and the delightful photos that are accompanying it. I do hope to go south this year -- tentatively thinking of leaving here on the 5/6 May period and going through your area of the world on my way to Florida. I don't plan to stay for the AHS convention -- I do believe most of the gardens will be post peak bloom by that time, so I will tour the week after I go down and come home the following weekend.
ReplyDeleteHope to see you, one place or the other!
Lanny
Hi Bill,
ReplyDeleteI am enjoying reading your postings on your blog. I hope to get over to see you in the spring when the seedlings begin blooming in the greenhouse. I just wanted to rave about your KENNESAW MOUNTAIN HAYRIDE. It was one of the most spectacular plants in the garden last season. The first scape was branched like a tree and had over 50 buds. I can't say enough good about it.
William Marchant
Hi there, I hope that all is well. I am an old friend of Kelley's from work and we've lost contact over the months. I hope that all is well with her and if you could let her know that Margaret from alpine was reaching out to her. She can reach me at mg1028f@aol.com If you could tell her I said hi and that I hope she is doing well. Thank you and God Bless.
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