Monday, March 16, 2009

Seedling 7-53

Hello Daylily Friends,

Do you want to see an early bloom from the greenhouse? OK. Here are two pictures: The cross is as follows: [(Ageless Beauty x Minstrel's Fire) x Tet. Peppermint Delight]. It is 24" tall, and in the greenhouse it has 8-way branching and over 50 buds. I can't even count the buds accurately because I can't even see some of them on the lower branches.


One lesson that I have learned is that growing daylilies in the greenhouse does not mean that they can be available for shipment everywhere across the USA. I have heard many growers from up north, and even into Canada, say that evergreens do well where they live. However, from my own experience, there are evergreens that are "tough," and then there are evergreens that are "tender." 7-53 leans toward the tender part of the equation. It will grow well outside, but the loss of the plant during a hard winter is a distinct possibility. It should do well south of Macon, Georgia, and do well in the lower areas of those States that are close to the Gulf of Mexico. More particularly, the southern portions of States like Texas, Louisianna, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida. Beyond these regions it probably would not do well. Oh, it should also grow well in Southern California.


Well I have also learned that when I cross pollinate I need to mix dormants with important tender evergreens. So, this morning, I took frozen pollen from the TET. UNCLE BRYAN and used this to pollinate 7-53. I would have used something else with a red eye and a red edge, but I had no other such pollen from a dormant parent.
Bill

2 comments:

  1. Hi Bill, you might consider Mick's Glamorous Mouse which is a northern bred, extremely hardy dormant. Karen Newman has it available at her garden.

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