Tuesday, May 5, 2009

"TIP-OF-THE HAT" to my Friend Larry.

Hello Daylily Friends,

I have just had the most grand adventure. My friend Larry Grace from Newton, Alabama, invited me to come and visit his garden, and so I gladly accepted the invitation. I knew that I would see the best in daylilies because Larry is a master-craftsman hybridizer. I was not disappointed. It took me four hours to drive from my home in Marietta, Georgia, to Larry's home in Newton. I arrived about 2:00 p.m., and it had been raining all morning. Fortunately, the rain prevented any deterioration in the daylilies and they looked as fresh as they would have if I had arrived at 9:00 a.m. Larry kindly walked me through the Greenhouse, and then we passed this daylily that Larry was looking forward to seeing in full bloom. It was green all over the outside of the bud. I have shown several on this blog that were green, but this particular daylily was very, very green. I'm herewith showing a picture of the bud.

I must add that the picture of the bud was taken at about 6:00 p.m. on Monday, May 4, 2009. To me it seemed that the bud was at least 20% open. Later during the evening, at about 10:00 p.m., we went back and looked at the bud and it was about 25% open. You could see that the flower was going to open very nicely, and the even the anthers were plainly visible.

After a wonderful evening of rest, we were up and in the Greenhouse at about 7:15 a.m., this morning. There it was! Simply a dream creation. The very best green edged daylily that has ever bloomed. It was like the Statute of Liberty. Standing there in all of its glory. This is not short daylily. It is 27" tall, it has 4-way branching, and 24 buds. I know because I looked at the measuring rod, and I counted each bud. The daylily itself was 6 1/4" in diameter. Anyone seeing this incredible creation would be amazed. I have heard one well-known and well-respected Florida hybridizer say that there are no green edged daylilies, only daylilies with a chartruse color. Well, here is a daylily that is genuinely as green as your grass. As it opens it looks like a head of lettuce. Here is a picture of Larry's green edged daylily, and a picture of Larry admiring his work.

So, I offer a "TIP-OF-THE HAT" to my good friend Larry Grace for such a stunning accomplishment. Larry's new, fully formed, well-brached, green-edged daylily will change daylilies from this time forward. This green edged beauty will find its way to reds, to purples, to exotic patterns, and to anything that can be imagined. If you can put a green-edge on a fully formed, tall dayliliy, then you can put it on anything else. Today, May 5, 2009, is a great day in the development of new daylilies. As my preacher would say, Larry has done a "Good Thing"!

Be sure to enlarge the pictures of Larry's greed-edged daylily to see it in its full glory. To enlarge, simply click on the picture.

Bill

2 comments:

  1. Hello Bill,
    Now that is a green seedling, Did Larry say if he would intr it in the next few years. Hope that you are tring to to get somemore toothy seedlings in the greenhouse. Glad to see that you might have ESP converted. Would like to buy some more of your converse in the next few years. David From SC

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi David,
    I am sure that Larry will explore many avenues of creating new daylilies from his new green treasure. I am sure he will eventually introduce it to the market, but probably not sooner than three years. I am pleased about Tet. ESP. I used some of the pollen this morning. I hope it takes. I put the pollen on Stamile's LACY ALL OVER which is a tall white. Since Tet. ESP is dormant it should help make LACY ALL OVER even stronger here and further north. Will be glad to sell conversions.

    ReplyDelete