Monday, November 30, 2009

Greenhouse Exploration

Good Morning Daylily Friends,

I went to the Greenhouse this morning with my friend David, and it was a good "exploration." Looking at the rows of one-gallon seedlings it was delightful to see how well they are growing. Many of the seedlings look like "spring-time" foilage. Up until about 10 days ago I had kept the night time temperature in the Greenhouse at 70 degrees. Then, I reduced the temperature to 50 degrees. In perhaps another 7 to 10 days I will reduce the temperature to 40 degrees, and then down to 32 or 33 degrees. The temperature will stay at or just above freezing until I turn the temperature up again at some time around the middle of February. This will give about 2 months of cold temperatures in the Greenhouse, and will set the path for the plants to do well when they bloom early next April and throughout the month of May. As you can see from the picture, the plants are tall, and are very, very green.

One seedling has caught my attention. It is a cross between Seedling 7-192 and RANDY STEPHENS. Seedling 7-192 is dormant and the cross is as follows: [Spiney Sea Urchin x (Heartbeat of Heaven x Johnny Cash)]. Seedling 7-192 is probably a daylily that I will ultimately introduce. It is purple and has teeth. Everyone remembers RANDY STEPHENS. It is Kennebrew's red that also has teeth. Seedling 9-192 caught my attention because it is not one fan, which is what would be expected. Instead, it is now four fans: one big fan and three smaller fans. The plant is growing so well that I decided to put it into a 2-gallon container. It would be so good if it produced a nice, tall, good-colored seedling with teeth. The chances are good. I'll post more information as it continues to grow.

My prized Seedling 9-38 has revealed really good news about itself. It is either a dormant or a true semi-evergreen. You may recall that Seedling 9-38 is a cross between my newly introduced IRISH HALO, and Kaskel's seedling called BEST EDGE. I didn't know until recently that IRISH HALO often produces seedlings that are dormant. BEST EDGE, however, is a genuine evergreen that, in a warm enviroment, will bloom practically almost all of the time. Indeed I have one in my Greenhouse that is still blooming, and I have a second one that has produced a very large scape. When BEST EDGE is used as a parent it usually produces evergreen seedlings. I was concerned about this when I selected Seedling 9-38 as a "keeper-seedling." I am showing a picture of Seedling 9-38, but you can read more about it on my earlier Blog entries from June 18, 2009, and August 8, 2009. I'm also now showing a picture of the foilage of Seedling 9-38 as it appeared this morning in the Greenhouse. As you can see, the two, inner-most parts of the foilage are, indeed, turning "inward." Also, there is dead foilage forming at the bottom of the plant. The inner-most "point" of the foilage has regressed, and the plant is not continuing to grow. This all suggests dormancy.

Well I thought that you might want to know these things.

Bill

2 comments:

  1. Bill,

    I remember the morning that we saw 9-38 bloom. What a memorable morning and what a memorable flower. Please put me on the list for this one.

    Lee Pickles

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  2. Lee you are number one on the list. It seems to me that the only real question remaining is "height, branching and bud count." Since both parents have the branching and bud count, and since height should be fine with IRISH HALO being 30" tall, 9-38 should be a fine, fine daylily. Thanks Lee for your comment!

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