Happy Thanksgiving!

Good Morning Daylily Friends,

So much has happened and I haven't reported anything. One point of excitement that I definitely want to report is that on Saturday night, November 21, 2009, I had a very special treat. My beautiful wife, Diana Rae, surprised me with a "Porterhouse Steak." She knew how much I liked the Porterhouse that we had with the Arkansas State Daylily Society, and so she prepared a very similar dinner. I am showing what it looked like while it was being prepared on our new, Weber Grill. I just couldn't wait. Diana also prepared potatoes that were baked in olive oil. They were so, so good! I am showing two pictures. It is perhaps hard to believe that today's Turkey dinner will be better, but I wait in anticipation.

When I last posted I said that I would report, after our return from The Biltmore House, about the progress of WAXEN SPLENDOR, Plant Three. I have not watered it, and it seems to be doing fine. I know that the water is a threat. I want to water. I tell myself to water. But, I know that it would be a mistake. It is difficult to hold back the hose, and withhold water. Daylilies love water, and you would think that water would be helpful, but it is not. I will repeat what I have said before: water is a necessary enemy. It is necessary to help the daylily grow again, but it is an enemy because it will often cause a reaction in the "Coltricine-filled" plant. The reaction is disease that seem to come from underneath the plant up through the top of the plant. Water can only be sparingly applied. Sparing application is the rule.

I also previously said that I like to treat five plants when attempting a conversion. Although I have been focusing on WAXEN SPLENDOR, Plant Three, I also treated four other plants. I am showing pictures of the other four. You will notice that Plant One is cut similar to Plant Three. Plants Two, Four and Five were cut, but not as drastically as Plants One and Three. I may be making a mistake in not cutting Two, Four and Five, but I am content to watch the process.





















I am also showing a picture of what I hope this spring will be TET. EXOTIC GYPSY. I treated EXOTIC GYPSY for my friend, William Marchant. William likes this daylily, and actually asked during the summer of 2008 that I try to make the conversion. It initially appeared that my efforts were successful but then little shoots emerged from the bottom of each plant. I repeat, this happened on each and every plant. When new growth comes up from underneath a treated daylily, you can just basically forget about any conversion. What happens is that the strength go to the new shoot, and the treated part of the plant simply dies. I decided that EXOTIC GYPSY would have to be treated in the fall so I began the second attempt in September, 2009. So far, it seems to me that I have been successful. The plant is very, very hard. It is just stiff. A diploid will remain soft, but a new conversion is stiff. If it isn't stiff, then it isn't converted. Of course, I say again, I can't know for certain whether there is a conversion until I see the pollen. Nevertheless, the objective evidence looks good.

More news will come soon as I move through the conversion process with WAXEN SPLENDOR.

Bill