Shimek Seedling Converted

Hello Daylily Friends,

Yesterday my friends Mike Holmes and Bill Chambers came to visit. Most of you know Mike and Sandy Holmes from Ohio, but most of you probably do not know Bill Chambers. Bill is a Claims Manager for Hanover Insurance Company. He lives in New Hampshire and drifts over to Maine for a few weeks every year. He likewise also spends time in Ohio. So, Mike and Bill know each other through their acquaintance in Ohio. I'm showing a picture of myself with Mike who is in the middle of the picture, and with Bill on the right side of the picture. Mike is pointing at my new conversion of a seedling grown by the Shimek family in Houston, Texas.

I noticed this seedling when Diana and I visited the Shimek garden during the AHS National Convention in Houston, Texas, two years ago. I asked Harvey Shimek about the seedling because it seemed unusual, and it was doing well despite the hot early afternoon temperatures. I offered to buy the seedling, so Harvey spoke to his wife Nell, and they agreed to let me purchase the daylily. So, I received one (1) fan, and took it home to grow. I grew it well, and later treated it with "colchicine," and today, it showed itself to be a full tetraploid. I am pleased with myself. I'm showing a picture of the Shimek seedling as a diploid.

Now I'm showing a picture of the Shimek seedling as a full tetraploid. I couldn't be more pleased. I have already been using the pollen on a number of plants. The idea is to change the appearance of some of my introductions. To make them look different. My friend Larry Grace was here about 10 or 12 days ago and he looked at the five containers that I had of the treated Shimek seedling. Larry picked out the plant that turned out to be the full conversion. I am so delighted with the success of the venture. The Shimek seedling is small. It is only about 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. I normally like large daylilies with beautiful edges, but I'm determined to change the appearance of some of my seedlings to have that new look. I looked at the pollen of the Shimek seedling under the microscope, and there were those great big pollens. The pollens seemed to uniformly measure about 14 to 16 on the scale that I have with my hundred power microscope. It is important in conversion work to have heavily substantial numbers of tetraploid pollen because this is necessary to create seeds.

Well, you might also want to see one of my seedlings. It bloomed last year, but I never was able to get a good picture because the anthers were always being lost. The anthers would fall away from the flower when the flower would open. Still, I thought that there was a very greed edge on the plant, so I named it Seedling 9-26. The parentage is as follows: (Irish Halo x Best Edge). You might also want to know that I planted three separate 9-26 plants outside, and they went through the winter just fine. I'm showing a picture of 9-26, and surprisingly, it has bloomed as a polytepal/polymerous. You can see the lovely pink color on the self, and then the grass green edge on the petals. I think that 9-26 is even an added tool toward greener and greener daylilies.

Well this is all the news for today.

Bill