Thursday, February 23, 2012

Hybridizing Starts Today!

Hello Daylily Friends,

This morning I walked to the Greenhouse with anticipation.  I knew that there would be new blooms from several daylilies.  The first bloom that I saw was on Bill Maryott's PRICKLY SENSATION.  A much better bloom that I saw earlier.  Although I have not seen PRICKLY SENSATION bloom outside the Greenhouse, I must say that if it blooms outside about 85% as well as it does in the Greenhouse, then, it is indeed a "must have" daylily.  I believe that it will do as well outside, so I'm making seeds with it.  I have saved the pollen, and I plan to use it on many of my orange daylilies.

I was also glad to see my own RED SAPPHIRE.  Wow, it is big!  Branches and branches and buds and buds.  It is such a grand daylily.  Unfortunately, it did not have the many bobs and teeth that it often has when it blooms.  Nevertheless, I saved its pollen which I plan to use on many, many seedlings.  It is my humble opinion that RED SAPPHIRE is a "must have" daylily.  When it was first registered I didn't have but about 15 plants which sold fast.  Then, last year I had more plants.  Now I am increasing my supply, and this summer I hope to increase distribution.

The most fun this morning was seeing the first bloom from a seedling from my good friend, Paul K. Lewis from Mayfield Heights, Ohio.  Paul sent several daylilies to me to grow, and this was the first bloom from Paul's seedlings that I have seen.  In my opinion Paul has a champion.  I like the carving, I like the size, I like the edging, and I like the color.  Paul has done a good work.  I am privileged to have been asked by Paul to grow his seedling.  I again saved the pollen, and will use it in my program. 

Another bloom that I had this morning was from my Seedling 1-300.  I have posted pictures from this seedling several times, and I'm always amazed at its height and branching.  There is always, always, 4-way branching, and the height is a reliable 37 inches.  There are many more teeth when 1-300 blooms outside during the heat of the summer, but there are still plenty of teeth in the Greenhouse in February.

I should also add that this past week my beautiful wife Diana Rae and I went on a Princess Cruise to the Bahamas.  We were gone for 7 days.  We had a wonderful time, and went on the cruise with 14 members from our Sunday School Class.  The first night of the cruise I had to pass up a "Prime Rib" supper because I was dizzy and did not yet have my "sea legs."  I really regretted missing the Prime Rib, but the remainder of the cruise was wonderful.  When we returned home this past Sunday, I immediately went to my garden and to my two Greenhouses to check on my daylilies.  I'm posting a picture of myself and Ms. Diana from the deck of our ship.

Bill

8 comments:

  1. I love seeing all the beautiful blooms that you share from your program as well as those of others. Larry

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  2. Thanks Larry for your compliment. I just love daylilies no matter where they originate, and I try to use the best that I can get. I think that Paul's seedling, and Maryott's PRICKLY SENSATION are really fine daylilies. So glad to have them!
    Bill

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  3. Bill,


    I forgot to add in my email that once the Wonder of it all seedling is established it has about 27" height and 3 way branching as I remember. Love your seedling 1-300. You are so lucky to have bloom in February. I need to move south. Our winter is just too long.

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  4. Hi Paul,

    Got your e-mail. I wish that everyone could have bloom in February, but alas, there is the cost of the Greenhouse. I'm glad to hear that your seedling has 3-way branching, and reasonable height.

    By the way, on your website it look like you have gotten rid of your grass in your yard, and replaced everything with daylilies. Just wonderful to see.

    Thanks for letting me grow your seedling!

    Bill

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  5. Hi Bill, Hard to believe it's almost been a year since you visited us at the Georgetown Area Daylily Society. We sure did enjoy having you and going to dinner with you afterwards. Shirley Ann McCord did real well last year and I was able to make a few seeds also. Enjoy the blog and hopefully we will meet again soon.

    Marlon

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  6. Hi Marlon,

    Thanks for your generous words about SHIRLEY ANNE MCCORD. I have found it to be my best "purple parent." It has produced genuinely wonderful seedlings.

    Diana and I thoroughly enjoyed our trip to Georgetown, and South Carolina is so beautiful. Thank you for your invitation to us, and thank you for the wonderful supper right there on the sea front.

    We have fond memories of our visit.

    Thanks for your note.

    Bill

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  7. Bill,
    Jamie mentioned using Configure instead of BAP. I read what I could find on Configure. Are you familiar with it? How do the two compare? Doris is going to order some Configure, and we are going to test it out. The literature indicates that it will increase branching on certain "ornamentals," but didn't specify daylilies. Configure is BAP-6, so they must have much in common. Thanks for any info you can provide.
    David

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  8. Hi David,

    I have no information on either Configure or BAP-6. My only experience is with BAP-10, which I haven't used over the past two years. Looking forward to learning from you about your experience!

    Bill

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