Sammy and Freddie.

Hello Daylily Friends,

Most all of you know our beloved cat, Sammy.  Sammy has his own time schedule.  For example, he likes to sleep in the house most of the day.  Then, around 4:00 p.m., Sammy is encouraged to "go outside" for stretching and walking.  Around 5:00 p.m. Sammy is ready for his supper.  After his supper he goes back outside, and he likes to hunt until 9:30 or 10:00 p.m.; and sometimes even later.  You never know what Sammy will catch.  Last night I called for Sammy to come in for the evening, but there was no reply.  I called several more times, and then Sammy mysteriously appeared.  He had caught a baby rabbit.  I just petted him, then picked him up, and brought him in.  I assume that the rabbit lived because we never saw him again.  Sammy just call this his "Catch and Release Program."

This morning I reluctantly went outside to walk through the garden, knowing full well that there would be nothing to notice.  Again, as has happened before, I was wrong.  There was this beautiful yellow daylily that last spring I marked as Seedling 1-353 (Varsity Orange x Seedling).  I had seen this beauty before, and the picture that I am showing is on a rebloom scape.  The first flower on the new scape was two days ago, and that flower was beautiful.  This flower, this morning, was just a beautiful.  1-353 is 24" tall, 4-way branching, 24 buds, and a 5 1/4" flower.  I like the smooth color, and the way that the petals fold.  I also like the shape of the round sepals.  I doubt that 1-353 will grow taller than 24" because if it could, it would have done it by now.  The 24" height, however, is just fine because of the arcing foilage.

I came into the house to download my pictures of Sammy and Seedling 1-353.  Soon, Diana came in and wanted to use my camera.  "Freddie," our frog, was perched on a rock next to our pond, and she wanted to take a picture.  Diana first got a  picture of Freddie from a distance, and then she got a close-up shot as well.  Freddie doesn't sleep.  All night long he croaks, and croaks, and croaks.  Frankly, I am surprised that Diana got several good pictures.  She explained that Freddie was posing for her.

I found that I had the same daylily growing in two separate locations.  Wonderful bloom.  It is Seedling 9-105, and the cross is as follows:  [(Cherry Burst x Crazy Ivan) x Jelly Maker].  The reason that I made this cross, using Jelly Maker, was to gain some height and branching.  The plan worked.  9-105 is 29-30" inches tall, with very good 4-5 way branching.  There are about 20 buds, with a 6 inch flower.  9-105 is a semi-evergreen.  I will have between 20 and 25 fans, and because it has such good height, good branching, and good bud count, I may introduce it this coming spring.  I'm showing not only a picture of the flower, but a picture of the branching as well.

I think that I will go to the Greenhouse, and begin preparing my peat pots for seed planting.

Bill