LACY ALL OVER and Diana's Squirrel.

Hello Daylily Friends,

I got up this morning, and walked out to look at the garden.  I have only 3 or 4 blooms now, and one of the blooms is from Stamile's LACY ALL OVER.  A beautiful, beautiful white flower.  I am showing a picture.  I can affirmatively report that right now, here in the middle of August, 2011, LACY ALL OVER is 32" tall with genuine 4-way branching.  There are 20 buds, and the flower is 6 1/2" in diameter.  In Stamile's registration he reports 35" in expected height, and 4-way branching with a "w" at the terminal point.  Stamile reports 45 to 50 buds.  I do not have Stamile's height or bud count, and my flower is not as beautiful as Stamile's flower; nevertheless, LACY ALL OVER is the best of Stamile's white daylilies that I own.  I am going to take LACY ALL OVER back to the Greenhouse again to use, particularly with other converted yellow and cream colored daylilies.  That Great Gardener Pat Stamile has done a wonderful work in producing LACY ALL OVER.  I would recommend this daylily to anyone.

Diana does not like our squirrels.  They scurry about our yard, they mess up our grass with shredded pine cones, and they chew big holes in our bird houses.  Diana has tried to control the squirrels with her B-B Gun, but she is not a good "marks-woman."  That is to say, she can't shoot very straight.  So, when she shoots at the squirrels they just sit and look at her, and scowl.  They are not afraid.

Diana does like our "Praying Mantis."  Yesterday he was out on one of Diana's flowers, and I took a picture.  I thought for sure that when Diana reached to hold him on her glove that he would surely jump to get away.  However, he was very submissive.  Very gentle.  He just sat and looked. I would note, however, that the Praying Mantis is an aggressive predator.  He will eat anything that he can subdue.  They camouflage themselves very well, and are not usually seen.  They blend in with green foilage.  Although the Praying Mantis eats other insects, they themselves are very susceptible to sprays that kill other insects.  So, if you want to see the Praying Mantis you have to withhold the chemical sprays.

 I can also report that this morning I saw the first seed sprout from my newly planted daylilies.  The first sprout is from this cross: [Irish Halo x (Irish Halo x Fringy)].  This particular seed was planted on August 5, 2011, and now, 8 days later, on August 13, 2011, there is growth that I can see!  I am sure that over the next 10 to 20 days my seedlings will all sprout.  There may be a few stragglers beyond this 20 day time period, but as I say, most all of the seeds will sprout within this time.

Have a great daylily day.

Bill