One of the questions I'm asked is if scapes should be removed after they have finished blooming. To me the better question is CAN the scapes be removed after they have finished blooming. I doubt there's any benefit for the plant to removing the spent scapes but there could be a slight benefit to leaving the scapes in place until they dry. While I've never heard of any scientific evidence for this, I suspect that the nutrients remaining in the scape could possibly be drawn back into the plant after the blooming finishes. Immediately cutting spent scapes would mean these nutrients would be lost. I should clarify however that I don't believe any significant issues arrive from removing the scapes as long it's done by cutting them off leaving a few inches attached to the crown.

Cutting off spent scapes is more of a cosmetic thing we do to make our garden look better. The spent scapes actually detract from the appearance of the garden and as they begin to dry and turn brown, they become even more apparent. I haven't removed any scapes yet this year but plan to remove those in the front yard just to 'keep up appearances'. I'll probably leave those in the back until they dry and can easily be removed. One caution however - force shouldn't be used to remove dried scapes. If the scapes don't come loose easily they may not be ready to detach from the crown of the plant. Removing them forcibly could cause a wound in the crown which could allow attack by pathogens resulting in a loss of the fan.

Seedling 10-087

Seedling 10-087 only has a 5.5" bloom but it seems bigger than that probaby because of the striking color contrast between the petals and the darker eye and edges. This is a picture of the first rebloom and was taken today.

Back in April, a friend and I were checking out my seedlings. When we came to seedling 14-025 (picture below), I was somewhat embarrased with how the blooms were looking. The problem was the color - it just looked flat and unattractive. I remembered that I had originally planned on discarding the seedling but I couldn't remember why I had changed my mind. I made a mental note to put this on the discard list for this coming fall. Fast forward a couple of weeks and I found the blooms had improved greatly. I have no idea what changed but every day the color seemed to get better. By mid May, I even found myself contemplating bringing a scape of 14-025 to the club flower show.

While I don't specifically remember, I'm guessing the same thing happened last year and that's why it didn't get discarded. I guess I'm going to have to grow it for another year to see if I can figure out why I thought it looked so bad early on and then improved.

Seedling 14-025

I posted yesterday about taking a chance on plants with low first year bud counts but pretty faces. Sometimes I just can't bring myself to pass over a seedling with a low bud count because I know that a low first year bud count doesn't necessarily mean the bud count will stay low.

Today's image of seedling 16-093 is one that I'll have to decide if I want to try growing it out or not. It only has a bud count of 7 but I think the 6" bloom would be a nice change from the typical round, edged form of so many of my seedlings.

Seedling 16-093

Because I grow my new seedlings so close together (4" apart in rows 8" apart), the first year bloom seldom performs very well. In fact it's not common for me to get any first year plants with high branching and bud counts. To compensate for lack of performance, I have to estimate how a seedling might perform when given its own space in the garden. Sometimes I end up growing a pretty face for a couple of years only to find that 10 or 12 buds is the best it will ever do. On the other hand however, I've had some real pleasant surprises. I even had one seedling with 2-way branching and a bud count of 5 the first year end up with 4-way branching and 20 buds the next year.

Sometimes I select a seedling for evaluation because it shows signs it could be a performer. Of course it has to have a half way decent bloom. Seedling 14-080 below was one such seedling. The first year bloom wasn't all that impressive. The color was weak but it had 4 branches and 11 buds which is a little higher than the average first year seedling. The key was the 4-way branching. To me that suggested possibilities. It took a couple of years but this year it has 5-way branching with 25 buds. The color has also improved and the plants are robust and multiplying nicely.

Seedling 14-080

After the garden looking so nice yesterday, today was a bit of a disappointment. I would guess that the number of blooms today was maybe only 1/3 of what it was yesterday. I suspect this was just a coincidence as there are still plenty of buds. I also noticed this morning that there appears to be a flush of rebloom scapes just now appearing in many of the ones that have finished their first scapes.

We haven't hit 90 degrees yet this year. If it stays in the 80's for a while longer this will be one of the longer bloom seasons in memory. Temperatures in the 90's speed up the daylily's metabolism which means they bloom out quicker.

Seedling 13-005

Seedling 13-005 has been a favorite since the first bloom. It reached 20 buds this year so it is now on the list to be considered for registration.

Today was one of those days when the garden looked extra special. I noticed it as soon as I entered the garden. Even the 2015 seedling bed which has had most of the good stuff removed looked nice. Perhaps it was the 1/4" of rain last evening that made everything look so fresh and helped the blooms open so well.

Seedling 13-043

Yes I know... another yellow daylily. I just can't help liking yellow daylilies. This is seedling 13-043 which has been performing very well the past couple of years.

Bloom season is definitely on the downside here in Houston. Most all of the seedlings in the evaluation beds have now bloomed and many are now reblooming. Of the few that haven't bloomed yet there are a small number that may not bloom this year. This may be because they were transplanted late last fall. Deciding whether to keep these another year is always a tough call. The evaluation process includes how well they performed last year, what the blooms looked like, and how well the plants are growing now. I don't want to waste my time on a finicky plant unless the bloom is really special.

There was another inch of rain yesterday which made for a nice bloom this morning. With today's all day sunshine and more sun forecast for tomorrow, it may be a really good day to take pictures.

Seedling 16-084

Seedling 16-084 is one of the better new faces in the seedling bed for this year. I can't wait to see how it will perform once it is moved to better growing conditions.

Some years back I was visiting a famous hybridizer. I commented that I wished I could get the kind of bud counts that this hybridizer was famous for. His reply was that he was actually trying to reduce his bud counts a little because too many buds usually meant they were not spaced very well and that caused problems when the flowers were opening. While I could understand his reasoning, it still was hard for me to relate as his bud counts were two to three times what I was getting at the time.

Now that I have seen the results of higher bud counts I can better understand the problem. A lot of the problems with opening are the result of the way the scape branches. If the scape's branching is such that the bud clusters are near other bud clusters or near the main scape, there may not be sufficient room for the buds to open properly.

Flower size combined with a propensity to open multiple blooms is a recipe for problem opening unless the branching can handle it. I have a seedling with 7" blooms and a bud count in the mid 30's that consistently blooms with blooms scrunched together. It's a nice bright splash of color but I prefer to see the individual blooms. It also has a strange branching habit. Instead of sending the branches out from the main scape in various directions, they are almost in a fan shape. This means the buds are even closer together. It's too bad as it is a bright yellow color and otherwise might have been a good garden plant for color.

Seedling 14-052

Seedling 14-052 has 6-way branching and 30+ buds but is only 26" tall which doesn't give a lot of room to carry the 5.5" blooms. Still, it has done quite well even when it opens multiple blooms which it does fairly frequently. Today it opened five on the same scape (pictured above).

Sometimes in the fall when I'm transplanting, I end up with either an empty pot or space in the garden. Because I believe that no garden space should remain unused, I have a game that I play with myself to fill the empty space. I go to the new seedling bed which by now has all the selected plants removed, and pick a plant to put in the empty space. My criteria? I just pick a plant that looks vigorous.

The following spring when it blooms, I get to see what I've randomly selected. Frequently it's nothing special but occasionally I get lucky and end up with something that I like. Today's image is one of those lucky selections. On most days it is just another patterned daylily - attractive enough but not special. However, if the weather is just right, I get a few days where the patterned eye breaks like this. I'm not sure what year this first bloomed but I believe I've been growing it in a pot for five or six years now.

Patterned seedling

This has been one of the best daylily seasons in a long time. Daylilies love rain and we certainly have had plenty. I have had blooms almost every day for over five weeks and my beds still look like they're at peak bloom.

Not only has the rain made for exceptional bud counts, it has encouraged lots of rebloom. The rain has also kept the temperatures fairly moderate. Because the buds tend to mature and bloom faster when it's hot, these moderate temperatures slow down the blooming process somewhat which also extends the time the scapes are in bloom. I even had a neighbor stop by today to comment on the number of blooms I was having this year.

Seedling 02-021

I have grown seedling 02-021 for 14 years now. While it's one of my favorite seedlings because of its form and bright pink color, I haven't registered it because it just hasn't met my standards as far as bud count goes... yet. I plan to take it from its pot and put it back in the ground this fall. With a little extra care (and some encouraging words), I'm hoping to get it to make the 20 bud minimum in another couple of years.

We had quite a nice daylily show yesterday. The blooms were just fabulous (helped by all the rain we've been having no doubt). After the judging, I heard it said that they hadn't seen a show in some time with as many purple ribbons (purple is awarded to only the best entries). One of the judges commented that the quality of the exhibits made it difficult to make more than minor deductions when judging. Rain was forecast so public attendance down but we all had a great time anyway.

Flamingo Wings (left), Caribbean Magic (right)

This is a picture of a couple of my registrations, Flamingo Wings and Caribbean Magic. This image was actually taken Thursday morning but I'm a little behind in sorting my pictures.

Occasionally, when deadheading in the early evening, I come across a seedling and wonder why I hadn't marked it as one to consider for further evaluation. It's almost like I missed it when I was selecting seedlings to mark. Because it seems like it's happening a little more this year I have been pondering why and think I may have figured it out.

Pale cream-yellow daylilies are one common color where I see this happening. A cream-yellow with a yellow edge doesn't have a big contrast between the petal and edge colors. Also, while cream-yellow seedlings tend to have nice form, they are fairly common in the seedling bed and I only mark those that stand out from the rest. After sitting in the sun all day however, the yellow in the cream-yellow sometimes seems to fade. Then the contrast between the resulting off-white petal and yellow edge is more pronounced and is a prettier daylily (IMHO). I also have a honey colored with red eye seedling where the honey color fades a little after a day in the sun. The lighter honey color with the red eye is more attractive.

Seedling 15-043

I think the reason I'm drawn to seedling 15-043 is the way the midrib splits the eye color making it almost seem like six separate orange balls of color. So far this has been a consistant trait of this seedling.

Our daylily club flower show is tomorrow. Because bloom started so early this year there will be only have a limited number of scapes to select from. While I have seen a scape with the very last bud in bloom win best in show, normally scapes that have more than half the buds already bloomed don't make it to the head table unless they are quite special.

There was a nice rain last evening. There was also a brief shower tonight but not enough to affect the blooms. I've found that a nice watering two days before the show followed by a warm sunny day produces the best blooms on show day.

Seedling 15-006

Seedling 15-006 hasn't had a chance to settle in long enough to show what kind of bud count it will eventually have but it still put on a nice show this year.

There has been no significant rain here for about 10 days. As the ground dried up, the blooms started getting smaller so I've been watering. The daylilies have responded well to the additional moisture even if it is "city water".

Seedling 14-002

This is seedling 14-002. It has a 6" bloom on a 28" scape with a bud count in the mid teens. It's currently growing in a pot and bud counts usually improve when they are grown in the ground. If I can coax a little more bud count out of it I will probably register it.

Recently, a single bloom from a purple passion flower vine poked between two boards of the cedar fence in the back yard. There was no foliage, just the bloom. The vine must be growing in the neighbor's yard and decided to see what was on my side of the fence. It was such a pretty bloom I decided to take a picture and share it.

Purple Passion Flower

Happy Mother's Day!

I believe bloom here has now past peak. More and more of the daylilies have finished blooming their initial scapes. Rebloom has also started with more on the way. While the garden has been blooming for about a month now it will probably still have quite a bit of bloom for another month due to the wet spring. That always encourages rebloom.

Seedling 16-090

Parentage

Springtime RomanceCrystal Smith

I found seedling 16-090 smiling at me from the garden this morning when I went to see what new faces there might be. The parentage was Springtime Romance X Crystal Smith which is one of my favorite daylilies. I used to question myself when I used something as nice as Crystal Smith in a cross but just because a bloom this beautiful probably can't be improved upon, there are lots of other things that can be gained from using a good parent. It will be interesting to see how 16-090 performs once it gets established in an evaluation bed.

Last month I posted about having issues with my pots seeming to dry out too quickly which was affecting performance. That became all too apparent when suddenly the majority of the blooms in the pots suddenly got considerably smaller. April was amazingly wet with about 13.5" of rain for the month and most of the garden soil was still quite moist however I stuck my finger in the pot soil and it was bone dry. Lack of moisture was causing the blooms to be small. This is more confirmation that I need to put the daylilies back in the ground. Oh well, experimenting is part of the fun of gardening.

Seedling 13-014

This is seedling 13-014. I have a number of different seedlings with this color combination under evaluation. The objective of course it to identify the best performer.

Polymerus daylilies have more than the normal number of segments (IE: petals and sepals). Originally called polytepalous, the term polymerus was adopted by the AHS to conform with current botanical usage. Poly's as I call them are different from doubles in that doubles have the extra petals stacked on top of the normal three petals. Doubles also have only six stamens whereas a poly will have two for each petal.

For me the most common poly petal count has been four with only an occasional five petals. Poly's are actually not very common in my garden with usually only a couple of poly blooms per season.

Seedling 15-020 (polymerus bloom)

Seedling 15-020 has been a bit of an exception this year with three poly blooms so far and it's still blooming. This picture was taken today.

I use a point-and-shoot digital camera for taking my pictures. It does a pretty good job for my purposes which is documenting what the blooms look like. Taking pictures in direct sunlight has always been a challenge however.

The bright direct sunlight is a harsh light which seems to reduce the contrast which in turn reduces the amount of detail that comes out in the pictures especially in the lighter colors like creams and yellows. I recently purchased a white translucent sun screen and got to use it some today. The results so far are encouraging.

One observation I've made over the years is that the high humidity here along the gulf coast means a lot of hazy skys and clouds. Taking pictures in hazy sunlight results in everything having a redish cast. Today the humidity was way down and the sky was blue. The colors on the pictures were much more natural.

Caribbean Magic (Jarvis - 2014)

Caribbean Magic was putting on a nice show this morning. The bud counts are down because it's growing in a pot but the blooms still looked good.

Yesterday's daylily yard sale was fantastic. Not only did I have plenty of buyers but my beds were bursting with great blooms brought on by the rain Saturday morning. My only disappointment was the same one I have every year. The sale itself lasts just over an hour and then everyone rushes home to plant their new purchases. Back before the sale got popular, I would enjoy walking the garden and visiting with the customers.

Holding a daylily yard sale is not for everyone as it involves a lot of work. But a sale is a good way to help pay for new introductions which can go a long way toward improving a hybridizing program.

Seedling 16-060

Every year I have at least one new seedling that should be passed by but I can't help myself and mark it anyway. Seedling 16-060 is this year's winner (smile). I really like the edge. There have been a few over the years that actually turned out to perform fairly well when given the chance. Hopefully, this one will be another that gets better with time.