Seedling 14-009

This is seedling 14-009. It has shown to be a strong grower and it increases well. Bud counts have reached the mid 30's on well branched 27" scapes. Bloom size is 6".

Every morning as I'm making my breakfast, I gaze out the kitchen window in anticipation of the surprises the day's blooms might bring. By the end of May however my anticipation is often muted because the garden has lost much of it's former glory. Nevertheless, once I actually get in the garden I'm still being rewarded with quality blooms making my daily walk a real joy.

Seedling 14-077

Today's image is seedling 14-077. It has 7" blooms on 31" scapes and comes from the cross (Cimarron Rose X Priscilla's Smile).

We're definitely on the downside of bloom season now. There are still a lot of blooms but not like a couple of weeks ago and the bloom quality is on the wane. That's not to say there aren't still surprises. Every day I find one or more blooms that are the best that cultivar has put out all season.

Seedling 13-069

This is seedling 13-069. It's colors make it stand out in the garden. It has 6" blooms on 28" scapes and comes from the cross (Orange City X Caribbean Magic).

There's been lots of rebloom this year and many of the scapes are better than the first set. That's thanks to the copious amounts of rainfall we received at the beginning of May and the regular waterings throughout the month. Water is a key for having good rebloom.

Seedling 16-120

Today's image is seedling 16-120. It has 6.5" blooms on 24" scapes and comes from the cross (Elegant Expressions X Fringy).

There are few, if any, truely white daylilies. Some hybridizers have worked to create white daylilies but more commonly hybridizers have used white daylilies as 'color clarifiers' and to increase petal widths. This results in many daylilies of various colors having white daylilies in their lineage. So it's not unexpected to find white(ish) daylilies in the new seedlings from time to time.

Seedling 12-057

Seedling 12-057 is a fairly white seedling that was derived from two pink parents (Princess of Wales, and Priscilla's Smile). it has 6" blooms on 27" scapes. The color on this is actually a very pale cream.

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be invited to join a group of other daylily enthusiasts on a bus trip to Benvenuti Garden in Lake Jackson. This garden is an American Daylily Society display garden and it was just incredible. One of the advantages in visiting an ADS display garden is that they have such a wide variety of daylilies and visitors like myself get to see a wide selection of daylily types and forms. I took a bunch of pictures and will try and post them later in the summer.

Dueling Colors (Pierce-G., 2016)

I couldn't resist posting at least one image from yesterday's trip. This is Dueling Colors. It has 6.5" blooms on 42" scapes and comes from the cross (Born to Be Wild × Tet. Waxen Splendor).

Daytime temperatures are now breaking the 90 degree barrier. The heat seems to push the plants into opening more blooms in a shorter timeframe. That in turn, seems to result in somewhat smaller blooms, narrower petals, and less vivid colors. I'm not complaining... that's just the way it is here along the gulf coast.

Seedling 14-047

Today's image is seedling 14-047. It has 5.5" blooms on 24" scapes and comes from the cross (Piping Rock X (Spacecoast Cranberry Breeze x Dream runner)).

Continuing with the picture taking thread... This morning there were clouds streaming in off the Gulf of Mexico. This resulted in alternating filtered sun and full sun. It gave me a chance to photograph the same bloom under both conditions. The first image below was taken when the sun was filtered by a passing cloud. The second was taken about a minute later in full sun. The camera was, as always, in point-n-shoot mode. I think I prefer the one on the right (taken in full sun).

Filtered by cloudsFull sun

This is the FBO for seedling 05-038. It has 6" blooms on 30" scapes and comes from the cross (Edge Of Heaven X J.T. Davis).

Yesterday I said I've been taking pictures in direct morning sun and was generally pleased with the results. I neglected to say that morning overcast skies are also excellent lighting for pictures and is my preferred lighting situation.

Seedling 12-076

This picture of seedling 12-076 was taken yesterday morning under bright overcast conditions. It has 6" blooms on 27" scapes and comes from the cross (Watermelon Taffy X Calamity Jane).

I have changed my approach regarding picture taking this year. In the past I used a white screen to diffuse the sunlight instead of taking pictures in direct sunlight. This year I'm taking pictures in direct morning sun whenever possible and I'm generally pleased with the results. Many pictures are more vibrant than when taken in diffused light. Of course there are problems with taking pictures in direct sun such as most purples turning out too red and whites, creams, and yellows being washed out. I'm thinking that this is primarily because I always use the automatic settings in my point-n-shoot camera. Perhaps learning to operate the camera manually might be my next project.

Seedling 16-050

Today's image is seedling 16-050. It has 6" blooms on 27" scapes and comes from the cross (Celtic Moonglow X Rose Sensation).

There has been a lot of rain over the past 10 days or so. Lots of rain during the spring and bloom season usually translates into excellent rebloom. As I walk the garden I've noticed that quite a few daylilies have already put up a second set of scapes and some of those are already blooming. IMHO, rain is a major factor for extending bloom.

Seedling 16-144

Seedling 16-144 has 5.5" blooms on 20" scapes and comes from the cross (Panama City X Racing The Moon).

Peak bloom is here - in fact it has been here for about a week or so. Peak bloom is a somewhat nebulous time when the garden seems to have the maximum number of blooms. It falls somewhere between when the largest number of daylilies begin blooming and when a significant number of daylilies are no longer blooming.

Deadheading is another way to identify peak bloom. Deadheading is removing blooms in the evening so the garden will look its best the next morning without spent blooms everywhere. I collect the day's blooms in a 5-gal bucket. By counting the number of times I fill the bucket, I can get a pretty good idea when peak has arrived. Typically, I fill the bucket 5-6 times during peak bloom.

Honky Tonk Floozy (Jarvis, 2015)

Today's image is Honky Tonk Floozy. Back in the olden days, my grandmother used to call a woman with too much powder on her face and bright red lipstick a 'floozy'. I doubt any further explanation is necessary (smile). Honky Tonk Floozy has 6" blooms on 29" scapes and comes from the cross (Sunshine Kisses × sdlg).

Yesterday our daylily club held their annual Daylily Show. This is our premier club event of the year. We were holding our collective breaths but the rains held off long enough for us to get our entries into the preparation area. There were quite a few exhibitors including a couple new to our show. With all the rain we've been having, the blooms looked good and there were entries in most classes.

If you have never entered daylilies in a show please consider doing so in the future. While the show is a competition it's also a place just to share with other growers (and the public) the daylilies you have in your garden. The objective of us "daylily crazy people" is to win one of the Best-In-Class awards, but any daylily that's in good condition stands a good chance of winning a blue ribbon. Daylilies do have to be registered cultivars but otherwise just about anything goes... new, old, large or small.

I was fortunate enough to win a couple of the Best-In-Class awards with Celtic Moonglow taking Best Large Flower and Seedling 13-043 taking Best Seedling. Toot-Toot (smile).

Best Large Flower - Celtic Moonglow

Best Seedling - 13-043

Saturday, the HHS will hold its annual daylily show. The weather however is threatening not to cooperate with rain forecast for the morning of the show. Rain shouldn't stop the show but it could limit the number of entries. Many people don't select their scapes for show until the 'morning of' and that includes me. Rain splotched blooms would not be 'show worthy' so some people won't bring entries.

The alternative is to cut the scapes the day before the show, place them in water and keep them indoors overnight. I've only had to do this once before. I was told that I should place the cut scapes under an overhead light source to help them open properly. I don't know if this is necessary but that's what I did and it worked. When doing this, be sure and leave room for the blooms to open. The other advantage to cutting the day before is the scapes can be groomed without worrying about damaging the open bloom. Those who bring a lot of entries probably cut the day before so they can leisurely groom their entries.

Seedling 13-056

This is seedling 13-056. It has 6" blooms on 24" scapes and comes from the cross (Carefree Sunset X Steve Martin).

I mentioned in an earlier post that there were a lot of short, low budcount scapes this year due to the cold wet spring. As the season has progressed, I'm happy to report that there turned out to be a good number of scapes with decent bud counts. My observation is that the low budcount scapes were the first to show up and the ones that emerged later had more normal budcounts. I attribute this to the lack of sunshine in February. Most days in February were either cloudy and rainy or socked in with heavy fog. With a limited amount of sunlight just prior to sending up scapes, the plants didn't have the resources to put up quality scapes. The ones that sent up scapes later had a month or more of daily sunshine to put toward quality scapes. Of course, this is just my opinion.

Seedling 15-041

Today's image is seedling 15-041. It has 6" blooms on 20" scapes, a bit short for my liking. It comes from the cross (Steve Martin X Daydream Spirit).

Yesterday was a "good hair day"... in daylily speak. Temperature, humidity, and water all came together to make for great daylily blooms. Even some of the 'difficult openers' cooperated. I was able to take a lot of pictures which I'll be sharing going forward.

Today, not so much. During the night we had strong storms with heavy wind and rain. I was able to get a few pictures, mostly the ones that typically don't start opening until just before dawn. Many daylilies start opening late in the evening before and those blooms took a beating.

Seedling 14-005

This picture is from yesterday. Seedling 14-005 has 6" blooms on 30" scapes and comes from the cross (Hedwig's Eyes X Shipwreck Cove).

It may seem a little strange, but each year about this time (just as bloom season gets underway) I start making notes about what changes I want to make in the garden in the fall. I suppose it only makes sense to put down ideas to improve the garden at the very time the garden is at its best. Today as I walked the garden I started making plans for daylilies I wanted to move. Last year when I transplanted everything from pots into the ground I was rushed to get it done before the hot weather set in. So there wasn't time for any real planning. This resulted in small plant daylilies being placed beside (and in some cases between) vigorous daylilies. The result was the foliage of the vigorous shaded out the smaller plants and that will have to be addressed in the fall.

Seedling 16-143

Today's image is seedling 16-143. It has 5" blooms on 27" scapes and comes from the cross (Violet Stained Glass X Serengeti Sunrise).

Last Sunday I sprayed for rust. It had been about 3 weeks since the previous treatment. I didn't see any active rust so this was basically a preventative spraying.

On Monday I watered everything thoroughly. Daylilies need ample water during bloom time in order for them to produce their best blooms. Rainfall is best of course but if mother nature doesn't cooperate, out come the hoses (smile).

Seedling 15-071

This is seedling 15-071. It has 5" blooms on 23" scapes. The plants are fairly small so it would probably be best in the border. It comes from the cross (Magical Mystery Show X Answering Angels).

Scape blast is something that I see to some extent most years. It's caused by a rapid increase in the internal pressures within the scape that cause the scape to literally blast apart. It typically happens following heavy rain (or copious watering) after a dry period. Fertilizing during scape formation can sometimes make the problem even worse. IMHO, most cultivars are not particularly susceptible to blasting but some are. I've been trying to keep the soil from drying out with the hope of minimizing blasted scapes but I did find one yesterday that had blasted.

Once I was standing near a scape when it blasted. I heard a loud 'pop' right behind me. In this case the entire top part of the scape was blasted into the air. More typically however, the scapes only partially burst leaving the top part partially attached. These partially attached scapes may still bloom but the blooms are usually smaller than usual. My preference is to remove these partially blasted scapes so the plant can concentrate its energy on putting up a new scape.

Seedling 12-014

I have always liked eyed daylilies. Seedling 12-014 has a particularly dark eye on bright yellow petals. It has 6" blooms on 29" scapes and comes from the cross (Face Paint X Hedwig's Eyes).

I have been somewhat disappointed this year seeing so many short scapes with lower than normal bud counts. I was starting to wonder what I've been doing wrong but at last night's daylily club meeting I found out that I wasn't the only one with short scapes. The wet cool spring followed by a quick warmup apparently is the culprit. Fortunately, there are still quite a few daylilies with normal size scapes.

Seedling 11-003

Today's image is seedling 11-003. It has 5" blooms on 27" scapes and comes from the cross ((Web of Intrigue x Optical Art) X Bit of Blue).

Bloom season is definitely picking up. Nights have continued to be on the cool side with low humidity so many of the blooms aren't looking as good as I know they could be. Over the years, I've observed that repeated cool nights can make the outer covering of the buds somewhat stiff. This outer bud covering is actually the sepals and if the sepals are stiff, they often don't roll back properly impeding the opening of the petals. Of course the cooler temperatures make it absolutely fabulous to be outside!

Flamingo Wings (Jarvis, 2014)

This is the FBO (First Bloom Open) for Flamingo Wings. It has 7.5" blooms on 40" scapes and comes from the cross ((Splendid Touch × Ed Brown) × J.T. Davis).

There have been a few more FBO's in the garden during the past week however morning temps in the 40's have put a damper on picture taking. Poor cool weather opening is one of the reasons that early daylilies are not among my favorites.

Seedling 13-009

Temps this morning were in the mid 50's but seedling 13-009 still opened fairly well. It has 5.5" blooms on 25" scapes and comes from the cross (Singing With Angels X New Paradigm). The form is typically more recurve than this.

It hasn't rained since last Sunday so this morning I'm going to water the daylily beds. My beds drain very well but unfortunately this also means they can dry out quickly.

Water is very important for good blooms. Once on a bus trip to Louisiana, we found the entire garden full of huge lush green fans. The scapes were incredibly branched with tons of buds. Seeing one particularly spectacular bloom, I asked what it was only to hear that it was a cultivar that I also grew. Mine never looked that good. The grower was asked what fertilizer he used and to our surprise he said he used very little fertilizer. The tremendous plants and scapes were the result of an extremely wet winter and spring.

Seedling 15-021

Seedling 15-021 is the second to bloom this spring. This is a couple weeks before it normally blooms which surprised me a little. It has 5" blooms on 27" scapes and comes from the cross (Mississippi Memento X Thomas Tew).

Today's weather was perfect for spraying. It looked like there might not be light winds again for another week so I hauled out the sprayer and went to work. It's been about a week since the last rust treatment so spraying today was pretty much on schedule. The fungicide for today was Honor Guard. There was a tree guy here this morning grinding out some old pine stumps so I didn't get started spraying until the afternoon.

Seedling 15-002

This is the the second bloom of the season. It's the same seedling that bloomed yesterday and it's typically an early bloomer. Seedling 15-002 comes from the cross (Mississippi Memento X Calamity Jane) and has 5.5" blooms on 26" scapes.

I had my first bloom today! Sorry, no picture as a rain shower beat me to the garden. Maybe tomorrow as it looks like I'll have another bloom.

Green Darner dragonfly

I was bending over weeding about a week ago when I found myself eye-to-eye with this green darner dragonfly... literally. It was a cool morning and I believe she was sunning herself to warm up before beginning her daily journey. This type of dragonfly can have up to a 3" wingspan and is common throughout the US and Mexico.