I tried to work in the garden this morning but repeated light showers finally convinced me that inside would be more fun. I did get another of the front yard beds cleaned before giving up and going inside.

Seedling 16-097

This is seedling 16-097. It has 5.5" blooms on 25" scapes and comes from the cross (Wonder Of It All X Wild Cherry Round Up).

I decided today that it was time clean up the beds in the front yard. As in the Chuck Brodsky song Take It Out Back... "gotta keep the front yard lookin' good" (smile).

While it still pains me a little to cut spent scapes that have not fully dried, the garden does look a whole lot better without all the spent scapes. Most of the plants have completed their summer foliage die back and the brown leaves also needed to be removed. The soil was quite wet from all the rain so I also removed some oak tree sprouts. If the tap roots are less than about 6" or 7", they can be removed with a slow steady pull when the ground is very wet. Once they get too long, it can take a little digging to get enough of the root to keep them from coming back. In the past week I've removed about 3 dozen but more show up every week (those darn squirrels).

Seedling 16-153

Today's image is seedling 16-153. It has 6.5" blooms on 26" scapes and comes from the cross (What Love Can Do X Sarah Starchak).

I'm frequently asked about how much direct sun do daylilies require. I've always heard that a minimum of 6 hours is needed. Anything less results in a reduction in performance. This year I've seen this to be true as I have one bed that is no longer getting 6 hours. Most of this bed is under the rain shield of the east side neighbor's large oak tree and gets shaded until early afternoon. Then after about 5 hours of sun it gets shaded by a huge oak in my west side neighbor's yard. These daylilies had significantly smaller plants with fewer flowers on shorter scapes. It's possible that being in the rain shield of the tree resulted in less water and that could be a contributing factor. So before I give up on this bed I'll be making a concerted effort to give this bed extra water to see if that helps.

Seedling 14-071

During early evaluation, seedling 14-071 was planted deep under the rain shield of the above mentioned oak. It had lots of blooms but instead of upright scapes, they were all lying down. I originally thought this was a serious flaw and almost composted the seedling. Fortunately, I moved it to a better location and have been rewarded with 30" upright scapes with lots of blooms up to 7". It comes from the cross (Daydream Spirit X Priscilla's Smile).

Seedling 14-046

Today's image is seedling 14-046. It has 5.5" blooms on 24" scapes and comes from the cross (Edwardian Charm X Happy Halloween).

I headed to the garden early this morning with plans to do a little weeding before it got too hot. As soon as I stepped out, I saw an adolescent Cooper's Hawk sitting on the back fence. There are hawks in this urban Houston neighborhood because it has so many trees but this is the first time I've seen one this close up - especially on my back fence. So instead of weeding, I sat and watched a drama unfold.

Because there are so many oak and pecan trees, this neighborhood has a significant population of squirrels. This juvenile hawk was learning to hunt. The back fence has always been a 'squirrel highway' and apparently the hawk had figured this out. After a while, I saw what appeared to be a juvenile squirrel coming down the fence line. The hawk made his move and surprised the squirrel. Hawk 1, squirrel 0. But then things got interesting.

While the hawk was holding the squirrel down (I assume waiting for him to stop moving), another juvenile squirrel appeared on the fence. They stared at each other for a long time and then much to my surprise, the squirrel moved closer to the hawk. A few feet and then stopped. Another few feet and stopped again. This continued until they were about 2 feet from each other. The staring continued for a couple of minutes before the squirrel turned and slowly walked away.

Seedling 16-070

Seedling 16-070 comes from the same cross as 16-147 posted a couple days ago. It has 6.5" blooms on 26" scapes.

Today's the first official day of summer but summer weather has actually been around for quite some time here along the gulf coast.

Seedling 15-090

Gold with a red eye and edge is a color combination that can make an impact in the garden. Seedling 15-090 normally has 6" blooms on 27" scapes however this bloom was more like 5.5" because the petals were quite recurved. It comes from the cross (Dragon Knife X Bella Vita).

Despite the heat, I've been able to complete the new bed for my Ruellia and they look good. But now comes the real test - can they compete with the tree roots that will inevitably invade the soft soil in the bed. Time will tell.

Seedling 16-147

Today's image is seedling 16-147, another of the Sarah Starchak kids. It has 7" blooms on 27" scapes. The actual cross was (May I Have This Dance X Sarah Starchak).

Even though I applied Snapshot (pre-emergent herbicide) earlier in the year, I'm starting to see some weeds sprouting in the beds. We've had a lot of rain this spring and early summer so the effectiveness of the Snapshot is wearing off. If the problem becomes severe, I'll have to reapply. The primary offending weed is spurge. Spurge seeds are tiny and a good gust of wind can pick them up and deposit them somewhere else (like in my beds).

Seedling 15-104

Seedling 15-104 starts blooming a little later than the average. I would probably consider its season to be 'ML' (mid to late). It has 6" blooms on 26" scapes and comes from the cross (Princess Dianna X Elegant Expressions).

We received an inch of rain overnight. There was also some african dust in the air. Hopefully the rain washed some of the dust out of the air and onto the garden. That would be free fertilizer, although only a tiny amount.

Seedling 14-045

Today's image is seedling 14-045. It has 6" blooms on 26" scapes and comes from the cross (Running Hot X Priscilla's Smile).

Hybridizers often find that seedlings with heavy edges or ruffles can tend to 'hang' when opening. What happens is the petal material at the tips of the petals doesn't unfold properly from each other as the bud begins to open resulting in a flower that doesn't really open. As one who has hybridized specifically for heavy edges and ruffles, it can be a little frustrating to see what would have been a great bloom fail to open day after day.

One observation I've made is that daylilies with heavy edges or ruffles that almost always open properly have one thing in common. The edging or ruffles doesn't go all the way to the tip of the petals. It leaves a small gap. So there is little or no extra petal material to get hung up when the bloom opens. Unfortunately, I didn't discover this until after I quit hybridizing as knowing which parent plants tended to pass on this gap to its progeny might have been useful in planning crosses.

Seedling 13-089

One seedling that has heavily ruffled edges that opens properly most of the time is 13-089. If you look at the lower petal you can see the gap. 13-089 has 5.5" petals on 28" scapes and comes from the cross ((Larry Grace x Spacecoast Gold Bonanza) X Lacy Dusk).

Seedling 15-091

Today's image is seedling 15-091. It has 6" blooms on 25" scapes and comes from the cross (Jessica Lynn Bell X Walter Kennedy). For some reason, the bloom looked different this year than in past years. Perhaps it's because it's healthier now being planted in the ground. Some daylilies just don't like being in pots regardless of the pot size.

Seedling 16-091

Seedling 16-091 has one of the larger blooms in my garden. The 7" blooms are supported on 29" scapes. It comes from the cross (What Love Can Do X Sarah Starchak). Sarah Starchak is one of the largest blooms used in my hybridizing program. SC is registered at 8" and while it wasn't always that large in my garden, when it did reach 8" it was absolutely incredible!

This morning I spent about an hour digging a new bed. Actually, it's an old bed where potted daylilies had been setting for many years. The soil had become hard and compact and will be replaced with something that will support plant life. No, not daylilies - there are way too many tree roots. I have 40 pots of dwarf Ruellia waiting in the wings. Ruellia will grow and flower in cracks in the sidewalk so they should do just fine around tree roots.

Seedling 15-048

Today's image is seedling 15-048. It has 5.5" blooms on 27" scapes. It comes from the cross (Springtime Romance X Diamond Silk) which is the same cross that produced seedling 15-077 posted on June 6th.

I've heard the phrase "you deserve a break today". Well, the weather is giving us a break today with expected temperatures about 10 degrees lower than yesterday and lower humidity. That's good because I have a project planned that I just can't do when it's too hot.

Seedling 15-006

This is seedling 15-006. When looking back at photos from recent years I realized that this daylily has looked a little different each year. The first year the eye and edge weren't all that impressive and the blooms were flat. The second year the eye got larger taking up a greater portion of the petals. The third year the edge got wider. This year the petals recurved instead of being mostly flat. It has 6" blooms on 26" scapes and comes from the cross (Mississippi Memento X Thomas Tew).

Seedling 14-079

Today's image is seedling 14-079. It has a very heavy double edge which is one of the more unusual faces in my garden. It has 6" blooms on 27" scapes and comes from the cross (Sunshine Kisses X Fashion Police).

Peaceful Moment (Jarvis, 2010)

Peaceful Moment was the result of experimentation using white daylilies. It's registered as having 5.5" blooms but this year they were a little larger - around 6" - with 23" scapes. It comes from the cross (Key Lime Ice x J.T. Davis).

Seedling 16-033

Today's image is seedling 16-033. It has 6" blooms on 23" scapes and comes from the cross (Cimarron Rose X Rose Sensation).

Seedling 14-026

Substance in relation to daylily blooms refers to the thickness or rigidity of the blooms. Good substance is a desired trait and blooms with good substance will usually hold up well under our hot Houston sun. Seedling 14-026 probably has the most substance of all the daylilies I grow and it also has tall, robust foliage. It has 6" blooms on 30" scapes and comes from the cross (May I Have This Dance X Hog Heaven).

We ended up with 3.3" of rain yesterday. The blooms this morning showed their appreciation (smile).

Seedling 15-077

I am very excited about seedling 15-077. Almost every bloom opens properly and it has performed well in the garden but mostly I just like the way the 6" blooms look. The slight pink blush in the morning fades during the day which makes it appear almost white by the evening. It comes from the cross (Springtime Romance X Diamond Silk).

Having a good rain this morning. Closing in on 3" so far with more expected throughout the day.

Seedling 12-005

Today's image is seedling 12-005. It's not a large plant but consistently puts out nice 6" blooms on 23" scapes year after year. It comes from the cross (Pathway To Paradise X Sheer Excitement).

A Saturday morning watering and another .3" from mother nature Saturday evening made for some nice blooms this morning.

Seedling 14-025

Seedling 14-025 has 6" blooms on 26" scapes and comes from the cross (Cimarron Rose X Priscilla's Smile).

June is typically the beginning of the summer 'doldrums' here along the gulf coast. Morning and evening are pleasant to work outside but during mid day it's best to stay inside. This is no problem for me because I have 1500+ images to review. I like to take multiple images of all my seedlings each year because it helps me in the evaluation process.

Seedling 14-058

Today's image is seedling 14-058. It has 6" blooms on 26" scapes and comes from the cross (What Love Can Do X Priscilla's Smile).