Back on August 14th I posted about it being the first day without a daylily bloom for this season. Since then I've continued to have one or more blooms each day so the season has continued.

Lemon Enchantment (Jarvis, 2019)

This image of Lemon Enchantment was taken in the garden this morning. While the blooms in May were much larger and fuller, today's bloom was special considering how late in the season it is and that we've recently had temperatures in the low 100's. Lemon Enchantment comes from the cross (Daydream Spirit X Priscilla's Smile).

After a few days of temps in the low 100's, today I'm expecting more normal August weather with highs only in the mid 90's. That along with slightly lower humidity allowed me to get back in the garden for a while this morning. I'm starting the garden cleanup - removing the last of the spent scapes and dried up foliage. I don't want to have any mundane tasks pending when the first cool front arrives, hopefully next month. I want to be ready to start on my fall changes.

Seedling 12-010

When seedling 12-010 first bloomed I thought it would be 'just another yellow daylily'. It was actually one of the last seedlings selected that year to be further evaluated. Over time it has turned out to be a really nice garden plant. It has tall scapes (40" this year) with up to 6-way well spaced branching. It only has 5.5" blooms but they always open nicely and bud count often exceeds 30. It comes from the cross (Catching The Light X Lacy Border).

I knew this day was coming... the first summer day with no daylilies blooming. There are a few more yet to bloom including a couple of new scapes coming along. So the question now is will I have any blooms in September this year.

Seedling 15-101

Seedling 15-101 has 5.5" blooms on 23" scapes and comes from the cross (Midnight Amulet X Zahadoom).

It's been a pretty decent summer so far. Overall temperatures have been pretty close to normal and there has been a reasonable amount of rain although not so much that I haven't had to supplement with the occasional hose watering. This has resulted in the daylilies looking pretty good for mid August. Let's hope this keeps up as it will give us a good start to the fall growth.

Seedling 12-025

Today's image is seedling 12-025. It has 6" blooms on 27" scapes and comes from the cross (Hedwig's Eyes X Crazy Ivan).

Seedling 06-013

While I prefer daylilies with edges, there are still quite a few older seedlings in my garden. I keep them because I like them even though they probably will never be registered. Seedling 06-013 is one of those. The bright midrib stripe makes the bright orange color stand out more than it it were just an orange self. It has 6" blooms on 30" scapes and comes from the cross (Seminole Ruby X Mount Herman Marvel).

August is now here and the daylily garden is still producing blooms, although only a few. It won't be long before the dreaded "first day without a bloom" arrives. At this time of year, the best blooms are the oranges, creams, and yellows as other colors are usually washed out.

Seedling 16-065

Seedling 16-065 has well branched 28" scapes and has blooms up to 8" although 7" blooms are more typical. It comes from the cross (What Love Can Do X Sarah Starchak).

In my July 16th post I mentioned the daylily "Tet Peppermint Delight". Peppermint Delight is a diploid daylily but a tetraploid version was created by converting it to tetraploid using chemical means. Someone asked why some people convert dips to tets for their hybridizing.

Diploid daylilies have 22 chromosomes while tetraploid daylilies have 44 chromosomes. This means that tetraploids have twice as many possible traits that can be passed on in their seeds. Converting a diploid to a tetraploid means that it now has 44 chromosomes, however the number of possible traits remains the same as the diploid version. It just has a double dose of each trait. That in turn gives those traits a higher chance of being passed on to the resulting seedlings. It should also be noted that all traits, both good and bad, have a better chance to be passed on so it's probably important to only convert diploids that have few obvious flaws or bad traits.

Seedling 15-103

Today's image is seedling 15-103. It has 6" blooms on 26" scapes and comes from the cross (Unspoken Love X Zella Panchaud).

Seedling 15-090

Seedling 15-090 has 6" blooms on 27" scapes and comes from the cross (Dragon Knife X Bella Vita).

Seedling 12-032

Seedling 12-032 has 6" blooms on 28" scapes and comes from the cross (What A Surprise X Sweet Tranquility).

Followers may remember that last fall I shredded 50+ bags of leaves (mostly Oak) that I had picked up from around the neighborhood. I then spread the shredded leaves around 1 1/2" thick in all my beds. It turned out to be such a huge project that I wondered if it would be worth the effort. I'm happy to report that so far I'm very pleased with the results. The mulch is still looking good. One of the main objectives (besides feeding the earthworms) was to prevent weeds and it has shown to be an effective measure. Sure I get an occasional weed from time to time but so far I've seen about a 95% reduction. Originally I was a little concerned that a thick layer of leaves would cause a 'matting effect' which could cause rainwater to run off instead of soaking in. This has not happened. About the only negative is that a couple of ferral cats have found the mulch easy to mound up over their garden indiscretions.

Seedling 14-066

Seedling 14-066 has 5.5" blooms on 23" scapes and comes from the cross ((Always Baroque x (Hedwig's Eyes x Spacecoast Gold Bonanza)) X Crazy Ivan).

This morning I started removing the dried up foliage from the front yard daylily beds. I was able to do two beds before the heat got to me. Most of the dried up dead foliage pulled away from the fans easily and any pieces that didn't were left for a later cleanup. The beds look so much better without all those messy little grass skirts around each clump!

Seedling 15-048

Today's image is seedling 15-048. It has 5.5" blooms on 27" scapes and comes from the cross (Springtime Romance X Diamond Silk).

I have always liked a well rounded daylily... literally. The current rage seems to be trending toward spiders and unusual forms and while I find them to be pleasing in the garden, they are just not at the top of my favorites list. Round bloom form can be accentuated when both petals and sepals significantly curl back. This is called 'recurve' and in extreme cases can result in a perfectly round bloom.

I have grown a number of Stamile cultivars that upon occasion produced almost perfectly round blooms. These inclued GIANT PANDA, MARTIN BLONDEEL, ROBERT SEARLES, SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, and THOMAS TEW. All of these cultivars have a common parent - Tet Peppermint Delight. So it would seem that Tet Peppermint Delight was passing on the recurve trait to many of his seedlings. I also grew other cultivars with Tet Peppermint Delight as a parent that showed recurve, just not to the extent as the five listed above.

Seedling 15-009

Seedling 15-009 comes from the cross (Mississippi Memento X Thomas Tew). It appears that Thomas Tew passed on the recurve trait to 15-009. Even with the round form, the blooms still measure around 6".

At this time of year I like to water the daylilies about every 4 days or so if we don't get any rain. Sometimes however, life requirements get in the way and it's just not possible to keep to a schedule. I watered the front beds this morning after 6 days of temperatures at or close to 100. The daylilies were starting to show the effects with a little yellowing at the tips of the foliage. When temperatures get this hot I don't like to water in the evenings because much of the water evaporates before it can soak into the soil.

Seedling 14-062

Today's image is seedling 14-062. It has 6" blooms on 25" scapes and comes from the cross ((Caribbean Magic x Magic Attraction) X What Fun). Bud count is in the low 20's.

It's just about time to start removing the dried up foliage from the daylily beds. Even though all the brown foliage makes the garden look pretty ratty, I prefer to wait until the leaves are completely dried up before doing a cleanup. If there's still green at the base of the leaves it will have to be forcibly removed which can leave a wound on the crown which could provide an entrypoint for pathogens. Once completely dry, the foliage can be removed without damaging the existing plants. This of course, is only my humble opinion.

Seedling 16-004

Seedling 16-004 is basically an improved version of Serengeti Sunrise, 16-004's pollen parent. The colors of 16-004 are more vivid and the plant is a little more vigorous than SS. It has 5.5" blooms on 20" scapes and comes from the cross (Violet Stained Glass X Serengeti Sunrise).

Daily high temperatures are now in the 90's with 100 being a possibility by this coming weekend. The lush spring foliage has browned and dried up leaving only a limited amount of green. It's interesting that the amounts of foliage on some clumps is quite small while on others it can be much larger. When evaluating seedlings, post bloom foliage needs to be a consideration for registration. If it's bad enough, I would not consider the seedling for registration regardless of the bloom.

I once had an absolutely gorgeous round and ruffled golden yellow that produced large scapes with many buds. I thought I had a potential registration but after several years there were still only two fans of it. Each year the fans would start out quite large in the spring but after two or three scapes only tiny fans remained which were too small to multiply. Therefore I had ruled it out for registration. Then one year the seedling bloomed itself to death. While this was an extreme case, having decent foliage during the hot summer is a big plus.

Seedling 14-045

Today's image is seedling 14-045. It has up to 6" blooms on 28" scapes with a bud count in the mid 20's. It comes from the cross (Running Hot X Priscilla's Smile).

Even though I live in Houston proper, there has always been a pretty decent amount of critters about over the years. Racoons, possums, rabbits, turtles, snakes and of course squirrels (LOTS of squirrels) have been spotted in my yard. There's also been a pretty good selection of birdlife at least until this year. It seems that a breeding pair of Broad-winged hawks has taken up residence in a nearby tree. For years there have been bluejays, robins, carolina wrens, mockingbirds, cardinals, eastern screech owls, woodpeckers, and white-winged doves but the hawks have either caught them or scared them away as there are few birds left in the immediate area.

Broad-winged hawk

I've enjoyed watching the hawks. It looks like they have a single eyas (chick). I've watched the eyas fledge and more recently watched as the parents are teaching the young hawk to hunt. Hopefully, the hawks will find a different area to nest next year. I miss the morning serenades.

Seedling 14-019

Seedling 14-019 has 6" blooms on 24" scapes and comes from the cross (Edwardian Charm X Happy Halloween).

It's been about three and a half months since my first daylily bloom and the garden is still worth walking through in the mornings. Many of the blooms are now less than spectacular but almost every day I find something that makes me smile. Nothing to cause me to break out the camera but nice none-the-less.

Seedling 16-097

Today's image 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).

Daylily growers have a wide variety of different types and forms to choose from. Personally, I like the larger blooms with edges and eyes. That doesn't mean however, that I don't appreciate other forms. Probably my least favorite form is the double daylily. In all my years I have never purchased a double although I have received a few as gift plants with other purchases. While I have never used any doubles in hybridizing I have had the occasional double bloom show up in my seedlings. These were not true doubles because they only doubled some of the time and a real double doubles most or all of the time. Over the years I have included a few in my evaluation beds but none were ever good enough to pass muster IMHO.

Seedling 16-049

Seedling 16-049 typically blooms single on its first scapes. Rebloom scapes however have a high percentage of blooms that double. In total, I believe it doubles about 25-30% of the time which would not be considered a double. It has 5" blooms on 25" scapes and comes from the cross (Barbara Morello X Priscilla's Smile).

It looks like we're going to get some free fertilizer starting today and continuing until the weekend. Yes, the Sahara dust cloud is moving in again and is not expected to move out until Saturday. This dust is kicked up by wind storms over the Sahara desert and contains oxides and carbonates that are beneficial to plant growth. This dust, carried by prevailing westerly winds, is a major factor in the fertility of the Amazon rain forest and caribbean areas but it's not uncommon for some to migrate further north and give us a little of its bounty. This year's dust clouds are reported to be the largest in the past 50 years.

Seedling 16-117

Today's image is seedling 16-117. It has 5.5" blooms on 28" scapes and comes from the cross (Midnight Amulet X (Mask of Eternity x (Islesworth x Awesome Blossom))).

While doing some garden cleanup this morning, I noticed there were quite a few new scapes emerging. This can probably be attributed to the amount of rain we've had recently. Most of these scapes are the 3rd set this season and as such most won't have all that many buds. Still, it's nice to see pretty faces as the summer heat continues to build.

Seedling 14-012

Seedling 14-012 performed very well this year. It has 5" blooms on 33" scapes and carries a bud count of around 30. It comes from the cross (What Fun X Bella Vita).

Two days of rain totaling almost 3" and the milder temperatures that come with it made for some attractive blooms yesterday. It would have been nice to work in the garden but alas... there were other things needing attention.

Spring Reverie (Jarvis, 2010)

Spring Reverie was registered as a mid-season bloomer. Subsequently I have realized that it actually blooms a little later than that - perhaps a mid-late season bloomer. It has 5" blooms on 28" scapes and comes from the cross (Edge of Heaven × J.T. Davis).

Seedling 16-078

Today's image is seedling 16-078. It has 6" blooms on 28" scapes and comes from the cross (Cimarron Rose X Rose Sensation).

This may be my least favorite time of year in the daylily garden. The summer heat (90's every day) is causing much of the spring foliage to die back. This makes the garden look ratty and unattractive but it's too early to start removing the dying leaves. IMHO, ripping them off the crown before they completely die and dry up could create an opening for pathogens (like crown rot) to enter the plant roots. I read something similar to this years ago by a famous hybridizer (don't remember who) and it always made sense to me. So I'll wait before doing a real garden cleanup.

Seedling 16-090

Seedling 16-090 has a fault that will result in elimination from the garden this fall. It always blooms down in the foliage. I also frequently opens multiple blooms close together on the same scape which further prevents the blooms from opening properly. My picture history shows that the only few good blooms appear near the end of the rebloom cycle. By then the foliage has started it's summer reduction and the rebloom scapes have fewer buds to open at the same time. Picture was taken today.

There are still lots of blooms in the garden. The summer heat makes them smaller and the colors are a little faded but the edges make them nice none the less.

Now that I've done my seedling analysis and made my plan for fall garden changes, it's time to start going through the 2020 season pictures and cull out all but the best. I took over 1700 pictures this year and it's not necessary to keep them all. I have pictures going back as far as 2002 which is when I got my first digital camera.

Seedling 13-091

I consider seedling 13-091 to be a late season bloomer. It normally starts blooming the last week in May although like everything else this year it started blooming about 10 days earlier. The 6" blooms are carried on 33" scapes. The 5-way branching has produced up to 29 buds per scape. It comes from the cross (Piping Rock X Jennifer Trimmer).

I have always liked taking lots of pictures of my daylilies. There are a couple of purposes for taking lots of photos. One is to capture a record of how the blooms looked through the bloom cycle. Some daylilies look good at first but later on, not so much. Others start out slow but by the time rebloom begins they are finally hitting their stride. Still others look good from start to finish. A side benefit is that I usually get one or more of each daylily on their good days. I use these 'best of' pictures when making slide shows for use as club programs.

This year I decided to kick things up a notch. My digital camera also takes HD video and I decided to take some videos of the daylilies and make a video program instead of a slide show. The software I use to make the slide shows works the same with video clips so it was an easy process.

Seedling 15-077

Seedling 15-077 has 6" blooms on 22" scapes. Bud count is around 20 on 4-way branching. It comes from the cross (Springtime Romance X Diamond Silk).

Every year as bloom season draws to a close I make a plan for changes I want to make to the daylily beds in the fall. I do this at this time every year because everything is still fresh in my mind. Of course it's just a preliminary plan and things can change between now and the fall. This year the primary goal was to restructure two of the beds in the front yard spacing the daylilies out giving each more room (less crowding). I also wanted to remove the daylilies in one small bed in the back yard so I can grow a few tomatoes.

To accomplish this, I have to eliminate about four dozen seedlings mostly those with flaws like low bud counts or less attractive blooms. Having specific goals makes it a little easier when making the hard choice to eliminate a seedling that has been grown for many years but just isn't good enough to register. The plan is created and maintained in an Excel spreadsheet so it can be printed and taken to the garden when the actual work begins.

Seedling 12-005

Today's image is seedling 12-005. It has 6" blooms on 24" scapes and comes from the cross (Pathway To Paradise X Sheer Excitement).

I woke up this morning with 80 degree temperatures and insane humidity. To some this might seem like very unpleasant conditions to be outside but in the shade with a little breeze it's actually quite pleasant. I spent about an hour outside doing a light summer pruning of the roses and a little general garden cleanup. I should be able to go back out late this afternoon when there will be some shade on the back beds and the relative humidity will be lower.

Some time back I mentioned that I was building a patio garden in the back yard. I previously finished the stone work but had been somewhat hesitant to go to the nursery to buy plants for the beds. I finally put on my mask and headed out only to be surprised at how few customers were there. I have now finished all the planting and I'm pleased with the results. It's nothing fancy, just a place where I can sit outside and enjoy the garden especially in the late afternoon when the patio is in the shade from the neighbor's oak trees.

Seedling 10-087

It has now been 10 years since seedling 10-087 first bloomed. I find the bloom to be quite attractive but so far it has only produced bud counts in the mid teens (not enough to register, IMHO). The blooms are 5.5" on 26" scapes and it comes from the cross (Open My Eyes X (Hedwig's Eyes x Spacecoast Gold Bonanza)).

With bloom season winding down, I now have time to catch up with some of the mundane tasks that help me keep organized. I recently entered the 2020 seedling stats into my database including first bloom dates, bloom sizes, scape heights, branching and bud counts, as well as any notes that I made as the season progressed. This data helps me track performance year-to-year and is needed in case I decide to register any seedlings. It's also important when I make my fall cull list of seedlings that need to be 'put out to pasture'.

On a positive note, there were a couple of seedlings that "demanded" I take their pictures this morning (smile).

Seedling 16-153

Seedling 16-153 has 6.5" blooms on 21" scapes and comes from the cross (What Love Can Do X Sarah Starchak).

I'm always a little sad when the season reaches the point where there are no pictures to be taken. Today was that day. There are still lots of blooms but none met or exceeded the quality of the pictures I've already taken this season.

I never did get a chance to spray again for rust and with the daylilies starting to shed much of their lush spring foliage, the garden is now beginning to look a little ratty. Shedding foliage is normal in our hot summer climate as the daylilies just can't take up as much water through the roots as they lose through their leaves. So some of the older leaves die back until just enough foliage remains to balance the intake and transpiration. Once this equilibrium has been reached, I'll remove the dead foliage and the garden will look decent again.

Seedling 13-089

Today's image is seedling 13-089. It has 6" blooms on 27" scapes and comes from the cross ((Larry Grace x Spacecoast Gold Bonanza) X Lacy Dusk). Originally I wondered how an off-white seedling could result from parentage of 3 yellow daylilies. I did a little digging using the ADS daylily database and determined that there were a number of white daylilies farther back in the lineage.

Here in Texas rebloom typically happens just as summertime temperatures arrive. I have no idea why, but in many cases the higher temperatures make for better edges. Some cultivars with relatively small edges on first bloom will have heavy edges on rebloom when daily temperatures are in the 90's.

Seedling 14-006

Seedling 14-006 is one that has a much more pronounced edges when it gets hot. It has 6" blooms on 30" scapes and comes from the cross (What Love Can Do X Emerald Bay).

Every morning I look out the windows to see what the garden has to offer today. As the season slowly starts to wind down, there are still a lot of blooms but they typically are a little smaller than a few weeks ago and the petals are not as wide. As I grab my camera and head out, I don't have the anticipation that a real special bloom awaits. Yet, I'm still being pleasantly surprised at the quality of the blooms even this late in the season. The regular rains we've been receiving plays no small part in this.

Live Your Dream (Jarvis, 2019)

Today's image is Live Your Dream. It's a strong grower with foliage leaves up to 35" long. It can build a huge clump fairly quickly so it needs to have plenty of room. It has 6" blooms on 26" scapes and comes from the cross (Moon Over Tibet x Spacecoast Gold Bonanza). It was the winner for best seedling in the Houston Hemerocallis Society 2019 show.