It has been quite a while since I posted about the joys of hybridizing. I hybridized for about 30 years and enjoyed every minute of it. It was hard work sometimes but the rewards of seeing daylilies bloom that previously didn't exist made it worth every ounce of sweat and achy muscle. But the joy of new daylilies was not the only thing that kept me going. Some believe that working outside helps a person stay relatively healthy and it seems to hold true for me. A few years ago I decided I wanted more time to spend on other of life's passions. So I stopped producing new seeds and limited myself to just growing the daylilies I have.

It might surprise people just how many daylily lovers have 'dabbled' in hybridizing. This is because you don't have to go crazy with it like I did. You can just make a few seeds using your favorite daylilies as parents and see what you get. That's how I started but I got addicted along the way and it turned into a passion. I never wanted to be a large scale hybridizer as that could easily turn a hobby into a 'job' and I already had a job (smile). Even from the early days I'd tell people "if nothing else comes of this, I'll still end up with a yard full of beautiful unique daylilies that I helped create".

So if you haven't tried hybridizing, give it a try. It's great fun. Even if you only plant a few seeds each year you could still end up with a daylily that you can say "I helped make that"!

Seedling 11-094

White is not my favorite color for a daylily. Actually, there are very few truely white daylilies. They usually have a pale pink blush or are off-white. I never actively hybridized for white daylilies but I did use whites in some of my hybrdizing for a number of years. I did this after reading that some hybridizers used white daylilies as a color 'clarifier'. This means when white is crossed with a daylily that has a somewhat 'muddy' color, the results may be offspring with a cleaner color.

When seedling 11-094 first bloomed, its 'whiteness' immediately stood out. It has 6" blooms on 30" scapes and comes from the cross (Daydream Spirit X Lacy Border).

The initial bloom for this year has turned out quite well although the number of blooms per scape is lower than usual. However I'm not sure how much rebloom there will be. So far there have been some rebloom scapes but it doesn't seem like there are as many as usual. This is probably because the plants had to use much of their root resources to replace all the foliage lost to the late season freeze. Rebloom could just be starting a little later similarly to how initial bloom was later than usual. Only time will tell.

Soaring Splendor (Jarvis, 2020)

Soaring Splendor has 6" blooms on 37" scapes. It comes from the cross (Sunshine Kisses X Fashion Police).

The sun is back and with it comes summerlike temperatures. As temperatures rise, the daylily blooms become less full and colors become less vivid. I suspect this may be because the higher temperatures push the daylilies to bloom faster. Instead of single blooms like in cooler temperatures, there are now multiple blooms open on a number of scapes. It's like blooms season is rushing to finish. Perhaps it is... it's rushing to finish before the real summer heat sets in (smile).

Seedling 16-065

Seedling 16-065 blooms top out at up to 8" but more typically are about 7" on 26" scapes. It comes from the cross (What Love Can Do X Sarah Starchak).

I've always said that lots of water is the key to great blooms. The recent rainy period reminded me that it also takes sunshine to make great blooms. After over a week of couds and rain, the blooms were good but not unusually so. Yesterday we got quite a bit of sun and today's blooms were much better. Today it was sunny and hot so I'm looking forward to tomorrow's blooms!

Seedling 15-009

I have always liked eyed daylilies and the bigger and bolder the better. Seedling 15-009 fits the bill. The blooms are 6" when flat but once the temperatures warm up they tend to recurve heavily. Scapes are around 30". 15-009 comes from the cross (Mississippi Memento X Thomas Tew).

We've had rain for seven out of the past 10 days receiving more than an inch on five of those days. I have some Rattlesnake weed that needs pulling but I'm just not willing to weed in the rain. Rattlesnake weed, technically Florida Betony (Stachys floridana), is so named because there are white fleshy tubers on the roots which resemble rattlesnake rattles. It's native to Florida but is now found from Texas to North Carolina.

Rattlesnake Weed

If you don't have it, be glad. It's incredibly invasive. I don't know how I got it but I've had it for years. It spreads primarily by sending out underground runners. Because the runners criss cross each other they easily break when trying to pull them up.

Seedling 12-005

Today's image is seedling 12-005. It has 6" blooms and last year it had up to 35 buds on 24" scapes. It comes from the cross (Pathway to Paradise X Sheer Excitement).

Due to daylily bloom structure, pollination by insects is typically not all that common. The pistil protrudes out a distance from the stamens where the pollen is located. This means that insect pollination is done more by accident than design. Recently, I discovered that there were a lot more blooms developing seed pods this year and I don't know why. Perhaps there's a new insect frequenting the blooms. It could also be that pistils might be shorter on some blooms this year due to the stress put on the plants by the late freeze. I suppose it could even be just a random aberration. There's no way to know but I find it's an interesting observation.

Morning Rendezvous (Jarvis, 2017)

Morning Rendezvous is another daylily that has done well this year. It has 5.5" blooms on 26" scapes and comes from the cross (Spacecoast Sea Shells X sdlg).

I wish I had a compost pile. I know I'm donating lots of good organic matter to the city yard waste program but at this time there's just no place to put a compost pile. Without a pile, what to do with spent blooms has always been a problem. I've tried numerous methods of disposal but nothing has really worked. One corner of the back yard used to have a large fig tree but now only a few pieces of it remain. The ground around it has become overgrown with weeds and vines. If I can get this area cleaned up I'll have a place for a compost pile. Oh darn... another item to add to my to-do list (smile).

Treasure Bay (Jarvis, 2020)

Treasure Bay has been my favorite daylily this year. The color has been clear and bright, even better than ususal. Perhaps this is because I applied some Epsom Salts last fall. Epsom salts are reportedly good for color. It has 6.5" blooms on 28" scapes and comes from the cross (Running Hot × Priscilla's Smile).

Over the past 4 days we've received almost 5" of needed precipitation. The daylilies are loving it but pictures have been non-existent after all night rain. This rain is especially welcome because it will promote (hopefully) lots of rebloom scapes.

Lemon Enchantment (Jarvis, 2019)

Lemon Enchantment is an example of the form I like best - round, full, and symetrical. Some call this a 'bagel' form but whatever it is, I find it very pleasing to the eye. Blooms can reach 7" but don't always measure up because of the heavy recurve. It comes from the cross (Daydream Spirit X Priscilla's Smile).

After a somewhat discouraging start to bloom season, I've observed that many of the blooms are actually better than normal. There could be actual reasons for this. One reason that cannot be overlooked is that the better blooms are simply a product of my imagination (smile) but I tend to think the better blooms are a reality. Once thing that's true is that the number of blooms on each scape is down from the yearly average - in some cases significantly down. Fewer blooms could mean the plants can put more of its resources into each individual bloom. Of course this is just my humble opinion.

Seedling 14-077

Seedling 14-077 has 7" blooms on 30" scapes and comes from the cross (Cimarron Rose X Priscilla's Smile). Last year it had 31 buds on 5-way branching.

It seems to be a slow multiplier but last year I realized that this might be because of where it was located in the garden. It was placed in the back of the bed because of its tall bloom scapes but the foliage is only average in size. There are plants with very robust foliage directly in front of it providing some shade to the foliage during the late fall thru spring growing period. In addition, its placement near the house means full shade much of the morning and some partial shade in late afternoon. Last fall I divided the clump and planted some in the back bed where it gets more sun. This picture is from the clump in the back bed while the front clump hasn't even scaped yet.

I'm sitting here listening to the rumbles of an approaching thunder storm. It doesn't look like there will be much outside time today. I did get the chance to take pictures this morning. Unfortunately, pictures under overcast or shady conditions never come out as good as those taken in early morning sunshine. They're not BAD pictures but the colors are usually on the bland side. I could probably learn how to take better pictures under these conditions using manual camera settings but my to-do list is already too long (smile).

Tranquil Masquerade (Jarvis, 2017)

Tranquil Masquerade foliage is smaller than many cultivars. That makes it suitable for the front of beds and borders. The first time this bloomed the dark edge caught my eye but it only had 5 buds on the scape. I almost didn't select it for further evaluation due to the low bud count. After moving it to the evaluation bed, the bud count improved to the low 20's but the plant itself remained relatively small. It comes from the cross (Open My Eyes X Face Paint).

One of the other things I do every morning during bloom season is keep a log of FBO (first bloom open) dates for all my seedlings. If I decide to register something I can refer back to the FBO history to see how it compares with other FBO's. This helps me decide what 'bloom season' to use in the registration. Bloom season indicates when the daylily blooms from EE (extra-early) to VL (very late) and multiple designations in between.

Seedling 12-076

Today's seedling is 12-076. Blooms can be as large as 7" on 26" scapes with bud counts in the lower 20's. It comes from the cross (Watermelon Taffy X Calamity Jane). Originally I looked at seedling 12-076 as a 'bridge' plant - one that isn't worth registering but contains a uniqueness that would be useful to pass on to future generations. Unfortunately I was never able to make any viable seeds using either the pollen or as a pod parent. I continue to grow it because it's unique and performs well in the garden.

My morning garden routine is pretty much the same during bloom season unless interrupted by rain. I walk the garden with my camera, row by row looking for good daylily blooms that will make good photos. Yes, I do end up with multiple images of the same cultivars but that's ok. I learned years ago that it's not possible to know if today's bloom is better than the one I shot yesterday. With digital photography it doesn't really matter. I can delete pictures if I don't want to keep them.

This is so much better than what I used to do to try and get good pictures. Originally, I took pictures using Kodak film. These pictures usually came out good but the development costs were high so I had to only take pictures that I thought were better than those taken previously. I'm sure I missed a lot of good pictures doing that.

I also had an old "Kodak Tourista" model camera that I'd inherited when I was young. I discovered that the film it took was still available so I began using it on sunny days (pictures came out too dull on cloudy days). It took good pictures but that wasn't the best part. Back then, drug store picture development had a policy where if it took more than 2 days for the pictures to come back, they were free. The film the camera used was an older type and few cameras still used it. Because they had to wait until they had enough rolls to make it worth while to set up the developer, the pictures almost always took more than 2 days to come back. I got many free pictures until they finally caught on and took the film off their approved list (smile).

Then I changed to using slide film. The colors were more 'realistic' with slide film but slides were a real hassle when it came to viewing. I had to have a slide projector, screen, and load the slides in carousels every time. Too much work. So I finally made the jump to the digital age and haven't looked back since.

Seedling 16-107

I've been nursing seedling 16-107 along for several years. I saw potential and it kept getting better but it never quite lived up to my expectations. This year it is rewarding me with some great blooms. It has 6" blooms on 28" scapes and comes from the cross (Elegant Expressions X Fringy). I got the form I was looking for but I didn't get the pink color from Elegant Expressions that I wanted.

It seems like bloom season is going by so fast this year. That's probably because many of the early season bloomers started later than usual and are now blooming at the same time as the mid-season bloomers.

I was pleased to see a number of green anole lizards this spring. They seemed to have disappeared last summer with Cuban brown anoles taking their place. So far this year I've only seen a couple of the browns.

Caribbean Breeze (Jarvis, 2020)

Caribbean Breeze has been good again this year. Most of the front beds remain shady until late morning which means I can't take pictures in the early morning like I do in the back yard. I have to remember to go out again with my camera if I want good pictures from the front and I tend to get busy and forget (smile).

Today the Houston Hemerocallis Society had their annual daylily sale. It was a great time with most of our members either working the sale or dropping by to purchase daylilies. We had a great crowd and sold most of the daylilies we had available. I also enjoyed seeing several people who had come to my own daylily yard sale back when I held one every year (I don't do it any longer).

Blooms in my garden have been very nice recently. Unfortunately, bloom time won't last as long as usual due to the lower bud counts this year because of the late freeze. Several of the daylily folks that came to the sale today said they too were seeing shorter scapes and lower bud counts so it's not just my garden.

Catalina Kiss (Jarvis, 2005)

Most of the blooms on Catalina Kiss this year have been large and opened well. Perhaps it's because the bud counts are not up to par. Even though there are fewer blooms per scape it seems that the blooms on many cultivars have been a little nicer this year. Go figure...

The last few days have been in the 80's with overnight lows around 70. That's perfect for daylily blooms (IMHO). Blooms are now larger and opening better. I've been able to take lots of pictures so I figure I should start posting more. Oh yeah, still no rust (smile).

Seedling 12-079

Seedling 12-079 was putting on a happy face this morning - actually two happy faces. It has 5.5" blooms on 22" scapes (a little short for my liking). It comes from the cross (Face Paint X Hedwig's Eyes).

A couple of days ago there was a nice uptick in the amount of blooms. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to take any pictures because it finally RAINED (yes, I'm shouting)!. We received 2 inches followed by another inch and a half yesterday. During both days the rain was spread throughout most of the day allowing most of it to soak in.

This morning the sun is out and there were many blooms. A good soaking rain does wonders for blooming daylilies. The blooms the last couple of days have been larger than previous ones, a good indication that I should have been giving the garden more water. For best daylily blooms, more water is needed during the bloom time than I would give the rest of the year. Every 3 days is good unless it's been hot and/or windy, which dries the soil faster.

Seedling 14-003

Seedling 14-003 is a good multiplier - enough to fill in nicely after a clump is divided but not so robustly that it needs dividing after only a couple of years. It has 5" blooms on 28" scapes and comes from the cross (Mississippi Memento X Wild Cherry Round Up). The color can best be described as shrimp-pink with a cherry-red eye and edge.

Bloom has started to pick up with 15 different daylilies having opened one or more blooms. The quality of the blooms has improved but it will take more heat for them to be at their best.

It continues to be very dry with no measurable rain since mid March. I was going to water yesterday but the wind was blowing a real gale. I watched a Monarch butterfly trying to land on the Asclepias. It finally flew upwind of the plant and then grabbed hold of the blooms as the wind tried to carry it past the plant.

Seedling 16-008

Seedling 16-008 has 6.5" blooms on 32" scapes and comes from the cross (Violet Stained Glass X Born To Be Wild). The applique throat really stands out.

It's been over 5 weeks since we've had any appreciable rainfall... a tenth of an inch here and a trace there but that's about all. I have been watering but probably not as much as I should for this time of year. I'm seeing a few more new blooms but the bud counts are very disappointing as are the quality of the blooms. I fertilized last fall and was expecting a good showing this year but the freeze seems to have put a damper on that. The foliage is looking good though! (smile).

Seedling 16-125

Color on seedling 16-125 could be better but the form is exactly what I like. Perhaps some day I'll dab some pollen on it to see if I can improve it. It has 6" blooms on 30" scapes and comes from the cross (Celtic Moonglow X Barefoot Bay).

The weather finally cooperated with my personal schedule and I was able to spray for aphids. I started seeing them a while ago but they were sporatic and I decided to wait for a convenient time. My spray of choice was Bonide Systemic Insect Control which I have used successfully for years.

Bonide Systemic Insect Control comes in 16 oz. bottles and has to be diluted in water before spraying. The active ingredient in Bonide is Acephate (9.4%). It's relatively expensive running around $20 per bottle which makes 16 gallons of spray. Recently I found that I can purchase a 1 lb. bag of Acephate 97UP for about the same price. It's water soluble and as it's 97% Acephate, a little goes a long way with the 1 lb bag making about 224 gallons. I haven't switched to the powder form yet as I still have one more application of Bonide and it will probably be months before I need to spray again.

Seedling 15-002

Seedling 15-002, normally the first daylily to bloom each year, has started blooming. It has 5" blooms and comes from the cross (Mississippi Memento X Calamity Jane).

The 2021 bloom season has begun. It started about 5 days ago but I haven't had time to post. So far only one daylily has bloomed and it looks like it will be another couple weeks before the others may join in. Over the years I have realized that the first blooms are always less than spectacular. I used to blame it on unrealistic expectations for the new season but in reviewing my pictures each year I've come to realize that the first blooms really aren't as good as those later in the season. So I've learned to be excited that the season has started but not disappointed in the first blooms.

Live Your Dream (Jarvis, 2019)

This was my first bloom this year and it was the best out of the first 3 blooms. This daylily is normally pretty symetrical but as you can see, this bloom is lop-sided. It usually blooms around the end of April so I was surprised to see it scape so early especially after a hard freeze. Hopefully I can get a much better bloom to post when it reblooms.