Daylily hybridizing can be hard work at times.

     Sometimes the work involved with daylily hybridizing can be demanding.  I still have some seedlings that need to be lined out.   It's really late in the season and this should have been done weeks ago.  Why didn't I get them lined out?  I ran out of space.  So, I scratched my head....looked around, and figured the backyard was going to get a makeover.  For many years I have kept my oldies, but goodies back there.  They were daylilies that I fell in love with in the beginning of my hybridizing, and while they brought a smile to my face each bloom season, I no longer used them to cross with.  My friend Curt Hanson has said to me many times, "if I'm not using a daylily to hybridize with, then why am I holding on to it?"  Makes a lot of sense.  If you are a hybridizer, space is usually at a premium, and I decided it was time to let go of these daylilies.  I'm sure I will see them again in others gardens, but at the same time it was sort of bittersweet.  It was as if I was saying goodbye to some old friends.  For me daylilies give me that certain lift when it's bloom season that's hard to put into words.  I've had some difficult times in my life and the one constant throughout my 13 years of daylily hybridizing is that there is something special about working with this incredible plant.  Truly a passion for me and it has been a huge blessing in my life.  That said, let me share a few pictures from today's work.  At the very top of the page is a picture of the backyard area I dug to make room for more seedlings. The picture at the bottom of the page is a bunch of blooms of Blue Rhino.  I know Blue Rhino would look much better, but I just had to show the picture because of the scape.  Nice branching.  It's been very cold and rainy lately and the blooms that are out there right now don't look normal.  I'm sure Blue Rhino will look awesome next year.  At the very bottom of the page is our side door garden, planted with a lot of mums.  You know it's the end of the season when you are taking pictures of the mums in bloom.  That's it for this week.  Hope everyone is well.

Variegated daylilies.

     Before I delve into variegated daylilies, let me just say that if you read last week's blog, you read that my wife and I put a bid in on a house in Chesterland which was priced at $66,900.  Well, two other "ALL CASH" investors put bids in as well and the bank will most likely go with them.  This is the reality of real estate these days.  Anyway, let's get into some less depressing subject matter....variegated daylilies.  I grow one variegated daylily, variegated Kwanso. (see image at top of page) I am not able to cross with it, but I like it for the novelty that it is.  The only daylily in my yard that is variegated.....or so I thought.  I have also come across a new daylily intro that is variegated, Identity Crisis introduced by Dan White this year.  It is a nice yellow toothy daylily with variegated foliage.  I became aware of this daylily through the lily auction.  Anyone that knows me, knows that I am a big lily auction follower and my good friend Rich Howard was selling some seeds from Identity Crisis.  His pictures caught my attention.  If you look at the photograph in the middle of the page you can see a picture of the flower of Identity Crisis, and right below it is a scape with some variegated pods that Rich Howard was nice enough to let me share.  Isn't that fascinating?  I haven't emailed Dan White to find out if any of his Identity Crisis seedlings are variegated, but it is exciting to see new developments in daylilies like this.  In my own garden, one of my daylily introductions, which I have not seen variegation in to this point, has thrown up a variegated fan.  It is my 2010 introduction Millennium Falcon. (see picture at the top of the bottom of the page.)  I don't know if this is just an anomaly or if it is going to stay variegated.  Stay tuned, ...I'll let ya know next year.  There is one other daylily that is variegated that I am aware of, but have never seen.  It is Golden Zebra introduced by Malan in 2003. I have put a photograph of Golden Zebra all the way at the bottom of the page.  Isn't it interesting we always look at the daylilies flower first, but now there are more reasons to start noticing the foliage as well.  Hope you enjoyed this week's segment.

And the hits just keep on coming!

     Well, still enjoying my late season here.  The re bloom this year is probably a result of a very early spring and the daylilies had extra time to get going.  I'm seeing even more scapes coming up.  Don't know if they will make it to their first bloom, but here's hoping. 

     Got a weird situation developing with regards to my home situation.  It would seem a house has come on the market that my wife and I thought was sold, but has come back on with a lower price.  We are making an offer on it tomorrow.  If our offer is accepted, I have the herculean task of trying to move my entire daylily collection to the new house in Chesterland, Ohio, which is about 10 minutes from where I live now.

I'll be closer to my old friend Curt Hanson, and living in a home with more space for my daylilies.  Hopefully things will work out, but you never know in the world of real estate.  Crossing my fingers here. 

       Anyway, let's show you what's going on here.  At the very top of the page there is a picture of some seedlings I've lined out in the front yard.  I have some mature daylilies on either side, but the seedlings would grow in the rows I've planted.  I do have a problem with finding space for things as you can see.  Right below it is a re bloom of Stamile's Fringy.  Multiple blooms on this scape today.  At the top of the bottom of the page is a nice extra late old fashioned orange called Ali Baba.  It usually has masses of orange blooms.  Very dependably extra late.  Below that is a nice re bloom from Larry Grace's Full of Treasure, one of my favorite green edged daylilies.  At the very bottom is a late bloom from Blue Rhino, from Guy Pierce.  I got Blue Rhino as a bonus plant and can't wait to use it next year.  Too late to make crosses at this point since the pods won't ripen in time before the first frost comes and puts an end to the daylilies growth.  Such is life here in Ohio.  Well, it will be an interesting week...that's for sure.  Happy gardening!

More late season favorites.

      Well, we had a nice weekend with temps in the 60's for a change.  It's been pretty rainy,

 but I think we needed it.  I decided to try and plant seedlings out front and most of the seedlings were planted in containers in the back.  They had gotten pretty big,....so big in fact that I had some difficulties digging them out of their containers.  I don't use seed trays, rather I just take flower containers similar to those you see around decks.  Flower boxes if you will.  I like how deep they are and the daylilies get to spread their roots out more.  The seedlings were mature single fans...almost ready to throw scapes.  So, I hope to see first year blooms next year in July.  Moving along to our pictures this week. At the very top is a picture of some pumpkins from Sunrise Farms near Burton, Ohio.  Yes, it is getting closer to fall and I thought you might enjoy seeing the colors.  Below it is my compost pile, just chock full of reject seedlings.

  In the middle of the page is the daylily Look Here Mary.  Look Here Mary is a really nice late season daylily whose blooms measure almost 10 inches.  Look Here Mary is a diploid.  At the top of the bottom of the page is a very late gold daylily which is in bloom right now.  I believe the name is August Pioneer, but in case I'm wrong, someone please let me know the correct name.  Right below that is a shot of a great very late daylily apropriately named Late Round.  A nice polychrome tet.  At the very bottom of the page is in my mind the latest daylily every season, Pee Wee's Big Adventure from Curt Hanson.  Pee Wee is a bud builder.  Somehow you think the other lates will outlast Pee Wee, but low and behold Pee Wee will be in bloom at the very end of the season right up to the first frost.  Curt and I have compared notes and Pee Wee's Big Adventure is the champion of the late season.  Hope you all are doing well.

Season winds down, but I still have rebloom!

     I'm still planning on writing more about the late season winners, but I have had enough rebloom that I figured you'd rather see some pics of that.  Let me start out by saying that it's still been hot and dry here in Ohio.  We've had a total of 27 ninety plus temperature days this season.  The record is 34.  That's a record I would prefer to leave unbroken.  I'm a northern boy and love the milder temps.  I've been gathering a lot of seed lately.  Seed pods are cracking left and right.  Still down from last year in terms of the amount of seeds made. I've been lining out a few seedlings in my best seedling bed.  The reason I call it my best bed is because the seedlings mature very fast in that bed.  I see bloom in exactly one year, which is almost unheard of here in Ohio.  I try and put my best stuff there.  Anyway, here's the rundown on the photos.  The very top photo is of Rose Sensation from Pat Stamile, looking down my driveway at my best seedling bed.  I mix in some named daylilies in that bed now and then because of space constraints.  The second picture down is my seedling Pathway to Paradise X Best Edge, which I showed last week.  It's planted in front of a couple of seedlings just lined out.  At the top of the bottom of the page is Dale Hensley from Frank Smith.  What a beautiful red it is.  At the very bottom of the page you will see one of my favorite daylilies, Spectral Elegance, which is shot in a vase.  I had to bring the bloom inside for my wife to enjoy as well.  Spectral Elegance is a Pat Stamile daylily.  It is on rebloom right now and every flower is incredible.  Hope you enjoy the blooms folks!