Happy Easter!!!

     Today being Easter, I thought I would just post some photos I took over at a house in Lyndhurst, Ohio. For 55 years the Manolio's have put this display together.  Mr. Manolio passed away last year, so his wife and grandkids put this display together this year even featuring a reproduction of Mr. Manolio's face.  Total number of eggs used, 21,630.  They called it Eggshelland and it will be in place until April 5th.  I was thinking to myself......has anyone hybridized daylilies for 50+ years?  I believe Steve Moldovan and one other hybridizer have accomplished that task.  I believe Steve hybridized Irises as well. 

      One other thing I thought I would include, my wife and I adopted a new cat at the local shelter. For now we call her Cinnamon. (Photo at the very bottom) I will continue getting back to daylilies next week.  Happy Easter everyone!

The many faces of GAUDEAMUS!!!

    

GAUDEAMUS (means Let Us Rejoice in Latin)

35-04: (282-02: (125-00: (37-99: ((Vatican City x Red Candy) x Forestlake Raggamuffin) x 149-00:

(Trivia Pursuit x (Vatican City x (Voltaire x Lady Khan))) X 299-01: (Sparkling Champagne x Victorian Lace)

38 plus inch scape - 6 inch diameter - 4 to 5 way branching - 30+ buds - dormant

 

     I had to start this write up by posting the parentage of the daylily Gaudeamus.  It is extensive, isn't it? I also like reading in the Steve Moldovan description (written by Roy Woodhall), "they grabbed a shovel and moved this daylily from the seedling field to one of the main beds immediately, which is rarely done at Moldovan gardens."  I think the first time I noticed Gaudeamus was in 2007 in one of special beds up near the guest house.  Many times the description, "branched like an oak tree" is over used to describe a daylily, but there is no better way to describe Gaudeamus's plant habit.  It was incredible.  All the photos at the top of the page are of Gaudeamus.  The one at the very top is from the Moldovan website.  In the years following the first time I saw it, Roy was nice enough to share some pollen with Gaudeamus with me.  At that time I really didn't have a great amount of toothy things to put it on, so I put it all over Forestlake Ragamuffin and Brother Charles Reckamp's daylily, Charlie.  I will tell you that Gaudeamus seedlings have that wonderful candelabra branching it is so known for, and I'm happy to report that the teeth are passed on easily as well.  If you are planning on buying Gaudeamus, I would strongly recommend you don't put it in a greenhouse. Gaudeamus is a dormant and loves to be planted in the ground.  It seems a little slow to increase, but it is worth the wait.  I believe Roy Woodhall is currently sold out, but I have seen fans for sale on the Lily auction from time to time.  A great Moldovan daylily and I hope to continue to breed with it and show you my results in the coming years.  The seedling pictured at the bottom is a cross of Charlie X Gaudeamus.  By the way, there is snow in the forecast again for Ohio this week.  This March has been a huge disappointment.  Spring has not sprung in my neck of the woods!!!

Steve Moldovan and Roy Woodhall's daylilies.

     It only seemed fitting for me to follow up a blog entry about Curt Hanson's daylilies with one about Steve Moldovan and Roy Woodhall's daylilies.  Before I get started with Steve's and Roy's daylilies, let me say that Curt Hanson's 2013 introductions are up on his website.  Check them out, they are fantastic.

     Before I begin, the photos at the top of the page are of Roy Woodhall in the seedling field that has Steve Moldovan's last seedlings growing.  What a magnificent seedling field it is.  The photo right below it is of Bill Chambers planting a daylily with Dan Robarts and Dan's wife looking on. (Photo courtesy of Dan Robarts, thanks for sharing Dan.) 

     Where do I start with Steve Moldavan and Roy Woodhall's daylilies?  It's where it all started for me.  It's where it all started for many of us.  How many of us who hybridize were just blown away walking around Moldovan gardens for the first time?  Quite a few of us.  So many great memories of talking about daylilies out at the guest house out back....why even this past season there was a group of folks who came out and helped Roy clean up some weeds (I showed up late, but put my weedwhipper to good use after the others left.) and how much fun it was to get to know some new friends like John Hric and Dan Robarts.

Special thanks must go to Wayne Listowski for organizing the get together and helping out Roy with everyday tasks around the garden.  For those of you who didn't have the pleasure of knowing Steve Moldovan, who unfortunately passed away in July of 2006, then the next best thing is listening to Roy Woodhall talk about what Steve tried to teach me and many others about daylily hybridizing.  Steve was big on the daylily plant habit as well as having a nice flower.  Bud count, branching, and the daylily had to be able to thrive without being sprayed with pesticides and pumped up with fertilizers.  The other thing that I remember Steve talking about is whether a daylily could survive in our climate.  I remember him pointing out some southern daylilies that were just too tender to survive, and those would usually get discarded.  There weren't a lot, but there were a few.  Steve would always tell you his opinion of a daylily, he never held back.  I kind of liked his honesty.  It was refreshing. 

     This past summer I enjoyed listening to Roy tell me about how patterns and eyes were interchangeable

  When I thought about hybridizing patterns, I always just thought about crossing a pattern with another pattern, but this made me think twice about which direction I would go in.  To sum it up, I wouldn't be where I am today without the teachings of Roy and Steve.  Next week I'm going to feature one of Steve's cool introductions Gaudeamus and post a few pics of seedlings I have gotten from it.  Hope you enjoyed this weeks pictures.  The seedling photograph at the bottom is one of Steve Moldovan's seedlings from last years photographs. Hope you folks had a nice week. Happy St. Patrick's day!

Curt Hanson's daylilies.

     Well, in last week's post I had featured John Kinnebrew's daylilies and it was brought to my attention that Jamie Gossard will be introducing John's last daylilies.  That's good news.  I look forward to being able to buy some of those great toothy daylilies. 

     So, as we get closer to spring, I have to start focusing on getting the garden ready, but before that takes full focus, I thought I would share some great photos of some of my favorite Curt Hanson daylilies from last season.  Where does one begin when talking about your favorite Curt Hanson daylily, there are so many! I have the good fortune of living about 10 minutes away from Curt, so I get multiple opportunities to photograph his garden and daylilies.  I used to be Curt's neighbor, only living a couple of houses away, but my finances took a hit about 6 years ago and I had to move to my current house with my wife in Mayfield Heights.  I miss living that close to Curt, but you have to roll with the punches in life, and my wife's property still affords me the luxury of growing and hybridizing daylilies.  Life is good!!!

     Let's start with the photos.  At the very top of the page is a photo taken by Wayne Listowski of my friends, Curt Hanson, Dan Robarts, Marty Piconnin, and Roy Woodhall. (Photo courtesy of Daniel Robarts, thanks to Dan for sharing it.) The photo right below it is a field shot of some of Curt's seedlings.

The daylily above was a visitor's favorite and will be introduced this spring.

This daylily is Wikileaks, a 2011 Curt Hanson, introduction. Nice pattern!!!

This daylily above is Van Gogh's Ear, a 2012 introduction. Very unique sculpted form!

This daylily is a personal favorite, called Fun in Acapulco. Flower is 8 to 9" in size.

This daylily is another favorite, Celestial Virgins, which is out of Ruffled Strawberry Parfait.

Curt has some excellent TALL daylilies as well.  This yellow is called the Space Race, and you

can see how tall it is with Curt standing just in front of it.    

     Well, at the very bottom of this page are some of Curt's seedlings he was using for crossing

 last season.  Curt always tries to emphasize to me that it is easy to hybridize a pretty flower, the tough thing is to hybridize a pretty flower, with great plant habit, and excellent foliage.  Curt's daylilies are easy to grow since they have been tested in some really difficult growing conditions and rocky soils.  If you are in the northeastern Ohio area during peak bloom around mid July, you have to stop by Curt's place and check out his garden.  He grows daylilies from all across the country and his gardens and pond are always such a nice place to visit.  I'm pretty sure Curt's 2013 catalogs will be sent out in the next month or so.  Hope you enjoyed the visit to Crintonic Gardens.

    

John Kinnebrew's daylilies.

     Well, I didn't quite know how I would follow up the blog after writing about 3 incredible hybridizers, but then I thought about the fact that John Kinnebrew is giving up his daylily hybridizing and I had to write about my last visit to his garden.  Before I begin let me start by saying the seedling at the very top of the page is a Kinnebrew seedling out of Spacecoast Loose Tooth X Heman.  The photo right below it is of his 2012 introduction, Spacecoast Chomp, Chomp, which is a sibling to the top daylily.  If you are looking for his 2012 introductions, most of them can be found on the Lily auction.

     I think the first year I visited Kinnebrew's daylily garden was May 2009.  Usually when I go to visit Florida, I only have three days to visit because of work obligations and it's hard to see so many nurseries in those three days.  I remember seeing his Alexa Katherine back in the mid 2000's and Jeff Salter told me it was a good parent.  I would see John's daylilies in almost every garden I visited and a lot of people spoke about how nice the Kinnebrew's were.  John was an excellent host taking me around showing all his new daylilies and talking about which ones he was using as parents.  He freely gave out information about which ones he was getting good results from and I really appreciated that.  Most of the other big hybridizers wouldn't tell you which daylilies were good parents and for a newbie, that made it a little more difficult.  One daylily that John said was a good parent was Randy Stephens pictured above this paragraph.  Let me just say this about Randy Stephens...I got to use Randy Stephens this past summer and it has super potent pollen, setting pods on difficult to set pod parents.  I highly recommend it to those of your breeding for teeth.

     The next time I got to visit John Kinnebrew's was in May of 2011.  John showed me his toothy seedlings, which you will see below and WOW!!!! they were really cool.  I couldn't wait to buy them. John was very kind in showing me around his garden again.  It was always a pleasure to talk to him and I'm sure the daylily community would say the same thing.  When I heard he was going out of business it saddened me.  I know our economy isn't what it was in the past and making a living with daylilies is more difficult than ever.  My friends in the area who are hybridizers are talking about taking up jobs since the daylily sales have declined.  To me John Kinnebrew is such a talented hybridizer that I hope he decides to get back into it.
I have heard through the grapevine (but this is not confirmed) that some other hybridizers are buying some of his remaining seedlings.  Lucky folks.  You will see below that his daylily seedlings were just amazing. 

An interview with Rich Howard, Connecticut hybridizer.

     This week I continue my focus on Connecticut hybridizer, Rich Howard.  I am posting some really cool introductions and seedlings from Rich.  At the very top is a seedling where every bloom is different.  A very unique pattern combination on the petals.  Before I go on let me post my disclaimer:

ALL OF THE DAYLILY PHOTOS ARE THE PROPERTY OF RICH HOWARD AND ARE COPYRIGHTED.  ANY REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PRIOR CONSENT IS PROHIBITED.

(If you would like to contact Rich Howard about his daylilies, you may email him at ctdaylily@yahoo.com)

Featured above here is a seedling out of Rich's 2011 introduction, Wallingford Woolly Bully. Nice teeth!

Featured above here is a clump shot of Rich's 2011 introduction, Wallingford Woolly Bully, which was named for his Australian Shepherd that passed away in 2007.  I was lucky to purchase a plant of Wallingford Woolly Bully and am very impressed with it's plant habit as well as it's bloom. 

1. How did you get interested in daylilies?

I bought my two acre home in Central Connecticut in 1993. It was nicely landscaped but had little color in the yard,so I bought a few plants at a local nursery,not really knowing what I was doing. Among the plants was a pot of Stella D'Oro. I was shocked when ,after spending the winter on the deck,the plant came back and bloomed again. A neighbor who was a Master Gardener told me if I planted it I could expect even better results ,so I did.

I then ran across the name Daylily Discounters in a magazine advertisement and ordered a few plants from them. Wow-they come in different colors! I think I did an Internet search and found out there was a local grower,so I visited them and they talked me into attending a meeting of the local club. Things just took off after that.

2.What were your initial goals for your hybridizing?

Initially I really just wanted to see if I could do it .I remember Daylily Discounters had a short blurb in their catalog on how to hybridize and I followed those directions.I still recall the shock and feeling of pride when I saw the darn thing bloom. I really just did pretty on pretty for a few years to see what would happen. I was having fun and never dreamed I would ever introduce my own plants. I have never been real focused -which may explain why I have taken so long to make significant progress.If you are going to work on both Tets and Dips and all forms progress will be slow. If I could start over I would probably do things a little differently--probably focus on Tet patterns and teeth..

3.What daylily hybridizers influenced you in the beginning and which ones do now?

Early on I don't think any one hybridizer had a major influence on me. Darrell Apps was the first one I met when I visited family in New Jersey and took a  ride down to see his place. We became friendly and I recall how he emphasized dormancy and plant habit whenever we had an opportunity to chat. One day he took me for a walk to look at his seedlings and he was always commenting on the ones with good scapes.           I never forgot that,and was tickled to nominate him for the Bertrand Farr Silver medal in 2006 (I believe I was not the only one to do so), and happy when he won.

Another hybridizer whom I met when I first started out was Matthew Kaskel. I was surprised to learn my sister in Florida had become friendly with his wife, and I am sure I sounded like an idiot on the phone when she told me she had met someone I thought was a rock star in the world of daylilies. I wish Matthew was more involved with things today,but he always marched to his own beat.

Today there are so many whose work I admire. Those who are honest and straightforward in the appraisal of their plants I hold in high esteem,as well as those who freely share information, and those who send bloom size plants.There are many who fit into these categories and I am afraid I would leave out one if I started naming them. I can't really say one hybidizer influences what I do now. I try to take a little that I like from many of them.

4.What are your recollections of the daylily world when you first started hybridizing?


Edges were just starting to appear.Patterns were practically non-existent.In a relatively short time frame look how far things have come! I think daylilies ten years from now will be amazing. All of us baby boomers are looking for things to do and the backyard hybridzers are becoming prevalent,some with quality intros.

The biggest beef I had early on was that so many would send out catalogs, or have web sites, without any images.I recall taking a  beating on the robin when I questioned this. My,how times have changed with today's technological advancements.

5.Talk about some of the challenges you've had with your hybridizing? or working in a greenhouse?

We have pretty good soil,but our property is located in in area where they added a lot of fill material (translation-rocks). We also have a lot of  trees. These are two factors (among others) that influenced my decision to grow a lot in pots. This can be a tricky proposition.I think after 10 years or so I can grow them fairly well,but watering,and making sure they are getting the nutrients they need is important. Having the correct pH is often an overlooked factor ,not only for growing in pots,but for planting in the ground. If your pH is off ,nutrients are not being made available to your plants.Today all beds are seedlings and all named varieties are grown in pots.

I love my greenhouse. As a  hybridizing tool, it helps in many ways. I do not have to bend over to spread pollen and never get rained out.The plants are very happy in the greenhouse with the controlled environment, and most will readily set seed. There are significant expenses-- heating for one, and pest control can be a hassle.I always fear a tree will fall on the greenhouse in the middle of winter.I was also nervous during the recent storm when we got over 3' of snow.

6. Name some of your favorite daylilies from other hybridizers?

This is a tough one. Some I like for their looks and some for their plant habit,and some for both .I really liked Jane Trimmer's Dragonfly Dawn from last year.It bloomed for several months in the greenhouse,had a consistent pattern, and was very fertile both ways.Dan Hansen's Whale Tails and Di DeCaire's Four Beasts in One are also among the most impressive patterns I have grown.Jane has some other plants with great plant habit here--Firebird Suite and Discarded beauty are two good ones.

For teeth, last year's Deadliest catch from Tom Polston and Larry Grace's Dr Stump were impressive.Jamie Gossard's Venus Fly Trap is one of the best out there.The best teeth I have ever seen is Fran Harding's yet-to-be released Forestlake Briar Patch.It showed teeth (in the greenhouse) on days when many other toothy ones did not,when nights were cool in spring.

I get the most keepers from Curt Hanson's intros. Cobraskin Necktie as been a super parent for me. This year's Waggle Dance is one intro I have from it.

I think Fran Harding's Forestlake Ragamuffin could be  the most influential daylily ever hybridized.It is hard to find a toothy cultivar that does not have it in the background.

Posted at the very bottom is a clump photograph of Rich's 2013 introduction, Waggle Dance. Below that I posted a photograph of the wristbands that Rich Howard is selling to help the folks who lost loved ones in the Sandy Hook shooting.  If you go to Rich Howard's website by clicking on www.ctdaylily.com, you can purchase them there.  I should also mention that Rich sells both daylilies and daylily seeds from the crosses he does in his greenhouse under the seller name, "Rich," on the Lily Auction. Usually he sells his seeds in the months of November thru January.  Having bought a lot of seeds on the lily auction, I can tell you that no one sells better seeds and his seeds have the highest percent of germination.  I hope you enjoyed our visit with Rich Howard, and I understand he has something he wrote coming out in the next AHS journal.  Looking forward to reading that!  Thanks Rich for allowing me to post all this information on the blog!

Hope everyone enjoyed it as much as I did!  By the way, sorry about the font problems with my most recent blog write ups.  It's some sort of problem google will have to fix, or I've got to figure out what the problem is.

Fran Hardings new intros, soon to be available.

     What better way to follow up my most recent write ups on patterns, then to follow them up with a segment on toothy intros.  My friend in Connecticut, Rich Howard will be introducing Fran Harding's last introductions in the next couple years.  Rich was nice enough to share some photographs of those daylilies with me and has said it would be alright to share them with you on the blog. 

     Before I go any further I have to post my disclaimer: ALL PHOTOGRAPHS OF FRAN HARDING'S DAYLILIES ARE THE PROPERTY OF RICH HOWARD AND ARE COPYRIGHTED. ANY REPRODUCTION WITHOUT PRIOR CONSENT IS PROHIBITED. (If you would like to contact Rich Howard about Fran Harding's daylilies and photographs, you can email him at ctdaylily@yahoo.com. )

     Let's start with the photographs at the very top, which are of Forestlake Becky.  As you can see from the third photograph down, F. Becky is very fertile, yielding many pods. The cross for Forestlake Becky is (Forestlake Lacy Bloomers X Forestlake Ragamuffin)The next photographs down are of Forestlake Briar Patch. Rich has told me that Forestlake Briar Patch is the toothiest of the new introductions.  The cross for F. Briar Patch is (Forestlake Lacy Bloomers X Forestlake Ragamuffin.)

     The photograph in the middle right above this segment is Forestlake Devil's Mistress. The cross for F. Devil's Mistress is (Seedling X Startle).

     The photograph right above this section is Forestlake Pleats for Laura. Forestlake Pleats for Laura's cross is (Forestlake Becky X Forestlake Tigerling Claws)

     The photograph at the top of this page is Forestlake Tigerling Claws. The cross for F. Tigerling Claws is (Forestlake Lacy Bloomers X (Seedling X Forestlake Fringe Binge)) The photograph at the very bottom of the page is of Forestlake Warm and Fuzzy. The cross for F. Warm and Fuzzy is (Forestlake Lacy Bloomers X Forestlake Ragamuffin).  All of these introductions are DORMANTS. It would appear the tallest and probably most fertile of them is Forestlake Becky standing in at 30 inches! To the best of my knowledge none will be available in 2013 except for F. Becky, which I believe will be available in the fall.  All others will probably appear for sale on Rich Howard's website in the coming years. You can log on to Rich Howard's site by clicking on www.ctdaylily.com.  Rich's website has always been one of my favorite sites to see a lot of photographs of daylilies from around the country and it's a great resource to buy hard to find daylilies.  Rich has always been very kind to me answering a myriad of questions about the daylilies he grows.  I will be featuring some of Rich Howard's introductions in next week's blog.  Hope you enjoyed seeing Fran Harding's daylilies today.