One of my earlier memories of being in Moldovan gardens brings me back to walking up to the back of the house where I usually parked my car. Most visitors parked their cars back by the guest house in the back, but for some reason I always liked parking in the driveway and walking down past the older daylilies, then into the seedling beds. One day as I was walking back up I noticed this late seedling in August that had amazing plant habit. It was branched like an oak tree, and yet not one flower had opened up. For me to stop and gaze at something before there was an open flower on it was unusual. In the preceding visits Steve pointed it out to me saying it was going to be introduced. He even let me take some pollen home to cross with. I didn't know what I was doing in my early hybridizing and I must admit most of my early crosses were real duds. Steve named this amazing seedling Mahdi, which loosely translated means guide or leader. I remember while talking to Steve at the guest house in back, he would tell me that Mahdi was turning out to be one of his better parents. He and Roy took me over to a daylily they called the "Mahdi red," which Roy was to introduce in 2009 as Dante's Inferno.(photo of Dante's Inferno below.)Mahdi was introduced in 2005 and quickly sold out. I missed out on my opportunity to buy Mahdi in 2005. If memory serves, some of the remaining stock of Mahdi was killed from a flood of water from bad sewer line, but Roy got a plant of it back in 2006. Steve passed away that year. It was a very difficult time. Poor Roy was going through a lot of tough times, but at the end of that season was nice enough to divide his double fan of Mahdi and give me a single fan, something I will never forget. I took that fan and put it in a favored spot, then when I moved in 2007, I tried to give Mahdi one of the best spots in my new garden. I have been fortunate to increase my plant to clump strength, and Mahdi has been an easy breeder, both pollen fertile and pod easy. I did get to see on of my Mahdi seedlings bloom recently and it shows some promise. (see photo beneath Dante's Inferno below.) The cross of the seedling is Mahdi X I remember you. I remember both Steve and Roy saying don't be afraid to take Mahdi into red daylilies. Again, whenever Roy and I talk about some of the best Moldovan parents, Mahdi always comes up in conversation as well. Mahdi's cross is Vatican City X Sparkling Champagne. It is one tremendous Moldovan daylily with a lot of breeding potential.
