I almost feel as if I should have been putting these pictures up around the holidays since the color red reminds me so much of that time of year.....and maybe that's why I love the color red in daylilies so much. I looked over my introductions since I started introducing daylilies 4 or 5 years ago and every year I have had at least one red tetraploid daylily introduction.
When I think back over the years which reds I first fell in love with, I'd have to say the very first one that peaked my interest was Lusty Lealand hybridized by Virginia Peak, back in 1970. I saw it at a local daylily garden called Rock Bottom Farms in Middlefield, Ohio back in 1999. As I got more into hybridizing, some of Van Seller's reds really got my attention, including his daylilies, Bill Fall and Sound of Cannons. I still grow both of these reds and enjoy them every season. Since I lived close by to Curt Hanson, I got to see a variety of reds that he grew. He had a nice assortment of David Kirchhoff's reds. David was good friends with Curt, and every year he would come to visit I got a good chance to pick David's brain about his favorite reds. Some earlier Kirchhoff reds that were my favorites included Kent's Favorite Two, Leonard Bernstein, Power Lipstick, and Betty Ford. Fast forwarding to present tense, I would consider David's reds to be in a class all their own. I like to call David Kirchhoff the king of reds, but it wouldn't be fair to not consider David a great hybridizer of many different types of daylilies. His newest reds are incredible. My favorites are Barbara Mandrell, Cardinal Kisses, Fabulous Frieda, and Mary Baker. In recent years I have found another hybridizer who has introduced some really cool reds in Dale Hensley. Dale's Sips of Sin and Heartless are among some of my favorites. Well, here's some pictures of those reds from this past season. Pictured at the top of the page are David Kirchhoff's Cardinal Kisses and Larry Grace's Ultimate Sacrifice right below it.
Pictured above is Barbara Mandrell (David Kirchhoff)
Pictured above is Mary Baker (David Kirchhoff)
Pictured above is Sister Valerie (David Kirchhoff)
Pictured above is Italian Riviera (David Kirchoff)
Pictured above is Heavenly United We Stand (Jamie Gossard)
which is a very nice parent I might add.
One last sad note to end this post. I found out my friend Roy Woodhall passed away this past weekend. I will miss Roy a great deal. He was a good friend to me over the years and I owe a lot to Roy and Steve Moldovan for all they taught me. Rest in peace my friend.
