Wednesday, August 12, 2015

AR10AR.95

4", EM, 33", DeepYellowSelf with small GreenThroat, Dormant, Diploid, 4 branches, 20 buds
(Sugar Candy x Helicopter)
I am in LOVE with this seedling! You can't really see in the picture, but there is a light orange overlay in the color that really contributes to the deep, unique, yellow. I know many people have things against yellow daylilies because they're "common," but I think that this mindset is wrong. There are so many different shades of yellow that really stand out and serve an important place in the garden. Take a look at the backs of the sepals, interesting:
I would register this, too, like its sibling (which will be registered next year), but a major fault is that the scapes lean. However the very nice branching and unique color make it a nice bridge plant. Its form is also reminiscent of an unusual form, so I think that crossing it into UFo forms would work smoothly. This year, I crossed it with the newly acquired and amazing 'Lemon Ice Tea,' by Margo Reed. Something else that intrigues me about this seedling is that by the end of the day, the ends of the petals and sepals bleach out to a lighter yellow:
Not sure how I feel about it, but I don't think that this look in unattractive in entirety. I definitely want to remake the cross because I only saw 5 bloom and 4 were stunning! (I threw away one, which I regret, but the three I kept are amazing!)

Monday, August 10, 2015

AR11AR.33

25", M, 4.5", BlackRed Self with Orange Throat, Tetraploid, 5 branches, 36 buds
(Notorious * Congo Dancer)
Now, don't be fooled by the high budcount and branching. It is terribly branched, with all of the buds bunched together in a compact manner. The scape is so think and so dense with buds that it could easily support a small bird or two if they were to perch on it. Although pod fertile, the pollen is a bit iffy. When multiple blooms are open on the same day, only some appear to actually have pollen on their anthers. Even when a bloom does have pollen, only some of the anthers have it. I hope that this will change next year, as this was the first year for it to bloom. The color is just what I wanted when I envisioned this cross. Now I have the hard part: trying to breed good plant habits into this line. The foliage of this one is also too stiff for me. The color also fades throughout the day from an almost black to a deep red. I believe that this seedling is darker than the photo shows: as many daylily lovers woefully admit, it is extremely hard to capture deep, velvety reds like this on camera. I have high hopes for this seedling, and crossed with it this year to grow my red tetraploid line. I'll leave you with a few more photos:
 The velvety texture is apparent in the photo above. Very close to actual color, wish it was a more head-on photo.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

AR11AR.82

18", EE, 4", LightYellow with PeachOverlay, ?, diploid, 3 way branching, 13 buds
(AR09MH.16 * AR09MH.33) ---> ((A Small Multitude * Swiss Diplomat) * AR09MH.33)
A light yellow extra early! It first bloomed June 16th this year (normally some earlies would have started blooming at this time, but because of the extreme winter we've had here in New England, things are pushed back about two weeks). Both parents are early, so I'm not surprised by its bloom season. If it was only an early, I probably would not have kept it because the flower isn't too special and the bud count is kind of low. Two aspects of the flower that I like, however, are the delicate ruffles that it has and a peach overlay, which I have tried to capture on camera, but sadly my efforts have been fruitless. I'm planning on crossing it with colorful things this year to hopefully achieve extra earlies in other colors than yellow. I anticipate that the F1 generation of these crosses will be muddy and probably won't be extra earlies, but that's why hybridizers must not be so rash when selecting seedlings: an F1 that doesn't have all the qualities you desire could be the key to the "dream" garden plant when used in breeding.

Tuesday, February 10, 2015

AR10AR.51


29'', 3'', Magenta w/ yellow to green throat, dormant, diploid, fragrant, 4 way branching 19 buds
(Sugar Candy * Vanilla Gorilla)

This really is a standout over all the others of this cross. It has around twenty buds and the scapes are nice and strong. Already has a clump! Like many darker colored flowers, it does slick mildly, so I'm trying to cross it with more sunfast cultivars. My goal in this cross was to create a clear colored pink unusual form. I didn't get this with any of the seedlings of this cross but this one, which had the best plant habit, was back-crossed with Vanilla Gorilla in order to achieve this. Since I was so impressed with the branching, I crossed this with 'Peak Experience' an amazingly tall and well-branched plant (I highly recommend it!) from Margo Reed. This flower has another form which I think to be old-fashioned and unattractive:
Also, not so seen on the pictures that I have provided, sometimes AR10AR.51 has a white edge. I think that this is attractive and I plan to cross it with a white-edged unusual form (again, drawing from the hope that the unusual form gene is dormant) like 'Santa's Pants'.

AR10TD.75

28'', M, 4'', yellow self w/ green throat, tet, 1 branch, 13 buds
(Summertime Splendor * Forestlake Ragamuffin)
I was going for teeth and I got them, sort of. While some blooms show clear signs of teeth, others are merely toothy ruffles. Also interesting is the little dents in the petals. Not exactly my favorite. It looks like tracts made in the dirt by the wheels of a tractor and I don't find this attractive. I saved this one because of the promise of teeth that it gave me and I hope that its offspring will not have this dented feature.

Wednesday, January 28, 2015

AR10AR.114 and it's sib AR10AR.119

Unfortunately, I have no data on AR10AR.114, pictured above, but to be fair they would not reflect the true nature of this plant even if I did. Quickly running out of space, I made the terrible mistake of planting some crosses on the side of my house. This particular side only gets a few hours of morning light, has relatively terrible soil after years of neglect, and it is narrow, leaving me to place the seedlings closer together than I would have liked. It's a plus that .114 bloomed in these horrid conditions, and I'll put that into consideration when I continue to evaluate this (in a much better bed!) during 2015. What stood out to me about the flower was 1) the lavender watermark and 2) the gloriously green throat (this photo may enhance it a tad due to the yellow light of the sun). I have no idea where this came from, as neither parent appears to have such a design. It looks very contemporary, in my opinion. It's sib,
AR10AR.119, is also interesting
The eye is a nice touch. I am fully aware that the color is fairly muddy. To help this problem, I crossed it with some clean near-whites, which I hope will help. This one fades terribly. The purple facade vanishes leaving a tan color on the outer parts of the petals. Again, it was the pattern that caught my eye.

During the end of summer when most of the daylilies were gone (I desperately need more lates in my garden, would love any suggestions!),  I used a family tree software program called Reunion 10, and, through the Huben line, traced these seedlings back very far. It's a fun project and if you have any spare time, I would recommend trying it out on a seedling or a registered plant that you have in your garden.

*UPDATE 5/13/15* both of these plants have spring sickness in varying degrees, .119 has spring sickness all over the plant and .114 in about two-thirds. I don't know if this means that they're prone to it or not because many plants, that have otherwise been fine in past years, are now displaying it.