Tuesday, July 21, 2020

AR16AR.94

31", E, 3", Purple bitone, Dormant, Diploid, 28 buds & 3 branches
((Sugar Candy x Vanilla Gorilla) x Blueberry Trumpets)

Another year... another blog post. This one was certainly the standout of my 2016 seedlings as it has the full package of what I would want in a daylily: great plant habit and a great bloom.

One aspect of the daylily plant that I am trying to be more cognizant of is the foliage: I have come to prefer fans small enough that one would be able to fit the plant into a small garden space without too much trouble. AR16AR.94's foliage is just that: thin and elegant, it is not small enough to be 'grassy,' but not big enough to steal the show from the scape and bloom, both of which I think should be the focal point of the plant.



The scape, too, is quite nice. While AR16AR.94 has developed a nice clump, it only sent up one scape this year (its first year of bloom), and bloom stretched from 20 June to the 20 of July. Imagine what it could do in a multi-scape clump! I do think that the bloom spacing could be improved upon, as sometimes the blooms are forced to compete (see below). I also wouldn't mind it if it were a bit taller (say, in the 40-45" range), but it may grow taller once it's more established.


That being said, I really find myself drawn to the bloom itself. It varies (I would assume with the temperature, but further observation is needed) and is actually quite intricate for a flower so small. A slight bitone, the sepals have an attractive lighter edge. The eyezone can also have a feathered appearance. In terms of sunfastness, I've not yet decided if it meets my standards. It does slick slightly when in the heat of the midday sun, but it recovers by evening. The color also fades, but I think this is to be expected.

I'm including below a photo of the pod parent (AR10AR.58), which I plan on getting rid of in the coming weeks since its children surpass it in all aspects. A clean purple with a nice green throat and attractive purple buds, it lacked any and all plant habit. I have Bob Sobek's excellent 'Blueberry Trumpets,' then, to thank for AR16AR.94 and its siblings' great performance.

Pod parent AR10AR.58 (Sugar Candy x Vanilla Gorilla)
AR16AR.94 will be an excellent seedling to cross into Mike Huben's 'Tall and Small' program (think: 'Venous Blood' and the phenomenal 'O Positive'), as I already did last year with sibling AR16AR.93. I've also crossed it with AR14AR.53 (a post on which I'll write soon) to get more airy branching... yet such a cross will certainly get me nowhere in terms of height!

And if I haven't raved about this seedling enough, it's currently shooting up a rebloom scape! This surprises me for two reasons: 1) neither of the parents rebloom and 2) weather conditions (minimal rain in May, June, and July) have been completely unfavorable this year. Hopefully this trait is something that will return in the years to come.