Blooming today:-)

This is 26713 - first seen last year and held over for breeding - includes All Things to All Men, 52708, 13107, Cosmic Struggle, and 28709. 8" with a beautiful scape and almost all hardy breeding. Fingers crossed.

0814 - a new one this year out of 7912 x 11813 - 52708 is part of both parents. 6-6.5"

2314 - note the multiple eye and stitching on the sepal. Out of 1513 x 1312. 

16013 - another one out of 1312. Nice to see sharks on chalky eyes.

Vanishing Mist

The power of a patterned parent

This is a new seedling this year - 0914 (first picture). It is out of 7813 (2nd picture - bluish breeding) and 11813 (3rd picture - which is out of Handwriting on the Wall x 26712. 26712 is the 4th picture). The 26712 line has been a nice surprise so far, with most of the seedlings having the fleur-de-lis pattern despite only one parent having a pattern. You can read more about 26712 in previous posts - just type 26712 into the search box. 

All Things to All Men offspring

All Things to All Men has been a wonderful parent for me. This is one I saw today: 2513 (out of All Things to All Men x 1312. See search box for last year's comments on 1312). Not yet tested outside, but I can't resist using it due to its height and outstanding scape.

The beauty of tets - diversity of offspring

Ever wonder how 2 purple daylilies can produce a yellow one, or two purple ones a rose one? When breeding with tets, you never know for sure what you'll get because there are so many possibilities in the genes - and that's the fun of what we do. Better scientists than I can explain the details, but I can show the results in pictures. The following is an illustration of how some genes can show up in subsequent generations. Seedling 11913 (1st picture) is out of 0412 (2nd picture) and 2112 (3rd picture). 2112 includes Shadow of His Hand, Secret of Contentment, Faith that Moves Mountains, All Things to All Men, and bluish seedling 17305. You can sure see all of those working together to get that flower. 0412 includes a Gnashing of Teeth sdlg, Faith that Moves Mountains, Not Guilty, Chariot of Clouds, Skin of My Teeth, and a few other assorted things. In 0412, Faith that Moves Mountains is creating the dominant color, but the lighter pinkish lavender eyezone is coming from Not Guilty (4th picture). Getting the rose colored seedling 11913 out of these 2 purple parents wasn't what I was aiming for when I made the cross (although I love it), but I should have expected it since Not Guilty represents about 15% of the genes in the cross (1/32nd as one of the great great great grandparents and 1/8th as one of the great grandparents).

A new season begins

Because of super low outside temperatures for such a long period of time this winter, to save on the heating bill I set the greenhouse heat at 50 degrees at night and 55 daytime instead of my normal 60 and 65. The foliage is even more lush than usual, but the bloom has lagged by 10-14 days - getting antsy:-)

This is seedling 4613 blooming today. Super tall, about 7", with 6 way branching (greenhouse effect of course) I kept it in the greenhouse to use for breeding this year. Out of two chalky eyed parents. Note echo in the eye. I didn't see that as much last year - second picture - I think the cooler temps show off the echoes better.  

2014 Introductions

My website at www.springwoodgardens.com has been updated for the new 2014 introductions as well as some of the best seedlings I saw this past spring and summer.  Many of us in the Midwest were stunned by the impact of the spring and summer of 2012 on the daylilies, where most simply refused to bloom. And then came the long, cold, very wet spring of 2013, which damaged or killed off a number of normally reliable perennials, and caused a lot of crown damage in the already weakened daylilies. I chose the twelve introductions for 2014 because of their very good to exceptional performance in those tough conditions. They thrived, and didn’t seem to be aware that most daylilies around them were going down for the count. Perhaps weather like this won’t happen again for many years, but I don’t want to count on that. I believe these will be a great addition for the gardener who doesn’t want to worry about performance. Six of the twelve are dormants (and will be shipped from the outside in late spring – at my expense if separate shipping is required). Eight of the twelve (including five of the six dormants!) are instant rebloomers here in zone 4, blooming for weeks at a time. Here are eight of them. 

This is ARMED FOR BATTLE. 6", 38", 4-way, 25 buds, Dormant, instant MN rebloom, Midseason, EMO and CMO.

This is CLOUD RIDER. 6", 32", 3-way, 15 buds, Sev with LOTS of dormancy, instant MN rebloom, M, good opener in cold weather.

This is SONS OF THUNDER. 6", 24', 3-way, 15 buds, M, Sev,  Re, EMO. Nice parent!

This is SHOUT FROM THE MOUNTAINTOPS. Bouquet bloomer for weeks at a time. 6.5", 30", 4-way, 22 buds, DOR, starts between mid and late midseason, EMO, CMO. One of the best overall plants I have ever produced. 

This is HIDING PLACE. 5.5", 26", 3-way, 15 buds, Sev, instant MN rebloom. Great parent! See website for pictures of offspring.

This is GONE TO GLORY. 6", 28", 3-way, 15  buds, Dormant, instant MN rebloom. 

This is LOVE NEVER FAILS. 5", 24", 3-way, 15 buds, Sev.

This is THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY. 5.5", 32", 5-way, 25 buds, Sev, M, instant Mn rebloom.

 

Amazing pattern

Still lots of cold weather outside, and many of the daylilies have yet to emerge, or if so, just an inch. The soil temps are still quite cool. But inside the greenhouse, things are still hopping. Just saw this one 2 hours ago and jumped for joy. My best pattern this year. Now numbered 30813 (2 pictures). Nearly 7". Too late to use its pollen - I don't want to be collecting seeds during the national convention here at the end of July - but I will keep it in the greenhouse and use it heavily next spring.  Pictured below it are its 2 parents - 26012 (which is out of 43509 and 8110 - 8110 is the one with the fleur de lis pattern) and 31312 (which is out of 2310 and 28709). 31312 is turning out to be one of my best parents for beautiful blue lavender eyes, and you can really see the contribution of the blue stitching and pattern in 26012.