All the bells and whistles

Saw this for the first time yesterday - seedling 38310. Out of 47607 (of course) x 13207 (which is a sharky lavender out of Entwined in the Vine, 35502, and a few other things). The flower has everything (at least in the GH)- good branching, multiple eye and edge, sharks, green throat. Love it:-)

This is seedling 35310 - out of (Intelligent Design x 40807) x (13107 x 47607). Fascinating echo eye.

The next two seedlings - 37410 and 37110 come out of Entwined in the Vine breeding.

Magical cross

This is seedling 15303 - out of Heartbeat of Heaven x [(Chance Encounter x Shaka Zulu) x sib of Heartbeat]. Gorgeous color, 6+", hardy, sharky, good budcount and one of the favorites of spring fling visitors - but outside it's only 18-20" tall. So the challenge was to recreate this look on a taller flower.

This is seedling 12708 - out of 25107 x 34507, where 34507 is out of hardy 38104 (ruffly) and 29504 (sharky). Will see 12708 bloom outside this summer for the first time, but it is large and very tall in the greenhouse.

I planted about 15 seeds using 12708 as the pod parent - a really long cross for me as I usually just do 3-5 - but I really believed this could be a winner and and am grateful for the results. So far, 5 of the 15 have bloomed and all are large and well-branched and tall and have great color. In order, they are 10710, 33910, 35410, 5510, 37310. I also made the reverse cross, with 15303 as the pod parent, but haven't seen any of them bloom yet. It will be interesting to see if the height comes from 12708 either way, or if the pod parent is dominant (lots of folks say that, but I've never seen it in my short crosses).

2010 seedlings

Seedling numbers 26310, 26010, 25110, 33110, 31810, 31310, 29810, 29710.

New seedlings

One of my friends was concerned that I hadn't posted in a while. All is well, but it's been peak shipping and hybridizing season and am pretty wiped out at the end of the day. Plus running a greenhouse that you always have to stay on top of. Right now I'm fighting spider mites and they're winning. Have used 4 different insecticides plus soap and ammonia and the bugs are laughing at me. There are MILLIONS, maybe even BILLIONS of them - confined right now to the first 20 feet of the greenhouse but moving a couple feet a day. Need to wait a week between each application in order not to create a phytotoxic reaction. The water boom motor stopped working yesterday, and there were many anxious moments until we figured out the motor hadn't busted - just blown a fuse. Water is the lifeblood of daylilies, and I'm always antsy about the water system.

And now it's hot! We haven't had a frost at Springwood since March and it's been warmer this year than all of last year. So that wears on the body too:-) My same friend suggested his goal was to keep hybridizing until age 88 - oh, my, I can't even imagine running a greenhouse that long with so many things to stay on top of.

Anyway, since I started the blog I've tried to come up with themes for each post and have been drawing a blank these past 2 weeks, so am just going to show pictures of some new 2010 seedlings. No cross info as most of them have a dozen parents. I know that's not very helpful, but it's what happens when you use your own seedlings for many, many years. The following are
15610, 14710, 20810 (2 pictures), 21010, 21610, 24410, 25510, 25710, 27410, 27610, 27810, 29210.

2010 Spring Fling - May 2

On Sunday afternoon, May 2, we held our annual hybridizers Spring Fling at Springwood - sponsored by the Daylily Society of Minnesota and Region 1. 25 attendees came from Nebraska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Minnesota. We had a great time getting to know each other, sharing ideas and exploring the greenhouse. As science chair, I put together a number of exercises designed to teach the basics, as well as to stretch the thinking of even the most experienced hybridizers. A great day:-)

Pictures by Kyle Billadeau.

Visitors to Springwood

Although off the beaten path, a number of folks find a way to get to the greenhouse for spring blooms. On April 21, Phil and Luel Korth (from Wisconsin) were in the area to visit their family. Their pick of the day was huge 7 inch, thick, puffy 33109 - a kid out of hot pink 36207 and 47607.

Can't say they liked my 7-8" brownish "root beer" ones: 26509 - out of 47607 and 39809 - out of ID, EITV, HOH, etc, but I like them because they're so odd.

Oddity at Springwood

On April 24th I saw 3 very large gray spots (about a foot in diameter each) on the concrete driveway outside the greenhouse. It was a gray day, and I thought at first it must be a mold growing on some daylily bloom juice that had acidentally spilled onto the driveway. On closer inspection, the spots were "throbbing" - hmmm, I thought maybe I was watching mold grow before my eyes - like the white and yellow foamy mold that grows on bark. About that time, friend Kyle Billadeau drove up to see the new greenhouse blooms and her sharp eye noticed that they were insects. Out came the bug spray, as they were too near to the greenhouse for comfort. Kyle sent a quick e-mail with the photos to Sue Bergeron - who is an expert on almost everything plant and insect related - and Sue indicated that it was a springtail swarm - insects that feed on decaying plant material. Perhaps they were attracted to the decaying daylily blooms sitting in buckets outside the greenhouse waiting to be taken to the compost pile. I understand a springtail sighting like this is a rare occurrence - and the first time I've ever seen anything like it - and hope not to again:-)