Daylily Daze

Last Final, First Bloom

2011-05-10T23:42:00.002-05:00

Whew. Today was my last school final... and boy am I whooped! I am glad it was my last test too because I was greeted this morning with my first bloom! Now I will have the time to take photos and see all my seedlings bloom!

It was one of my seedlings from HALF MOON KEY X MUSICAL MEDLEY. It has a great scape and the flowers are opening nicely... it does have a pointy sepal that I will have to keep an eye on. I love that it is a bitone and the piecrust edges.

I also found one of my CV's blooming - MIAMI HEAT. This baby sure puts on a great show every year. Glad I put it by the driveway so that I can see it when I drive up.

Can't wait to see what this summer will bring!

Many, many scapes!

2011-05-07T22:48:00.012-05:00

Still going with keeping track of what is scaping in the gardens. I think I may put these in an excel spreadsheet to better see any trends. If I can keep up, maybe the dates over a few years would be very interesting.

"Extra Earlies"
0/2

no scapes on the EE's so far

"Earlies"
3/12 or 25%
1. S.C. SURPRISE PURPLE - 4/25/11
2. KATHERINE CALDWELL - 4/25/11 (forgot this one in my last post, opps!)
3. HEAVEN'S DECLARING - 5/1/11

"Early-Mids"
19/70 or 27%
1. NEON PINK (First Up) - 4/15/11
2. CHINESE WATERCOLOR - 4/25/11
3. GARDEN GREETINGS - 4/25/11
4. HONKY TONK BLUES - 4/25/11
5. CINDY JONES - 4/25/11
6. VELVET EYES- 4/25/11
7. LOVE SPILLS OVER - 5/1/11
8. PALLADIAN PINK - 5/1/11
9. TRUE NORTH - 5/1/11
10. BLUEGRASS MUSIC - 5/1/11
11. PIRATE KING - 5/1/11
12. JAMAICAN LOVE - 5/1/11
13. SOFT SUMMER NIGHT - 5/1/11

14. PANCHO VILLA - 5/7/11

15. JENNIFER TRIMMER - 5/7/11

16. NAVY BLUES - 5/7/11

17. MILDRED MITCHELL - 5/7/11

18. GOLDEN THRONE - 5/7/11

19. SANFORD INTERMEZZO - 5/7/11

"Mids"
18/76 or 24%

1. IDDY BIDDY GAL - 4/25/11
2. JUST A WHILE LONGER - 4/25/11
3. PURPLE PAJAMAS - 4/25/11
4. WHEEL OF TIME - 4/25/11
5. WEST COAST BLUES - 5/1/11
6. S.C. BODACIOUS BLUSH - 5/1/11
7. FORSYTH FROSTBOUND - 5/1/11
8. ROMAN COHORT - 5/1/11
9. PICTURE IN PICTURE - 5/1/11
10. LIMEHOUSE BLUES - 5/1/11
11. BORN TO RUN** - 5/1/11
12. LAVENDER EXALTATION - 5/1/11
13. MIAMI HEAT - 5/1/11

14. AVA GARDNER - 5/7/11

15. CRYSTAL SEA - 5/7/11

16. PETE HANSEN MEMORIAL - 5/7/11

17. MATISSE - 5/7/11

18. WILLIAM AUSTIN NORRIS - 5/7/11

"Mid-Lates"
1/22 or 5%
1. SWEET ISABELLA - 5/1/11

"Lates"
1/4 or 25%
1. MISSOURI MEMORIES

"Very Lates"
0/2

More Scapes Up! (Creative, huh?)

2011-05-01T11:46:00.003-05:00

Alright, fighting the wind and wearing my rain boots (yippee!!), I walked the garden this morning to find more scapes! I can't wait for blooms. I guess, technically, Stella is blooming... so that would be my first blooms, but do do you count your Stellas? :o)

The daylilies in highlighte in purple are the ones that I found up today...

"Extra Earlies"
0/2

no scapes on the EE's so far

"Earlies"
3/12 or 25%

1. S.C. SURPRISE PURPLE - 4/25/11
2. KATHERINE CALDWELL - 4/25/11 (forgot this one in my last post, opps!)

3. HEAVEN'S DECLARING - 5/1/11

"Early-Mids"
13/70 or 19%

1. NEON PINK (First Up) - 4/15/11
2. CHINESE WATERCOLOR - 4/25/11
3. GARDEN GREETINGS - 4/25/11
4. HONKY TONK BLUES - 4/25/11
5. CINDY JONES - 4/25/11
6. VELVET EYES- 4/25/11
7. LOVE SPILLS OVER - 5/1/11
8. PALLADIAN PINK - 5/1/11
9. TRUE NORTH - 5/1/11
10. BLUEGRASS MUSIC - 5/1/11
11. PIRATE KING - 5/1/11
12. JAMAICAN LOVE - 5/1/11
13. SOFT SUMMER NIGHT - 5/1/11

"Mids"
13/76 or 17%

1. IDDY BIDDY GAL - 4/25/11
2. JUST A WHILE LONGER - 4/25/11
3. PURPLE PAJAMAS - 4/25/11
4. WHEEL OF TIME - 4/25/11

5. WEST COAST BLUES - 5/1/11

6. S.C. BODACIOUS BLUSH - 5/1/11

7. FORSYTH FROSTBOUND - 5/1/11

8. ROMAN COHORT - 5/1/11

9. PICTURE IN PICTURE - 5/1/11

10. LIMEHOUSE BLUES - 5/1/11

11. BORN TO RUN** - 5/1/11

12. LAVENDER EXALTATION - 5/1/11

13. MIAMI HEAT - 5/1/11

"Mid-Lates"
1/22 or 5%

1. SWEET ISABELLA - 5/1/11

"Lates"
0/4

"Very Lates"
0/2

Scapes Up!!

2011-04-25T15:33:00.001-05:00

The weather here has been horrendous. Winds topping out at 70mph, cloud to ground lightening, tornadoes, but not a whole lot of rain. :o( I took a quick stroll through the garden today to check for any major damage. So far there are two wax myrtles that have broken some major limbs. I think they may have to be sacrificed. :o( But that is for another day. Today, while walking the garden, I found scapes up, although not on the plants I expected...

These are my Extra Earlies and Earlies:
Extra Earlies:
     Wren's Song
     Laughing Skies

Neither have scapes.

Some Earlies:
     Ballerina Beautiful
     Spacecoast Surprise Purple
     Pixie Plaything
     **Precious Candy
     Pink Flirt
     Katrina Heroes
     **Leslie Renee
     Lavender Fantasia
     Heaven's Declaring
     Itty Bitty Blue
**just planted

Only S.C. Surprise Purple has scapes.

Most of my scapes are on Early Mids, with some Mids...

Early Mids:
Cindy Jones
Chinese Watercolor
Garden Greetings
Honky Tonk Blues
Neon Pink
Velvet Eyes

Mids:
Iddy Biddy Gal
Just A While Longer
Purple Pajamas
Wheel of Time

I also have scapes on some seedlings that I am excited to see:

[(Clothed in Glory x Elizabeth's Magic) x John Peat ] x I Wanna Piranha
Velvet Eyes x West Coast Blues
Half Moon Key x Musical Medley (2 sibs scaping)
Lavender Fantasia x Musical Medley (2 sibs scaping)
Set Me Free x Green Revolution

Here we go!!

Winter Losses Part Deux... Great Daylily People

2011-04-13T13:25:00.002-05:00

After loosing so many new daylilies this past winter, I was trying to soothe myself with my seedlings, and being excited about what might bloom this year. But.... I was still a bit bummed out. They were some really nice daylilies! Thankfully there are some wonderful people who have picked up this hobby.

A friend that I met through the Garden Web Forums plant swap was SUPER SWEET and sent me a very nice replacement fan of PRECIOUS CANDY, ~*AND*~ a couple of fans of ZAHADOOM! (It needs the exclamation point, don't you think?) So, now I have a new CV that I love. Thank you Dianne!!

I also contacted Dan Hansen about the cost of replacing some of his CV's that I purchased at the Region 6 Daylily Auction, and he said he would replace them gratis! Wow, that is really generous! So, two days ago I got a package in the mail.... and I could tell by the smell (don't you love that smell?) what was inside! A box from Ladybug Daylilies!! There was PURPLE PAJAMAS and BEACHIN' BABE, and nice, huge fans! I couldn't believe it, but BEACHIN' BABE already had a scape on each of the four fans he sent.... wow. Thank you Dan Hansen!!

These acts of generosity really take the bite out of the winter losses! I love daylily people!

Look What I Found!!

2011-03-26T19:26:00.001-05:00

Isn't he the cutest thing ever?? I know, I know... they eat stuff, as in my garden stuff, but he was so darned cute! I had to just put him back in his nest. Awww... so cute, and he was so soft and happy to be cuddled! I was surprised that he was not skittish at all. Not a daylily, but just as good to look at!

Winter Losses...

2011-03-25T09:09:00.001-05:00

Well, I guess here is a good place to cry about my winter losses. I had some new acquisitions, transplants and seedlings in pots from last fall. This past winter, we had the longest, coldest stretch in Texas history since, well, forever. This spring, when the weather warmed up, and the daylilies started poking up again, I was really bummed to find quite a few didn't make it through. Here is the list:

Beachin' Babe
Beauty Of His Grace
Born To Run
Blue Eyed Angel
Cerulean Warbler
TET Crystal Blue Persuasion
Heavenly Mansions
Mississippi Blues
Moments Rich In Blessing
Moonlight Sail
Plum Eyed Delight
Precious Candy
Purple Pajamas
Shores Of Time
Standing On The Promise
West Texas Windmill

All of them had just simply turned to mush. It was strange, but there were still some solid storage roots all the way at the bottom of the pot, but the rest of the root system leading up to them, including the crowns were just spongy, mushy, bad smelling (don't you HATE that smell??), muck.

Ah, well... I planted some new seedlings, and I will try to replace a few of these since I got them for hybridizing.

Now off to study a bit for my Calculus test later today!! Ack, can you see my diversions?? LOL.

2011 Crosses

2011-03-20T18:09:00.001-05:00

Well, there were a few seeds in the fridge that just wouldn't stay any longer! Their radicles were poking out and getting so long, I couldn't put off planting a few of them... This year, I am SO busy with school, that my hybridizing has really been put on the back burner. I managed to repot all of last years seedlings and start getting them ready to go out in my new bed (to be finished next week!), and a few seeds planted for a VERY SMALL 2011 crop. Mostly, the few seedlings will be something to keep me from feeling like I have totally given up! :o)

Here is what I planted today!!

DIPLOIDS
CARIBBEAN TWILIGHT TIME x BARN OWL
PINK FLIRT x EMMA TOMLINSON MCHUGH

TETRAPLOIDS
HEAVEN'S DECLARING x LUCID MOMENT
BALLERINA BEAUTIFUL x S.C. SURPRISE PURPLE
WEST COAST BLUES x BLUE HIPPO

GILLIAN x BLUE HIPPO

I'll try to come back and put in pictures of the crosses....

What is blooming now!

2010-05-18T14:45:00.000-05:00

INTAGLIO IMAGE

Check out the sculpting on this baby!

FILIPINA BRIDE

*TET* CRYSTAL BLUE PERSUASION

RODELINDA

ANSWERING ANGELS

*TET* TUSCAWILLA SNOWDRIFT

PIRATE KING

New LED Grow light - GlowPanel 45 Un-boxing

2010-03-13T08:45:00.002-06:00

Over the last few months, I have been doing some research on LED Grow Lights. I finally bit the bullet and bought one. I made a quick video for anyone who might be interested in these type of lights. There doesn't seem to be much information out there about this type of lighting, unless you want to cruise the marijuana growing forums!

Mostly I was interesting in getting the most bang for my buck. I wanted a lot of light output, that the plants could use (chlorophyll can't use a whole lot of the spectrum), with reduction of UV rays (think of the plants in a tanning bed) and reduction of heat output and energy costs. The initial financial layout is a bit more steep than buying a regular florescent bulbs, but I think the overall costs will be less. No replacement bulbs, lower energy costs.

After only two days, I think I can already tell that the seedlings are happier. The foliage has stopped growing "up" towards the light, and is now starting to arch, like daylily leaves should. I think they are getting fatter leaves too! I can't wait to see what they will look like in a few weeks.

This is my very first video, so be gentle!!

Updating My Flower Photos

2010-02-22T19:04:00.001-06:00

Well, over the last week I have been updating my photos of all my flowers for my "My Daylilies" page. It is nice to finally have some static pages here on blogger. That way you guys can always see all my flowers anytime you want! And let's not kid ourselves... so **I** can see them anytime I want... which when I am doing Chemistry or Calculus homework, is often! Ack, Math is brutal... but I digress into college ramblings. This page is about daylilies!!

I hope to keep my page up to date with all the new seedlings set to bloom this year. I can hardly wait to see all those new faces, and to know how well they branch, open and perform over all. Since many of my poor seedling babies in 2008 had to stay in pots, they did not bloom in 2009... except for a determined few. I don't think I fertilized them nearly enough... and it must have been 150 degrees plus on the hot cement during our Texas summer. I could nearly hear them sighing when I finally put them in the ground last year.

I have joined the AHS email robin, and it is certainly nice to know that I am not the only insanely addicted daylily person! I keep asking myself... "where am I going to put 120 new seedlings??" There is absolutely NO BED SPACE anywhere in my yard. I know all of the 2008, and 2009 babies won't *ALL* be keepers, but I have a feeling a lot of them will want to hang around for evaluation. Those seedlings only got ground space due to the fact that I ripped out an entire bed of Asian Jasmine last year... whew... The BF thinks I am absolutely nuts, but he is such a good sport! He let me rip it all out and even rubbed my achin' back when I was done. How good it that! So, now I am back to no bed space. I keep thinking... "we don't need all that grass, do we?" But then the dogs give me that look, like "where would we pee?" LOL. Guess I gotta keep some of it.

Well, I guess that is my ramble for the night... back to the books!

Happy Growing.

2010 Crosses

2010-02-15T18:41:00.009-06:00

3/21/11 - Ok, I am finally updating my crosses!! Here are some photos of the parents, and I hope to get lots of pictures of the seedlings this summer. Be sure to come back and see them!

BLUEGRASS MUSIC X BLUE HIPPO

SEEDLINGS:

BUBBLE YUMMIN' MAMA X UNK

Most likely, the UNK refers to CRYSTAL SEA or CINDY JONES. Those were the two parents with which I was crossing Bubble Yummin' Mama, but the tag got so faded, I couldn't read it anymore. Anyway, I know it was a purposeful cross because it was marked - meaning not a bee volunteer! The picture above is of CRYSTAL SEA.

SEEDLINGS:

CHINESE WATERCOLOR X UNK

Ugg... this was another purposeful cross where the tag got too faded. I was using pencil, and changed in the middle of the year once I found a ton of fading! Now I have this cool pen meant to be used outdoors and on plant tags. Working much better. Anyway, the most likely UNK parent here is HEAVEN'S DECLARING. I wanted this cross really bad, and it was the only plant I was using to cross with CHINESE WATERCOLOR. But, since technically, I couldn't read it at the end of the season, I am going with UNK. It is possible I crossed something else here, and just don't remember doing it!

SEEDLINGS:

CINDY JONES X ROMAN COHORT

SEEDLINGS:

CLOWN'S CABARET X CREATE YOUR DREAM

SEEDLINGS:

CLOWN'S CABARET X GARDEN GREETINGS

SEEDLINGS:

G.W. DUSTY BUDS X HEAVEN'S DECLARING

SEEDLINGS:

G.W. PAINTED PONY X BLUEGRASS MUSIC

SEEDLINGS:

G.W. PAINTED PONY X HEAVEN'S DECLARING

SEEDLINGS:

HOW SWEET IT IS X CREATE YOUR DREAM

SEEDLINGS:

INQUIRE WITHIN X ENGLISH LAVENDER

Pictures posted here are from the hybridizers. I bought this cross from the Lily Auction. So far, it has been one tough cross, and the seedlings look very hearty. We will see what summer brings for them out in the beds this year!!

SEEDLINGS:

NEUSA GERGEMANN X UNK

Yet another cross that was made by me, but had faded tags. I was working with BARN OWL, PIXIE PLAYTHING & OUT OF THE BLUE as crosses to NEUSA GERGEMANN. We will see what comes out!!

SEEDLINGS:

PALACE GARDEN BEAUTY X VINO BRILLANTE

2/15/10 - Well, during the last couple of days, I finally got around to planting my seeds indoors. Seeing as we were buried in snow anyway... why not get a jump on spring? I am hoping they get a nice early start this year and have lots of growth before our brutal summer arrives. I am so looking forward to seeing the 2008 and 2009 crosses bloom this year.

Here is what I have planted so far:

BLUEGRASS MUSIC X BLUE HIPPO

BUBBLE YUMMIN' MAMA X UNK

CINDY JONES X ROMAN COHORT

CHINESE WATERCOLOR X UNK

CLOWN'S CABARET X GARDEN GREETINGS

CLOWN'S CABARET X CREATE YOUR DREAM

G.W. DUSTY BUDS X HEAVEN'S DECLARING

G.W. PAINTED PONY X BLUEGRASS MUSIC

G.W. PAINTED PONY X HEAVEN'S DECLARING

HOW SWEET IT IS X CREATE YOUR DREAM

INQUIRE WITHIN X ENGLISH LAVENDER

NEUSA GERGEMANN X UNK (was working with BARN OWL, PIXIE PLAYTHING & OUT OF THE BLUE, but tag got faded)

PALACE GARDEN BEAUTY X VINO BRILLANTE

PALLADIAN PINK X BLUE HIPPO

PALLADIAN PINK X UNK

PANCHO VILLA X HEAVEN'S DECLARING

PANCHO VILLA X HI HO SILVER

S.C. SURPRISE PURPLE X CLOWN'S CABARET

SEEDLING 002 X HEAVEN'S DECLARING

TOOTHY GRIN X RED FRIDAY

UNVANQUISHED X LUCID MOMENT

VELVET EYES X MILDRED MITCHELL

WEST COAST BLUES X BLUE HIPPO

WEST COAST BLUES X CLOWN'S CABARET

Region 6 Garden Tours - DAY 2

2009-06-13T13:18:00.000-05:00

On May 30th, all the attendees of the Region 6 Meeting went on their second day of garden tours. There would be three wonderful gardens to view on this day.

•.¸(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸ LONG GARDEN¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯)¸.•

Our First garden of the day belonged to Ken and Linda Long. They have a beautiful property with huge oak trees gracefully providing much needed shade from our Texas sun. The daylilies were in raised beds scattered around the yard. There were so many daylilies!! All The Riches Bodacious Bite Broadway Raves Christmas Ribbons Comanche Magic God's Handiwork - I am not much for the cream color daylilies, but this one was an exception. It really was terrific. Handsome Dillon Heaven's Edge Hillbilly Heart Hot Pink Fury - one of my favorites of the tour Jungle Butterfly Lunar Max Mask of Eternity Rose Fever San Ignacio Smokey Mountian Autumn - really a looker in person, hard to capture on film Tutankhomun Ultimate Destiny They grew other things besides daylilies, but I was so distracted, I only got a few shots! :o)

•.¸(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸ WALLIS GARDEN¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯)¸.•

Vernon has a lovely garden that is naturally spread out among his glorious trees. We were immediately greeted by Vernon and by his beautiful flowers! This garden had beautiful garden art placed amoungst the flower beds. Benidorn - a BEAUTIFUL red daylily, it was just glowing! Caribbean Dark Victory Color Purple Dark Wonder Fascination Street Fleeting Fancy Francois Verhaert Greatful Heart June Wood - another one of my favorites on the tour Karate Kid - I am not a fan of the reds, but I think this garden changed my mind! Look at the delicate watermark on this baby! Laughing Skies Leonard Bernstein - another glowing red Leota Simpson - I had never heard of this daylily, and it really grabbed my attention. Lighter Than Air Marilyn Siwik Mask of Eternity Mountian Top Experience Page's Pinata - very cute!! Please Say Yes Plum Eyed Delight - I have this one too, so good to see it blooming in his garden Rhapsody In Time - had these cool freckles on the petals! Royal Heiress Sonoma - loved this one too! Storm Prince Sycamore Orange Crush - Never heard of this one either, but what a stunner! Heavy substance and great form. Unseen Angels Velvet Shadows Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow There was also some beautiful Coleus grown in pots, and wonderfully fragrant climbing roses in his garden.

•.¸(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸ LUNCH!!!¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯)¸.• And ya'll know how important that is to me!

•.¸(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸ CAUSEY GARDEN¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯)¸.•

Our last garden tour was at Lee & Anita Causey's. Anita had been so nice to me at the flower show, and it was lovely to be able to see her gardens. This garden was set in an urban environment with daylilies in the front and back yard. We were greeting by huge rounded beds of daylilies! Applique Arctic Lace Blue Oasis Brooklyn Twist Caribbean Wilbur Causey Delta Blues Desert Icicle Dreams of Heroes Eloquent Cay Francois Verhaert Funny Cide Halloween Masquerade Hill Street Blues J.T. Davis Kisses Like Wine Madeline Nettle Eyes Pacific Moon Quartz Rainbow Rose Fever Ruby Spider One of Lee Causey's Seedlings Solar Music Stars Over Oz Sunny Eyes To Mother Topguns Kaleidoscope Whirling Fury And I'll close with a beautiful shot of a Clematis

Region 6 Garden Tours - DAY 1

2009-06-12T17:42:00.018-05:00

On May 29th and 30th, the Region 6 Meeting attendees went on their garden tours, and that included me!! I was so excited about this part of the Regional, I could hardly contain myself. We were really in for a treat. I just loved seeing how daylilies were growing for other people in my same climate. On the first day, we all piled in to a great big bus and drove to four gardens.

•.¸(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸ PENNINGTON GARDEN¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯)¸.•

The first garden we saw belonged to Ms. Gwen Pennington. She has a beautiful garden, and she and her daughter had layed out quite the breakfast spread for everyone. YUM!! Tamales, bundt cake, coffee, juice and zucchini bread (sorry Gwen, I ate about 4 pieces)!!! She has quite a few beds in front of the house. Baffin Bay Beauty Batman Funny Cide Night Embers Hot Cakes Dragon's Eye Fuchsia Fashion Princess Ellen Wispy Rays Spiderman Christening Spirit Velvet Widow Sabine Baur Karnack Village Black Plush Smith Brothers Killer - the name says it all. I was drawn to this one over and over!! Stellar Star Then we went around back, where I was completely distracted by the food! But I did find more pretty things to take photos of! Shadow Warrior Malicious Rumors Crinim - Emma Jones (see, not ALL daylilies) Plenty of other pretty plants all over the yard. Lavender Cascades - look at all the diamond dusting, wow!! Beautiful Hosta Bed Gwen was also the host of the Annie T. Giles Award Bed

•.¸(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸ HOLT GARDEN¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯)¸.•

The second garden we saw belonged to Gene and Shirlene Holt. They had lots and lots of formal beds in their very extensive back yard that were built just for daylilies. But by the house closer in, they had daylilies intermixed with lots of other perenials. There garden was unique because they had created lots of "pocket" gardens. You just kept finding more and more stuff to look at! We were greeted by a GIANT staghorn fern - what a beauty!! The Holts had set up a lovly respite in the shade for everyone to enjoy some more lovely treats. Who could refuse a danish? :o) Alright, no laughing, but I was really impressed by her composter! Just look at that puppy!! Looks like Gene and Shirlene have been up to some other chores! YUM. Sweet Tranquility Sultan's Warrior Chinese Cloud Dancer Magic Carpet Ride Cherry Valentine Web of Intrigue Tooth Relections in Time Cartier's Gem Watchyl Lavender Blue Gift From Heaven Peppermint Frosting Killer - oh, look! Here it is again! Forbidden Desires Paper Butterfly Blue Voodoo Forever Red Elegantisma Everyone is just loving all these daylilies!! Yippe! In the side yard, I found a beautiful Tiger Lily blooming. Shirlene has some lovely yard art and water features too! Oh look, another frog!! :o) Shirlene and friends

•.¸(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸ BEVEL GARDEN¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯)¸.•

The thrid garden we visited belonged to Tom and Diane Bevel. It was a lovely manicured garden oasis which they had created in an urban environment. Abbot's Magic Azure Violets They had some beautiful raised beds. Heaven's Majesty Symmetry In Ruffles Edged In Red Tennessee Treasure Veiled Promise Reason For Treason Jungle Fever Rosy Rhino Tom Bevel and Friends Michael Miller Spiny Sea Urchin Rocketeer Sweet Tranquility

•.¸(¯`'•.¸(¯`'•.¸ KNIGHT GARDEN¸.•'´¯)¸.•'´¯)¸.•

Last, but certianly not least, we got to visit Eddie and Nickie Knight's garden. Their garden was unique because the daylilys were all interspersed within the garden setting - mixed with annual and perenials. There were lovely walking paths that would take you to unexpected places and you'd find another small garden area. Dutchman's Puzzle Screen Pattern Nikki Knight Irresistable Charm Color Purple Jungle Butterfly Look!! A little friend! Peacock Curls Magic Lake King's Cloak What a beautiful pot! Rainbow Candy Eleanor Roosevelt

Second Flower Show, First Entry - Blue Ribbon!

2009-06-05T12:06:00.007-05:00

I finally joined our local daylily club, North Texas Daylily Society (NTDS). And, as luck had it, NTDS was the host for the 2009 A.H.S. Region 6 Daylily Convention, May 28 – 30, 2009. I had decided to go, so I sent in my registration and started to get really excited, as this was going to be my first Regional Meeting. As part of the activities, there was going to be the largest flower show in our region! I kept thinking that I should at least *try* to enter something. I left it up to the daylilies on the morning of the event - if there was something good blooming, then I would take it. If not, well then, I would just enjoy the show. On Thursday morning, May 28th, I found a few flowers to take to the show: Palace Garden Beauty Sea Siren Going Bananas Jenny Butterfield I had never actually entered a show before, but I had found a great Power Point prestentation by Amber Strope of the Ohio Daylily Society that lead me through what I should do to enter a scape in the show. My club had actually had a similar educational meeting about show entries the month before, but I was out of town and missed it, dang! Once I arrived at the show, I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. Anita Causey. Photo courtesty of the Dallas Morning News - Mona Reeder She welcomed me right in, and helped me any time I asked - even though she was entering over 100 flowers in the show! Come to find out, I was up against some stiff competition. She and her husband Lee have been showing (and winning) in daylily flower shows for 12 years. Photo courtesty of the Dallas Morning News - Mona Reeder There is a full story on the Causey's recently published in the Dallas Morning News - "Flower Mound couple creates winning daylily garden". I carefully groomed my daylilies, and I entered them for judging. I didn't win anything big, but I did get a blue ribbon for Going Bananas! Here are some photos of other's entries in the show: Barbie's Favorite Black Plush Dolly's Lipstick Green Treat Kaleidescope Treasure London Tower Quartz Rainbow Shimek's September Morning True North Wyatt's Cameo

2009 Crosses

2009-05-14T17:49:00.018-05:00

CROSS

AWESOME ARTIST X VERTICAL HORIZON

SEEDLINGS:

3/10/11 - This cross really has some vigorous growers with some really interesting eyes!! Inherited the tall, beautiful scapes from Vertical Horizon.

**************************************************

CROSS

BLUE JEAN BABY X ASIAN FAIRY BLUEBIRD

SEEDLINGS:

3/20/11 - This is the only seedling to survive the summer (and the winter, yeah!). This cross was VERY susceptible to rot. I can't wait to see what another year brings to this.

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CROSS

FORTUNE'S DEAREST X DANCE BOJANGLES DANCE

SEEDLINGS:

3/20/1 - I don't think any of this cross actually made it through the summer. I'll have to double check the bed to be sure

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CROSS

HALF MOON KEY X MUSICAL MEDLEY

SEEDLINGS:

As you can see from the pictures of all the SIBS below, they ALL were Bitones! I love it! Great cross overall for some very hearty clear pinks. All are STRONG growers, an improvement over MUSICAL MEDLEY which had a tendency to rot here in the hot summer.

This one is showing promise in form and has a sharp/sharky edge even on the Sepals!!

4/25/11 - Scapes up on two of the sibs of this cross. I count that as EE! First of the garden to scape up.

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CROSS

HURRICANE SWIRLS X WILD IRISH

SEEDLINGS:

3/20/11 - There were some seriously fuggly babies in this group!! Wow... but, the plant habits are great!! I am hoping the three below might even out a bit with some time.

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CROSS

LOOK INTO MY EYES X JERRY HYATT

SEEDLINGS:

3/20/11 - This was probably the best cross of 2010 overall. Super scapes and budcounts, great growers and the fans are multiplying like crazy. The faces are good too!!

Check out the scapes compared to the rest of the crowd! (It's the one in the middle of the pic!)

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CROSS

NAVY BLUES X STAR CHILD

SEEDLINGS:

3/20/11 - Only one seedling survived our harsh summer and winter... only the strong make it in my backyard!! Really, really white base on this little guy. Would love to cross it with something bright purple and get a super clear lavender/Crayola purple. Form is this great all the time.

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CROSS

PINK ROCKS X PARTY PINAFORE

SEEDLINGS:

3/20/11 - I really mistreated this poor cross! They sat out on the cement during a week of 100 degree plus days.... I am surprised any of them lived, but I still have one pot of this left. No blooms, but hoping it will bloom this year.

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CROSS

REACH FOR THE SUN X LESLIE RENEE

SEEDLINGS:

This whole batch of seedlings rotted. Very disappointing.

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CROSS

SCARLET LACE X DANCE BOJANGLES DANCE

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

SET ME FREE X GREEN REVOLUTION

SEEDLINGS:

3/20/11 - Very robust cross with some very interesting babies.

4/25/11 - one of these is scaping.

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CROSS

SHORES OF TIME X MOMENTS RICH IN BLESSING

SEEDLINGS:

3/20/11 - Eiher I missed this whole cross blooming, which is possible (I went out of town for two weeks), or it didn't bloom last year. Nothing stands out in my head about the vitality of this cross.... need to look out in the bed! :o)

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CROSS

YANKEE DOODLE BLUES X STAR CHILD

SEEDLINGS:

3/20/11 - Only one seedling survived, but it's a goody! I really love how blue the eye is on this one. The base is so white from STAR CHILD, that the blue looks like the only color left there... it is light, but there!

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CROSS

SHORES OF TIME X CLOWNS CABARET

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

UNVANQUISHED X HI HO SILVER

SEEDLINGS:

3/20/11 - This is my personal favorite seedling of the whole year. The colors are just what I like. The blue grey eyezone is enchanting... I really just can't stop looking at it. Very good grower, nice edge, good scape.... yippee!!

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CROSS

HALF MOON KEY X CLOWN'S CABARET

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

HALF MOON KEY X MILDRED MITCHELL

SEEDLINGS:

Very, very vigorous cross. All seedlings were very strong growers. Some really nice forms coming out... not a bagel, but nice!

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CROSS

LAVENDER FANTASIA X MUSICAL MEDLEY

SEEDLINGS:

4/25/11 - two sibs of this cross are scaping.

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CROSS

PANCHO VILLA X HI HO SILVER

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

SEEDLING 08-019 X SUNDAY SANDALS

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

HALF MOON KEY X CREATE YOUR DREAM

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

ROYAL RENIASSANCE x JOHN PEAT) X I WANNA PIRANHA

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

VELEVET EYES X WEST COAST BLUES

SEEDLINGS:

4/25/11 - one of these is scaping

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CROSS

05-012 SEEDLING X UNK

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

[(ABELINE NAN X SUBURBAN WRENNETTA) X PINEBELT BRAID] X PLUM EYED DELIGHT

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

UNVANQUISHED X MUSICAL MEDLEY

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

[(TOMORROW'S DREAM x LAVENDER MEMORIES) x DESTINED TO SEE] X SHAMROCK SHORES

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

[(ED BROWN x MILDRED MITCHELL) x JUST BIZARRE] X DANCING WATERS )

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS
[(CLOTHED IN GLORY x ELIZABETH'S MAGIC) x JOHN PEAT ] x I WANNA PIRAHNA

4/25/11 - One of these sibs is scaping.

2008 Crosses

2009-03-02T14:40:00.006-06:00

CROSS

TIGGER X FORESTLAKE RAGAMUFFIN

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

RASPBERRY FANTASY X ART GALLERY FRINGE

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

IDA'S MAGIC X FORESTLAKE RAGAMUFFIN

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

(OLD KING COLE X ED BROWN SEEDLING) X TET GEORGE JETS ON

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

(OLD KING COLE X ALWAYS AFTERNOON SEEDLING) X TET GEORGE JETS ON

SEEDLINGS:

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CROSS

INCHON X UNK

SEEDLINGS:

1) SEEDLING 08-1013 - ick, gold

2) SEEDLILNG 08-1014

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CROSS

SHORES OF TIME X FLUFF AND STUFF

SEEDLINGS:

1) POPPING PINK PIZAZZ - 5", TET, 16",EV, EE, EMO

FFO - Early morning in cool weather

Second Bloom, a little warmer weather

2)POPPING AND LOCKING

3)POPPING PINK

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CROSS

LAVENDER BLUE BABY X LAVENDER WHITE EYES SEEDLING

SEEDLINGS:

1)ROYAL ROBES - 4.75",DIP,26", DOR, ML,FRAG

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CROSS

IMPERIAL LEMON X ALWAYS AFTERNOON

SEEDLINGS:

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Marietta Gardens - My First Mail-Order Daylilies!

2008-07-20T20:54:00.000-05:00

July 2007

When the daylily bug bites, it bites HARD! I became a daylily addict due to all of my buddies over on the Garden Web Daylily Forum. They are such BAD enablers! Even though it was the middle of July - in TEXAS, somehow I decided I just HAD to have daylilies - and NOW!!! So, I did a ton of research on where to buy my daylilies, since no where around where I live actually grows them (unless you count a 4 hour drive as close). I decided to go with Marietta Gardens, since I had read such glowing reviews of their service and their plants. I emailed Faye Shooter, and she was so great about responding quickly concerning the availability of the daylilies that I requested. I wanted to get the following: Baby Blue Eyes Cousin Jewel Caribbean Twilight Time Changing Latitudes Itty Bitty Blue

Mokan Butterfly

Palace Garden Beauty Pancho Villa Royal Harmony Riders of the Storm Unvanquished Stargate Explosion

So, I placed my order and a few days later, a huge box came with all my lovelies!

Here they all are unpacked and in a tub of water to rehydrate: When the order came, there was a beautiful bonus plant of Catnap Blue inside!! Boy was I excited, because when I listed possiblilites of bonus plants, that one was on the top of the list!

I immediately planted all my new babies, and put them under shade cloth to protect them from the blazing Texas summer sun.

Although I took utmost care NOT to overwater, and to keep them in the shade, some of the new babies did not fare so well... I think shipping/planting in the middle of summer is a mistake! By the begining of October, I had lost Changing Latitudes, Mokan Butterfly, Palace Garden Beauty, Riders of the Storm and Royal Harmony. :o( Very sad days for me. I contacted Faye @ Marietta Gardens and she was very kind about offering to replace the cultivars that I had lost. She said that when I placed another order next year, she would ship replacements for those that I had lost, or that I could pay for the shipping for the replacements. Since I knew I was going to make another order, I chose to wait until next spring, when planting was better!

Even today, some of those babies that I planted during the summer are still not doing quite as well as newer additions to the garden. I have yet to see blooms on Catnap Blue and Itty Bitty Blue. From experience, now I find that in my zone fall planting works out best.

Thankfully, with my spring order 08, some of my casualties got replaced.

Palace Garden Beauty got replaced, but as an accident by Maryott's - they sent it to me as a lovely bonus!!

Mokan Butterfly, the second time around is doing a little better. Still a very poor grower for me. I only got two buds this spring, but it was a brand new plant. I am hoping that this fall and winter she will take hold and put out a magnificent show next year. Cousin Jewel bloomed in 2008, but then promtly died. It was never a strong grower for me, which is too bad, because it was just lovely. I am thinking on replacing this one.

Changing Latitudes got replaced with my spring order from Marietta Gardens. Seems to be holding its own now, so I am crossing my fingers for the best.

I finally got a scape on Stargate Explosion this spring, which only had three buds on it. But once it bloomed, it was breathtaking! I have since moved this plant out to a different bed, as it seemed to be struggling along where it was. Hopefully next spring, we will see many more blooms!

Caribbean Twilight Time - such a beautiful flower! But the plant is growing very slowly, and has very small fans. Baby Blue Eyes - A cute little darling, and it bloomed its heart out this spring. I can't wait to see it next year!

Pancho Villa - A very tall and hard plant. This is the one that has been doing the best since it got here. I just love the unique eyezone on this one. Unvanquished - this plant really struggled along, and I almost lost it. But now it has come back from a single fan and made a new baby, so I am hopeful that is has established a good root system and will continue to multiply and bloom! It has a fantastic white shark tooth edge! That is Circle of Secrets in the background looking so cute!!

Marietta's sent me a replacement for Royal Harmony, but it definately was not the right plant... so I am still in quest to try and obtain her. Hopefully I will get it with another one of my Marietta orders!!

Here is what came marked as Royal Harmony:

When I asked Faye what she thought this was, she said they had mislabeled a whole row of this cultivar, and that she thought it was an introduction that came from Mort Morss. I was thinking it could be Tropical Seashell or Stranger Than Paradise???

Marriott's Daylilies

2008-07-20T14:15:00.000-05:00

My second Mail Order experience was with Marriott's Gardens, located in Freedom, California. I had heard lots of raving reviews of the plants they send via daylily friends and lots of posts made on the Garden Web Daylily Forum. Before I made my order, I cruised their web pages and did a lot of research concerning the plants they had available. One of my favorite resources is a daylily database hosted by Tinker's Gardens. It is a place where you can look up a daylily by name, hybridizer, color or year of hybridization. After much deliberation and consultation with the wallet, I chose a few daylilies for my first order. Hi Ho Silver Lavender Fantasia Sea of Cortez In addition to these, they were running a special, that if you spent x amount of money, that they would throw in special bonus plant for free! That plant was Jerry Nettles. I placed my order via their online website. I was very happy that I immediately got an email from Bill Maryott to confirm my order. It was very easy to order, and I got to schedule the date for when I would like them delivered. Now, I knew from my previous experience, that I wanted to wait until it cooled off before I planted these new babies. So I decided that fall would be a great delivery time. Of course, as my daylily addiction grew, I found a few more that I wanted to add to my order, and Bill Maryott was more than accomodating when I placed my phone call to add on a few more daylilies. I also chose: Mildred Mitchell Navy Blues When it was finally time to get my order, Maryott's sent me an email on the pre-aranged date that they were to ship, stating that they had sent out my daylilies. Yippe!! I was so excited! Three days later they arrived at the house, and I was even more excited - the box was huge! I unloaded my plants and to my surprise, there were THREE MORE gift plants in the box - Velvet Eyes These Eyes Palace Garden Beauty Here are the plants upon arrival: Needless to say, I was very happy with my plants. Very green, healthy roots and lots and lots of extra fans. Here are my pictures of my flowers that have bloomed from these great plants. Hi Ho Silver Lavender Fantasia Sea of Cortez Jerry Nettles Mildred Mitchell Navy Blues Velvet Eyes These Eyes Palace Garden Beauty

Daylily Fix for those who are photojacked!

2008-06-18T16:05:00.000-05:00

Here are some pictures for those of you who have been suffering since the hijacking of photobucket...

I'll list the name of the post, and the owner of the pics... so you can kind of connect the threads...

1. Can you believe the change in this seedling? - farmerbell

2. A few more blooms to share - Shellyga

3. Some eye candy for you (lots of pics) - shellyga

4. Wanna see a really red dl? (pix) - tweetypye

Here is the red one she is talking about:

5. Joan Senior - tnladyhillbilly

Visit to Jack Carpenter's Lily Farm

2008-06-11T21:00:00.000-05:00

Jack Carpenter's Lily Farm
The Lily Farm

Today, I bit the bullet and went to visit Jack Carpenter at his daylily farm here in Texas. His place is about four hours away from where I live, so I left at 6am this morning!

I was ready to be happy and be in dayliliville, but NOTHING had prepared me for what I saw... OH MY GOD! It was daylily heaven. There were daylilies as far as the eye could see... On and on the rows went.

Josie came out in the golf cart and saw my mouth agape, and that dazed look in my eyes... she knew right away I was new to their farm! :o) She instructed me in how it worked, which was:

1) Go pick out some little plant marking flags (I figured I needed about 5 - HA! that was a joke, I was outta flags in five minutes!)

2) Wander through daylily heaven, and mark the daylilies you might like to have. Jack came along at this point, and guided me to the proper beds to pick some things out. You see, there are some beds that are going to be NEW introductions and some that are being evaluated (you can tell those by the BLUE flags). Thankfully, we snuck around the "blue" beds too... :o)

3) At the point where you have exhausted ALL the flags in their bucket, and have inspected every daylily - you can hardly walk another step, they come around and pick you up in the golf cart, and then you get to discuss DAYLILIES! Whaaa Whoooo!

Jack and Josie drove me all over the farm - I had some in mind that I wanted (or at LEAST wanted to see), and I had marked quite a few! It was so fun listening to Jack tell me about his flowers, and he pointed out quite a few of his favorites, and picked some of the blooms for me.

(The blooms in the photo are: Land Of Our Fathers, Texas Kaleidoscope, Pat Soileau, Ohio Discovery, Texas Feathered Fancy, and an unnamed gold sculpted seedling)

He answered every question I had, and showed me examples of the flowers I had questions about. As we went around, he also let me know what was on sale, and what was available. There were so many seedlings on sale for $25/clump! I couldn't believe it!

Without further ado - on with the show!!

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NAMED CV'S:

Beauty of the King

Cosmic Kaleidoscope - Going to be a new intro:

Delware Doosy

Forever Redeemed

Freedom's Triumph

Glory in Red

Morning Breaks Eternal

Mount Herman Intrigue

No Greater Love

Red Dynamite

Sassy Sam

Sunrise Sunset Beautiful

Texas Blue Eyes

Texas Painted Eyes

Timeless Majesty

Triangular Tricksy

Warrior Victorius

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SEEDLINGS:

The next three I tried to get... but those darned blue flags kept getting in the way!

Couldn't get this one!

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MY PURCHASES:

And then there are the ones I got. Yippe!!! Man, were those hard decisions. I ended up leaving flags out in the field, because I just couldn't buy anymore! I guess there is always next year! :o) Broke the bank for sure! Now, keep in mind that the Carpenter's were having an open house, and a lot of what I bought was on sale... otherwise there was no way I could have afforded what I got. Now, THIS is the way to buy daylilies! I even managed to sneak away with three of Jack's seedlings... :o)

Plum Eyed Delight

Ivory Finesse

Lavender Exaltation

Levi Davis

Moments Rich in Blessing

Dr. Julius Charba

Here is a picture of the clump I got - pictured after I got home

Bonus - Ellis Powell

I also got two more seedlings, Royal Passion, and Texas Feathered Fancy... but I guess I got distracted and didn't get a picture of them in the field.

I did get a flower of TFF - so I took a picture when I got home

And here is a very beaten up flower from one of the seedlings (after I got home)

And a bad picture of Royal Passion, after it had been dug

As we were driving around, I got to pick them out as we went. Then Jack's assistant, Jose, dug them with a shovel and they they went into the back of the golf cart. I don't speak too much spanish, but enough to know what Mr. Carpenter kept telling Jose... Mas Grande! Boy did those two words make me very happy! And mas grande they were! Here they all are... I think I went a little crazy from the smell of daylilies and all the heat! :o)

(YES, those ARE the gigantic 55 gallon trashbags stuffed FULL)

The high that came from the smell of daylilies lasted all the way home... But, about 1 hour from the house, I started to panic. Where in the love of god am I goint to get pots big enough for these monsters? I would have to plant them in 5 gallon buckets. Pots just weren't going to work here. Thankfully, the daylily buzz gave me enough energy to plant them after a quick break from the drive.

Here they are at home... waiting to be free!

After I lugged the bags into the backyard, I still couldn't believe how BIG the clumps were... so I took a picture of one next to my leg and by the door, so you could see that they are HIP high! No WONDER ya'll like to buy straight from the farm!

Seedling Clump

Whew... and if an 8 hour drive and 2 hours on the farm wasn't enough... I managed to get them planted.

I just could have kicked myself in the Butt - REAL hard! I broke off a huge scape from Dr. Julius Charba while I was planting... I hope some will bloom in water! It even had a prolif. So SAD! (That is a 30" Ruler)!!

And the last note on the new flowers... Moments Rich in Blessing came home with a pod on it!!! Bonus!

Here are some pics of the flowers Jack picked for me - now keep in mind this is after a four hour car ride home, and after a full days bloom, so they are not looking too hot. But, I wanted you to be able to really get an idea of the colors we are looking at!

Texas Painted Eyes

Gold Seedling

Land Of Our Fathers - couldn't get this one quite right...

Ohio Discovery

Pat Soileau

Here are some more shots of the the farm:

Hope you enjoyed the show!

My First Daylily Show

2008-06-09T12:37:00.001-05:00

This past Saturday, I attended my very first local daylily show... I just wanted to show you all the beautiful daylilies that were on display. There were a lot more than what is here, but mostly they were yellows... and I am not that into yellow after yellow... I was surprised that there were so many.

I almost entered, but had no idea what I was doing, and I really didn't want to cut a whole scape! Especially off what was blooming that morning - Eagle Nest. But I could've won with that one! Beautiful and strong branching!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy seeing some of the entries.

Black Ambrosia

Black Rain

Bucky Balls

Blueberries and Cream

Breakfast at Tiffany's

Cartier's Jem

Chasing Shadows

Cinderella's Dark Side

Doyle Pierce - I was really surprised at how muddy this CV looked - for the $$ it commands, I would have thought it to be clear colored...

Duck Tracks

Duck Tracks

Elizabeth Salter

Enchanting Esmerelda - I always thought this one was more pink than red... but it was a very strange color. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not!

Fairest Love

Fashion Police

Gail Reese

Imperial Splendor

Judy Farquhar

Knights In White Satin

Oliver Billingslea

Patchwork Puzzle

Pugsley

Ram

Sir Knight

2007 SEEDLINGS

2007-06-15T13:53:00.000-05:00

CROSS

(ABILENE NAN X SUBURBAN WRENNETTA) X PINEBELT BRAID

SEEDLINGS:

1)SEEDLING 005 - TET,DOR,EM

FFO

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