Sunday, July 29, 2007

Daylily Seedlings

I think this is one of the best of this year's seedlings. We make a number of crosses every year and most either look too much like the parents, or are just not all that special. Every once in a while, there is one that just plain stands out. This one isn't named yet, and won't be available for a few years since this is the first year it has bloomed and there just isn't enough yet to sell, but you can be sure it will be available eventually. At some point in the not too distant future, I'm going to get a section up on the webpage for the seedlings as there are a few others which we will probably introduce. This particular one has extremely tall bloom scapes. If you notice from the camera angle, I'm looking up at the bloom. It's on a hill which accounts for some of it, but the scape is at least 5 feet tall. We have been breeding for tall scapes, things to put at the back of the border but which will still stand out, and this is about average height for that group of seedlings. The exception is the one with the 84 inch scape. The flower is less showy than this one, but it's still pretty amazing. Tomorrow I'll put up a picture of the one that will be available next year and talk a little about the actual process of hybridizing and growing daylilies from seed.

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