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Saturday, August 11, 2012

Daylily Seedling Bed

Well, they are no longer seedlings, but are all daylilies I grew from seed.  One parent was the garish and clown-like Erin Farmer (second row).  I've long since lost my old list of the other parents.  Daylilies are fun to hybridize.  I would mark the pod parent with a tag around the blossom stem with the pollen parent's name or initials.  I sowed the resulting seeds into seedling mix and chilled them in the refrigerator or a cold garage until they sprouted.  Some people soak the seeds in a weak Hydrogen Peroxide solution until the roots start to emerge, then plant.  They can be planted out the next spring.  Here is the extensive bed of seedlings.
This bed is in a drain field so gets lots of nitrogen and water.  The daylilies are tall because Erin Farmer is a 36" daylily in addition to all the nitrogen.  They tend to be weed-infested, with horsetail reeds, blackberry vines, and thistles.  They also tend to flop, but the sheer mass holds them up in the middle.
Here you can see the Erin Farmer influence, I like the color and the white midrib stripe.
Some have the color but not the long thin spider type petals.
This one is a spider type but more of an orange color, some are gold like the throat-
 So you see what a fascinating range of daylilies you can get from seed growing.  Pick a couple of  favorites and see what you can get.  This one has some white midrib striping but with the rounder ruffled edged petals, love those piecrust ruffles!
And finally for some tropical pizzazz, a twirly spidery cluster, 
Summer is almost 2/3 over, enjoy!

Hannah

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