Greenhouse Bloom 1 . . .

This is an exciting time here at Chattanooga Daylilies! Bloom has started in the greenhouse and during these overcast rainy days, the bloom is glorious. The first to bloom was Kaskell's BEST EDGE, an unregistered seedling from Matthew that has been used a lot by a few people. I had to wait until it came down in price before I could afford a piece. From what I heard, when first available it was going for upwards of $3000.00.

Now to the most exciting bloom, seedlings. Last fall when I dug the 2009 selected seedlings, I potted them to take into the greenhouse. I had never done this before, always planting them outside and then never using them for hybridizing since I do it all in the greenhouse. After this hybridizing season, they will be planted in the display beds outside. So far, there have been two seedlings bloom. Shown below are the parents and the seedling. These images were taken outside on initial bloom.

The pod parent was H. 'Front Porch Swing' (top left) the pollen parent was H. 'Larry Allen Miller' (bottom left) and the resulting seedling, #9042 (bottom center). LAM has been giving me the big watermarks. This one also has a white edge, which I am beginning to like more than the gold . . . it seems more dramatic. The colors from LAM vary from red to purple and all colors in between and are very saturated. I would suggest using LAM with hardy plants.

The second seedling to bloom:

The pod parent was H. 'Spectral Elegance' (top left) the pollen parent was H. 'Wonder Of It All' (bottom left) and the resulting seedling, #9009 (bottom center). Many of you know that I think Bob Carr's WOIA is the best flower that he ever hybridized. This seedling has wonderfully round, full form with wide petals and sepals. The ruffling continues and folds over in the throat. Great substance.

Greenhouse bloom season is one of the times in the year that I live for. Another is late May when the seedlings start blooming. Another is to see my beautiful wife, Jean's smile. I sure have a lot to live for!