Tuesday, March 29, 2011

What is blooming in the greenhouse 3/29/2011

Today was another chilly, overcast day. Except in the greenhouse! How glorious to walk inside where the blooms were strutting their stuff and seed pods were beginning to show from previous days of hybridizing. It is surprising how a few daylily blooms can brighten what is a downer of a day!

Two seedlings of note blooming from the year 2000 selected group which first bloomed outside and then were potted to bring into the greenhouse to use for hybridizing this year.

H. 'Max Pickles'
(Pickles 2007)
was the pollen parent


H. 'Royal Presence'
(Stamile '05)
was the pod parent

Seedling No. 0006 (Royal Presence X Max Pickles)
I like this deep burgundy color with  white watermark and the white edge. The flower measures about 5 1/2" and stands about 30" tall.

The second seedling from the 2000 crop to bloom today:

H. 'Max Pickles'
(Pickles 2007)
was the pollen parent



H. 'Wild Cherry Round Up'
(Trimmer, D '03)
the pod parent

Seedling No. 0011 (Wild Cherry Round Up X Max Pickles)
A little smaller flower at about 5", the cherry red color is captivating and the substance is exceptional for a red flower.

Two named varieties blooming today that I thought were exceptional:
 
H. 'Aslan' (Corbett '09)
Jeff registered this one at 5.75" but for me in the greenhouse, it as more like 6 1/2". Nice flower and scape.

H. 'Ledgewood's Great Ambition' (Abajian '08)
I purchased this one in the year of introduction because I was smittin with the big bold eye and edge. When it arrived, it was the tiniest shriveled up thing I have ever received. Finally, three years later, I am getting to see the bloom and use it for hybridizing.

That is it for today.

Life is very, very good.
Lee

  

Sunday, March 27, 2011

What is blooming in the greenhouse

I feel very fortunate to have a greenhouse. It not only allows me to do my hybridizing early, but it extends my season probably more than double. I have told you about my starting seeds in 2" X 2" X 3" peat pots last fall and then transplanting them to trade 1 gallon pots. Well, today I had my first 2 blooms on 9 month seedlings with many more to come in the next few days. This is my first experience with 9 month seedlings. One of them was a H. 'Bluegrass Memories' kid which was not noteworthy. The second bloom was significant to my yellow line. The cross was Seedling No. 9008 [(Spectral Elegance X Wonder Of It All) X (Unknown Seedling X Kaskell Best Edge Seedling)] the latter having the garden name of "Tom Allen" from Dan Trimmer.

Trimmer Seedling
(Unknown Seedling X Kaskell's Best Edge Seedling) with the garden name of "Tom Allen".


Seedling No. 9008
(Spectral Elegance X Wonder Of It All)
The resulting 9 month seedling No. 1001. The seedling does not show any of the color from the "Tom Allen" seedling except prior to opening, the sepals did show a little edge color. This seedling was about 30" high and the bloom was at 6". It also has very heavy substance and does exhibit light sculpting. Jean's comment was, "Your yellows just keep getting better and better". I need to take this one back to something with color, maybe Bill Waldrop's H. 'Kinnesaw Mountain Hayride'.

A selected seedling from the 2000 crop also bloomed today. Seedling No. 0004, a cross of (Roses And Gold X Max Pickles). I like this dark red very much. It has a watermark, a very green throat, and a small thin edge of yellow.

H. 'Max Pickles' named for our 12 year old grandson and introduced in 2007.

H. 'Roses And Gold' a Stamile 2003 introduction
 Seedling No. 0004 (Roses And Gold X Max Pickles)

Named cultivars blooming today.
H. 'Ledgewood's Pansy Eye' 
(Abajain 2005)

One of my favorite reds
H. 'Doug's Caress'
(Holley, S. 2009)
From my friend, David Hansen from Papillion, NE
H. 'Mirriam Anne' (2010)
I believe it was named for their daughter.

H. 'Happy Happy'
(Smith, Frank 2009)
And last but not least, a green edged seedling No 149-06 from Jeff Salter.





It was a very good day and I expect them to just get better and better. This year I will be concentrating more on reds, teeth, and eyes and edges.

Life is very, very good.

Lee


Saturday, March 26, 2011

Iowa Pollen Dabbers meeting

Left click on image for a larger version.

I want to share with you my trip back to Iowa for the Pollen Dabbers meeting sponsored by the Central Iowa Daylily Society in Marshalltown, IA. Don Lovell and Phil Fass are the two driving forces behind this meeting along with CIDS members who furnish treats and eats.

My trip began early (4:30 am) on Thursday, March 17 when I woke to get ready for a 6:40 am flight from Chattanooga to Atlanta where I had a two hour layover. From Atlanta to Des Moines took approximately 1 hour 45 minutes and the plane arrived at 10:49 am. I grabbed my luggage and hopped in my rental car, the excitement of being back in my home state escalating. I always arrive a day early so I can go back to Colfax, where I grew up and Colo, where Jean grew up.

I always take this opportunity to visit the graves of our parents in Colo and Colfax. I image when we are gone, there will be no more visits to these graves. Jean and I already have our headstone set in the Colfax Cemetery so we know where we are going to end up.

I drive past the Now closed Presbyterian Church where I first saw Jean sitting on the steps one Sunday with a friend, a classmate of mine. The got up and walked to Werick's Drug Store, which by the way is still there and looks very similar to that date in 1954, for a Coke. I followed and wrangled an introduction! Our first date happened about 3 weeks later on May 22, 1954, following my HS graduation ceremony. I even remember where we went on our first date. My cousin, Johnny Runyan, was dating a girl in my class, and we decided to double date and go to Mama's Pizzeria in Des Moines, IA. You need to remember, this was 1954, and a couple kids from small towns had never heard of pizza. Our first try . . . we hated it.

I also like to drive around both towns and remember the homes we lived in and some of the memories associated with them. The 30 miles of Hwys 117 and 65 from Colfax to Colo brings back memories of when we were dating. When I first started the trek, Hwy 117 was about 15 miles of dirt and rock road. I can still feel the washboard road travel up from the tires on my car to my seat! At that time I had a 1950 bronze Ford that when shiny, was very pretty. I would spend hours cleaning and polishing this car only to travel 15 miles on that damn dirt road.

Another reason that I alwasy go a day early is so I can partake of the best comfort food in the whole world, Maid-Rite sandwiches. I spent my first two college years at Ellsworth Community College in Iowa Falls, IA. Jean and I were married and she taught in the local school system to put me through college. While there, I met Danny Holtcamp. Why is this significant? Well, eventually Danny purchased the Maid-Rite Restaurant in Newton so I always use the excuse of visiting him so I can eat Maid-Rites. Below is a picture of the restaurant that I took about a week ago and I can't see that it has changed much since I first started going there in the 50s.
You can see that there is a counter surrounding the cooking and preparation area. If you are not familiar with Maid-Rites, they are simply loose hamburger that is steamed instead of fried. Dan purchases beef shoulder and grinds it to his own specifications. In fact, he tells me the secret is to grind it twice. Here is a picture of one of my meals.

Enough memories, let's get back to Pollen Dabbers. I arrived on Friday afternoon and immediately spotted Don Lovell checking into the hotel. He said that Bob Pappenhausen had called from the hotel next door and invited us up for a drink. Well, it got to be like old home week in the bar as others began to arrive. The meeting started on Friday evening with, what would you guess, a Maid-Rite dinner. Don and I went to the Marshalltown restaurant and picked up a bunch of Maid-Rites and milk shakes for everyone to enjoy. In addition, CIDS members brought snacks and desserts. After we pigged out, the meeting started. Friday night is almost always reserved for CIDS members to show their new seedlings and introductions.

Up on the podium, CIDS hybridizers Kathy Larsen, Phil Fass, Don Lovell, Nan Ripley and Barb Pappenhausen amazed the group with their creations. This was Barb's first time to present her hybridizing program and she did a wonderful job.

Saturday morning began with hybridizers Bob Wilson, Lynn Stoll, Gerald Hobbs, Mike Grossman showing their creations and then it was my turn. The morning ended with gary Schaben and Karol Emmerich sharing their images. So much diversity among this group, from dips to tets, and from spiders to bagels.

Moving to the afternoon, one of the guest hybridizer's, Bob Tankesley-Clarke showed their program and the variety in their Missouri garden. Sandy Holmes, another guest, showed us where she has been and where she is going with her unusual forms program. Some exciting things on the horizon. Next, Mike Holmes showed his "teeth" program and where they originated from.

To wind up the meeting, Karol Emmerich and Mike Holmes took us on a tour through the new AHS Portal. It appears that there is nothing this program can't do. Here is a picture of the Pollen Dabbers group taken by Kyle Billadeau on Nan Ripley's camera . . . so thanks to both of them.

The group, almost 40 strong, came together to look at daylily images, but will always remember the people and the friends.

Life is very, very good.

Lee

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

March 2011 Greenhouse Bloom

Left click on image for a larger version.

This is an exciting time of year here at Chattanooga Daylilies. We can hardly wait until this time is here and then it seems that in an instant it is gone. Yes, I am speaking of daylily bloom. Yesterday morning, we had four blooms open and could not wait to get the pollen out of the freezer and start spreading. But then, maybe to get things started, I will use live pollen from things that are blooming.

We have three different "layers" of potted plants in the greenhouse.

The first "layer" are the named varieties and the 2010 selected seedlings that we potted last September and they remained outside until early December, when after some very cold freezing weather, they were taken into the greenhouse. They are shown here on February 19, about a month and a half after being taken into the greenhouse. These are the plants that are blooming right now.
The second "layer" are the new potted seedlings. The seeds for this group were made in the greenhouse in the spring of 2010. The seeds were started in 2" X 2" X 3" peat pots in August, then transplanted to trade one gallon pots in September/October. Many of these 8 month seedlings have scaped and will be blooming soon. These are the most exciting to me, since I will be seeing the bloom for the first time. When it warms sufficiently, they will be moved outside. 
The third "layer" are the seedlings growing in No. 38 Seed Trays. Again, these seeds were made in the spring of 2010 in the greenhouse, planted in bulk trays in September/October, and transplanted to the No. 38 Seed Trays in October/November. There are somewhere around 3000 of these seedlings. They are shown here just before receiving a haircut in mid March. The foliage had just gotten too long and when overhead watering it was bending over allowing the water to run off onto the ground. There were a few of these seedlings showing scapes. I did see a couple of them and was able to save cutting them. I can't imagine they will amount to much anyway. These seedlings will be planted outside in April.
One of the plants blooming yesterday was a 2010 selected seedling. Seedling No. 0931 (Elegant Expressions X Unknown Seedling). This is a bi-color with a cream watermark and ruffled edge. I liked the contrast between the lavender rose petals and cream sepals. About a 5" flower.

H. 'Cerise Masterpiece' (Stamile 2003) and is one of my favorite cherry red daylilies highlighted by a white watermark. It has plenty of scape height and is being used in my hybridizing program for reds.

A seedling from Jeff Salter with the garden name of Better By Design. The colors are wonderfully bright and bold. I especially like the eye pattern on this one.

"Where did this come from?" you may ask. If confronted, I will never admit it, but I do like the whimsical cascading daylilies, and particularly, the chevron pattern. This is H. 'Free Wheelin' one of Pat Stamile's creations. I have been trying to set seed on this one for a couple years and contrary to the description stating that it is pod fertile, I have not been able to set any seed on it. I may try it's pollen on a couple things this year.

There, you have it. The first day of more than one bloom open. I hope you enjoyed the blog.

Life is very, very good.

Lee

Saturday, March 12, 2011

First cross of the 2011 season

This morning, I made the first cross of the 2011 season. It was nothing spectacular, but one that I really enjoy the color. The seedling, No. 0007 was a cross of tetra. Lavender Blue Baby X (Edge of Darkness X Lee Pickles)  shown at the left. The pollen I put on it was H. 'Get Jiggy'. I am hoping to keep the color that I like and get some interest in the flower. It may take me a generation or two so we shall see.
I am starting to see some scapes in the 8 month old seedlings in gallon pots in the greenhouse. This is exciting, bloom in 9 months. Never happened here before. Exciting times are coming.

We just returned from a week in California wine country, one of our favorite places to visit.

Life is very, very good

Lee