  In 1995 I
painted these pictures of some of my hybridizing goals.
At the time I was collecting orchids and was fascinated with
orchid-like shapes and color patterns. This type of concrete
articulation of a breeding goal (no matter how far-fetched) is a very
useful exercise. You don't have to make paintings, just
writing
down your goals is a great start. Visualizing your goal is a
very
real part of making it happen.
These are posts I made to
various Daylily discussion forums and groups
over the years. I am constantly conveying tidbits of this
knowledge to
burgeoning hybridizers, and thought I would post it here to help any
that care to read it. Please bear in mind this is when I was
very
green as a hybridizer and lots of my comments were made in the relative
ignorance of youthful zeal! I have corrected the spelling of
the
posts, but not the content. Much of this is musing out loud,
but there
are nuggets of real worth here too. I am heartened to realize
that in
the decade or so since I first started touting the value of breeding
with older cultivars and species that there seems to be quite a
movement underfoot to do just that. I certainly do not mean
to imply
that I am solely responsible for this -- far from it -- however, when I
first posted these thoughts many, many people were much less than
encouraging saying things like: "Don't you know that the more
vigorous
the plant is the uglier the flower is?"
We've come a long way!
All
this text is copyright Brian Mahieu. If you quote my writing
please
give me credit and a link back to my website. Thank
you, Brian
Fri, 8 Jan 1999
Species & heritage
daylilies, fragrance
John Schabell wrote a FABULOUS series of SEVENTEEN articles
for
the Journal called LOOKING AT THE SPECIES. (This collection
of
articles should be printed in booklet form, and offered for sale by
AHS, for say $3.50, like other booklets such as Mavis Smith's GROWING
IDEAS, Joanne Norton's SOME BASIC HEMEROCALLIS GENETICS etc.)
I
told John this and he said to write to AHS, and tell them this, as many
others had done. So, I encourage anyone interested in a great
overview of the species to request that AHS publish this series of
articles by John Schabell in booklet form! (I don't know to
whom
such correspondence should be directed -- could somebody enlighten me?)
I certainly am no expert on species, though I do collect
them, and use
them in hybridizing. I have learned most of what I know about
them from the Species/Science (land) Robin headed by John
Schabell, the seventeen articles mentioned above, and Stout's
Book DAYLILIES. Chapter Five of DAYLILIES deals with the
species. I know there are other sources for information on
the
species, but I can not recall them by name. The above would
be a
good start.
It seems that interest in the species is burgeoning, and this is
good. The species were the building blocks for modern
hemerocallis, and I think it is beneficial, and enriching to know "from
whence we came."
Somebody asked for some suggestions on fragrant daylilies.
Anyone
interested in fragrance should grow H. CITRINA! In
my
opinion it is the most fragrant hemerocallis. To me the
fragrance
is a mixture of lemony gardenia with a slightly peppery finish, like
some freesias. H thunbergii has a somewhat lighter
fragrance. I have not taken fragrance notes on others, but
this
is on my "To Do" list.
The nocturnal species are the source for fragrance in daylily cultivars.
In Volume 49, No. 2 Summer 1994 of the Daylily Journal, R.
Donald
Spencer wrote a brief article entitled "Night Blooming
Daylilies." He lists the nocturnal species as:
H. altissima
H. citrina
H. Lilio-asphoedelus (formerly H. flava)
H. minor
H. Thunbergii
There is also an H. citrina-vespertina which is nocturnal, and fragrant
(and I'm told, really a form of altissima.) H yezoensis is also
fragrant (and I believe some form of H. Minor)
My Chinese friends tell me that in China they plant H. citrina beneath
their bedroom windows, so that at night their room is filled with its
sublime fragrance!
If you are looking to breed for fragrance, one trait which often offers
a clue to nocturnal heritage (and thus fragrance) is the presence
of pink coloration at the base of daylily FOLIAGE.
Citrina
is the primary source for this trait, although some clones of H.
Thunbergii also exhibit it. Perhaps there is a cultivar whose flower
form, and color you like, yet it has no fragrance -- but it does have
pink coloration at the base of the fan: I think
that this
cultivar could be used in a breeding program for fragrance, and in time
the genes for fragrance might be recaptured along with the desired form
and color.
To me, a flower without fragrance is a flower which offers only part of
the sensory beauty possible. I remember the first time I went
to
an orchid show (Thank you very much Stewart and Mavis Smith!), and saw
the beautiful phalaenopsis orchids arching in the air. I ran
over, buried my nose in one, and smelled absolutely nothing!
What
a disappointment. But, the lavender cattleya orchids breathed
a
sweet perfume reminiscent of grape bubble gum -- though infinitely
better! Notice that whenever you hand a flower to someone
(especially non-gardeners, who don't know which ones are
supposed to have fragrance!), or point one out in the garden, their
first impulse is to smell it. As a gardener, I pay careful
attention to fragrance, as it is the primary memory trigger, and thus a
key part of the sensual (sight, sound, taste, touch, and smell)
experience of a garden. In October of 1996 I wrote a
description
of my experiences painting (en plein air) in my garden.
Fragrance
figured intensely into the experience:
"The evening air is thick with the songs of insects, and humidity as I
setup my easel, wheelbarrow of paints, palette and other sundries to
prepare for an evening of painting. I have hung flickering
paper
lanterns in a corner of my anglo -chinois garden. As the dusk
deepens, they begin to glow in fiery jewel tones there among the exotic
blooms of daylilies that look like undersea fireworks or spidery
orchids exploding in the lapis blue dusk. The nocturnal sweet
bay
magnolia seeps a cool waterfall of perfume scented like Irish Spring
soap and gardenia that mingles with the chartreuse scent of China's
citron daylily and my linseed oil. Trying to clear
my head
of the evening news, and to focus on this scene of evanescent beauty, I
frantically begin to slather the coarse linen with iridescent marks of
oil paint..."
I say fragrance deserves more attention in the garden, on the show
bench, and in the minds of hybridizers! | 
H. citrina (Willy Muller's clone)
opening at dusk,
Mahieu garden |
Note: I
think that this is
perhaps one of my most prophetic posts in terms of where my breeding
program was headed, and where I would get my breakthroughs.
28 Dec 1998
Breeding with Older Cultivars, Species
I have read with interest the recent posts regarding using older
cultivars in hybridizing. I can understand and appreciate
both
sides of the issue, and agree that for most, it would not prove
expeditious. However, especially for those interested in
creating
Spiders and perhaps Unusual Forms, I think that older (pre 1960!)
cultivars, primary hybrids and species merit consideration as breeding
stock. Though I am not interested
in duplicating early crosses between species, I have used several
species including H.citrina in the F1 part of my breeding program. I am
interested in citrina, and other NOCTURNAL species, and primary hybrids
as a source for fragrance, the bi-color trait, non-fulvous hues, vigor,
high bud counts and branching, and especially, narrow
segments.
It is my thought that by going back to the species that I can select
for traits that were selected against the first time,( like narrow
segments) and recover the vigor of the
species! For
spiders in the cool colors, I am working to create a prototypical
spider parent without using H fulva "Europa's" genes which I think
resulted in the top-branching, poor foliage, muddy colors and fertility
problems (H f Europa is triploid) of many early hybrids. The
H f
rosea clones are all diploid, and thus seem, obviously, more suited to
producing both fertile, and non-fulvous spider types.
(Especially
when
combined with nocturnal species like citrina, altissima, citrina
vespertina etc.) I have noticed that many of those seeking
tet
spiders are using TETRINA (tet H citrina, Fay '71), TETRINA'S DAUGHTER
(TETRINA X MOON TEMPLE, Fay '71), and TETRINA'S GRANDSON Saxton
96. Narrow segments have been so aggressively bred out of
modern
cultivars, we have had to go back to the species, via these early
conversions and cultivars, to recover the genes for narrow segments.
Rosemary Whitacre wrote a brilliant article for the MOKAN
Newsletter
called: Origins Of The Spiders. (I am not sure if
it was
reprinted in the Journal, but if not, it should be!) She
asserts
that H fulva var. rosea provided a key element in the "spidering
complex," stating that: "spiders began to appear about 7
years
after" the introduction of H fulva var rosea. Hfr. was registered in
1938 by Stout as ROSALIND and introduced in 1941 by Bertrand Farr as a
SELECTION of three fulva rosea clones found by Dr. Albert N. Steward
(collecting for the N.Y.Botanical Garden) at Kuling in the province of
Kiangsi, China. Evidently, the three rosea "sisters" were in
America by 1930 although John Schabell gives 1924 as the date in his
article for the Journal The Historical Species: The Three
Sisters Rosea, Vol. 46, No. 2 Summer '91. John describes the
three rosea
clones as follows:
#1 ROSALIND rose pink with deeper eyezone. I. Stout 1941
#2 PASTELROSE rose pink, without an eyezone. I. 1939 Plouf
#3 Mrs Nesmith's clone (species), an unnamed rose pink with a pale cream
midribs and no eyezone. I. 1937 Nesmith
Stout's VULCAN (R. 1934, I. Farr 1937) seems to be one of the
earliest clones introduced which bore rosea's
genes.
Certainly, Bechtold could have acquired ROSALIND in 1941 and used it
before his spider breakthrough in 1950. Other early hybridizers who
used rosea are Nesmith and Kraus; their cultivars are also known to
promote spidering.
| (ORCHID
CORSAGE X
H citrina)
This is a classic
spider,
and the foundation of
my citrina lines, and Matriarch of
the Viking Series. |
I am also using H Hakuunensis clone #2 (6-way
branching and up to 60 buds per scape! -- Coburg
Planting Fields)
Last summer I bloomed an F1 seedling of (H hakuunensis #2 X FIVE JOHN
LAMBERTS). The seedling was beautifully budded, and branched,
a
creamy, deep lemon yellow with a hint of melon, and a deep green throat
which held all day! This is a bridge plant to combine the new
genetic material of H hakuunensis, great budcounts, and branching with
the line breeding of the Late John Lambert. (Which is replete
with Unusual Forms, clear purples, interesting eyezones,
nocturnals,bicolors, etc.) I was particularly surprised to
get a
deep green throat in the F1 from H hakuunensis # 2, as it is uniform
dark gold (I'd say pale orange) self without a hint of green in the
throat.
Matthias Thomsen-Stork has an amazingly budded and branched seedling
out of H altissima. He posted an image of it on the image
server,
and although I can't recall the exact stats, they were
IMPRESSIVE! This type of bridge plant should be very useful
for
the breeder of spiders, and also those who want to recover the scape
height which has also been bred out of so many of the modern cultivars.
In phase one of my mass-selection gene pool I also combined
the genes
for multi-layered eyezones of (necessarily wide-petaled) Southern
diploids with the species, primary hybrids, older and most recent
spiders. Dr. Halinar suggested that I cross the
simple,
species-like flowers with full formed "southern beauties" to get more
modern looking spiders. Some seedlings from Dr. Halinar's
cross
of (H f rosea X FELLOW) are a vibrant fuchsia-violet color, with narrow
curly segments. This summer, I should bloom crosses of this
seedling with less intensely-colored spiders like TENNESSEE FLYCATCHER
and FOL DE ROL. IT SEEMS THAT WHEN THE POLLEN OF OTHER MORE
RECENT HYBRIDS WON'T AFFECT POD FORMATION, THE POLLEN OF ONE OF
THE SPECIES OR EARLY HYBRIDS WILL. JENNY LOVE seems
to be
fertile with just about anything. This pleases me, as H f
rosea
was criticized in the early days as perpetuating narrow segments, which
is, of course, what I am after!
Another example of an "older" cultivar which I have used is TRIPOLI as
my research shows that it comes from HYPERION! And,
therefore,
goes back to: SIR MICHAEL FOSTER, Aurantiaca Major, H.
Citrina,
FLORHAM, LUTEOLA, and H. Thunbergii. (TRIPOLI:
Talbott 82,
26EMRe6 peachy pink with a purple eyezone and green throat, ev.
fragrant and ext..) I am using it for the beautiful coral (in
my
climate), purple and green combination (the secondary colors if you
count coral as orange.) It should have recessive genes for narrow
things with citrina and the like in there, so back-crossing to citrina,
or citrina-based cultivars should give me a good chance at spidery
progenies with modern colors, fragrance to boot!
('06 note: "Tripoli" is pollen sterile and the hybridizer
tells me it is a tetraploid)
I have one particularly promising seedling bridge plant from my (ORCHID
CORSAGE X H citrina) cross of '95. It is a large, pale chartreuse self,
ratio of about 4:1, with up to 5-way branching and tons of buds for a
1st year seedling! Blooms last at least 24 hours, so although
it
is nocturnal, it is still beautiful in the day. It is pod and
pollen fertile, and if I can recover the beautiful pink-lavender color
and open form of ORCHID CORSAGE with the very narrow segments,
fragrance, buds and branching and beautiful foliage (in my garden) of h
citrina, I will have something indeed. ORCHID CORSAGE is a
high
delphinidin (blue pigmented) flower, so I hope to get clear lavenders
and purples out of this seedling.
Using species, primary hybrids, and other pre-1957 plants will not be
of interest to most hybridizers, especially those seeking the round and
ruffled plants currently in vogue (no criticism of this form of daylily
intended!) (g) But,for those seeking more diverse shapes, the older
hybrids provide a wealth of untapped genetic information which has been
largely bred out of modern cultivars (especially the genes
for
narrow segments.) I always try to cross a species with a modern hybrid,
and though not the quickest route to wide-petaled daylilies, it is
certainly useful for those of us hybridizing for spiders and Unusual
Forms. (I noticed this summer that Stout's 1934 registration
THERON has pinched petals as well as a velvety, DARK maroon color) and
looks rather modern in that sense, as the Unusual Forms classification
is so new! I also think that asymmetrical, quilled, pinched
and
other non-standard forms were composted "de rigueur" except by a few
visionaries like John Lambert. Though some have called using
the
species in breeding as a "step back", using the recently available
species like H yezoensis, hakunensis, pedicellata, coreana etceteras
will introduce new genetic material into the gene pool -- not to
mention ameliorating the, potentially negative, effects of continual
inbreeding. Who knows what exciting developments are waiting to be
discovered!?
2006 note: some of the results of these lines of breeding can
be seen in my category
EXCEPTIONAL BRANCHING & BUDCOUNT.
These flowers have AT LEAST 4 to 9 way branching and 30 to 64
buds! Many or most are out of species and historics. |
VOLCAN FUEGO
Volcano Series: Guatemalan volcano
"Volcan Fuego" resulted from my
use of H hakuunensis, it is one of only two
registered daylilies lising H hakuunensis in the parentage!
Mahieu Diploid 97-278 A
[H hakuunensis #2 X BURNING DAYLIGHT]
48 L 4 RE NOC EXT light FR DOR a bud-builder with 5
way branching 64 buds
trumpet form blooming for a month and a half July 14 - Sept 1 in zone 5
Sending
up rebloom scapes in November! 
THORHALLA in maiden bloom. Thorhalla
and Gudrid confirmed my hunch that
I could get high delphinidin blooms out of H citrina.
[(ORCHID CORSAGE x H citrina) X GRAPEADE]
40ML7 RE DOR VFR NOC EXT 9 way branching 54 buds
In England and on cool rainy days here Thorhalla will cascade like
this. |
4 Jan 1999
Black Daylilies:
Glad to see the discussion of black daylilies. Here are some
which I grow, and love: The first two are near-blacks.
CORDON BLEU Lambert 76, 28M7 blue purple self dor
DERVISH Lambert 85, 30M6 burgundy/darker halo
The following two are my favorites, and the blackest that I grow:
Fleishal's Black Spider unregistered sev
43-M-7"
spidery
red BLACK trumpet with large yellow throat. Very
leathery
substance! (I obtained my plant from Clayton Burkey of this
Robin.)
SATCH MO Lambert 72, 30-ML-8 velvety black, with a lemony
yellow
throat -- not the usual gold throat (which I think came from H. f.
"Europa" via THERON.) Though I have not obsessed over the
classification of its form, I would call SATCH MO a spatulate star (if
my memory serves me well!) (g) I think that the more lemon
yellow
throat comes from Lambert's extensive use of nocturnal daylilies in his
hybridizing.
Though not black by any means, THERON is a very dark maroon, and I
suspect
the progenitor of many of the "blacks":
THERON
Stout 34, 30Mre dark maroon with blackish-purple eyezone, pinching and
twisting of segments, dormant. (See cover of DAYLILIES by
A.B.
Stout for color illustration.)
I think that the gene for the fulvous clumps of (microscopic) color
coming from H. f. "Europa" helped to achieve THERON's dark
color.
In my opinion (NOT definitive!) the presence of Europa's genes in in
other black daylilies is alluded to by the presence of the ubiquitous
(though not always unattractive!) orange throat.
I should state for the record that many of my opinions about
hybridizing are based greatly on an intuitive sense that I have after
studying the book FACTS. I am still wet-behind-the-ears as a
daylily breeder (barely out of the gate, in fact!)
Though I
have done a fair bit of research spending days and months pouring over
the old Checklists and Journals -- tracing the pedigrees of potential
breeding stock etc. -- I owe credit for the bulk of my knowledge to my
"elders" (so to speak.) Those gracious "daylily people" who have
allowed me to sit at their feet and to glean precious insights that can
only be gained from years of experience and observation in the
field. Many thanks to all you in this and other Robins who
have
so freely shared your knowledge with me.
| APOPHIS is
the current
culmination
of my theories on breeding for blacks and browns. |
18
Dec 1998
Blue Daylilies
I saw a posting somewhere about Blue Daylilies. Couldn't find
it
again to read (as I have about 3 months of the Robin to catch up
on!) So, I thought I would submit a short list of the
"bluest"
daylilies I grow. I have noticed that some were bluer (namely
MISS JESSIE) when growing in another local garden, in unimproved soil,
and in FULL sun. Most of mine are in high shade-full sun, and
grown in Knox Silt Loam generously amended with well composted
manure. The Ph is slightly acid.
I am mostly growing diploid breeding stock for spiders, and unusual
forms, and can not comment intelligently on the beautiful blue eyezones
found in tetraploids, and other hemerocallis forms outside my area of
interest. I have every confidence that someone else in this
intellectually prodigious forum will be able to expound on "blue"
daylilies in the areas that I have alluded to! (g)
My list:
AQUAMARINE
Lambert 83, 28EM7dor fr noc blue/lavender bitone green throat variant
Looks like a pale taupe in my garden (high shade again!)
BLUE DIANA
Lambert 82, 30-6.5, bluish lav/darker veins.
CERULEAN STAR
spatulate unusual form: Lambert 85, 36M7 nocturnal
powder blue spatulate star, otherworldly colour, wonderful form !
GRAPEADE
Childs 79, 30EMRe6.5 purple long-petaled lily, one of the Parents of
LOLA BRANHAM (one of my all time favorites!) As I recall,
Grapeade has a neat watermarked, penciled eye with a lot of blue
overtones in it. It is thought that perhaps Grapeade may be a
source for the cascade form.
KATYS
BLUE
Griffiths 90, exquisite pale blue- lavender bitone, spatulate star with
a huge pale chartreuse eye. very striking, and a willing
parent. I think I like its color better than CERULEAN STAR,
but
my CS has been in high shade, and that seems to affect the "blue" color
in my garden.
MAUDE PEACOCK
Lambert 75, 36M6
violet bitone/ lt orchid or purple-blue halo around a large watermarked
white/pale chartreuse to green eyezone/throat. A semi-flat
spatulate shape. The most brilliantly clear purple daylily I
grow
(And I grow many Childs, and Lamberts!)
MISS JESSIE
Hardy 56, 40-7, long petaled cream lavender, powder blue overtones in
sun.
SATIN BIRD
Childs 82, 28 Dor MRe 6 violet/blue-purple bitone green throat
BLUE VENTURE
I have both SATIN BIRD, & BLUE VENTURE. They look
identical
to me, which leads me to believe that the two have been mixed up in
commerce. I got SB from a VERY reliable grower, so have
traded
with another robin who also has both in hopes of discovering which is
which! At any rate --- The SATIN BIRD which I have has lots
of
clear blue in the eyezone, and the filaments supporting the anthers do
not twist as Bobbie Brooks observed.
29 Aug 1998
on the new Unusual Forms classification
I can see that to your way of thinking, the Unusual Forms category may
open upregistration to "junk". Perhaps it will, I dare say
there
are a great many "full figured" (round and ruffled) daylilies which in
the estimation of many are "junk" as well. :-)
I am one of those who is actually breeding for unusual forms.
My
most exciting seedlings this season were crispates, and
cascades.
I do not think that a long-petaled daylily needs to have a 5:1 ratio to
be registerable. I prefer the "voluptuous spiders" like LOLA
BRANHAM & ORCHID CORSAGE which do not measure as
classic
spiders. Probably closer to 3.5:1.
Beauty is definitely a subjective sense, and if a plant has good plant
habits, strong scapes, buds & branching, and happens to be one
of
the UNUSUAL FORMS, I say by all means, register it! As it was
explained to me the AHS wants to encourage, rather than discourage
registrations. Although there is a flood of new cultivars, if they are
on the market, I would rather have them named and catalogued rather
than all of the "garden varieties" which go by odd, and un-uniform
garden names.
A precedent for this new classification would be chrysanthemums, there
are so many recognized forms of them, the spider mums may be ugly to
some, but I LOVE THEM! |
Mahieu EC 99-73 I
(PATTERNS X ETHEREAL PRESENCE)
extended parentage
is:
[PATTERNS X (FLUTTERBYE x KATY'S BLUE)
36 ML RE 6 DOR 3 way branching with 22
buds.
Spatulate Unusual
Form
a sunfast lavender 
"Belladonna
Starfish" and "Purple Satellite" Generations one and two
in my purple lines.
Belladonna Starfish
= (LOCH NESS MONSTER X CERULEAN STAR)
Purple
Satellite = [(TRAHLYTA x ASTERISK) X BELLADONNA STARFISH]
Below is generation three out of Purple Satellite: CLAUDE
MONET, Mahieu-Burris '07
[(TRAHLYTA x LOLA BRANHAM) X PURPLE SATELLITE] 
CLAUDE
MONET 36 M 7, 3X18, NOC EXT FR DOR CASCADE UF intensely
saturated purple-violet bitone with a huge blue purple band and creamy
lemon
to green throat, thin white-lavender wire picotee on all segments.
pollen fertile only. I was saving this name
for my most saturated purple to-date, that is a tie with NEFERTARI,
and I
liked this form better for CLAUDE MONET. Excellent bloodlines
for killer Spider/UFs in clear purple-blue and lavender colors.
PURPLE SATELLITE is a proven parent for narrow UFs with
purple-blue eyes, which are much more rare in the spider/UF class
(maroon eyes are dominant). The chevron-shaped blue band comes 3/4 of
the way out the petals and is webbed and edged darker.
Please
see PIC #2 and closeup of 'Claude Monet' petal with blue
eye 3/4 of the way out petal. |
23 Mar 1999
Line Breeding etc.
How do you feel about selfing seedlings, sib-mating
seedlings??
Or back crossing to one of the parents?? I feel that they are
powerful hybridizing tools when used with great
discretion.
I did some sib-crosses this year, and back-crossed to CERULEAN
STAR. In one sib-cross,I culled maybe 10% due to weak looking
seedlings, low chlorophyll, etc., but the back-crosses to CS seemed
much healthier. I guess I am in a hurry to get
RESULTS!!
Since I am weaving in species blood like H citrina, altissima and
hakunensis clone #2, I hope to ameliorate some of this "inbreeding"
with the hybrid vigor these species bring to the crosses.
My (H hakunensis clone #2 X FIVE JOHN LAMBERTS) seedlings will be 3
years old this season. One bloomed last year, a clear lemon
yellow with a hint of melon, and a DEEP GREEN throat which held all
day. The plant habit is extremely husky, and
healthy. In
the seedling beds, the H hakunensis seedlings are by far the huskiest!
Can't wait for the F2 to shuffle the genes for purples with the 60 +
buds, and 6X branching of h hak. # 2 (from Coburg's).!!
I am also growing (H altissima X FELLOW) F2 from Joe, and plan to use
it EXTENSIVELY!! Also am using some of his seedlings from (Hf
rosea X Fellow) several are a lovely fuchscia purple with cascading
segments! One day 3 were open on one scape!! It did indeed
look
like an "ORCHID CORSAGE"! Joe, I wonder which rosea clone you
used?? I grow one I got from Stanley Saxton called PASTELROSE
or
by him: "H F rosea #2" it has cascading segments, and I feel certain
that it is the progenitor of GRAPEADE which is one of LOLA BRANHAM'S
parents. (Lola B, the quintessential, cascading, voluptuous
spider!!, and a reverse Bitone plicata to boot!!)
I have about 1/2 of my 6,500 or so seed (I gave away 500 or so seeds to
friends all over the world!: Germany, Finland, Italy,
Georgia,
etc.!) sown indoors, and the rest in moist vernalization in the
refrigerator, and hope to plant those ASAP. I have had two
seedlings (2-3 year olds) blooming inside: (PATTERNS X ELFIN
ETCHING) and today, (GOLLIWOG X KATYS BLUE) The latter a neat 5"
chartreuse with strong green throat, a spatulate with dart-like pinched
petals, and cascading sepals. Only a bridge plant, but with
the
genes for blueish flowers, and unusual forms. The former
combines
Lambert's breeding with Salter's patterned eyezones. The
flower
was a small, flat-ish, "old rose", or dusky mauve
with a
darker eyezone, and a VERY GREEN dark throat which held 24
hours.
The petals are narrow at the base, and do not overlap. In
future
generations, I want to recover crispation, and a more open, and large
form with the deep green throat, and blueish eyezone. Both
are
noc, and ext and lightly fragrant. I am freezing pollen, and
selfing them. I have one pod on (P X EE)
Several tricks that I have discovered that make sorting seed easier:
I bought an accordion file with the alphabetical tabs on each
pocket. Then I sorted my seed by pod parent, and
rubber-banded
those with the same maternal parent together and put them in the
appropriate pouch. No more rooting through a pile of 7,000
seed
in hundreds of envelopes to find that "one special cross".
This
coming season I will immediately put my seed in the alphabetized
pouches, and then right into the fridge. Then I will only
have to
"HANDLE THEM ONCE"!
Since I use little paper coin envelopes for my seed, then place these
in plastic zip-lock bags, I do have some fairly desiccated
seed.
Last month I took a number of promising crosses, and wrapped the paper
envelopes in wet paper towels, then back in the plastic baggie, back in
the accordion file, and back in the fridge. When I planted
these
seeds which had been moist-vernalized for a few weeks they germinated
very quickly, like in one week! BTW, it is
important that
the crosses are marked on the envelope with a type of ink which will
now run illegibly when it gets wet.! Also take care when
unwrapping the moistened envelopes, as the seals will be loose!
I also have rigged up a "POOR MAN'S CARBON DIOXIDE
DIFFUSER".
An
aquarist told me to mix sugar, water and yeast in a
wine
bottle, place a cork with a hole in it to accommodate a small tube
which carries the CO2 from the bottle into the aquarium to "feed" the
plants. I adapted this idea for daylily seedlings by
suspending a
5 gallon bucket of sugar water and yeast over my daylily seedlings, and
giving it a stir or two every day, and feeding it about a cup of sugar
every week. If I could find my little muffin fan, I would
blow
this CO2 over the seedlings. I do have a ventilator for this
(my
studio/sunroom) so when I turn this on, it will pull in fresh air over
the seedlings, and distribute the CO2.
Incidentally, the
yeast mixture does not stink, it just smells like we are baking bread!
:-) I don't know how much CO2 I am producing, or how much it
helps, but after seeing the aquarium plants "jump" into growth, I
thought that it could not hurt.
I have switched soil-less mixes. I had been using Pro-Mix,
but
never again!! It stays very soggy, promotes algae growth,
salts
build-up etc. I now use Metro 700 Mix COIR. It is
made with
coconut fiber, pinebark, etc. Very porous and free-draining.
My
seed has germinated several weeks earlier in Metro Mix as opposed to
Pro Mix. The soggy Pro Mix also helped contribute to damping
off.
Since my tap water is quite hard, I like to water until the pots drain
through. This just isn't possible with Promix.
17 May 1999
Atypical blooms, breeding with them
"try to make some crosses with the pollen that is likely to be
tet" is the phrase which jangled my memory! Is it safe to
infer
from this comment that some blooms on a plant may have tetraploid
pollen, and some blooms on the same plant may have diploid (or "other")
pollen, due to the nature of a chimera?
If this is
the case, might one extrapolate that a very bizarre and atypical flower
on a plant may have a different genetic code than the other
flowers?? In other words if I have a scape of IMPERIAL LEMON
and
all of the flowers look the same, but one of them is a bizarre,
flattened, crispate green and yellow THING (as it was) is there a
significantly higher probability of that particular flower's pollen, or
resultant seed, producing something markedly different than other
"normal-looking" flowers on the same plant, or same clump
(clone)? Somewhere I read something which seemed to indicate
(in
a very oblique way) that such a phenomenon does exist in
other
genera. Is this bogus, is it likely or even possible?
(The answer I got to this question was yes the atypical bloom
may pass
on some of it’s irregular traits due to a genetic
mutation) |
 H. f. rosea #2
"Pastelrose" source Stanley Saxton
I received this identical clone from about 3 sources under different
names;
one as "Pastelrose" one as H. f. rosea and one as "Pink Charm".
I trust Stanley Saxton's apellation. At any rate, it is a
very useful parent
for giving the cascading trait, very fertile both ways.
|
27 Apr 1999
Line breeding, aneuploids etc.
I would like to mention ANEUPLOIDS.
Plants which do not have a "regular" chromosome count -- or as the
Dictionary Of Botany says:
"A condition in which not all the chromosomes are present in equal
numbers and hence the total number is not an exact multiple of the
haploid set. It occurs when chromosomes fail to separate at
meiosis (see non disjunction), so a gamete may either lack one
chromosome altogether or have an additional copy..."
Perhaps the following is a flawed concept, but I have come to view the
ploidy of daylilies as a continuum which ranges from diploid through
triploid to tetraploid. Some daylilies fall in between these
three fixed points, and can be useful to the savvy hybridizer, if their
breeding idiosyncrasies can be ascertained, and exploited. It
is
my premise that due to the early use of (TRIPLOID) H fulva
Europa
in daylily breeding (most notably by AB Stout) that some (perhaps many)
daylilies have an irregular chromosome count. It is
especially
telling to me that Stout's THERON the first "purple" daylily descended
from H f Europa. Obviously THERON was subsequently used
extensively in early hybridizing efforts. It is only logical
that
the resultant daylilies would have chromosome counts different than the
usual diploid count. I think that this fact is a potential
boon
to the hybridizer. Recently Rosemary Whitacre told me that
many
of George Lenington's cultivars are aneuploids, and would cross with
either diploids or tetraploids. (She was very interested in
aneuploids, and had a whole batch of them that she was
inter-mating) Also, some diploid daylilies produce unreduced
gametes and can thus cross with tetraploids and produce fully
TETRAPLOID progeny! I do not claim to fully understand this,
but Dr Halinar has posted several articles on
the
phenomenon on his website.
Also, Nick Chase of Massachusetts wrote a great article
called: TRIPLOIDS ARE FERTILE.
The article originally appeared in the Spring 1994 issue of The Daylily
Journal. It is now at a website, but I do not have the
address. Nick Chase, are you out there?
I have a HUGE seedling from a cross of (SIAMESE ROYALTY X H citrina
Baroni clone). (I've probably told you this before, so
forgive me
in advance! :-)) It has the distinctive purple speckling at
the
base of the fans so characteristic of most citrina clones, and I have
high hopes of it blooming this summer, and being a true cross of the
above! No, I did not know bout, nor did I have TETRINA at the
time, but I do now! :-) Randy Meuir recently reminded me that iris
growers will deliberately grow iris in a hot greenhouse to cause them
to produce unreduced gametes. I wonder if anybody had
researched
this phenomenon in hemerocallis??
I am happy to see the discussion of Line Breeding in this
forum.
I was given some very sage advise regarding my wild crosses, and I am
taking it! It was to FOCUS. I am trying.
I will NOT
be producing 7,000 seeds again, unless they are to sell or give
away!! My youthful zeal without wisdom was/is
showing!! I
made lots of wild crosses, just to see what I'd "get" with no
realization of the work involved to grow all of those seedlings on!!
(for those on my Daylily Friends BCC list, the below is a
re-post of my
correspondence of this morning.)
I am going to stick with my (species X spider) and (species X unusual
forms) crosses and intermate those to see what the recently added
species will do for daylilies. I have some amazingly ROBUST h
hakunensis #2 crosses! They are some of the largest fans in
the
garden, and I look forward to their bloom. I am selecting for
plant vigor in the F1 as much as I can, and making those crosses to get
me to the F2. Also, I am selecting for dormant plants, as I
have
some trouble with the evergreens in my garden, and there are SO MANY
breeders creating plants for the southern climes! (And not so
many breeding for Northern gardens.) I am interested in
developing "lines" of breeding and having a block of related plants
which I interbreed (to a point!!) to recombine the genes. I
think
that by introducing/reintroducing the species into my lines I am adding
much needed hybrid vigor, and I have seen this borne out in my seedling
beds. Since narrow segments are desirable to me, using the species is
not a "step backwards" as some may contest. On the
contrary: I see the large bud counts, branching and VIGOR of
the
species to be a needed step forward for the modern daylily.
It is interesting to see how HUGE the h hakunensis #2 crosses are! And
how the foliage is a light green compared to the row of finely
textured, deep blue-green foliage of the H citrina crosses growing next
to them.
From this point forward, I probably will not be "going back to the
species" that much DIRECTLY, but will be using my seedlings to make
crosses like: [(H hakunensis X FIVE JOHN LAMBERTS) X (h
citrina
Baroni clone X CERULEAN STAR)]. Then intermate those,
etc.
I think you can see what I am doing. Dr. Halinar's (h f rosea
X
FELLOW) , and (H altissima X FELLOW) crosses will help me
immensely. The latter will save me from going "clear back" to
altissima, as it combines the traits which interest me. H.
citrina Baroni does not have the requisite openness in the
throat. I hope that CERULEAN STAR and other Lamberts will
contribute the genes for flat, crispate blooms, and that citrina will
contribute buds, branching and vigor.
I should have seedlings involving H yezoensis, h hakunensis # 2, h
dumortierii, h citrina vespertina, h vespertina, h altissima etc.
blooming this year to intermate. In 1995 I made TONS of
crosses
on H citrina Baroni clone, and look forward to most of them blooming
this year. I have learned NOT to plant them in sibling clumps
or
in rows 2 inches apart!!
I have H gracilis blooming now, and buds on H dumortierii, h minor and
probably H yezoensis. These are lovely additions to the early
spring garden, and the foliage contributes a nice texture to my stream
garden north of our wisteria arbor (still without the horizontal
beams!). The wild flowers and ferns which my son and I moved
in
the fall and winter are resplendent! I've learned the time to
move moss and the above is in the winter, as they seem to still grow
though they are mostly dormant at that time. Also one can
depend
on more moisture then. We are currently on the end of a week
of
rain, and cool temperatures. Though I love cool, overcast
days,
even I am looking forward to some sun, and being able to work in the
garden.
3 Oct 1998
In-the-pod Germination of seedlings
Have been going crazy waiting for a break in the weather in which I
could plant my seedlings! On dry days, I had to go to the
Gallery, and when I could stay home, it rained!! so I covered
my
waiting beds with plastic, took a day off work, and by golly, got it
done in true pioneer fashion:
I spent 8 hours in the sometimes-pouring and cold rain, to finally, get
my yearlings out of their community pots, and into the
ground!! What a relief to have them out of the
pots!!
Now, I only have the 7,000 seeds to put in, but I don't feel as pressed
to do those. For protection from the eminently UNCOOPERATIVE
elements: I dressed warmly, put on my insulated coveralls
(which
are caked with multi-colored oil paint,) then sheathed myself in black
garbage bags, duct tape and an amish hat to protect me from
the
elements. I made one garbage bag kilt, fastened with a duct
tape
belt, put another over my head, with holes for head and arms, then I
split the final garbage bag, and affixed it to the crown of an Amish
hat with that ubiquitous duct tape, I also taped the bag back in flaps
to the sides. It looked a bit like a witches hat!
When I
was caked in mud I looked like someone right out of
Deliverance!
(This is not unusual for our "neck of the woods": 5 miles from Daniel
Boone's salt lick, and the village his kith and kin began in the first
decade of the 1800's --Boonesborough!)
Regarding seeds which germinate in the pods: I noticed that
most
every cross involving WILL RETURN, (Spalding, 83, 18M4.75 coral with
purple halo EVERGREEN , ext.) had some of the seeds germinating in the
pods. I theorized that evergreen or semi-ev hem seeds do not
need
to be stratified (chilled) (Am I right Pat??) Also, an entire
cross out of D. Apps H coreana was germinating in the pod.
Any
pod-germinated seed I planted right away in 4" pots of soil-less
mix. Now have lots of seedlings which look like 6 month-olds,
at
least. Will probably grow them on inside, or may plant half
of
the H coreana cross outside, to see how it fares.
I am trying to ship some daylilies to Germany soon, and the State Ag
inspector said that Germany has changed their regs. and now he has to
come inspect my garden, specifically for leaf miners, and white
flies! Also, he has to witness me spraying the daylilies to
be
shipped with some "appropriate" insecticide, whether or not they need
it!! (I am happy to oblige, and understand the reasons for
these
precautions, still, it is a bit of a bother.
Oh well, I wanted to have the garden inspected anyway, as I have
delusions of actually selling daylilies someday! BTW, did you
see
the images of my seedlings?? I will attach one to this
doc.
Let me know what you think. This one is CERULEAN STAR X LOCH NESS
MONSTER (D98-14- E) 9", noc, ext, 36" tall, dark lavender
blue,
with washed navy blue chevrons on petals, white picotee edge, some
quilling and pinching!! Wahooo! The color of the
image is
too red, and I had snatched the anthers for the pollen, but you get the
idea!! Let me know if you want to see some of the F1 images
involving species.
(Virtually all of my seedlings which bloomed this year were nocturnal,
ext. the heritage of H citrina in so many crosses, and using Lambert
and Childs who used nocturnals!) I am developing a Mass
Selection
Breeding pool for spiders, and UFos and want to have H citrina,
altissima, hakunensis # 2 and yezoensis in the background. I
am
hoping that soon there will be an interest among daylily fanciers in
what Orchidists call "primary hybrids". Or I suppose mine would be
semi-primary hybrids, as I am generally crossing species x modern
cultivar.
|
These are tetraploid seedlings resulting from crosses of tetraploids
with
diploid
citrina pollen. Both seedlings strongly display citrina's
tall,
branched scapes and have much narrower segments than the
pod
parents.
It is theorized that citrina produces unreduced
gametes
that can,
thus,
combine with the reduced tetraploid gametes producing
fully
tetraploid
progeny. Both of these seedlings will give pods when
pollinated
with
tet pollen, and vice versa.
(KALGOORLIE* X H
citrina) 
(SIAMESE
ROYALTY*
X H citrina) 
This is an exciting classic
spider polytepal out of H yezoensis 
Here are some of my favorite
daylily species
and Stout's "Nada" an early primary hybrid.
This image links to a large image with legible subtitles. |
8
Apr 1999
SEEDLINGS, BREEDING, crispation, species, vigor
I moved all of my seedlings outside several weeks ago, and they have
been out from under plastic for a week. And that is all of
the
pampering they will get!!! I'm SICK of evergreens, the snotty
mess they look in the spring, and the way so many which I moved last
September and MULCHED just rotted in place!!! And we had a
mild
winter too!! It has been very warm, and windy here!
Temps
in upper 60s and 70s in day, and 40s at night. I
will try to
plant my potted seedlings in the next few weeks. Have all but
a
few hundred of my seed sown in the garden, and none germinating yet.
(I'm holding my breath.) Next year I will NOT produce 7000
seed
(unless I am making crosses for someone else!) I am going to plan my
crosses very carefully, and spend the next few years evaluating the
10-12 thousand seedlings that I have produced in the last 3
years. FOCUS, FOCUS FOCUS. I'm trying.
Some of the seeds which got 2 weeks moist vernalization after being in
the fridge since harvest were soft, and rotten. I delighted
in
throwing these away, as I surmise that they were either the evergreen
types, or not viable anyway. Others were swollen, and
beginning
to germinate. It is somehow more satisfying to plant these
shiny,
pregnant seeds rather than the emaciated ones. (Though some
of my
"flat, shriveled " seeds did germinate!) I am pulling
seedlings
with light green foliage that looks puny, and selecting for vigor from
germination on. It makes no sense to me to coddle these
plants
from their birth! I haven't the time, space or patience for
that,
and my lines will be stronger for it!! If at all possible, I
will
be selecting for hard dormants, vigor, buds, branching repeats etc. in
the F1 & F2, and keep crossing to bring the right shuffling of
the
genes from the genome into the phenome.
Harald Juhr, a hybridizer friend from Germany
was at my garden last week. I was preaching the virtues of using the
species in breeding for spiders. He thought it was "very interesting"
that I was growing "old" daylilies. so, he got the whole scpheel!
:-) I showed him why I use h citrina (baroni clone) in a
cross of
(NIGHT GOWN X H citrina) the plants were large and husky one had
increased to seven fans while others of more conventional crosses
(modern cultivar x modern cultivar) were small fans, and no
increase. Then I took him to another bed and showed him a
whole
row of unbloomed seedlings. They were all increased to many
fans,
were large, husky plants and had beautiful DARK BLUE GREEN
foliage! These were all crosses with H citrina baroni as one
of
the parents. The next row over had HUGE seedlings which one
might
mistake for tetraploid plants. These had healthy a medium
green
foliage and all had increased. These were H hakunensis clone
#2
seedlings! GARDENABILITY! I'm excited about bloom
season. Already I have had two seedlings bloom inside, and I
have
collected, desiccated and frozen pollen from these to use this year.
I am joining forces with another local hybridizer Randy
Meuir. He
hybridizes several sorts of bearded iris, siberians, hemerocallis, and
now is venturing into lilium breeding. We both share an
interest
in "going back to the species" for prepotency and vigor. This
summer we are going to combine some of his exotic lines which descended
from round and ruffled hems, and others like MAVIS SMITH. He
has
some with narrow segments, but great leathery, diamond dusted
substance. I want to combine these traits with the crispation of my
lines, and some of the species blood for vigor. One screaming orange
with a red eyezone will get crossed with PERSIAN PATTERN X ELFIN
ETCHING seedlings. I want that violet-blue eye of PERSIAN
PATTERN
on that screaming orange petal color! Wahoo!!
For the last several years I have been combining Lambert and Childs
with species, and spider/unusual forms daylilies. Last year I
was
interbreeding these, and this year I am going to focus on selecting for
good plant habit, and really introducing the crispation genes into my
breeding pool. My seedling (though it is probably only a
breeders
plant) (GOLLIWOG X KATY'S BLUE) is an amazing pale yellow
nocturnal ext with great substance. (And it has
crispation-o-rama!! :-) The blooms were very splayed open,
and
all of the segments quilled, twisted and curled: even the
petals
which were quilled at the bases, and irregularly pinched spatulate
shapes at the ends! Since this seedling combines the genes
for
crispation and blueish colors, I will be using that frozen pollen a
lot, and hope it is fertile, as GOLLIWOG is known for infertile pollen
in it, and its children. All the more reason to weave in my
citrina blood, as I have found citrina to have THE MOST VIABLE POLLEN I
have ever used. Even setting pods on tets (some of which have
produced husky seedlings, I hope due to unreduced gametes.)
One
of these seedlings (SIAMESE ROYALTY X H citrina, baroni clone) will
bloom this summer. It is a HUGE fan, and has the purple
coloration along the lower edges of the leaves so characteristic of
most of the citrina clones, and certainly citrina baroni. |
I did a poor job focusing in 2001. On my tiny hillside garden
I produced
around 150,000 seeds in over 2,500 crosses. Talk about a
"mass selection gene pool"!  My
hybridizing technique, working with nocturnals at night.
(This
photo is of H. citrina) Pod set is very good using this technique
–– some nocturnals refuse to set pods at any other
time, so
try this with "pod sterile" plants. Pollen is in gelatin capsule labled
with a paper cross tag, affixed to gel cap with scotch tape.
These pollen vials are kept in my nail apron with tags
hanging
out and are very handy to use – especially with a
kind-hearted
assistant writing out cross tags! Photo copyright:
David Burris |
Thu, 4 Feb
1999
Albino Seedlings
If you trace the parentage of the albino's parents back as far as you
can, I dare say you will find EVELYN CLAAR. (Or FRANCES FAY, which the
50th Anniversary book quotes Orville Fay as saying came from EVELYN
CLAAR) EC is notorious for throwing albino and sickly
seedlings. Since EVELYN CLAAR was one of the first wide
petaled
"pinks" (though with a screaming orange throat which I like,
actually) She was much used as a parent in the
1950's. In
virtually any cross that I find albinos, EVELYN CLAAR is the
culprit. There are also some pale green ones which begin to
curl
up and wither these I call "demi-albinos" as they seem to have only
half of the chloroplasts needed to survive. Joe Halinar tells
me
that the albino gene was/is present in the species hemerocallis Kwanso
flore-pleno (which comes in both variegated and green foliaged types)
for example.
As a rule, I don't like to keep breeding with plants from
albino-producing lines, unless the trait has been selected out of the
line. I realize that the albinos die, but the siblings may carry the
albinism trait as a recessive. I also feel that the siblings
of
albinos are often below par as far as plant vigor goes. I
have no
doubt that the blooms may very well be lovely, but I want to select for
plant vigor as much as possible. JANS TWISTER has given me
many
albino, demi-albino, and generally puny seedlings. I traced
her
parentage, and ran into several dead ends. Perhaps EC or FF lies
therein: Some of JANS TWISTER'S progenitors are:
JEAN WISE, KINDLY LIGHT, HEAVENS GLORY, SOUTHERN COMFORT, OCEAN MIST,
SUNSET DREAM(?X?), (SUNSET DREAM(?X?) X seedling), (OCEAN MIST X
Seedling) MULTNOMAH, GARDEN SPRITE(?X?), (Seedling X RUTH LEHMAN),
GYPSY, J. S. GAYNOR, AMARYLLIS, GOLDEN WEST, H citrina, H aurantiaca
Major!
RUTH LEHMAN's presence in this pedigree is interesting, as she is
considered to be the first melon daylily.
25 Jan 1999
EVELYN CLAAR
Janice Teisburg sent me a very informative e-mail relating to EVELYN
CLAAR, and other Kraus cultivars. She very correctly (and
graciously) points out that EVELYN CLAAR is not melon, and was not one
of the first melons, as I mis-stated in my post about "DOTTED
HEMS".
I mis-spoke when I said: "Since EVELYN CLAAR was
one of the
first (if not THE first) melons, she occurs very frequently in the
parentages of many daylilies, especially melons and purples."
Somewhere I got the idea that EVELYN CLAAR was genotypically a melon,
although phenotypically a pink. Perhaps someone in this Robin can
elucidate me in this regard. I must say, however, that
although
one of the first "pinks" EVELYN CLAAR does have an orange throat, and
very warm undertones -- not a true pink, or a blue-pink. (Here the need
for the RHS color book shows itself!! What is coral pink to
me,
may not be coral pink to you!)
I heartily agree with Janice that RUTH LEHMAN (Kraus R. 48, I. 51) was
the first large-flowered melon daylily!
I have been collecting, evaluating and hybridizing with dotted,
spotted, plicata and streaked daylilies since 1995. I have
corresponded at length with Dr. Halinar, and have done fairly extensive
research using the Checklists. Below is a list of daylilies
--
known to me -- to display some form of Dotting etc. I was
tracing
the ancestries of these daylilies in search of a common ancestor for
the dotting trait. EVELYN CLAAR occurred most frequently in
the
ancestries of daylilies displaying the below traits. However, I'm told
that this may or may not be of significance, as my study was very
limited in scope. Since EVELYN CLAAR was one of the first (if
not
THE first) melons, she occurs very frequently in the parentages of many
daylilies, especially melons and purples. EVELYN CLAAR also
carries the trait for albinism: (Seedlings with albino foliage that
contains little or no chlorophyll -- thus the seedlings wither and die
soon after germination.) I have wondered if, perhaps, the
albinism trait is somehow connected to the dotting gene
... When I bloom the F2 generation of
crosses
involving some of the below daylilies, I may be able to shed more light
on the inheritance of these traits. | |
Date:
Wed, 14 Apr 1999
Breeding Goals and Focus
I guess what I was thinking subconsciously is that I should focus on
developing LINES OF BREEDING, rather than doing crazy
outcrosses
ad infinitum. I did this my first year. The second
year I
wove in more species blood. The third year I did some
seedling X
seedling crosses, the fourth year I was crossing things like {(H
citrina x NIGHT GOWN) X (FLUTTERBYE X H citrina)} Hopefully this year I
will see bloom on some of the latter type crosses, and crosses
involving [(species A X cultivar) X species B x cultivar)]. This is
where it should really get interesting!! It is like "cousin
crossing" as it was explained to me by an iris breeder. Not
as
"inbred" as sib-mating, or back-crossing, yet still shuffling the gene
pool -- perhaps with less deleterious effects than sib-mating and back
crossing DE RIGEUR --especially as it affects GARDENABILITY!
Sat, 29 May 1999
Seedling carnage, Iron chlorosis
Thanks for the info on fertilizers, trace minerals etc. I
suspected that my yellow hems were suffering from iron chlorosis, or
such. Matthias Thomsen_Stork mentioned that intensively
line-bred, FULVA-BASED descendants are the most susceptible, and in
looking at my seedlings which were affected, he is right.
NONE of
my crosses involving H citrina or the nocturnal species were
affected. TRAHLYTA, WILSON SPIDER and ELFIN ETCHING all
produced
seedlings with chlorosis. and the (TRAHLYTA X WILSON SPIDER)
cross was about 50 % yellow! These were rogued out!
In observing my plants over several weeks, I was able to
discern that
the yellow and green "variegation" was not variegation but chlorosis,
SO yesterday I took a five gallon bucket and dug up ALL of the
seedlings showing this yellowing and destroyed them. They had
baby scapes in the foliage, but I did not even want to be tempted to
breed with plants which are genetically susceptible to "the
yellows". In future generations I plan to always cross fulva
based plants with citrina-based plants to ameliorate any genetic
pre-disposition to the above condition. I am also selecting for plant
vigor in the F1 generation, and crossing these plants among themselves
REGARDLESS of how the blooms look. Of course I will not be
able
to restrict myself to this sort of cross exclusively, but a few
generations down the line I should be able to see if this will be as
valuable as I hope.
In one of my seedling beds I grow H hakunensis clone #2 (from Coburg's)
seedlings beside H citrina clone Baroni seedlings. The above
were
crosses with spiders or unusual forms. It is very interesting
to
see the deep, BLUE-GREEN foliage of the citrina seedlings next to the
light green hakunensis foliage. Is H hakunensis from the
fulva
side of the gene pool?? All of its seedlings have HUGE light green
leaves, and are very HUSKY. None of them have the chlorosis. |
'Orchid Convergence' daylily F2 H citrina
seedling
[(NIGHT GOWN x H citrina)X CLOUD FOREST]
ORCHID
CONVERGENCE 40 EM 8.5, 4X20, NOC EXT, FR, DOR, CASCADE UF
A breakthrough illustrating Mahieu’s quintessential
“cattleya cascade" form which is characterized by a ruffled
spatulate bloom that cascades softly. lilac and creamy lemon
brushed lilac bitone with huge creamy chartreuse throat and pale
lavender-blue halo. excellent bloodlines for further development of
this extremely rare form. more
information on my citrina lines here.Mahieu-Burris
2008 Intros online catalog and statistics
|
14 Apr 1999
Seeking parentage of Childs Cultivars
Childs cultivars are also among my favorites (alongside
Lambert's). I've read that he kept meticulous records of his
crosses, but I have been able to find no parentages of his cultivars
listed in the Checklists! (?) TRAHLYTA is one of my foundation "brood
mares", and I would desperately love to know its heritage
etc. If
you come upon any information on the heritage of Child's hems, please
let me know. If he still has living family members, perhaps
they
would make his studbooks available for interested enthusiasts!
Does anyone else know anything about Frank Childs, ie is his
wife Peggy
still living, children, etc.?? Whom could we ask for
information
about his studbooks? Stewart and Mavis Smith tell me that
they
think Peggy is deceased, and that they did have a daughter who spoke at
a conference about her father's daylilies. Do any of you have
a
memory of this?? If I knew her name, I could write
her etc.
11 Jan 1999
Pedigrees
re: hybridizers who do not list the parentages of their
registrations in the CHECKLISTS. I suppose I am naive enough
to
think that a breeders goal should be to advance the genus, not merely
to fatten one's wallet!
Due to prodigious record keeping, and a willingness to share the
blueprints of their discoveries, some hybridizers have truly helped to
speed the advancement of hemerocallis. I owe a debt of
gratitude
to hybridizers like the late Dr. John Lambert who virtually
always listed the parentages of his registrations. I have
traced
a number of his cultivars clear back to the species! What a
wonderful way to learn about inheritance of certain traits!
I've
heard that Bill Munson researched the parentages of his foundation
stock extensively, and therefore, he almost knew what a certain cross
would produce! Certainly he has advanced the genus.
How
much longer would it have taken him to make these advances if there
were not a record of his breeding stock's pedigrees to offer clues as
to the genome and phenome of his seedlings? |
This is a sibling cross from (Trahlyta X Lola Branham), in other
words several generations of Childs and Childs-based cultivars.
So many hybridizers have stood on Frank Childs' shoulders --
how much further we could progress if only Childs had made his
research public. |
News: I have launched a new Hybridizing Forum and PhotoPost Gallery called PollenNation
The
resource for doing your breeding stock research: American Hemerocallis Society's
Official Database of Hemerocallis Registrations Online
searchable Daylily Registry |
