Stoke the Fire seems to be a good breeder. Pat Garrity has a brighter red eye in my past pictures. Its early bud count was very low, but then it tended to have a few more buds later. I did add Pink Stripes this year, but now am seeing a lot of pictures that are more orange, not the pink and white that the mass marketing catalogs show.

Absolute Gripper looks great! Pat Buddy's Garrity. is very bright and pretty. Buddy's Betsy X Stoke the Fire. has a nice edge to go with the bright eye. Nice,

kay

It's good to see Absolute Ripper! How is it doing this season for you? My clump started out with only two fans, but now, weeks later, has put up a couple more. I keep forgetting to photograph mine. Buddy's Betsy X Stoke the Fire is hot, hot, hot! I love the bright, rich color and the nice edge.

Debra

Debra, Absolute Ripper is doing fine. It increases slowly, but I do think it has increased. The scapes are a nice height and the bloom is very large. Bob and I are both sort of surprised that our really cold weather in December didn't seem to impact the daylilies very much. Other than the cold weather in December, the winter was rather mild. Even the gladiolus overwintered, which doesn't usually happen in our climate.

I have never had daylily foliage so large as this year. Surely the result of a generally mild winter. That being said, there were negatives in spring that have impacted many cultivars.

Mantis, I agree with you about the foliage. I don't know if it is the weather--our spring was wet and cool--or the fact that Bob put down Milorganite, but we have never seen bigger foliage. On the other hand, bud count appears and, on some varieties, scape height too appears to be down. Some daylilies show that they were affected by the cold snap and others look unfazed.

Your diploid queen caught my eye today. I was surprised one of the parents is Little Strawberry Shortcake, I have it……you never know what you are gonna get….I dont see it at all in that bloom you created….it is lovely!

Sherry

Sherry, I agree with you about not seeing Little Strawberry Shortcake in that seedling. I would doubt the parentage except Little Strawberry Shortcake was the pod parent. In person, though, I think you can see that the pod parent gave it its small size. The flower is much small than Out of Balance.