What a good surprise that your faborite Dearest Valentine seedling has so many buds on rebloom. I bet that nasty spring weather was to blame for the less than ideal performance earlier in the season.

So nice to see rebloom on your lovely seedlings. Will these all be keepers?

Sherry

It's been hot here too--upper 90s today and will be again tomorrow. The heats been brutal, but the humidity has been through the roof. I haven't even been out. We have so much to do in the garden before fall. We hope to do some work on Saturday.

Beautiful seedlings! We have seen higher bud counts on rebloom on seedlings before. I also like the Destined to See seedling and the Pink Extraordinaire seedling--love the color and the watermark. I also like Sensational Heart.

Nancy

Lots of great reblooms, including your seedlings, must be so fun! The first two and last one are my favorites of all of these. Sorry that the deer are still ravaging.

Brad

Sherry - Yes, I think the fall drought, December deep freeze and late March freezes all impacted that evergreen Dearest Valentine seedling. All of the seedlings except DTS X Ripsaw will be long-term keepers. DTS X Rip has a large bloom on a short scape. I'll keep it until next year to see if the scape gets taller and the bud count improves. I do think that seedling has value for breeding. I made a couple of crosses with it this season.

Debra

Nancy - Thanks for your comments! Stay cool! Were at 100 real degrees yesterday with a heat index of 114. The temp is not that high today, but close. I'm looking forward to some temps in the high 80s next week.

Brad - It is fun to have so many seedlings reblooming. I have another on that started reblooming today, and two more that will start blooming next week - if the deer don't get the buds.

Debra

I like your seedling Pink Extraordinaire X Cexy Samantha #2 in particular. Nice edge and color.....I have a few reblooming, which surprises me given the heat (106 today for instance). You enabled me to buy The Color of Wonderful and it produced a rebloom scape this year. It's such a pretty shade of pink for me, that I certainly welcomed it. I hope it proves winter hardy in a pot............Maryl

Maryl - I'm glad to know The Color of Wonderful rebloomed for you. It's rebloomed here faithfully every year but in last year's drought. I hope it comes through the winter well for you!

Debra

I’ll call you and raise you on the deer!! in spite of consistent spraying they have cleaned my garden of every bud and scape. They have even begun eating the foliage down to the ground. I may have to resort to my friend’s homemade spray.

Sensational Heart color is wonderful. Grandma’s Smile seedling is still so pretty and I love the Pink Extraordinaire seedling. I guess being rolled up in a ball in that small box did not hurt Blushing Escapade!!! LOL

Kate - Your deer must be hungrier than mine. At least the ones around here are not eating daylily foliage. I'm sorry they have been so bad in your garden this year. I can't believe how much I've sprayed this year compared to the past. What worked in the past did not seem to work well this year. Blushing Escapade has been a real trouper. Thanks so much for sharing it with me!

Debra

Last year, the deer stripped peony foliage in very late summer. They are supposed to hate peonies. While the Grandma's Smile seedling bloom looks attractive, Grandma was such a bummer here that I am already biased. Typical of Smith cultivars in the North, it had short scapes (barely above the foliage in a good year) and an anemic edge. What a winning name, though, for marketing. Who is going to diss grandma's smile? Almost as bad as faulting Mary's Baby or the Cradle of Bethlehem. $exy Samantha is my favorite. Would love to see the bloom of $exy on a better branched, more vigorous plant.

Much of my present time is spent weeding daylilies and grooming cannas. Houzz was acting up.

Mantis - Your cannas have really pretty colors. The only ones I see grown around here are red.

Debra

Debra those are lovely blooms. I especially like Grandma's Smile X Dearest Valentine and Destined to See seedling X Ripsaw. Thos are lovely Cannas Mantis. Beautiful mix of colors.

kay

Mantis: Who's got something bad to say about Mary's Baby!?? Not to me I hope-lol. We do get attached to names and daylilies, and I admit Mary's Baby has a double edged reason for admiration from me......I do agree regarding the Frank Smith daylilies. So much promise on such usually weak plants. The same as with the form on Maryott's daylilies. It's almost always excellent, but the plants don't seem to thrive in all parts of the country unfortunately. Out of curiosity how are Maryott daylilies for hybridizing Debra? ....Maryl

Debra recently noted that Starlord for her is much better than Mary's Baby. I forget the weaknesses she noted of MB.

I'd have Starlord in a heartbeat except it's an evergreen.............Maryl

It is amazing that even in Tennessee, many Maryotts do not thrive. Mexican Magic does ok here. I think I sent some to you, Debra. For many years, people were just bananas about Maryott plants. They would get them as bonuses and feel that they had struck gold getting such expensive plants. Daylily people tend to be subject to feeding frenzy, chasing the latest trendy plants.

Mary's Baby is not a fast multiplier--I agree. But its bud count is not low on mature fans. Look at the number and branching here.

Mantis - The Maryotts I lost over the years were mostly in pots, although I did lose a few in the ground after harsh winters. I do also have Mexican Magic. My original one died, and I got a replacement from Julia. Although it has grown well, I will probably move it out this fall because I need the space for seedlings and new acquisitions that are still in pots.

Debra

We all like what we like of course, but for my needs those really tall daylilies aren't what I prefer for the container grown portion of my mixed flower border. 36 inches is just about tops for me. And again, because of my pot culture, overly vigorous daylilies are not a plus. Mary's Baby suits my requirements and for me it blooms well above average once it matures (additionally last year it had multiple rebloom scapes). However, another colorfast/sunfast dark purple with white edge daylily that has larger flowers and is hardy is certainly something that will get my attention to trial.........And speaking of I like that Maryott seedling quite a bit Debra. Any more information on it yet? ..........Maryl

Maryl - White Tooth X Born in California multiplies fast but so far hasn't had a lot of buds. It's in the middle of the seedling bed though, so it might have more buds if it got more sun. I'm not sure if it's evergreen and semi-evergreen.

When I say Mary's Baby was short, I mean it was never taller than 20-22 inches here. Part of the problem with my plant was that it was attacked by grubs when I first planted it, and probably in most of the years I grew it. I prefer round daylilies that are no taller than 32 inches and UFs that do not exceed 40 inches tall.

Debra

White Tooth X Born in California is quite pretty!

Brad

Thanks Brad! I'm going to move White Tooth X Born in CA to a spot with more sun exposure later this month. I guess I should be glad it bloomed this year since Born in CA did not.

Debra