Viewing comments posted by bxncbx

I've had Francis of Assisi for years now. I love it and wanted to use it in crosses. Checking the database I saw that it was both pod and pollen fertile, so I was very disappointed that for years I was unable to either set a pod on it or any other plant using its pollen. But after years of trying I am finally able to do both. I'm not sure what has changed, but last year I had two pods and the year before I got my first pod. So far the pods have had very low numbers of seeds (1-5), but I'm happy to get any! The plant itself is healthy, blooms well, and is increasing. I haven't changed anything, so I'm not sure why it decided to finally start reproducing. So, if anyone else has issues with using FOA in their breeding program, just keep trying!

I've had Forsyth High Tech since 2015. It has bloomed for me each year, but I do not think it is particularly happy in my garden. It hasn't really increased in that time. I wish it would, because I love the flowers and it is both pod and pollen fertile for me. It is planted in a raised bed, but it gets way more sun than most daylilies in my garden (trying to recreate the North Carolina sunshine it came from). I'm hoping it is just taking its time settling in and that soon I'll start seeing some good growth.

Fairy Tale Pink is a very reliable bloomer. It even performs well in a small container. I had it in a narrow windowbox for years and that never stopped it from blooming. I moved it out of the windowbox a couple of years ago and it hasn't made the transition well. It still blooms but has lost fans and hasn't seemed as vigorous. I'm hoping that it does much better this year now that it has had a chance to settle in.

Envy Me is a reliable bloomer in my garden. However, the scapes are nowhere near the height that they are registered. While it doesn't bloom down in the foliage the scapes are not very tall. It has also been a poor increaser in my garden. I have to admit though that it is planted on a hill in very rocky soil so that may have something to do with it. I've done many crosses with it and find it to be a very difficult pod parent. In my garden it is a much better pollen parent. I have several seedlings from it using the pollen so I know it is definitely pollen fertile.

Embers of Vesuvius is one of my favorite daylilies! It is a very bright orange that is very visible from a distance. But what I love most about it are the various spots of red that are on the petals. I checked and last year pretty much every single bloom had them. That makes it a very unique flower in my garden.

It does have some negative traits. It takes forever for the flowers to open. As a hybridizer, if I want to use pollen from EOV I have to be very patient. The slow opening is not related to the weather or temperature. It is also not a vigorous increaser for me. It adds about a fan a year. But those are the only two flaws I can think of. Overall, this plant is well worth growing for its gorgeous bloom and reliable flowering.

Alstroemeria Tangerine Tango has been winter hardy for me since planting it several years ago. It does suffer when we have particularly bad winters and springs but always blooms. The blooms will be delayed in bad years. I've heard that Alstroemeria can become problematic in the garden due to increasing rapidly. I haven't had this problem at all. It increases, but very slowly and has yet to try and crowd out other plants. I have it planted near daylilies and so far they have coexisted without problem. I do have to stake Tangerine Tango every year but that is most likely due to the fact that it is planted on a hill and tends to want to flop down the hill.

For those who want to try growing Dutch iris from seed here is some advice. Try wintersowing. Just make sure you don't throw away the jugs too quickly. I wintersowed some seed January 2017. The seeds did not germinate until April 2018.

I wintersowed some Crocus tommasinianus seeds in Jan/Feb 2016. I checked the jug today (March 2018) and they are just starting to sprout. If you are going to try to grow them from seed don't toss the planting too soon. You need to be very patient!

I had this small rose planted in a large pot. It did well but did not survive the winter in my garden. I did try to protect it with a cover, but several false springs caused it to die.

I purchased Sing Again years ago and it finally bloomed in 2017. I had put it in a pot where it survived but didn't do much more than that. I finally decided to move it to a fairly good spot in 2015. Honestly, I was expecting it to die since it hadn't increased at all. But to my surprise it started to perk up. I was shocked to see a scape in 2017. I have to say it was worth the wait for me since I love the blend of colors. In the database it doesn't say if it is a diploid or tetraploid but mine is a diploid for sure (I only got seeds when I put the pollen on diploid cultivars).

Spacecoast El Bandito is decidedly unhappy in my garden. It bloomed in 2015 and has not bloomed since! There has been no increase either. I've moved it to better positions hoping it would be happier. Doesn't look like there is any place in my yard where it will thrive. I may have lost it this winter due to having two weeks of bitterly cold temperatures in December. Luckily I have another daylily with similar coloration that is much happier in my garden.

As a semi-evergreen, Gentle Shepherd is not particularly happy in my garden. It seems to bloom every other year and has not increased much. The flowers are a creamy white. The scapes are short for me and the bud count has been very low. Overall I have been disappointed in this plant. It is in a large raised bed where it gets lots of midday sun. I was recently told by a hybridizer that GS is not a good plant for my area. I'm inclined to agree.

I saw this plant growing in the New York Botanical Gardens in 2017. This is a very tall plant with small cream-colored flowers that are individually not particularly attractive. What drew me to the plant was the scent. I could smell it several feet away and it smelled heavenly! If you like the scent of lilacs in the spring, this plant will provide you with a similar scent in the late summer/early autumn. Another plus is that pollinators (especially bees) are very attracted to it. The plants I saw were blooming in late October. This would be a very desirable plant for the back of the border, provided you could place it somewhere where you could easily get a whiff of its fragrance. I have a very small garden and typically grow only dwarf plants, but I would definitely make space for this in my garden!

I grew the snapdragon Aromas Red Spice in 2017. I grew the plants from seed and transplanted them outside in the Spring. The plants grew well but never reached their full height. They may have been stunted by not having enough water since they were planted close to a mature pine tree and in full sun. The flowers were a deep red color but had very little in the way of scent. Considering that all the many snapdragons I've grown over the years had absolutely no scent these are an improvement. However, if you are expecting a plant with a heavy, wafting scent you will be disappointed. But even without much scent they are one of the prettiest red snapdragons I have grown.

White Snakeroot grows wild in my garden in NYC. At first I thought it was a weed but later found out that it was a native plant. I always make sure to leave some plants when I'm weeding my garden in spring and summer. I find the small white flowers to be quite attractive. It also blooms late in the summer/early fall when hardly anything else in the garden is blooming. The pollinators flock to it! The seeds are wind dispersed, but I haven't found it to be horribly invasive. The seedlings are easy enough to pull up and so far, none of my neighbors' yards have sprouted seedlings. This despite my typically having 10-20 plants flowering each year. I tend to have the same patch of them come up each year with a few stragglers about 3-4 feet away. My main patch is in partial to full shade and the plants grow about two feet tall.

Although registered as a dormant, my potted Comic Strip acts more like a semi-evergreen. This explains why it hasn't multiplied well for me. Comic Strip did produce a proliferation in 2017 but it did not survive.

Although registered as a semi-evergreen, Carousel Princess acts as a dormant daylily in my northern garden.

Although registered as a dormant, this cultivar acts as a semi-evergreen for me in my northern garden. This would explain why it has not multiplied well in my garden as typically only dormant cultivars do well for me.

Huge bicolor fruits! One slice is perfect for even larger slices of bread. Very meaty and juicy. I recommend leaving them on the vine until more red color shows for best flavor. If you do, best to use them within a day or so.

Flambé Red is advertised as a color-changing pansy. Flowers start out as a vibrant purplish-red. As the flowers age the color lightens to almost a rose red. I find both colors to be attractive.