I received my first applique'd daylily this last fall. It bloomed for me already this year. I've noticed (and asked a friend if it was just me or could she see this too and she could, so I know I'm not just blind) that from the first bloom to the last the applique became way less noticeable. If I'd seen the last pic first I wouldn't have thought it was an applique. The question is...is this normal? Do a lot of applique's "disappear" like that with successive blooms?

Plant is Mexican Magic. Pics for you to see...

First Bloom:


Last Bloom:

Judy! We have a great group here!

I have grown a few appliqués, but I never noticed them changing through the bloom season. But, I am in a different growing zone and conditions than you are in California, and that might make a difference. We have several members from California that regularly post, so maybe they will chime in with more information.

It does look like your plant is still small - and that might make a difference too.

Thanks daylily. hope I get some more input from those CA people but you make some good points about age and weather. It is still a small fan, single, first time blooming I think (at least for me it is!). I'm really hoping this is not the norm and that she improves with age...and that it is not the norm with all appliques too. I do really like the look...

Judy

I did go back and look at photos of two I grew. The pattern of the throat looks the same over the years and the season, but they were purple. Maybe that makes a difference.

Hi, Judy, and welcome, :-)

What were your temps when "Mexican Magic" first bloomed vs when it last bloomed, and showed less of the appliqué trait? At least for my micro-climate, this summer (with rare exceptions) overall has been very, very cool and windy. Though I may love the weather, special traits in daylilies (including appliqués and bold edges) do far better in hotter rather than cooler weather. Once it settles in, I would imagine that MM should do better when you have consistently hot days (and nights above 60 degree F). This also seems to be the case for those growing in other US areas in the southeast that experienced cooler temps than normal this year (and previous years, for that matter.)

Happy gardening! : )

Judy!!!

Thanks Hemlady for the Welcome! :D

Elizabete: Ummm, that's a lot to remember! LOL. I think that during the day the temps were pretty consistent while she bloomed (80-90's) but cooling in the nights to upper 50's & low 60's. Definitely wind/breeze on many days. So, basically, I need to be patient and let the thing grow and settle before deciding if appliques are something I'm going to enjoy! I'm working on that be patient with the young daylily thing...

Thanks for the input guys!

Judy

Hi Judy! I am in So Cal and grow a couple of appliques. It may be that your dl's just need a bit of time to settle in. Our weather has been the same as yours with the exception of few 100+ degree days a few weeks back but the appliques that I do have are looking better and better.

Were the 2 pictures that you posted taken at the same time of day? I have noticed that many of my dl's that start out strong in the morning fade to nothing worth noting by early afternoon. I am starting to take notes on which daylilies I consider to be "keepers" - those that can withstand our hotter afternoons without melting away. I am not sure what part of California you are in but, in my micro-climate, we had several 115-117 degree days last year that melted all but the strongest flowers.

I posted this yesterday (Trahlyta -not an applique) and it shows what just 6-7 hours can do to a bloom here (I think that you need to click on the photo to get the full comparison).:



Here is a photo of Catcher in the eye, though, grown under the same conditions:



and it just gets better as the day progresses.

Terry Lyninger is another that just gets better with age:

Old Gardener: how I envy you the fluffy pollen on your "Catcher in the Eye" and "Terry Lyninger!" : )

Up here in Marin (just north of San Francisco), I've had a grand total of 3 (only *three*) days that were warm enough to produce usable pollen in the last six weeks! Today is one of them, so I count my blessings, and it does seem that I've set a few pods in the last weeks. May they prosper! : ) There were also a couple days that were in the low 90’s - when Kirby and I 'melt' - but that’s always rare up here. I hope all is well for you and Ed! :- )

Judy, Old Gardener is quite right: give "Mexican Magic" a couple of years to settle in. I think you are in a good area for exotic daylily traits (e.g., appliqués) to perform well, since you generally have at least some heat during the day. In those years when your night temps prior to blooming are above 60 or so degrees, your appliqués should be astonishing, providing they can handle Sacramento's heat. (But, I think it isn't as extreme as So Cal.) : )

Elizabete, I envy you for your temps! Unfortunately, Ed has to sit in the window and watch me when I am outside as we have nesting hawks out in a backyard tree. 30 years ago or so (ouch ), when my oldest son was but a little boy, I had a hawk swoop down and take his cat right in front of me (she was sitting in the flower bed as I was gardening). I could not have been more than 6 feet away but it happened so fast that we lost his kitty that day. So... Ed is not allowed to come out with me due to the 2 hawks and their brood.

I hope that you and Kirby are well

I have 10 daylilies with applique patterns. Most of them show a more impressive applique pattern early in the season when nights are cool. The hotter it is the more the eye color bleeds and less of applique is shown.

Debra

OldGardener: the pics were taken at approximately the same time. I'm in the Sacramento area. We often get into the triple digits ourselves come July/Aug timeframe. Yes, I have a few dl's that fade drastically in the heat. I'm kinda lucky though as I do have an area that I put ones I love that fade that is protected from the afternoon sun. However, some just have to go. LOL. I love your Terry Lyninger! That is an applique, yes? And thanks too for the pics of the pollen! I've just this year decided to try my hand at hybridizing and wasn't really sure what I was looking for but now I know what fluffy is!

Elizabete: can't you just take the pollen inside to warm up/fluff up? I read that it'll still fluff off the plant...might be worth a shot! :D

shive1: Interesting! Mine just seemed to fade from bloom to bloom. After the first one or two, they just were "less" there until that final one. Not sure if temp has anything to do with it...seems mixed reviews on that front.

I'll give MM a chance...let her settle in a year and see how she does next year and decide from there whether to keep her and let her settle more or not. :D

Thanks Hemlady for the Welcome! :D

Elizabete: Ummm, that's a lot to remember! LOL. I think that during the day the temps were pretty consistent while she bloomed (80-90's) but cooling in the nights to upper 50's & low 60's. Definitely wind/breeze on many days. So, basically, I need to be patient and let the thing grow and settle before deciding if appliques are something I'm going to enjoy! I'm working on that be patient with the young daylily thing...

Thanks for the input guys!

Judy

Old Gardener, keep your Ed safe! Along with other neighbors, I also lost cats (two of my kitties) when the coyotes suddenly moved into adjacent Open Space for the first time several years ago. For that matter, I heard a wild story about the previous owner of this house having a *tortoise* (presumably someone’s pet) being dropped onto the house by a flying hawk a couple decades ago. It rolled off the roof into the yard, not very far from where her toddler grandson was playing. Thankfully, her grandson wasn’t hurt, and a neighbor adopted the tortoise. So, relatively speaking, that incident ended well. : )

Debra, thanks (as always! ) for the additional information! You provided a great deal of useful advice to me years ago on the old Dave’s Garden forum when I began to grow the new daylilies that had been hybridized since the 1970’s when I last grew them back East. After seeing numerous garden fotos of appliqués grown in San Francisco’s East Bay (which – like here – overall also has night temps in the high 40’s – mid 50’s F during bloom season, and below 70 F daytime temps), I realized that there was no reason for me to pursue them. It’s just not warm enough here. And then I ultimately destroyed the one patterned one that I had because it was so terribly rust-prone. But from the pix of the East Bay grower, it turned out that the only ones that looked at least slightly like hybridizers’ greenhouse fotos were taken on those rare days when daytime temps were in the 80’s F, and nights well above the standard mid 50’s F. I would actually be interested to learn how many blooms on a single plant in other gardens across the States resemble our ‘picture-perfect’ image of them from hybridizers’ fotos. Though, I suppose it doesn’t matter, since the clumps are so glorious when the scapes slightly sway in a breeze. :-)

In any case, I’m perfectly happy with the elegant simplicity of the ‘edge-no-eye’ daylilies, which are such a novelty when compared to the 1970’s hybrids! (But, the edges in SF’s Bay Area are considerably more modest than what those of you who live in hotter climates expect.)

Judy, yes, I have in the past brought blooms inside to help develop usable pollen! The only back-yard-hybridizing goal that I have is edge-no-eye daylilies that bloom continually for 6+ months (from May until Thanksgiving) here in the Bay Area. I have a few that do that, but would love to have more. Still, I’m secretly hoping that Patrick Stamile is still hybridizing in So Cal (or actually: mid Cal), and that he’ll realize this goal, which he mentioned on the Floyd Cove site years ago. He deserves it.

Judy: just experiment to see what works in your real garden setting. It will be different from the results of green house-grown daylilies of hybridizers in your area.

All the best! : )

Hi Judy!



Nothing to add, just wanted to say "hey" and glad you found the forum.

Thanks fiwit! :D

Elizabete: I can't seem to help myself...I think that the hybridizers pics are how they should look always! I know they sometimes "enhance" and use the most perfect of their pics... but still. :D I am going to try to be patient and see how it does next year. It may be that applique's aren't my thing either. I do love a ruffle! or teeth! Can you share a couple photos/names of the ones that you have that bloom all summer and are your "edge-no eye" ones? I'm not sure I know what those are/look like! But am definitely curious!

Judy

Patience is a virtue yanno! (that's like me - the pot, calling the kettle black!

And welcome Judy ~Jan

Ugh! Hate waiting! But have heard that saying before...just don't always want to adopt it! And thanks Jan!

I discovered something this morning. Although both photos are of Party Pinwheel, the first is of a plant in open ground, full-day sun, southern exposure:



This one bloomed this morning:



It is potted up and, now that we are entering summer and the sun is arcing higher, it is shaded by the house from about 3:30 on.

Both daylilies are from "the same lot", if you will. I split a clump up when I received it and planted both halves in the two different locations.

Judy, I thought about your applique daylily and was wondering if a change in sun exposure may explain the difference in your blooms?

Deleted... Sorry, was thinking of a different plant.