UNFOLDING DREAMS - My FFO this year.

Lovely way to start your season, Betty! I have my first FFO looking a bit like she's just waking up with bed-head, but also a welcome sight in the garden! ...

LINDA BECK

Great blooms, all! Keep 'em coming

Seedfork said:kimkats
Yes, that looks like Night Beacon, very pretty. But, with a 4.5 rust resistance rating I might prefer Xenacrockett's version.

I had NIGHT BEACON for 2 years and it never got rust even though some others around it did) and this was before I started spraying (once I got rust)

The rating for Night Beacon comes from the University of Georgia's two trials in 2002 (http://hortsci.ashspublication...), but there is always the chance that cultivars will fare one way in one setting and not in another, or even with one strain of local rust versus another. And, it is important to try to include a bit of all cultivars in the garden and hybridizations - they each have their strengths and most all have some weaknesses. I know that is why I do include some Dormants, and Nocturnals along with some possible rust-susceptible cultivars, myself. Diversity is so important to plant population genetics.

I couldn't find Night Beacon for sale at any of the expected and/or AHS daylily gardens, only through online garden centers (was on page two of search results, but I could have missed something....), but I did see it on sale at Wild & Sons for $4, so a very affordable one to try out if you are inclined. Of course, characteristics such as color, height, bloom season, even ploidy can vary from one garden to another, also. So, if you can find it through an AHS garden, perhaps even in your area, they may be able to help sort out how it performs there, as well.

You could even pair it with one of Night Beacon's offspring that has been crossed with some oldies-but-goody seedlings, or one of the pod/pollen parents used in the cross:



Of course, if you are liking the deep purple, Night Beacon might mix well with:



And ... the list goes on and on :D

Yikes, so many purples, so little space or time! lol

tink3472,
That is so encouraging to hear that Night Beacon did not get rust in your garden, I had practically written it off thinking it was going to be a rust magnet.

It is so nice to see blooms! I am not sure how good my bloom season will be this year, day lilies are way behind.

Keep posting them! I really appreciate it

Tina, your Linda Beck looks nothing like mine. Which of us has the wrong one???

LINDA BECK

Cindy, your Linda Beck is looking great! I think it is possible we have the same cultivar, perhaps just in different stages of development and settling in. You know how some doubles start out singling, and colors change over the course of a scape or two (or three) ... even scape heights and number of buds can vary a lot to start, and depending on weather. This is a fan (given to me by a most generous and dear soul) that is newly planted in my near-complete-shade garden, and the photo is its very first scape, with first-ever flower open. I do see a faintly lighter eye (clicking on the photo to see enlargement may help) and the emergent edging, which in California (Betty has spoken eloquently about this difference) can sometimes be non-existent even in mature cultivars where other climates enjoy full sets of teeth.

Thanks, Frillylily, for the link to Linda Beck in the ATP Database! You can see quite a range of color shades there.

Here's a photo of it for side-by-side comparison with another's bloom in the database, looking to me pretty close for an FFO, given the teeth challenges we have in California:



Our scapes here are showing up a full two months early this year without benefit of the warmer, sunnier days and nights of previous years, so they are struggling even to open unless they are somehow green-housed. But, I thought it would encourage others to go ahead and post their April blooms, even if they are not yet ready for front-page glossy layouts ... since we all get so much joy from them! And, I'll keep an eye on it, too, to see if it indeed turns out to be a cultivar that I've somehow mis-labeled. But, the first bloom of spring will always be a memorable one, and of the five fans that have tried to bloom here this month, it came truest to looking like it will be ready to rebloom with more vigor, and more likeness, once the weather turns more summery.

DANCING JUBILEE - FFO


I just got DANCING JUBILEE from Floyd Cove a little over a month ago, and this scape popped up almost immediately. I really like it, and so far it reminds me quite a bit of SENSE OF WONDER.

That pic is from last summer Tina. No blooms for awhile here I'm afraid

I can't imagine how hard it is to wait for that most harsh winter to melt away this year! It was hard to wait for blooms even here, and even with them showing up "too early" for the low night dips in temp ... even with a struggling bloom. My many previous years in MN and IL remind me of the patience, fortitude, and resilience of those waiting for frost-free Mother's Day or later.

@Tina Those are some Lovely Purples! I seem to be drawn to the Purples also. I keep telling my self I need to look for some other colors yet every time I am on line looking it is purple again . Something bout the Dark Purple especially, lol.

tink3472 said:

I had NIGHT BEACON for 2 years and it never got rust even though some others around it did) and this was before I started spraying (once I got rust)

This "NIGHT BEACON" from a package was blooming this morning.
It is much smaller than the other version of whatever-it-is, but it is new so maybe it will grow larger in a year or so.






and this is the previous version (color is more burgundy than pink):


After looking at more NIGHT BEACON Google images, I'm thinking they are the same plant ~ not that it matters.

Great pictures. I have spring fever so bad but the weather still leaves a lot to be desired here. Nothing outside close to blooming except my lilac

kkaymci55 said:Great pictures. I have spring fever so bad but the weather still leaves a lot to be desired here. Nothing outside close to blooming except my lilac

I feel almost guilty enjoying the nice weather we are having here in Florida.
This past winter here was cold early here and then there wasn't much freezing weather after that so daylilies have been ready early.
Also lots of blueberries coming along too.

Seedfork said:tink3472,
That is so encouraging to hear that Night Beacon did not get rust in your garden, I had practically written it off thinking it was going to be a rust magnet.

It still may be a rust magnet but it just never got it here.

The last few days have been lovely in the garden. Here are some of them:



Barbie's Favorite


Bullfrog Kisses


Wingbeats


Parrots of the Caribbean


Hot Gossip


One of my seedlings (Voila Francois x Linda Lubitz)


Lillian's Fire and Flame


Magnificent Hummingbird


And last, but not least .... Dragonfly Dawn (with really good color)