I bumbled across this site and was impressed by his seedlings and notice that he uses some of my favorite daylilies in his hybridizing efforts. His name is Mike Darrow. His introductions are exceptionally well priced. Didn't see any intros for 2014, but his yellow seedlings further on down the page intriqued me. A good NON fading ruffled yellow is always a classic.........Maryl

http://adenahems.blogspot.com/...

I have heard of him but I do not have anything of his.

Those diploid patterned ones are very nice!!!

I don't have any of his intros but he is active on several Facebook forums devoted to daylilies.

I know of Darrow as the hybridizer of pink stripes
Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Pink Stripes')

Oh that's right. How could I forget Pink Stripes.

He is very active on facebook, right now he is posting a bunch of pictures

Thanks everyone. I don't do Facebook, but I may have to explore owning some of his daylilies for myself one day......Maryl

I believe @newyorkrita has several of his and has posted pictures, if I'm not mistaken. Because a lot of the Olallie series blooms so late, it really can extend the season. Unfortunately, I myself don't have any.

Similar names but the hybridizer of 'Pink Stripes' is Mike Derrow with an e, Olallie Daylily Gardens is Chris Darrow with an a.

EdBurton said:He is very active on facebook, right now he is posting a bunch of pictures

What group is this on FB?

Daylily Hybridizers Nook

I haven't had time to add some comments on this thread until today. Last year my wife and I sent in an early spring order for some of Mike Derrow's plants just to give them a try. He uses some plants of Richard Norris' in his program and Richard focuses heavily on plant health and habit. His plants do extremely well for us in south/central Indiana. We do grow mostly tets, and didn't order any of his dips, though he has a number that are tempting.

Mike shipped the plants very promptly and we got them in the ground quickly. They had time to settle in and most bloomed for us last year. They're still fairly new, so no final assessment, but we have been very happy with them so far. His site is a bit hard to navigate since it's a blog and a catalogue, too. I can find the 2014's, but can't find the 2013's right now. One thing that impresses is that he discusses the good and bad of each plant and often shows bloomed out scapes. He is obviously not a breeder willing to sell you a plant that is weak or was represented as a rebloomer when it isn't. He seems very focused on accurately representing how the plants do for him, with attention to their overall health. It's disappointing to buy, based on a pretty flower, when the plant is so poor you rarely see it bloom. I don't think that's the case with Mike.

Last year's order, with generous bonuses:

Transylvanian Tango (check out Mike's assessment of this one...he grew it side by side with other toothy reds for his evaluation. We can't wait for it to rebloom this year...very tall scapes with loads of buds!)
Empire of Dawn and Dusk (from Norris' Clarification)
Butter Me Up (seems very healthy, as he portrayed it. I like 'em big, flat, and yellow)
Also Known As (big AND toothy)

Bonuses:

Sometimes Shadows Speak (from Norris' Mary's Baby)
The Tribble With Blue (love this one!)


Last year in the GardenWeb forum on daylilies, one grower praised Derrow's plants for rebloom and continuous bloom. My wife and I also found him prompt to answer emails, which makes him tops on our list. I think his program is well worth a trial!





The Tribble With Blue

He is on Facebook and it looks like he plants 1000's of seedlings each year.

Not a beginner I'd say.

definitely not a beginner

BobW said:... One thing that impresses is that he discusses the good and bad of each plant and often shows bloomed out scapes. He is obviously not a breeder willing to sell you a plant that is weak or was represented as a rebloomer when it isn't. He seems very focused on accurately representing how the plants do for him, with attention to their overall health. It's disappointing to buy, based on a pretty flower, when the plant is so poor you rarely see it bloom. I don't think that's the case with Mike. ..

Agreed.

Thanks so much Bob for telling about your experience with him. Butter Me Up seems right up my alley, for as I initially posted, a good (emphasis on good) colorfast/sunfast medium yellow isn't as easy to find as you would think. I'll definitely be looking into his daylilies next spring. And you are right his site isn't the easiest to navigate, so good thing he answers e-mails......Maryl

I can ditto Bob's praise for Adena Hems and Mike Darrow. I ordered for the first time last year and was sent extremely nice plants with a couple generous bonus plants. Most of them bloomed the same year for me. I am in a zone 5 area with fewer growing days than most zone 5s and they made it through the worst winter in a long time, great.

Not much is blooming here yet, but Adena Imposter gave me a beautiful bloom yesterday. I can't report on the rebloom of this one yet but I search out plants with "Frequent Flyer" in the background as it is a good parent for northern rebloom.

Adena Imposter (Derrow, 2013)
height 18in (46cm), bloom 3in (7.6cm), season E, Rebloom, Dormant, Diploid, 18 buds, 1 branches, Light shell pink petals with round royal purple eye and complete picotee edge, green throat, flat, round outfacing blooms, multiple rounds of rebloom. (Lavender Blue Baby × Frequent Flyer)

That is a very pretty bloom. I really like that fuschia colored eye and edge.