Background history:

"Dragonfly Dawn" is a tetraploid evergreen introduced in 2010 by Jane Trimmer. Jane and Dan own Water Mill Gardens in Enterprise, Florida. For more information about their Daylily Gardens:
http://trimmerdaylily.com/inde...

A very interesting video about the Trimmer's hybridizing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

This cultivar can be found in the ATP Plant Database:

Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Dragonfly Dawn')

This cultivar has been a popular game changer for patterned daylilies!



Please join in, if you own this plant! We would love to know more!

Also, please consider adding a "Local Report" to the ATP Plant Database!!! Thank you!
Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Dragonfly Dawn')

I got Dragonfly Dawn in the fall of 2013.
In 2014 it had 5 buds, this year it had 4 buds.
It's an established plant with about 3-4 healthy dark green fans.
Scapes are around 24" with a big 7" or so bloom.
All blooms are perfect with no pattern.
I will be blooming dozens of seedlings from it and I'm sure it's a great parent.
Haven't got any pods but the pollen is good.
I like the daylily very much, I'm just patiently waiting for it to perform.

I do not have Dragonfly Dawn, but it is one of my favorite daylilies. It is a great parent for hybridizing to get patterning on seedlings blooms.

I have several seedlings of Dragonfly Dawn x Dragonfly Dawn. This is my personal experience and information about using this cultivar in hybridizing, I created these 2 pedigree charts .....

The first chart is Dragonfly Dawn's Pedigree Chart which I find very interesting. It has quite a variety of genes! :



The second chart is showing my four DD x DD seedlings on a Pedigree Chart to give you an idea of what it can create when crossed with itself. Seeds were purchased on the LA (from Rich) and these are the seedlings that grew from those seeds.:



Stats on these seedlings were interesting. Three of the seedlings bloomed for the first time ever this year (and one bloomed for a second season this year). I have 2 seedlings in one raised seedling bed growing next to each other in full sun. Their scape heights were a short 12" and 14" with a bloom size of 5". They began blooming the middle to the end of May this year. Both only had 2 buds on just 1 scape each. The other 2 seedlings were also growing next to each other in a different raised bed that got partial sun and began blooming the middle to the end of April of this year. They each had 1 scape. One had a 21" tall scape and the other had a 22" tall scape. One seedling produced a scape that had 7 buds that bloomed into 7" flowers. The other seedling produced 4 buds that had 6" flowers. It appears that growing conditions can in fact make a big difference with Dragonfly Dawn x Dragonfly Dawn seedlings. Perhaps that is also true of the parent, Dragonfly Dawn. (It may only peform to it's registered stats under certain growing conditions?)

This year, I crossed ZZZ66 x ZZZ67 seedlings which produced several seeds that I will be sowing this month. It will be interesting to see what these sibling seedlings create. All 4 seedlings were very pod and pollen fertile. I used the pollen on many of my other seedling crosses.

I edited my post above to give stats on the DD x DD seedlings. I had not previously noted that there was a noticeable difference in how they each performed when comparing them to one another. It appears that the growing conditions can and do make a difference in the performance of DD seedlings, which may also hold true of the parent .... Dragonfly Dawn.

The database lists 10 people who have Dragonfly Dawn. Please join us on this thread if you have this cultivar! Please share information (and stats, if you have them) on how it performed for you. Your information may be helpful to others who own this cultivar or for those who are researching whether Dragonfly Dawn would be a good addition to their garden.

We got Dragonfly Dawn as a new introduction. I moved it last fall into its current location, and it has performed much better. Everything growing in this area is outstanding! We even added more fans this spring to use for hybridizing. David set some pods this year. He does not remember how many; pods have been collected. It is currently reblooming and has increased nicely. We are happy to grow it. Dan Trimmer has used it a lot in his hybridizing program.

hi! I'm in zone 5 and I'm happy to report that Dragonfly Dawn has thrived for me! She has survived brutal winters recently, lazy year with little snow cover. Dragonfly Dawn multiplies well for me and is currently reblooming. I use the pollen successfully, and set pods with her as well. Her seeds are always among my 'keepers'. I have several seedlings form her crossed with broken pattern pollen and had nicely patterned blooms😍

I don't have DD, but I have a bunch of seeds I got from Ladylovindove last year that are DD X Cobalt Rings. They are growing aggressively and I am hoping to get some blooms next year.

Doris - What kind of growing conditions did you move it to? I am very interested to know. I hope we get to see some of your children seedling blooms from this parent.

Gail - Welcome to the Daylily Forum! Thank you for posting your helpful information about Dragonfly Dawn growing in your garden. I am excited to hear that you are getting reblooms on yours! I hope I see reblooms on my seedlings eventually. Great news! I hope you will eventually post photos from the children blooms from this parent daylily.

Am I correct when I say that Dragonfly Dawn is a good grower and is perfect for hybridizing, but doesn't give many flowers?

As a non-hybridizer the number of flowers would be important for me


Mayo

Mayo - According to the Plant Database (the info comes from the AHS database), Dragonfly Dawn should produce 21-25 blooms per scape when it is a fully mature clump. That is one of the things that we are hoping folks here will post information about.

Members who have this cultivar - How many blooms did you get on a scape?

It's funny you should start this thread Becky. I've been thinking of you this week as I've harvested my first pods from DD. I crossed it to polys in the hopes that I can get a poly with that pattern.

I've had it a couple of years but bought it as a single fan and last year and it didn't bloom. It has multiplied nicely and this year bloomed well. I didn't count the blooms but I remember pollinating it many times and it set at least 6 pods.

Kidfishing is right when he says all the blooms were perfect. They were very pleasing. Many times when one buys a DL without having seen it "live" the blooms are a disappointment. Not so with DD. I plan to use it for many more years. In addition to polys I want to pair it with some of Dan Hansen's skinny patterns.

I didn't have any rust in the garden this season so cannot comment on it's resistance.

[quote="beckygardener"]Doris - What kind of growing conditions did you move it to? I am very interested to know. I hope we get to see some of your children seedling blooms from this parent.

I moved DD to an area with richly amended soil. It gets lots of water and as much sun as most of ours get. It got both water and sun in its previous location. It is in a location that we frequent more often, so we get to enjoy it each day it blooms. We always like rebloom. It would not be fair for me to comment on the bud count, because ours was moved last fall and new fans added this spring. Next year's bud count should be a better representation of the bud count we can expect. BTW, we are in zone 7.

Doris

I love DRAGONFLY DAWN! I got it in 2014, and it has grown from a DF to 6 fans now.




I have used its pollen liberally this year and have now harvested pods created using pollen from AMETHYST PRISM, CURIOUS CUTIE, GEOMETRIC WIZARD, METRO MARKET and one of my seedlings. It was a mid to mid-late bloomer for me, and since our temps heated up so early this year I had to put a beach umbrella up to give it shade while the crosses took.

What a fantastic daylily!

I am sad to report that Dragonfly Dawn died without any accomplishments. This spring I bought another and I hope to report good news next summer.

'Dragonfly Dawn' is one of the most important daylilies in my garden as far as hybridizing for patterns. I purchased a dbl. fan in 2012. Since then, it has expanded to 9 fans. However, because it is an evergreen, it can be tender here. In my zone 4 garden, it is the last to make its appearance in the Springtime after a long cold, snowy Winter. It has a mind of its own, which can be scary at times. Once it starts to grow, and the ground gets warmer, its fine. I keep it fertilized heavily in the Spring with 'alfalfa meal'. This summer the plant sent up 2 scapes with 12 buds, which is not that many. Each bloom is different in color variation from the last one that bloomed as far as the pattern goes, making 'Dragonfly Dawn, a most unusual plant. The blooms are gorgeous. Setting pollen on it is easy, and the pods are huge. It bloomed for a full 3 1/2 weeks here in July, mid season.




'Dragonfly Dawn' - Last bloom of this season with a huge seed pod next to the bloom.

profesora said:I am sad to report that Dragonfly Dawn died without any accomplishments. This spring I bought another and I hope to report good news next summer.

Mine has survived the winter without any trouble but I need to move it. As Alex said, it is one of the last things to make an appearance in the spring and by then it is being overshadowed by neighboring plants. I think it wants as much sun as it can get. I'm happy to give it that - the blooms are worth it, and the hybridizing potential is huge!

Thanks for the acorn, Becky. That was very kind of you. Are there any other plants you'd like to know about?

Thanks for the acorn!
There's a raffle tomorrow! And I've been saving up... Only if there is a prize that I need...

Sometimes I think certain cultivars get over-used in breeding programs causing a loss of genetic diversity. But, honestly, what the hell do I know? Not even sure such a thing is possible with these flowers, but the thought does creep into my head on occasion.

Robert....In my garden, DD is planted in full sun, one of the best spots. I feel its because its an evergreen and because this particular plant needs a lot of time to establish itself here in the Northeast. Now having said that it has grown from 2 fans to 9 in just 2 yrs. I will feel better when it has had 3 full yrs. growing in my garden. Until then, I will continue to baby it, and worry about it next Spring. I don't want to lose this one.