Interesting all!

My wife runs the naming department here (except for CLOWN PANTS, of course), and the idea that your name will always be connected is meaningful to me. She uses naming as a ministry. Many of our intros are named by people who are in the extremes of their lives, sudden tragedy....or time of celebration. There are some situations when words fail, but we have found that giving a plant with a meaningful name can be healing. John Rice did it for our family in the naming of MEGGIE'S SMILE, for our beautiful niece who was tragically killed. Every year we hear back from people who are continually ministered to by the naming of a cultivar.

Robin Nichols called our garden Sappy Acres....lol. But....when I walk out on a summer morning, and see the many meaningful blooms, I find that I am being ministered to also.

And I like the fact that you don't have to grow 10000s of seeds to have a successful program. I only grow between 200-500 per year. As a seed seller, my plan is to have everybody else grow them....lol.

Steve

A couple of hybridizers who presented for our club recommended, "use your own seedlings, you are the only person who has them". We do make 10,000 seeds and know it is not necessary but you would have to keep Ashton and me out of the garden to reduce the numbers.

Terry

Thank you, for all the great info. The only hybridizes I have ever received advice from, are you here on this forum. I appreciate all that you share.

Thanks,
Gale

Someone also told me a long time ago, " if your daylilies are growing well don't try to do everything you hear" what works for me may not work for you. About planting seed and daylilies I have cut everything by at least 1/3 from what I was doing three or four years ago and will continue to downsize over the next couple of years. On a lighter note, Kathleen being from the far north ask me to grow her some cotton several years ago. I told her I would plant six seed and hoped three of the seed did not germinate, she never had to pick cotton as a child like we did in the deep south. I never did plant those seed.

Pat Stamile and Dan Trimmer both told me to narrow your breeding goals to what you can handle. Most new hybridizers go in too many directions at once.

Pat also told me to use high nitrogen/low phosphorus/high potash fertilizer to help correct short scapes. Nitrogen and potash are easily water soluble---and tend to wash out of the soil. They have to continually be replaced in the soil for good growth. Phosphorus, on the other hand, binds to soil particles and can build up to toxic levels if too much is used, too often. Urea, which breaks down into ammonia--which breaks down into nitrogen can also reach toxic levels if used too much. It does not break down until the temperature gets warm (70 degrees F.)---and continues to break down more rapidly as the temp increases. You see good growth early in the season---then everything goes bad later on when the temps get above 85 F.. It pays to do two things: get your soil tested periodically---and read labels on fertilizer packages. Many of the cheaper ones are very high in Urea and low in the soluble nitrogen.

Wyatt LeFever told me: "Have fun."

Dan also told me to give the plants some magnesium during active early growth. It makes the plants foliage more sturdy and improves the action of the chlorophyll so the plants grow stronger.

Narrow your breeding goals...
someone needs to teach me what that means.
Does that mean UFs and Spiders to go with the Full Forms and Minis?

Terry

Hello, well I have been missing a great thread! I'm back home from a vacation in SC. Just love the Murrel's Inlet area. I really need to go down during bloom season. It is so close to Brown's Ferry and Roycrofts.

So much good advice is on here. I just make crosses for fun, but I do hope to have a couple that can be an intro someday. I hope to honor of my beloved Dad and sister that are both deceased.

I admire those of you that do this on a large scale!

Hoho Terry!

Focus, that's a tricky one. I only have one third of an acre. My yard limitations make me focus to a certain extent. Not a complaint, because I think a larger yard would have finished me a long time ago. I can manage 1/3 of an acre.

I also like surprises. My new seedlings are leading me, more than me leading them. Sure, I knew what I wanted when I made some of my crosses. Getting more than I wanted is always a treat.

I guess you should trust your instincts. I have never had a daylily that grew on me, that I started to like after a few years. I have an immediate gut reaction. Go with that! The first time I saw ROSE F KENNEDY bloom in my yard I knew I was off in a new direction! Or CAROLINA COOL DOWN, a great watermark will stop me in my tracks every time. The intense color of TOURNAMENT OF ROSES and RUBY SPIDER still demand my attention.

Like it was said earlier....have fun!

GDJCB said:Thank you, for all the great info. The only hybridizes I have ever received advice from, are you here on this forum. I appreciate all that you share.

Thanks,
Gale

Dan Hansen - lots of things that can't be repeated in polite company, LOL, but one of the things he hit me over the head with time and again is to use the best plants you can. "We're not just making seed here." Also, a few long crosses are better than several short ones.

David Kirchhoff - Know what you're breeding for. The tighter your goals, the more likely you are to get acheive them.

Mort Morss - cross for what YOU like instead of following the crowd.

Frank Smith - a purple will "clean up" a white better than a cream will.

Dan Trimmer - if you're having trouble getting pods to set, do a self cross to get the plant "in the mood". Once it's set one pod it's more likely to set more.

One of the biggest lessons I've personally learned is not to be afraid to make a way out cross. Dan said I was, ahem, "crazy" to cross a double with a poly when I wanted a double poly but I got some great stuff from that cross.

Lalambchop1 said:One of the biggest lessons I've personally learned is not to be afraid to make a way out cross. Dan said I was, ahem, "crazy" to cross a double with a poly when I wanted a double poly but I got some great stuff from that cross.

Did you get a double poly? Any pictures? Which Dan?

Maurice, it's Dan Hansen. For the first few years I was in DL I helped out at his place in return for him mentoring me and giving me space for seedlings.

I din't get a double poly at first but I did get a couple of good UF doubles and polys from it. I have a couple poly doubles in the pike for possible futures. One is even a tet. That's a kick. The challenge is that a regular 4x4 poly is too boxy, especially in a double. One really needs a 5 way poly for the doubles to work. The first two of these are 5x5 blooms. The last is a 4x4. Either way they sometimes just look "messy". I'm going to wait until the clump matures to see whether I want to keep these.

Leslie, please explain the difference between "long crosses" and "short crosses."

Thank you.

A long cross has lots of same seeds of the same cross, say up to 100 or more, so you really get an idea of the potential of that cross. A short cross has just a few seeds.

Lalambchop1 said:Dan Hansen - lots of things that can't be repeated in polite company, LOL, but one of the things he hit me over the head with time and again is to use the best plants you can. "We're not just making seed here." Also, a few long crosses are better than several short ones.

David Kirchhoff - Know what you're breeding for. The tighter your goals, the more likely you are to get acheive them.

Mort Morss - cross for what YOU like instead of following the crowd.

Frank Smith - a purple will "clean up" a white better than a cream will.

Dan Trimmer - if you're having trouble getting pods to set, do a self cross to get the plant "in the mood". Once it's set one pod it's more likely to set more.

Those are some great tips!

Thanks, Leslie.

Lovely lovely Leslie!

Hey, I hit one. I make lots of long crosses. But I have my own advice on narrow goals being more likely to hit. Ashton has a goal of making a true blue daylily with another goal of making a red with a blue eye with white teeth. Me, I just want really good plants with great scapes and lots of buds and pretty faces. They can be any form and any color. You see his target is narrow (very narrow) but I am much more likely to reach my goals. I already have with about 20-25 seedlings. A big target is easier to hit than a small one. It also helps if you get really close but I don't know what that part has to do with daylilies
.
Terry

Ahead said:Lovely lovely Leslie!

Hey Steve, that sounds like a great name!

I've been thinking about this topic today and remembered another tip. Ra Hansen, via Dan Hansen, said that it's better to have an ugly face on a great plant that a pretty face on a plant with no vigor, weak scapes, etc. Breeding for a pretty face is much easier than breeding for great plant habit.