OT - This has nothing to do with taking pictures of daylilies but is another way to use an umbrella in the garden. I have a kneeling bench that I always use while working in the garden. When it would be hot I always wished I could have some shade while using the bench. I purchased a beach style umbrella which tilts and had my hubby attach a pvc pipe to the side of my kneeling bench with a wood plug in the bottom end of the pipe. I pop my umbrella into the pipe and have instant shade.

Yeah, I run around with my little stool and umbrella all the time when it's sunny!

I love, love, love this idea of how to construct this.
Add a water bottle holder, a place to hang a bag
with tools, pencil, paper, pollen crossing tools, etc.,
and I would be all set.

I've been using an apron with many deep pockets
for these things, but I can imagine how this could be
incorporated into a carry-around bench.

LOL I actually have a pocketed tool holder that I have almost worn out attached to the other side of mine where I can add a bottle of water besides my tools. Plus besides the pad that is on it I added another one which makes it much easier on the knees. I absolutely have to use my kneeling bench to work in the garden ever since I herniated a disk in my back.

This is very similar to my kneeler bench and tool holder except mine is much older plus it doesn't fold but still in great condition, although I may have to order a new tool holder. I think I ordered mine from Lee Valley. http://www.leevalley.com/US/ga...

One thing I have used for years is a nail apron with three pockets to carry my camera,hybridizing tools, and a small pad and pen to write on.

An apron with pockets would be very handy. Like that idea a lot. I also use a bench. You can either sit on it or turn it upside down and kneel on it. Use it a lot when I weed. I also have a root knife that is very good at prying apart daylily fans. Use it a lot.

WARNING!!! APRONS CAUSE SERIOUS NECK PAIN!!!! I have used an apron outside for years. I love them. The more pockets the better. I was totting so much stuff in all those pockets that my neck was killing me. My aprons go over the head and then tie at the waist. It took me a few days to figure out that over the summer I had accumulated so much stuff in my pockets that it was putting way too much weight on my poor neck. So, about once a month, clean all those pockets out and get back to the recommended weight limit!!!!

Love this thread. Now to remember all the neat stuff that I know I use that noone else has thought about.

Blessings to all!!!

Good to know. I have neck problems as it is.

Use a tunic style apron instead, and you'd avoid the neck problem.
I like that apron idea, You should submit that idea as a tip! I may have to make myself one, with a few more pockets.

I would be lost without my hybridizing apron - I use and old chefs apron cut down with compartments sown to hold different things i need...

I use one of those nail aprons that they sell at Home Depot for a dollar. It ties around the waist. They are so cheap, that when it gets dirty, just toss it in the trash. (Reminder to self, get a new apron and toss the 2 old ones you have). I was fussing one day about not having enough pockets to do stuff, and my son handed me one of the aprons. He is such a sweetheart. They are perfect.

I put my scissors, a Sharpie pen for writing on tags, tags, tweezers, pollen vials, and anything else that will fit in the pockets. Camera is too big.

Now if I could just figure out how to get this old body working better.

Dot

Dot, I use the Home Depot apron, too. It is very handy, cheap, and washable or disposable. Last year I even bought a pink one when they were supporting Breast Cancer Awareness.

Doris

A pink one??? Oh how neat. I love anything pink to garden in. It makes me feel happy. If you see them again at HD, please let us know because our HD would probably have them too. I'm a big fan of HD. Ours isn't as busy as the Lowes, which isn't good, but it sure makes for nicer associates. I love walking and looking. I look in all departments for that little thing I just know I'll find a new use for in the garden. I do this a few times a year on a cold rainy day. It's so much fun.

Having been a waitress for many, many years I can vouch for aprons giving you neck problems if too much stuff is in the pockets.
I use the Home Depot apron as well. It got misplaced when I moved and I haven't gotten one for this year yet, but need to next time I'm at HD. I also have a small toolbox I store things in like lots of extra tags and this year colored paper clips, colored wires (which I'm not too fond of using so I won't next year), pencils/pens, pencil sharpener, scissors, notepad. Since my hybridizing area is not at my house I just keep whatever extra I may need in the toolbox. I have two different ways I store the pollen to see which would work out better since I have limited storage space in James' freezer. The way I did it last year was basically the way Fred does, a piece of foam/styrofoam cut into a large rectangle with holes in it to hold the vials of pollen. (sorry the photos are bad, I just took a real quick photo)




The vials you can just slip down into the apron pocket.

The other thing I store pollen in is matchboxes and use a q-tip to dab the pollen and these take up less space in the freezer because you just stack them on top of each other in a small container. These really need to stay flat or the pollen can spill out if the box slides open so I put these in the top tray of the toolbox.

A nail apron is a great idea and would carry more than the fanny pack I typically use for tags, markers and small notebook.

One thing I wouldn't be without is a plastic 14" bottom saucer from a flower pot. I line it with a piece of paper and start my hybridizing by picking stamens from the plants I want to use that day. Placed on the paper I then write the pollen plant next to them and can carry almost all potenial parents for the day around with me - there's always that one cross that pops in your head and sends you running for pollen. When I'm done I bring it inside, strip filaments from leftover anthers and allow them to dry completely for freezing. (Caution - dropping or accidently kicking the saucer when placed on the ground....is not recommended....been there, done that)

Michel, I was typing while you were

I've use gel caps for freezing pollen but have a bunch of the plastic vials. The one time I tried them I had condensation ruin the pollen after taking them from the freezer - is there a way to get around this, what did I do wrong?

Oh, how many times have I kicked over my cup of pollen or whatever I may have it in for the day. I collect my pollen in the same vials that Michele does and I learned the hard way that they must be left open for the pollen to dry or it will get wet and ruin. Thus I have all the open vials usually in a small plastic cup. I must put them in the cup in a way that they will all stand up and I'm sooooo careful to set it somewhere safe. Then, wham, somehow I manage to knock it upside down. Please don't be within ear shot of me because I usually utter a few choice words that aren;t fit for children, pets or even adults!!

Michele, I love the piece of foam. That's neat !!! I just gave that piece of info to DH for him to get me one like it. He's good at these kind of things. Thanks goodness!!

I'm sure you already know this, but for general knowledge; if the anthers are not completely dry (and I mean completely) I have noticed it will condensate inside. And of course the given time for them to dry varies on lots of things' temperature, air flow in room, lighting, etc. I found that if you can put them under a ceiling fan or near a stand fan on low they dry faster. I put mine in those little dixie cups so they don't blow away. I have had anthers I've collected at 9am still not be completely dry by 3pm (no fan in room). I took them home with me to finish drying, turned a fan on in the room and they were dry in no time. Sometimes the anthers seem to dry faster if left on the filament versus removing them. I have taken whole blooms in because I didn't have time to remove anything before I got busy with other stuff and those anthers would be dry way before the ones I had removed earlier. Once the anthers are dry I pour them out of the dixie cups into the vial. I did try once to put the anthers directly in the vials and leave them open to dry but there wasn't enough air circulation for them to dry properly and it ruined the pollen.

Other than that the vials of pollen need to thaw before opening it. Some say 5 min others say 20 min to thaw. As hot as it gets here, by the time I walked to the daylilies and was ready to pollenate they were thawed. Also, another suggestion was after you are done with the vial to let it sit open for a bit once back inside so any moisture that the pollen sucked in (lack of a better term) would dry out again. Sometimes I did this and sometimes I didn't have time so I just threw it back in the freezer when I was done. Didn't seem to make a difference either way. I have pollen I am using from last season that had been stored in the vials.
Another thing you can do is if you don't have luck with the vials not condensating is once the anthers are dry or shoot, even before they are dry, you can swab the pollen onto a Q-tip that is cut short enough to fit into the vial and then store only the Q-tip in the vial. You can store it cotton side up so when you open the vial the pollen is right there and you just dab away. I have turned them the other way and used the forceps to grab the stick part and used it to hold it and dab. I did this to begin with because I was afraid I wouldn't let the anthers dry long enough.

Mona, if you have any florist foam around the house you could use that for outside.

Thank you for the great explaination! Found what I was doing wrong with the first sentence, 2nd paragraph. I was taking the vial out of the freezer, opening, removing anthers needed and then putting it right back into the freezer. When using the gelcaps, I always remove them from the freezer and place them into the fridge first thing in the morning, then take them out of the fridge to the garden. I can be a complete dunce sometimes...