Hi, everyone,

Leslie, I did search this thread (and others), but can’t figure out what finding a polymerous pod actually means. Tink/Michele & Fred recently gave a great graphic description of the reproductive process, but I unfortunately can’t find it. Still, I’m not sure it would answer my questions. (I try to keep up, but, alas, I’m not succeeding!)

I’ve found a 4-chambered bee pod on Rose Mary Dixon (a gorgeous, peach pastel dip). That specific bloom must have opened on a day when I wasn’t at home, since thus far I haven’t seen any poly’s this season.

1. Was this 4-chambered pod created from a bloom consisting of 4 petals and 4 sepals, hence the 4 chambers of the bee pod? Or can a normal bloom with 3 petals & 3 sepals produce the 4 chambers, and the seed pod only indicates that the pollen had polymeric genes?

2. Does this mean that all the harvested seeds in this pod will to a greater or lesser extent produce seedlings with 4 petals and 4 sepals? Or is it just that these seeds are carrying polymeric genes, but seedlings may not ever show this?

Thanks for your help! : )

Elizabete

Elizabete,

I'm sure Leslie will chime in since she knows more on polys, but I figured I'd answer your question the best I can

1. The 4-chambered pod did come from a bloom with 4 petals and 4 sepals. No a normal bloom can not produce 4 chambers.

2. From what I understand (I may be wrong) there is no more of a chance for the seeds to produce seedlings that are poly than a regular pod UNLESS the daylily is one that is considered polymerous. And even then it may not produce seedlings that are.

Most daylilies will produce a 4x4 or a 5x5 bloom once in while and some will have a 6x6 bloom occassionally, but this does not make it a polymerous daylily. Lots of rain (or watering?) can contribute to a daylily having poly blooms for whatever reason. Even a polymerous daylily can be more or less polymerous depending on the water it gets.
One of my daylilies I have of Davisson's is a poly, "Rambunctious Rosie", and she even says it's about 20% of the time poly. BUT the spring it rained a lot it was about 60% poly.

Hope this helps some

Thanks, Michele!

It's always great to see your posts, which are quite to the point, which is always appreciated. : ) (I'd love to find your & Fred's recent description of the daylily's pollination/reproductive process, just in case you made a note of where it occurred on ATP. It seemed more vivid and succinct than others' on-line.)

I honestly know nothing about polymerous blooms, except to note that occasionally I see one in my garden in Northern California, which never gets rain during the growing season, and relies on pre-progammed drip-irrigation as a water source. So, it was a real surprise to suddenly find a 4 chambered bee-pod! : ) Daylilies are mystery, aren't they?

Best to you! : )

Elizabete

It may have been this thread you are referring to
Toward the end where Mona asks a question
The thread "Seedling Progress #6" in Daylilies forum

And then it picks up on this thread at the beginning where Fred started new topic
The thread "Seedling Progress #7" in Daylilies forum

Michele, thank you so much for resurrecting these two threads! For my own purposes, I've saved both. (My own goals as a back-yard hybridizer are modest. I'm only looking to have EMO's - well, *cold* morning openers that happily open more or less flat after a 50 some degree night - and are rust-free in the San Francisco Bay Area that rarely has a true freeze that could kill rust. A modest edge, no eye, are great, as far as I'm concerned. : ) More complicated patterns and edges are for those of you who're more ambitious. )

Clearly, you and Fred have an intuitive understanding - and Fred has the experience from all of his introductions - of what it takes to pollinate daylilies! If you two could keep records of your efforts, and then work these up into even an informal article for ATP (or others), you would be saving many a lot of time, because there would be a greater understanding of what works for you two in the Southeast. It would be a benefit to all of us! : ) Heat waves occur even out here. It's rarely over a 100 degrees - but that happens, too, inevitably at the most inconvenient times.

Happy hybridizing to everyone! : )

Elizabete

Michele is right on with her answers.
Here is a five chambered pod that came from a pentamerous bloom. The "numbers" all relate. A pentamerous bloom will have five sets of sepal/petal pairs, five tubes in the pistil and five sections in the ovary which if pollinated will give a five chambered pod. A regular bloom has all of these in threes, a 4x4 poly bloom in sets of fours, etc. That's one of the things that differentiates polys from doubles. Doubles have the extra tepals but not in pairs. It has extra petals and only three tubes to the pistil, three chambers to the pod, etc.


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Look at these beauties on Octomom. I'm amazed. I've only had the plant a few weeks.

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Smoke Scream is also new this year and has had several poly blooms.

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Here's Smoke Scream melted from the heat.



Leslie, Octomom is a poly bloom machine.

Thanks, Leslie, for the clarification! It was very helpful. : )

Thanks Michele and Leslie, great information that I think is finally starting to sink into my very thick, foggy brain! And Leslie, your explanation about polys having more than six stamens was totally enlightening for me! So my HERE LIES BUTCH has to be trying to double, and I had another flower on it that did the very same thing. Aha!

Octomom!! That is a perfect name for that daylily!! I can't stop laughing over it!!

A pent today on Salmon Be Jammin.

Beautiful!!!

Wow! That's fantastic!

Beautiful!

Every bloom on Moosa Pa Loosa so far has been a single. Oh well, not even my doubles double - so why should my poly's poly? ~Jan

philljm said:Every bloom on Moosa Pa Loosa so far has been a single. Oh well, not even my doubles double - so why should my poly's poly? ~Jan

I know what you mean. I've had more polys here this year on non polys. While Poly Parrot and Airdrie are new this spring I'm giving them up because in my small garden I need more saturated colors. I have been thinking about this a lot looking at bed shots.

Had 2 poly blooms today:

WHOLEBUNCHALOTTA

LADY NEVA

Very nice.

Thanks!!!

I love Wholebunchalotta