This is an older seedling (the seed was collected in 2011) that I have shown before. It is a (* gasp *) yellow (tetraploid), and nothing much to look at, compared to all of the eyed, edged, and ruffled fancy faces on this thread. But, I like it very much. This FFO image was from around 7:30 am yesterday morning, after a 53 F night. The first bloom on that scape was 4"; the first bloom on a different scape today was 3.5". The plant appears to be rust resistant. (Knock on wood.) I love the flower form and opening traits.
The downside, however, is that there are a paltry 6 buds per scape, the scapes are shorter than I prefer, and I have yet to see this plant rebloom (though it should have the genetics for it). The bloom color also fades on the warmer days (though the bloom itself has good substance, and is still attractive at the end of the day, albeit a lighter shade of color).
I am trying to decide whether to pursue this seedling further or not. (I have other hybridizing goals and limited seedling space, but I do like nice lemon yellow daylilies, and this plant seems to have two traits that are important to me: rust resistance and good opening.) Limited seedling space or not, I am considering making a couple of crosses with it this summer, against things that will (hopefully) retain the rust resistance and bloom color and opening traits, while increasing the bud count and scape height (and maybe bringing in rebloom).
