Thanks for the historical background on conversion practices. For me, the range of percentage in possibly "wrong ploidy listed" daylilies of 1-8% serves a very helpful purpose in raising awareness that when there are no prior offspring, or a cross does not take, it may be worth trying a cultivar on others thought to be of a different ploidy, if the owner is interested. My small garden already holds 200 cultivars easily (so possibly 2-10 mis-ID'd), and many of the daylilies listed in earlier discussion were popular enough to be found in many gardens. Just helping people understand that there can be a range of avenues to explore and pursue when pods don't seem to be setting.
admmad said:I am also going to introduce an unusual possibility. Diploid plants (any species) produce pollen with problems at high temperatures. The pollen can be dead but also it sometimes can be the incorrect ploidy (due to problems in development associated with the high temperatures). When that happens the pollen from a diploid can be the same ploidy as that from a tetraploid and work on tetraploids - usually at a low percentage. High temperatures do not necessarily affect diploids and tetraploids in the same way since for example the sizes of their cells, etc., are different. High temperatures may possibly cause diploid pollinations to fail more frequently than tetraploid pollinations.
Though DLB crossed successfully with a number tets, I recall an almost visceral sense of changes in how pistils and pollen perform differently between full-sun and full-shade flower beds. It is almost like an inflammation first expands, and then heat dries, tissues and structures beginning around 90 degrees, and that also seems somehow connected to the instant stress response that happens to foliage (and ultimately, root systems) when temps hover over 100 in full sun.
So it's becoming quite interesting and intriguing to me to work a bit with extreme high temps, and rather than always time my dabbing in the 70-80 degree zone, I think I will have to indulge next season in doing more stuff at the far end of the daylily temperature bell-curve. I am also looking forward to re-doing dip-to-dip on Dixie Land Band, all in full shade and at a range of temps next season, to take a further look at what you describe, and perhaps get some dip offspring. I'll include Frankly Scarlet in this, as it has crossed both ways, more frequently with tets than dips, but perhaps it also reflects some impact from location and temperature differences.
