Okay, this might and probably has been posted before, but who are your top go to hybridizers you buy from?

There are so many out the that it's crazy. I've bought from Blue Ridge thanks to Ginny, along with a few others.

There are so many... depends on what kinds you are interested in... diploids, tets? Also any favorite categories? Toothy, Patterns, Miniatures, etc. And are you talking plants or seeds? Also location is critical... to make sure they do well in your climate. Lots to consider.

I got great plants from Blue Ridge and CTDaylily and Ansari (including some EV nd SEV which may not do well for me) this year...

For seeds... some of my favorites came from the LA Auction: Ahead, Rich, Eustace, Codster, EMTMike, Emery, JustSue, SScape all of the top of my head. I know I have missed some. On Facebook some killer crosses from: Manning, Best, Seifert, Shannon Howes-Jurgens, John Picard, Otto.. Of course on the seeds we will have to see what comes out of it and reassess how thrilled I am then!

And I have my eye on some intros from Kulpa, Polston, Gossard, Hall, Bush and Best.... who knows if i can afford them or if they will be available if I can.

Davi

Davisson and Todd are my favorite hybridizers. I adore their intros, even though I haven't been able to afford them. One of these days.

I watch Davisson, Todd, Emmerich, Holmes, Hanson, Gossard, Stamile, Howard and Sherman very closely. Many others, such as; Wilkie, Hobbs, Maher, Derrow, Bouman, Stadler, Marchant and Karl, have the occasional introduction that speaks to me. I buy mostly tets, and tend to select by plant habit, form, substance/, poise, color and other attributes, rather than purely by hybridizer's reputation. Parentage is pretty important to me. I like UFs , teeth, and UFs with teeth, also tall (36"-44") plants with well-spaced branching. Patterns don't do much for me. Most of them seem to canoe, or have other opening problems, and seem to require a lot of heat to really show off the color gradations.

Bush has some interesting plants, although I wish someone would send him some Avery tags.

I assume you're asking about currently active hybridizers, otherwise I'd include Whatley, Reckamp, Harris, Benz and Blaney. I'm sure I left some out.

RobinSeeds said:Davisson and Todd are my favorite hybridizers.

Hmmm... Never heard of them... I'll have to check them out.

I have a lot of Ginny Pearce introductions and seedlings in my garden. It seems to me Ginny won't introduce a plant unless it meets her requirements. Many of her plants just had monster years for me, blooming over 5 weeks, despite our bad winter and spring.

And Paul Owen was the first real hybridizer I ordered from when I was starting, and his plants do great for me. A lot of Paul's make good parents and are heavily represented in my seedling beds.

I've been working on season extenders, and Margo Reed and Jim Murphy have a lot of nice plants for that, along with the Darrow's from Olallie.

And I like what James did there listing some older ones. Al Goldner intros and unregistered plants are great performers for me, particularly Goldner's Bouquet and Honolulu Fruit (unreg).

I haven't dedicated enough effort to it, yet, but I want to collect more early Tets (60's) from people like Robert Griesbach who was from Park Ridge, IL and worked out of DePaul University. Also Orville Fay, who was from Northbrook, IL, also around me. Brother Charles Reckamp was a monk at The Society of the Divine Word in Techny, IL, also in my back yard. I have had the good fortune to collect 8 of his introductions or those introduced by Roy Klehm of Song Sparrow, who deserves props for his own work, as well as care-taking Reckamp's legacy.

I kind of went on and on, but I was a history minor and in a lot of ways the hybridizers are as important as the blooms to me.

... oh, and a quick look at my plant list reminds me that I actually do have a plant or two or 30 from Judy Davisson. I only have four from Steve Todd, and but I've made his genetics a major part of my seedling beds.

Good info everyone. Thank you. Being a newbie to daylilies kind of, can you guys give info to where someone can find your favorite breeders?
Thank you in advance.

Tim, Dr. Robert Griesbach was ahead of the times when he was working with daylilies. Gracie Buttercup and Paul Voth being some of his nice ones. I have a lot of his lilium seedlings from his place when he was forced into retiring. His material will start to be scarce to come by I think since he just passed away a few weeks ago. When he retired from DePaul, he moved to Delavan Wisconsin, just 20 minutes from me and when I saw his fields both lilium and Daylilies, it was a sight to behold.

Roy Klehm has also decided to retire, Song Sparrow being only 5 minutes from my house. Sadly I'm not sure if Song Sparrow will be selling next year or not. Last I heard he sold the property to a food crop farmer and he of course wants to use it for food crops. Acres and acres of peony and greenhouses will be taken town and tilled in and destroyed if that's the case.

Nhra_20 said:Being a newbie to daylilies kind of, can you guys give info to where someone can find your favorite breeders?

I used to have a long list of bookmarks, but now I use Charlotte's Daylily Diary;
http://daylilydiary.com
The main page is an alphabetical list of daylily nurseries, but if you visit the Hybridizer's Corner, the breeders are listed by last name. The latest website updates are listed in a scrolling panel at the top of the page.

Aw, Dave. Sad but greatly appreciated information you shared on Dr. Griesbach and Roy Klehm. That's why I want to have them represented well in my garden.

Yes, that scenario (retiring and selling to a non hybridizer) is very sad.

Thanks for the link James, that's very good info!

Robin, I agree, but his kids didn't want anything to do with the plant business and his fields are in prime agricultural soil. Was farm land before he bought it and built his nursery. Their site says they are having a list for 2020 soon, so MAYBE plans have changed.

Perhaps he has a long enough closing date so he has a chance to sell what he's not going to take. I hope that's the case.

Dave, another fun way to find hybridizers this time of year is to just Google "Daylilies 2020 Introductions". It brings up people you wouldn't think to check out. I just used this method and it reminded me of Chad Bush of Colorful Chaos. He has some toothy gems, it looks like.

I watch Davisson, Todd, Emmerich, Holmes, Hanson, Gossard, Stamile, Howard and Sherman very closely. Many others, such as; Wilkie, Hobbs, Maher, Derrow, Bouman, Stadler, Marchant and Karl, have the occasional introduction that speaks to me. I buy mostly tets, and tend to select by plant habit, form, substance/, poise, color and other attributes, rather than purely by hybridizer's reputation. Parentage is pretty important to me. I like UFs , teeth, and UFs with teeth, also tall (36"-44") plants with well-spaced branching. Patterns don't do much for me. Most of them seem to canoe, or have other opening problems, and seem to require a lot of heat to really show off the color gradations.

Bush has some interesting plants, although I wish someone would send him some Avery tags.

I assume you're asking about currently active hybridizers, otherwise I'd include Whatley, Reckamp, Harris, Benz and Blaney. I'm sure I left some out.

James,
What are the traits of the descriptive term "poise" in a daylily?

Definitely Emmerich, Gossard, Davisson, Stamile, I'm liking some of Nan Ripley's, and Grossman does well for me in the North. I have lots of others. These just come to mind.

Tim, I wish Chad Bush would share the parent names. I went looking on his site and ran into the pollen parent of a bonus cross I recently received from the inimitable Mr. Todd.

One More Angel x Tiger Shark Twist

One More Angel is a large, soft pink beauty from Davi. The pic of Tiger Shark Twist on Chad's website shows a huge, crazy looking thing that kinda reminds me of a pi$$ed off Banana Python.

I'm thinking this cross will either jazz One More Angel up, or tame Tiger Shark Twist down, and maybe make it a little bit sweet. Steve, have you bloomed any seedlings from this cross?

I have not, Mary. This was my first season with TIGER SHARK.

Well, I can't wait to see those kids!