I thought I would start a seedling thread (instead of posting to the March 2017 Blooms thread).

This one has come back reliably since 2015. It is typically an early bloomer. This year we had 41 degrees the evening before it bloomed. Last night the temps were in the mid-40's and it bloomed like a champ today for the first time this year/season.

The parents are Laughing Clown x Instant Graffiti (CCC03):


Stats:

Becky, can't believe such a beautiful bloom in the cold!!!

Love that you post your record keeping. I'm still trying to figure out how to keep good records. Would you mind telling what CCC03 means?

Nice seedling Becky, I have lots of seedling scapes but none ready to bloom for a few more days.

Josie and Fred - thank you. I was very surprised this older seedling even bloomed, much less opened up during such Florida cold weather. And it also does well in the heat of summer. The bloom is not very special, but I keep it around because of the other traits and have used it in my hybridizing efforts.

Josie - CCC prefix means the seeds were planted in Fall 2013. The number is just a number that I assign in numerical order. It bloomed for the first time in 2014. So this plant is 3+'years old. I use very simple labels using a clear plastic knife. Each year, I change the prefix letters up for new seedlings that I start from seed. Since I don't grow that many, this simple ID system works well for me, personally.

Well, I noticed today that the bloom was still open. It actually lasted 2 days with the cool weather! So I wonder if it is a hardy evergreen?

I also have scapes coming up on several of my Dragonfly Dawn (DD) crosses. Sadly, I've noticed some rust on them. I absolutely believe now that DD shows rust. It is not a rust bucket, but it is not rust resistant either. Or maybe it does show some resistance, but the number is probably a 2.5 - 3 rating.

I lost all my original DD x DD seedlings over the past year, but had success making crosses using 2 of the sibling seedlings before they kicked the bucket. So it will be interesting to see what those crosses produce. I have scapes on 2 of them. Another DD cross is with Smoky Eyes which is also scraping. It seems DD is an early bloomer or seems to pass that trait on. It's children have never rebloomed for me, but then again they never survived here past season 2. Seeing what these new seedlings do, shall be interesting. DD is still one of my favorite cultivars even though I don't own the real DD. It makes beautiful children (blooms).

Yesterday's seedling bloom .....

This is the second year for this seedling blooming. This is ZZZ38 (Galaxy Explosion x Lily Munster). The scape was as tall as the flower was big. Bloom and scape were a little deformed:


Last year the scape was short, too. It had a 10" scape with a 6 1/2" bloom. It bloomed a month later last year (April 2016). This is a photo of it last year.:


It is typically a beautiful bloom, but the scape is just way too short.

Today, I had a first ever bloom on one of the (DD x DD) x (DD x DD) crosses. DD=Dragonfly Dawn. Both parents have since perished. But I collected seeds from a cross I made with the 2 siblings before they both died.

Here is the first ever bloom of SSS67 (ZZZ66 x ZZZ67). It did the canoeing thing with the petals. I've had the canoeing happen on the parents, too, which typically happens with the first bloom or if it is a cool morning (it was 55 degrees this morning).

Ugly first bloom, but I can see the DD genes even in the curled petals:


At the end of the day, this is how it eventually looked. It shall be interesting to see what subsequent blooms look like from this seedling:


These are the parents of SSS67:
Pod parent: ZZZ66 (This was a disappointing loss of a seedling for me, because I was actually going to evaluate it and possibly name and register it. It died in 2015.)


This is the pollen parent: ZZZ67 (Another sad loss. It died in 2016.)


As far as the death of the parents .... maybe I over cared for them. Or maybe there is something about the genetics in DD that don't like growing in central Florida?

I posted about Lily Munster being on the daylily of the day today and said the short scape was something I did not like about the flower. I hope I can get some seedlings from it with taller scapes.

Cindy - I agree! I think it needs to be crossed with a very tall scape cultivar. I do love the blooms and feel that trait should be passed on during hybridizing if possible.

Today I had another first time ever seedling bloom. This one is SSS56:



The parents are 2 of my seedlings (one deceased):
Pod parent (now deceased): ZZZ66 (DD x DD)


Pollen parent: ZZZ31 (Cherry Custard Cheese Cake x Palace Garden Beauty):


Keep in mind that these seedling blooms can change over the first 3 years. So it may develop more petal ruffle, it could change color .... who knows?

Your seedlings look great Becky, I can't wait to see more.

Thank you.

I like to post cultivar cross information for anyone who is doing any hybridizing. I am always amazed at what 2 different (and sometimes the same) parent plants can produce. It fascinates and intrigues me. Perhaps I am assuming other Daylily growers also find that to be true ....

Nice seedling Becky, sorry about all the ones you have lost.

Ditto, great looking seedlings!

So exciting to see your seedlings blooms, Becky! They must be a nice treat! I hope to see some of my seedlings bloom this year.

Thanks, y'all!

I discovered a little good news today..... It seems that I did NOT lose ZZZ67 (DD x DD). I was going through all my garden areas & containers and writing down names/seedling codes of what is still alive and found ZZZ67 is alive and well. Photo in the above thread: https://garden.org/thread/view...

That's good news Becky, I think we have all misplaced one before.

Well, it's not a bloom yet, but...I found my first scape on a seedling today! This will be my first year of blooming out seedlings that I planted myself and raised from seeds

I was so worried about this bed of seedlings (and my other daylilies) because of the severe cold snap we had week before last. It would not have been bad except that we had an unbelievably warm winter, and all the daylilies were about a foot out of the ground already when the frost got them. I do wonder what effect it will have on the bloom season. Until then...fingers crossed that this scape will survive and be gorgeous!

Congratulations Regina, I don't think that cold will have any effect on the bloom season, a lot of things here are blooming early.

Regina - I look forward to seeing your seedling bloom(s)!

Here is the 2nd bloom on SSS67:



It has a slight discoloration on the lower left petal tip. It looks like a DD child. It shall be interesting to see if this bloom color stabilizes or changes. My guess is that it stabilizes to what I now see.

Regina, I found a scape on a 2015 seedling yesterday. It is a cross between Stella de Oro and Prairie Wildfire.