First time dabbing pollen. Memphis x Emerald Bay. I guess it didn't work because the bloom fell off after 2 days.



I used pollen from the freezer. Last fall I got it off Emerald Bay, who bloomed shortly after being planted.

It's exciting! And it was easy! I so hoped I would have beginners luck. Well, I will try it again, because Emerald Bay and Memphis are blooming again! This is not my dream cross, but it's practice until I get less nervous.

Here is my beloved Rose F Kennedy. Kinda hard to tell, but she's actually sending up a second scape!



Some rotten critter ruined my one and only bloom on Lillian's Vapor Trail. Wouldn't you know.

That's the spirit! Don't give up! Some days almost everything I cross takes and other days hardly anything takes. Temperature and humidity play a role but honestly, I'm not seeing a great pattern. Crosses done in the morning tend to take better than those done later in the day.

Just keep at it and you'll be collecting pods before you know it! Just be warned, it always seems to me that the cross I most want is the one that doesn't want to take. Just keep doing it! Eventually it will take! It took me years but I finally set a pod on Francis of Assisi. I've got a few others like that but I keep trying knowing that sooner or later it will happen. Just gotta have faith!

It never hurts to put pollen on it. You have a 100% chance of no pod if you don't put pollen on, and a 50% chance if you do, so you at least increase your chances by 50%!!! That's my logic anyway.

But I want to make sure I understood correctly, the pollen you used had been stored in the freezer since the end of last season? I have never frozen pollen, but I am not sure it would stay viable for that long
You will likely have better luck with your fresh blooms this season.

Elena, Amber, thank you so much for your encouragement and advice! I'll keep trying, and hopefully my hands will stop shaking!

The first year I tried, I didn't end up with viable seeds. I think I picked the pods too soon. Last year, I was patient, and let them start to open on their own, and I had great germination. I now have 150 seedlings to contend with Not all my crosses took, but enough did, for sure So, I am sure if you keep trying, you will be successful, especially with fresh pollen. Please keep us posted and let us know when a pod starts to form

Valerie, you are so kind. Yes, I will let you know. I think I read somewhere on this forum that you would know in about two weeks. So exciting!

Does the flower bloom stay on the whole time? Although it doesn't stay beautiful?

Josie, after a couple of days, you can gently tug on the flower and see if it pops off. Kinda blurry... You can see a little pod formed.


After a while (timeframe more experienced members?) it'll look like this


I do a little wiggling 2-3 days after I've pollinated a flower. If it doesn't pop off easily, I wait another day or two.

Sometimes, if I am trying to clean up a plant, I will trim off some of the dying flower, careful not to cut too close, then let the rest dry up on its own and fall off.

Diana, a picture is worth a thousand words. Beautiful! May I ask the name of that daylily?

"I do a little wiggling 2-3 days after I've pollinated a flower. If it doesn't pop off easily, I wait another day or two."
What a relief, that you don't have to tiptoe around them, hoping the blooms don't fall off before they get plump and pregnant.

Valerie, that sounds like a good idea. I have so many critters walking and working around my plants. And, you know they aren't being careful!

Josie, the little pod one is on Edge Ahead and the big pod is on Lava Flow... I haven't yet knocked off a bloom that was making a pod. That could be sheer dumb luck though : )

Valerie, I do like the idea of trimming the flower back til it falls off on its own... It would keep the beds and clumps neater looking...

Diana,

Let me know how the pod continues with Edge Ahead. I pollinated many DL in the summer of 2015. As I recall Edge Ahead aborted every pod.

It looks nice and plump.

Diana, are you purposely pulling off the dead flower starting just two days after you pollinated it? And it comes off easily? And that doesn't hurt anything?

If so, that could mean that my first ever cross might have been successful after all!

Now I'm excited again!

All week, I've been pulling off pollen and drying and storing it in the fridge. Because nobody I want to cross is blooming yet. Mostly just my bonus and free plants. Not that they aren't beautiful, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with seedlings at this time.

josieskid said:

All week, I've been pulling off pollen and drying and storing it in the fridge. Because nobody I want to cross is blooming yet. Mostly just my bonus and free plants. Not that they aren't beautiful, but I don't want to overwhelm myself with seedlings at this time.

You are being wise. The first year I tried pollinating, I didn't have much success, so I did a lot last year, thinking I might get only a few pods. I got tons of successful pods! This year, I am going to be way more selective and do fewer. I hope I can practise restraint

Wow, Valerie, you have the magic touch! Yes, I want lots of babies, but I want them to be special.

Sue, so far I have three pods set on Edge Ahead- all done with Jessica Lynn Bell- it was handy, and I was too lazy to go to the back beds to grab a different one. And it was actually done as more of a check to see if the pollen was good rather than an intentional cross.

Josie, I try to get the spent blooms off, but if they don't come off easily, I wait a couple more days...

Ok, Diana. Thank you!

Sitting here trying to learn my Plantstep software. I love this tool! Tried to enter a cross I made yesterday. Lillian's White Lies x Emerald Bay. Wouldn't they make a beautiful baby? Nope, wrong ploidy! All I could think was, well, there you go!