This year, as in the past, we have made our usual rounds, visiting plantings of daylilies far and near. The National Convention gave us the opportunity to see beautiful gardens where mostly dormants were being well grown. Many of these gardens were settings which were breathtakingly beautiful. Any daylily would have looked lovely indeed in this kind of situation. We did take advantage of the opportunity by focusing much of our attention on interesting landscapes and the beautifully grown plants.
The Regional Meeting in Shreveport, Louisiana as well as the Delta Daylily and Baton Rouge Daylily club tours gave us further opportunity to see what other growers are doing. We could see that the advancement in flower beauty is going ahead full speed, that new daylily forms and patterns are rapidly emerging – something that was not there and only dreamed about only a few years ago.
As a result, we have selected a few cultivars mostly to show the beauty of our favorite flower, and its possibilities as far as colors, forms, patterns, and distinctiveness are concerned.
First on our list and deservedly so was John Kennebrew’s DARLA ANITA, the daylily that we have found to have the widest, deeply ruffled gold edge of any that we have seen thus far. This 7" beauty is a rosy pink early in the season. Later the colors brighten as the temperatures warm up. Both color variations are very beautiful while the edge remains the same. This beauty is well budded and displays multiple blooms on occasion. Tetraploid, and notable!
FAIREST OF THEM is by Jeff Salter. This is a 6" flower of great beauty, form, substance, and color. Dark pink blooms are wide of petal and recurved. Later in the bloom season and as with DARLA ANITA, FAIREST OF THEM ALL changes to a lighter pink, still beautiful with its bubbly, very ruffled light edges. Tetraploid.
LAVENDER ARROWHEAD is a tetraploid unusual form daylily that was quite different because of its wide-open form, huge cream yellow throat, and extra pleasant lavender color. Hybridized by Pat Stamile, LAVENDER ARROWHEAD grows well, has well spaced buds and has ruffled petals. Blooms are 9" wide. Tetraploid.”
Ken Durio’s ROX is not absolutely new but it really deserves attention. It is a very beautiful, heavily ruffled 6.5" salmon pink blend with a wire gold edge and dark pink eye. In this daylily the proportions of flower size, ruffling, form, and eye color are all contributors to what can be considered as outstanding. It is one of Ken Durio’s very best. Tetraploid.
We liked Elizabeth Salter’s
HIDDEN RICHES, a good solid
5.5" medium yellow self of good form and heavy ruffling. Flower form is round and blooms recurved. A dark green throat adds to the beauty of the blooms. Tetraploid, and very popular.
Dan Trimmer’s CUBAN SKIES is an excellent dark-eyed and dark-edged entry. Blooms are 4.5" wide. The basic color is peach while the darker colors are shades of purple. Blooms are flat, recurved and of good form. Interestingly the dark eye is notched on the petals and sepals. This tetraploid blooms and grows well.
SMALL TEMPEST by Elizabeth Salter is a 3.5" flower of distinction. It is pleasingly colored creamy yellow. A large, round scarlet red band circles the throat. This fine daylily was a garden attention getter for sure because of its good color contrasts. Blooms were wide petaled and well ruffled. The flower throat was a blend of colors – yellow, pink, and lightest red. This is a top-notch small daylily. Tetraploid.
Dan Trimmer’s RASPBERRY WINTER was just too full of beautiful colors to ignore. This 4" delicate pale pink had a huge darker pink eye surrounded by a pencil thin darker line. All segments were well ruffled and the blooms sported a dark green throat. RASPBERRY WINTER got the attention it deserved, as it was rather difficult to photograph due to the large crowd admiring its beauty. This small flower should get an “A” for beauty alone. Tetraploid.
DOUBLE SPLASH is by Harold McDonell from Georgia. This 5.5" double bloomed well; its blooms were consistent in form and the flower colors were pale peach pink with a rosy halo. The words “pleasing colors” come to mind when we think of this fine cultivar. Incidentally, the rosy halo color was present on all six segments and petaloids. Diploid
For those of us who seek out the unusual, WEB OF INTRIGUE by Pat Stamile will adequately “fill the bill.” This 6" pale orange was triangular in form, flat, and nicely ruffled. What really made it interesting was its purple band with etching of a lighter color in the form of oblong spots in the band itself. Added to this was the fact that the blooms had a light-colored arrow-shaped lighter colored spot at each of the three midribs. This daylily is a prime example of the new class of “patterned cultivars.” Blooms were indeed very unusual. Tetraploid.
KALEIDOSCOPE TREASURE by Josie
Bomar was a
big 6" cream pink polychrome with very wide segments that we enjoyed this year at Jack Carpenter’s. The flower colors were also tinted a delicate salmon. We really liked the pink ruffled and veined blooms with their hint of a dark pink halo. Diploid.
Our new double is registered as RICHFIELD MURIEL’S DOUBLE (Crochet). This pink-brushed salmon was a favorite in our special bed this year. From KING KAHUNA x FRANCES JOINER, this double has darker pink edges, good ruffling, and four wide, wavy petaloids. The garden presence of RICHFIELD MURIEL’S DOUBLE is a good one indeed. Blooms are 5.5" wide. Diploid.
The daylily year has come and gone and as always there have been some deep concerns regarding daylilies, not the least being rust related. But if we persist and have patience there will come a time when we will be able to use the “right” sprays to control the problem, and rust, like the other problems, will probably become less of a concern than it is at this time.
The proper way to research the rust problem is through the Joe House Scientific Fund. The AHS is already actively funding the necessary work. More money is needed in order to move forward with the project. Individuals and clubs should keep this is mind.
Clarence Crochet
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