pics from the yard, mostly daylilies

[Beefy]

 

[peg4x4]

Is the cats name "Lily"? Thanks for the photos

 

[Jogeephus]

Nice daylillies Beefy. Do you cross them yourself?

 

[Beefy]

cats- Smokey and Fern

Mr. Jo- i tinker around with them some

 

[Jogeephus]

Fella up the road from me was a retired horticulturalist. He messed with them a lot. Would sell and buy some that were in the hundreds of dollars a piece. He is dead now but I used to talk with him some. Seems like he would treat some of his seed with a poison which would cause mutations. (I used to know more of the specifics but have forgotten ) One day his health was bad and he had a quart jar full of treated seeds he was going to toss. I really wanted them but couldn't bring myself to beg and don't know if he would have given them to me if I'd asked. His house is vacant now and all his beds are full of weeds. If I had an ounce less of integrity I think I'd pay a visit to his house with my shovel.

Have you ever visited Bell's Nursery north of Ashburn? (edit Arabi I think). If you haven't I highly recommend it. It is a backyard nursery which sells lilly's. Everything is planted in the ground just like your home. It is awesome. Some people rent their yard for weddings and such. Really something to see.

 

[randiliana]

Beautiful daylilies Beefy!!! They won't flower here for about another month. All that I have flowering now are my mini Irises and Tulips.

 

[Beefy]

Have you ever visited Bell's Nursery north of Ashburn? (edit Arabi I think). If you haven't I highly recommend it. It is a backyard nursery which sells lilly's. Everything is planted in the ground just like your home. It is awesome. Some people rent their yard for weddings and such. Really something to see.

Indeed i have. most of the ones pictured came from there in fact. sycamore.

 

[Jogeephus]

Have you ever visited Bell's Nursery north of Ashburn? (edit Arabi I think). If you haven't I highly recommend it. It is a backyard nursery which sells lilly's. Everything is planted in the ground just like your home. It is awesome. Some people rent their yard for weddings and such. Really something to see.

Indeed i have. most of the ones pictured came from there in fact. sycamore.

I think anyone on the board headed to Florida owes it to themselves to stop by there for a visit. To me, its a wonderland and worth seeing. And its FREE!

 

[Beefy]

actually you have to pay a $1 covercharge to get in now. but i agree.

heres the website, and although the photogallery is lovely, it doesnt even begin to do the actual garden justice, imo.

http://www.bellsdaylilygarden.com/pgeGa ... Shots.html

 

[Beefy]

i'm curious about the poison now. and he put it on the seeds after he harvested them?

 

[hillsdown]

Beautiful pictures Beefy and such bold colors, absolutely gorgeous daylilies..
I like the kitty cats too..

This is a great photo.. :nod:

Nothing is blooming here yet except a rogue Pansie that must have escaped my pot from last year. The tulips and crocus's were on their way up but froze when we got that snow last week and the iris's now are just popping up ,they are about 6 inches tall now. I can't believe how late everything is ,but I know that the growing season is coming as the finches and humming birds arrived here yesterday and my wrens grabbed 3 houses to make their nests..

I guess I can now go buy all my bedding plants as hopefully we have seen the end of frost for a while.. Maybe the lawn will even need mowing soon.. :roll:

 

[Jogeephus]

i'm curious about the poison now. and he put it on the seeds after he harvested them?

I wish I could remember exactly what he told me but I can't. I used to shoot the breeze with him about plants. He was way above my head. When I first met him I thought daylillies were just pretty yellow flowers but boy did he change my idea of them. Anyhow, as I recall (and please don't hold me to this as being factual) he would treat the seeds with cyanide. The poison would make the genes split and instead of having a diploid daylilly you would have a tetraploid daylilly. The diploids are strong in the yellow colors but the tetraploids open up the possibilities to bring our the recessive genes that have colors and frills other daylillies did not have. He had banks and banks of beds with his crosses in them. I'm pretty sure some were patented too. Other than that, I really don't know anymore and even this may be incorrect but it seems to be the gist of what he did.

Here is a link to an abstract that you may find helpful in getting more correct information than I remember.

http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/public ... 115=168910

In the abstract it states this:

Tetraploid daylily cultivars are the result of doubling the basic chromosome number by breeders through chemical treatments, such as colchicine treatment.

But if my memory serves me right, I'm pretty sure he used cyanide. It is like one of those things that amazes you so much you can't forget it. But then again, I'm good at forgetting stuff so I may be wrong.