Welcome to my Journal

My name is Rebecca and I am addicted to daylilies!

My addiction began over a decade ago, very innocently, with the purchase of a few daylily plants from mailer sent to me by Dutch Gardens. The flier itself had me mesmerized as I'd only seen the Ditch Lilies, and a very old double yellow-orange and a tiny yellow one that my Grandmother grew. I didn't know they also came in red and pink and lavender!

The next season I began looking for them at any and all of the nurseries I would come across, that's how I came to find my first white daylily and I've had a love affair with the whites, or near whites as they are more properly called, ever since.

In 1999 I decided I would try hybridizing my own daylilies. I didn't have a lot of yard space, but I did have some and besides, how much space could a few daylilies take anyway. In 2000 I had friends come and till an area in the back yard approximately 8 X 10 feet and I immediately filled half of the space with potted seedlings that had survived their first winter. Most had lost their tags or never had any. In 2001 I flowered my first three seedlings. A red, a cream colored small flower and a pale yellow-orange with just the hint of an eye. I was dutifully impressed with myself. When these same three bloomed again in 2002 and I saw the changes that were made over the winter and with another year of growth and age, I was hooked. 2002 was a bumper year for first blooms in the "seedling bed" and by then I had been doing a lot of reading on line and had really made myself aware of what all was really out there to be had by way of the various forms, colors and bloom seasons. I had also learned how to use the computer at my local library.

In 2003 I became involved with an on line gardening group, actually with several groups and began trading plants as well as receiving gifts from my new on line gardening friends. My collection grew to the point that I have had to grow many plants in containers, reserving the garden space for the seedlings I started in pots outside in May. I used empty aquariums as make-shift "greenhouses" to keep the germinating seeds warm. I've since graduated to starting my seeds under artificial lights in my basement. I now start seeds as early as December, but have found it better if I wait until January or February.

When I first started sowing seeds I would pot each seed individually in small pot or seed starter kits. I have since found that they do much better when grown in community pots. I get much better germination and soil moisture is a lot easier to control. The seedlings seem to grow better too. In early May I move all the seedlings outside to a wire restaurant rack that can be covered with plastic sheeting to protect the seedlings from chilling or possible frost. By the end of May they are all out in full sun and ready to go into either the seedling bed or into 1-gallon pots.

In 2004 I had to have the seedling bed re-done and enlarged (only to 10 X 12 feet) and I had it filled with new crop seedlings by the end of July. Around 30% of those seedlings bloomed this season at just over a year old.

This year I talked to one of my neighbors about using a portion of his vegetable garden that he no longer planted. All of the 2005 seedling crop went into the bed, affectionately called the "Borrowed Garden". I've also moved a lot of the potted plants over to it, these were mostly seedlings that I had kept from previous years but didn't have garden space for as well as quite a few named cultivars and the "keepers" from this year first time bloomers. That bed is only 6 - 7 feet wide, but 45-feet long and it is full! The seedling bed in the back yard is being taken over by Spider and Unusual form registered cultivars that I will be using for future breeding plus there are still a few seedlings from the 2004 crop of seeds. There are still a few I don't plan to keep and they will be dug and sent to new homes come spring. I have no idea where this years seed crop will be planted! Fortunately, I didn't make as many crosses and most of what was made will be sold.

That's about it for this posting. I will be posting images of some of this year's (2005) maiden blooms as well as some of the registered cultivars I am currently growing in the near future, so be sure to check back so you can see them! I welcome any and all comments and questions.

Rebecca