Wow, are you lucky, id love to just be able to see some of those DL's in real life! I see a lot of the pictures on the web, but they are way, way out of my price range. I really love the 2 seedlings at the top. The second one reminds me of one I was thinking about getting called Out of the blue, by Elizabeth Salter. Even that one is a little on the expensive side. Some of the DL's that they are hybridizing today don't even look like they could be real. They are amazing pictures. My question for you is WHAT DID YOU BRING HOME? You can't just go to a place like that and come home empty handed!

Actually, I didn't bring anything home! The daylilies I liked best were some of the new seedlings and they weren't for sale. But anyways they would have been too expensive for me. The sad thing is that most of the gorgeous daylilies I saw will probably just be composted. All the hybridizers said they have to be ruthless about culling the seedlings and I don't think they sell unselected seedlings. I was happy to just be able to see them and take photos.

Juliet

OH MY GOD! I can't believe that they would throw those beautiful daylilies in the compost pile. I would grow one even if it only gave me one flower in a whole lifetime! Those seedlings are gorgeous. The ones in the pics you posted are pretty close to blue, don't know about the other traits of the plants, but I bet a lot of people would like them. In fact as a personal opinion, I think they are prettier than the ones that they did introduce this year. I know that theres more to daylilies than just flowers, but LOOK AT THOSE FLOWERS!!!

Those are beeeeeeuuuutiful pics, thanks for letting us see them.
Also thanks for making my wish list longer, just what I needed. :)

Dot

This is one of the best messages posted here IMO. Even I am speechless.

Wade

I really like the Philip Reilly seedling. He had some beauties when I was there a couple of years ago. I think he moved from NC. I have a seedling that he said was bluish in NC ( or wherever ) but is pink in Fl. It didn't bloom here last year but am looking for a beaut this year.

I enjoyed your albums very much and will look again when I have more time. Grace Stamile is going to have the blue breakthrough if we have one....Lovely...Ellie

Thanks for your comments! It's great to be able to share my photos with people who are interested in them! Ellie - I agree with you that Grace Stamile's daylilies were the bluest I've seen and I also like that Reilly seedling!

Here's a link to my photos from Ladybug Daylilies. Dan Hansen's garden was even bigger than the Stamiles'. He also grows corn and huge zucchinis. He tries to avoid using insecticides - thats why a lot of photos have bugs in them. He said they are called lovebugs. (There were thousands of them while we were in Florida and they ended up coating our windshield whenever we drove on the highway.) He has five very friendly cats to help control pests around the garden. He also has a lot of older, cheaper daylilies for sale, many of them are Ra Hansen's (his mother). He also has big collections of daylilies from Curt Hanson, Ned Roberts and the Salters.

He is working a lot with edge no eye daylilies. He said that his best ones have no hint of an eye, even in cold weather. They were gorgeous!

Juliet

Here is a link that might be useful: Ladybug Daylilies

Juliet,
Thanks for sharing your beautiful photos!

Shive

WOW! That about does it for me....I want the first seedling, geez....just look at that blue eye and edge!! They are all gorgeous blooms...thanks so much for sharing them with the rest of us "addicts"!!
I'm going to go look at your albums now. :) I can only imagine the beauty they contain.
Jan

Shive and Jan - I'm so glad you liked them - around here no one's interested in looking at more daylily photos!

Jan - That first seedling was gorgeous - I wonder if he'll introduce it. I forgot to write down the seedling number. But I think the camera made the eye look a little more blue than it actually was. It's hard to get true colors.

Juliet

Juliet, what a fun trip you had! That first seedling with the bluuuuuue eye is fantastic. Thanks for sharing.
Kathy

Very nice pictures of Ladybug's too! Is that first photo really of At first blush, it dosen't look like any of the photos that ive seen of that one. Its not nearly as pink as ive seen in other pics. I hope mine turns out more pink than that one! That one looks really yellow. That would definitly bum me out. It wouldn't match my pinks at all.
Here's what I was hoping for when I bought it.
{{gwi:685351}}
You were there, and sometimes pictures aren't accurate. What do you think Juliette? Did it look pink like this? Boy, I hope so. On the other hand the plant is growing very well and looks really healthy, its also putting up new tiny fans poking out from under the mulch, so it grows well. Thats a plus. I guess we will see. - Jessica

Jessica,

I was disappointed when I saw "At First Blush" at Ladybug Daylilies because it was much yellower than the photos I'd seen of it. (I was considering buying it.) I hope it turns out like your photo for you since that's much prettier. Maybe I matched the wrong tag with the flower that was blooming - they were right next to each other, but the daylilies were all very close together.

When yours blooms for you let me know how it turns out.

Juliet

Jessica....I think that photo was mislabeled....Even my old pic from when it first bloomed for me is more what it should look like. The edge on the photo labeled At First Blush is wrong for it also. It is a beauty and you will miss out on a very nice one if you don't go for it...IMHO...:)