HI Rita, how are you? I'm so into daylilys now too. My roses have taken a 2nd spot in my yard. I'm removing roses I'm not thrilled with and planting daylilys. But roses are still one of my faves.

Now as far as you never being into hybridizing, never say never:-) I never thought I would either, but now I think it's so cool that I can "make" my own daylily and it will be unique. That to me is fascinating. I'm not doing it on a large scale but look forward to seeing what I can make.

Your gardens are going to look beautiful with all the daylilys you've ordered. I ordered about 20 from the Maryott sale and have NO idea of where they are going. I'm totally out of room and can't do any more beds because I haven't even mulched my back yard yet and it's overwhelming taking care of all the garden beds I have.

I have an off topic question for you because I know you grow lots of berries for the birds. I've been seeing these cute birds in my yard this past month. They are small, similar to a sparrow, but a bit skinner and they have a tail that is thinner and longer. They are very sweet birds and they have been following me and my dog around the yard. It's is so cute, I can make the bird follow us by moving from one place to the other, the bird actually follows us. Any idea of what this bird is?

Maureen

Hi Maureen!

I know the old saying never say never but I can tell you it will really be never ever for me. I HATE starting stuff from seed, like to buy plants. I only start seeds of things there is no other way for me to get like my mexican sunflowers and afew other things.

The idea of putting out hundres of daylilies that should take two years to bloom for 1 in a hundred (one in a thousand?) great looking is absolutely not my style. All that record keeping and going out there and doing that pollen stuff? Not for me!!!!!!! I had seed pods on my daylilies, I promptly cut them off. I would never be making them on purpose.

I have no idea what your little bird could be. If it sings a lot and is really really small, it might be a wren, they like gardens and people.

I love my roses so I am not removing any, have been busy adding in fact. But eventually I will reach the point were I will replace some that I did not like or did not do well but with more roses. The daylilies here are in addition to the roses and actually nothing was removed to make room for the fronyard beds I did this spring except what needed to be removed for the expansion, the lefovers of an old overgrown barberry hedge with wysteria and bittersweet mixed in there. It looked aweful! Maybe I shouldn't say nothing gets removed for new gardens. Actually the LAWN gets smaller and smaller around here but to me that doesn't count!!!!!

I thought I would never hybridize either and although I do have about 40 or 50 now.. I expect more in the next few years. I find it fun to experiment to see just what I can create. What I can't stomach is the old compost heap. I can't bear to throw out any seedling so the few I have not been super happy with have either gone to the school for the Jr. Gardeners to play with or the local nursing home and the school for the profound.
Daylilies are a versatile hobby and as long as you get pleasure out of your gardens, then enjoy.
Shelly

Hi Rita,

I don't hybridize either, basically because I don't have any room. With the deer, I can only grow daylilies in my fenced back yard and it's pretty small. Hybridizing is also a lot of work! But when my kids are grown up and/or we move to a bigger place, I may try it, just because it's exciting to create your own flowers.

Juliet

Rita,

I don't hybridize either. I too don't like the idea of all the record-keeping (as it is, I keep a record of when the FFO happens, and it takes forever to upload and organize all my photos!), and I don't have enough room. I suspect if I were retired and had a big flat lot I might enjoy it. But I too would hate the idea of throwing my babies on the compost heap if they didn't turn out well!

Elizabeth

I really would not have room to grow out seedlings either so it is a good thing that I don't want too. When I plan and put in a new garden bed I want to put something into it that I know what it's going to look like when it blooms.

Guess I am not going to plant those Maryott bonus plants I got from them in my back yard like I thought I might because I just finished planting them in the front yard :-)) !!

I'd like to register a few just so I could name them after my two daughters and the full dozen grandchildren they're going to have. I cursed my oldest daughter with 5 teenaged daughters just like her!

Ack, I just looked at the pictures and info on the hybridizing link provided on one of the followups on the Crossing Daylilies Thread and if I HAD had any interest, I certainly would have lost it after seeing all that work one has to good thru. Plus I don't happen to have time to set up more records to keep track of seedlings, nor a spare refridgerator for seeds, nor grow lights for seedlings, plus..., well, you get the idea.

I like to visit the gardenweb growing tomatoes forum and the people there are also really into it. Me, I love my home grown tomatoes in the summer but I go buy my plants and grow them. Most of the people on that forum grow their own plants from seeds and many keep seeds from year to year from open pollinated plants. Plus they talk about were to get certain strains of seeds and which are better. Again, I find it interesting to read but not interested in doing.

I will stick to buying plants, both tomatoes and daylilies and plopping them in my garden. Leave the creating and growing to others with more time, knowledge and space.

I don't hybridize simply because I don't have time. When you need to be out spreading pollen I need to be at work. Keeping up over a half acre of daylilies and the other stuff I do just doesn't leave time for me to keep up with much else. Maybe when I retire....

Janet

Maureen, if the birds have white outer tail feathers, they could be immature towhees. They are spotted similar to sparrows.

I don't have any interest in hybridizing daylilies either. I'm not sure why:-) I jsut like to grow them.

Rita, I looked up wren, and I don't think it's a wren, Vegangirl, I check out towhees and it's definitely not one of them (but they are adorable!!). I'm going to get a disc for my camera today and get a close up pic of one then maybe I can get a name for these cute birds.

I don't hybridize. I did buy some seeds (cheap!) to play with. I don't keep up with the names or the crosses. My purpose is just to see what pops out :)

I rarely label anything (which explains my "please id my siloams..post :)). However, if a daylily comes with a sturdy, plantable label, I do use it.

I'm not expecting to throw out any of my babies either, but I suppose it is always possible!

Lisa

Well, Rita, I would guess most folks are like you. That's what keeps all the growers in business!

I have started things from seed many times, but, like you, when I don't have the time (like this year), I buy plants...I enjoy that, too...the searching and hunting and delight when I find one I think is uncommon.

I'm just playing around with the daylily seedlings...although even on the small scale I grow them I can tell you it is a lot of work. It's hard to imagine that on the thousands upon thousands scale of real hybridizers.

I think, too, it is worth remembering that it is the minority that actually post, so I'm sure you have lots and lots of company.

Here is a link that might be useful: Gotta Garden

Been there and done that and it was a lot of work and expense and I only had 211 seedlings. On the upside there is no one more ruthless than me when it comes to judging seedlings. Bad foilage, gone. Won't open on cool mornings, gone. Melts in the heat, gone. Fades to an ugly color at night, gone. I am a firm believer that there are way too many daylilies out there that have nothing to offer as far as registering them goes and you have to wonder how the heck they got there in the first place. Our town has green recycling and that is the perfect place for plants that aren't an improvement on their parents.

For everyone who feels that I am a monster for not loving "my babies" keep in mind that they are just plants and if they are recycled as compost they have served a better purpose than planting an inferior product.

No more hybridizing for me!!!!!!!

JoAnn

I am another one who has no interest in hybridizing. Don't know enough about it nor do I want to learn or to do all the paperwork involved.

To me it's like breeding dogs - there are way too many who need homes now, why add to it? There are plenty of daylilies needing homes and we non-hybridizers are here to provide them with one.

Suzanne

No interest whatsoever. Bring on the beauties, those of you who do; THANK YOU for your contributions to my lovely gardens!!!

I like edges (chicken fat, teeth, green, yellow, white, ruffled etc.) To think that I could ever achieve something as beautiful as some of the daylilies that full time dedicated hybridizers create would only be kidding my lazy self.

for years I never bred daylilies. Now I do, but only on a personal scale. I have a small plant budget, which I usually spend on trees, so I just do some doubles daylilies. I never keep track of crosses, as the plants will never leave my yard. So it costs me very little time, no money, and the seeds are all planted in one long tray in early May on the patio-near the faucet for easy watering. I do occasionally ask someone for pollen, and I hope for the best from those crosses. This hobby can be as simple or as complicated as you make it. But you are right, I am running out of room, will NOT make any more beds or enlarge others, as I'm maxed out on summer maintenance chores.

I know that many people just read the messages and do not post so they are probably the gardeners like me, not the hobby hybriders like other folks. It just seemed like we went on a run on the forum here were all the posts were about hybridizing and seedlings people had growing and blooming.

I like to look at the pictures of the blooming seedlings as it is interesting to see what folks get but thats as far as it goes for me. Anyway the run of seedling threads made me wonder how many here actually hybridize and how many just plant pretty daylilies in the garden like me.