Thanks for all of the positive comments..You are all way to gracious as I'm really not a writer..I always have all of this stuff in my head but I hate to write or type so it never gets down on paper too often..I suppose one of these days I'll write some sort of memory type book before mine(Memory) has diminished to the point where it's all fuzzy..It's funny, this little thing we call life..How when your young you wish it would hurry up and as you start reaching into middle age, you wish nothing more that it would slow down..LOL..I feel in my heart where I differ from the "franchise" is that I would do it anyway whether I made another dollar from it or not..I really do enjoy it..I do not like the business aspect of it that much as far as the filling of orders and dealing with habitual complainers. But that's part of it and it goes with the territory...I do not want to be known as someone who just introdused a pretty face or another mauve with a eye and matching edge...LOL..Not slamming them..Just think that the eye and edge thing has run amuck..I would love to see even bigger full forms up to 10" or so on statuesque plants in the 4-6 foot range..That would be a worthy path I feel..Instead of clogging up the 24-30 inch height range with more of the same..(we still hybridize full forms btw) I just got off the phone with Brian Mahieu earlier tonight telling him how excited I was to see such good plants in our intro's...Plants, not just a face...As I have filled hundreds of orders this spring it has become evident that both Brian and myself have taken the right path in selecting for the plant before the bloom. Details such as mature clumps that just fall apart instead of having to hack up woody type clusters of crowns..Things like beautiful cool mint green foliage that almost has a waxy look to it, and foliage of different colors of burgundy and purple and a few stable variegated ones as well...I loved digging a clump of Svenska today..The fans were spaced apart far enough to lay your fingers in between them on mature clumps..And then to discover this mint green foliage with burgundy pink edges on every leaf was a nice treat as well..I noticed a clump of a select seedling that was completely chartreuse in color..The only one in the field. Not sick or iron defficient, just a very healthy chartreuse...Can't wait to see it bloom..This is a few of the reasons I do this..To really try to get "plants" out there..I lopve trying to figure out why a cross isn't taking..I did probably 30-40 attempts with Scandinavian pollen on Brushed By Bluebirds with not one pod...on my last attempt I selfed BBB and it pulled the trigger and all 20 of my BBB pods with Scandinavia pollen took giving me 96 seeds..Things like that is why I do it...To try and get pods on plants that are pod infertile is a goal for me..I have had some luck doing everything from spraying different sprays to just pleading with the daylily Gods..LOL..Another thing Brain and me play around with is utilizing Tet. pollen via unreduced gametes..We have alot of luck with this and what better way to get Tet genes into your programs..I love good buds and branching..Someting I'm getting better at than when I started...I have some insanely branched and Budded seedlings with amazing increase and rhisomates growth like Kwanso that have come out of crosses like (Citrina X Linda)X (Galaxy Explosion X Hankow)X (Jungle Fowl X Thorhalla) X (Species X Species)..Once you get a line of breeding like that, you can then be assured of a total plant and then have an aweful lot of fun playing around with the blooms..I dont do it for recognition..I dont do it to conform to the standard..I dont go to shows, and don't have time to visit other gardens..I don't care about awards or ribbons..My fulfillment for this is rather simple and I am rewarded every morning I get to see the sunrise and watch all the Bluebirds we have, to watch our little pygmy goats and donkeys play..To have my faithful sidekick cat Mango come to me and love on me without judgement..and to be able to see that seedling bloom for the first time..And of course my family whom without my wife Laura, I would in no way be able to get it all done..My boys are a big help as well...I love all the people I have met..I love seeing peoples faces when they see a bloom that is speacial to there eye and then laugh when they leave with a yellow nose without telling them..I hope all of us who enjoy gardening and daylilies in particular can reflest like this from time to time and not forget why we do this...Antway, enough of my ramblings...Hope I didn't bore the heck out of ya..Later Taters...David.

The first flowers are starting to open on my yellow daylilies that I moved. Everytime it blooms I remember why I really like this daylily. Such a lovely vibrant, cheery yellow. There are some dying off leaves from the move but the flowering has not been affected and I am sure any lost leaves will soon be replaced. They really look much, much better in the new spot than they did were I had them in the old spot. Anyway I started by putting three hearts of fire in the yellow daylilies old spot and am now going to go plant the rest (six more) of the Hearts of Fire that will finish that row in that area. Should look smashing.

Here are my garden themes: (October) 1. Your most bizarre - Anything that really stands out due to unique characteristics. 2. Your most tasty - Any edible you grow season after season, because it's just that good. 3. Unusual Solanacea. 4. I'll take mine rare - Anything you would consider rare/hard to come by. 5. Respect your elders - Your favorite heirloom. 6. There's a pharmacy in my garden - Rare medicinal herbs. 7. Gothic Garden - Black, or nearly black, flowers, edibles and herbs. 8. Bulbs, Corms, Tubers, etc Outside of seeds/plants, here are a few others things I'm interested in: Root Pouches or Grow Bags Stacking Pots Gourmet Chocolate Homemade Goodies: Jams, Jellies, Salsas, Dried Pepper Flakes/Powder, Baked Treats, etc. Books on herbalism or foraging (I'm northern CA/west coast) Your very favorite recipe – the one that you could not live without I love, love, love seeds and plants, particularly anything that's unusual, rare, or medicinal. If it happens to be edible, that's even better. My favorite colors are black, purple, and blue. I also like pastel colors. I have two very spoiled cats and a wonderful husband. I garden (duh), write, cook, and can. I grow a lot of edibles and herbs, with a few ornamentals scattered here and there. My favorite seed stores are Baker Creek and Sacred Succulents (love this place – he carries many extremely rare plants/seeds, many of which are medicinal).

You know I like the yellow Patsy Carpenter. Yellow always makes me smile. I have a yellow too that mystifies me regarding bloom. It will go a couple of years between bloom and then bloom it's head off. The foliage always looks good regardless. It put up buds this year, even on the little division I took off. One of the mysteries of life I guess. I'll enjoy it as it is......Maryl