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Daylily season is getting closer

hoosier_nan (IN z5b/6a)

last year

I know it's still winter and will be for quite some time. Today it is really cold. However, when the daylilies we keep in the greenhouse start to flower, we see that spring is on the way. Also, We have started planting seeds. We already have some seedlings popping up.

Indiana Melissa is blooming today in the greenhouse. This is actually its third flower, but the first two weren't photo worthy. We did harvest the pollen for use this summer.

Here is the first tray we filled. It's always exciting to start the seedlings. I will eventually plant about 42 trays.

Just wanted to share.

Nancy

Featured Answer

hoosier_nan (IN z5b/6a)
Original Author

last year

We freeze the pollen. We use microcentrifuge tubes (some people use match boxes, pill boxes, or contact containers. I pull the stamens out and put them on a paper plate to dry for two days. Then I pull the anthers off and put them in a labeled tube. You have to be careful concerning the filament. It can stay stick and moist for a while. Moisture will ruin the pollen. I store the tubes in a box made especially for them. We have used 2 year old pollen, but I have no idea how long the pollen is viable in the freezer. Here is a picture.

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Comments (10)

lilykate7a
last year
Nancy, what a striking bloom! How nice to see a bloom in the middle of winter. Approximately how many seeds will those 42 trays hold? That seems daunting to me!! :)
sherrygirl zone5 N il
last year
Lovely bloom, Nancy ! the season can‘t get here soon enough.

Sherry
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Nancy 6b
last year
That is a beautiful bloom, makes it worth while to have a greenhouse to be able to see them bloom in winter.
hoosier_nan (IN z5b/6a)
Original Author
last year
The seed tray holds 72 seeds each. We have just under 3000 to plant. That's more than we wanted to plant, but we just can't bear not to plant the seeds.
Brad KY 6b
last year
So nice!

Brad
shive
last year
How nice to have a bloom in winter! It sounds like you have plenty of seeds to start. I've got my first two seedlings up in my seed cups. The cross is So Irresistible X All Things to All Men.

Debra
organic_kitten
last year
last modified: last year
It is so nice to see an actual blooming daylily right now and that one is very pretty! Very nice to begin preparing for spring which is indeed coming, Nancy. Here that polar spell turned the daylilies into mush but, as usual here, they quickly rebounded and now the clumps are about third size. Not the hard dormant plants, but the semi-evergreen and evergreen ones are up quite nicely. It should be warm enough later this week to get into some of the necessary work in the garden. Again, thank you for sharing your bloom.

kay
Julia WV (6b)
last year
Very nice photo Nancy. I wish I had a greenhouse.

Tulips and Daffs started poping up here on the wall garden so I had to add more mulch over them. We went through another very cold spell but rebounding quickly and only for a short spell as the temps will nose dive once again by the weekend. It is winter still but I so want it to be spring.

Julia
SeniorBalloon
last year
Beautiful Daylily. This years seeds have begun to sprout. Last years seedlings I potted up into d2 pots are starting to poke up, not all. I'm thinking it's just a matter of time and not that they didn't survive over wintering in the (unheated) greenhouse, though I'm also sure I will lose a few.

How do you save pollen for later in the summer? That sounds fascinating.

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