Pages - AHS Region 2

First, the Diploids
Dormancy does not automatically translate into hardiness, of course, but there seems to be a relatively high correlation. H. ‘Rashomon
Gate’, shown below, combines Ra Hansen’s beautiful but very tender evergreen, H. ‘Chevron Spider’, with a hardy dormant, resulting in
a hardy semi-evergreen. H. ‘Potala Tapestry’ is a hardy dormant, the product of a hardy semi-evergreen and a hardy dormant. Some of my
H.‘Rashomon Gate’
(Stelter 2005)
• M 30 6 SE Diploid
• H. ‘Orangutan’ X H. ‘Chevron Spider’
• The name of this Unusual Form
daylily was inspired by the 1950 movie
by the great Japanese director,
Kurosawa, which gives four different
versions of the same event at Kyoto’s
historic Rashomon Gate. This daylily
also presents several versions, making
it difficult to say what its normal bloom looks like, for it can be several
types of crispate and also a cascade. Its color is dark pink, with a darker
chevron. Vigorous, with 2-3 way branching. Very fertile both ways.
H.‘Potala Tapestry’
(Stelter 2005)
• H.‘Carolicolossal’ X H. ‘Eggplant
Escapade’
• L 42 10 Dor Diploid
This large, late blooming cascade Unusual
Form suggests the tapestries that
hang in the Potala Palace, in Lhasa, Tibet.
The maroon to reddish purple color
is similar to that of the
robes of the Palace’s monks. The large
blooms are well supported by the tall scapes. Three way branching with
a bud count of seventeen. Fertile both ways.
experiments using the yellow species H. citrina with tender diploid spiders have shown some modest results. Ra Hansen’s flamboyant H.
‘Yabba Dabba Doo’ is only marginally successful here in zone 5, but second and third generation crosses (F2 and F3) are dormant to semievergreen
and quite vigorous. We don’t have the time or space to pursue this breeding line seriously, but hybridizers like Brian Mahieu
of Missouri are showing how the use of H. citrina and other yellow species can improve the vigor of a diploid line.
F1: H. citrina X H. ‘Yabba Dabba
Doo’ (36 6)
F2: H. citrina x H. ‘Yabba Dabba
Doo’) X H. ‘Asterisk’ (40 8)
F3: H. ‘Eggplant Escapade’ X [(H. citrina x H.
‘Yabba Dabba Doo’) x H. ‘Asterisk’](38 7)
Second: The Lure of the Tender Exotics
Even though a Zone 5 garden is not an ideal spot for it, I love the orchid-like look of Mort Morss’s H. ‘Gerda Brooker’ (1995) and have
used it to a limited extent. To get a bluer eye, I crossed it with an even more tender exotic, Luddy Lambertson’s H. ‘Blue-Eyed Guy’. The
results were some great looking flowers that turned out to be award winners, but the plants do not seem to be vigorous enough to be
introduced in this zone.
Right:
H. ‘Gerda Brooker’
(Mort Morss)
Left: H. ‘Gerda Brooker’ X
H. ‘Blue-Eyed Guy’ (28 5)
Lycett Award, Ontario
Daylily Society, 2001.
H. ‘Gerda Brooker X H. ‘Blue-Eyed
Guy’ (25 6) Lycett Award, Ontario
Daylily Society, 2002.
Page 12 Fall 2005 - Winter 2006 AHS Region 2/Great Lakes Newsletter