Blog 2018

Some Interesting Hybrids

July 15, 2018

We have been reaching peak bloom just about now. It has been a bit dry for July so we had to pay a bit more attention. Here are some of the more interesting hybrids.

Anthocyanin Disassociation Rates

July 14, 2018

We have done a variety of experiments trying to ascertain what anthocyanins are in which daylilies. Typically we utilize a classic approach, macerate the petals, mix about 6gm petals in cold methanol, 50 ml, and then drain off solution. Then typically we let it stand for a day and the color disappears. We then add HCl to get the anthocyanins to disassociate again and bring it to a pH of 2.

I wondered what the disassociation rate was. I used Harbor Gat and old red 2N and the results are below. What is amazing is that the disassociate rate is in MINUTES! Tests were done at room temperature of 74F.

Open House This Weekend

July 4, 2018

We have Open House this weekend. Here are some selected flowers currently out.

Wondrous Weaver
Florham Orange Surprise
Florham Paris Nights
Florham Pastel Classic

Blooms Starting

June 19, 2018

Blooming has started. We have had a wet cool Spring but now it is warming up as usual.

Miss Judy Lynn One of my more recent hybrids.
Florham Peppermint Stick
Early Bird Cardinal
Stella D'Oro
H fulva
Buckeye (Stout)

 

First Hybrid

May 14 2018

It has been cool and wet and now we have Elfin a Stout hybrid blooming.

Elfin

First Blooms

May 10, 2018

We are getting our first blooms, H thunbergerii and H flava.

H dumortierii
H flava

 

Early Flowers

April 22, 2018

I am starting to look for some good growth. It has been a long and miserable winter but it may get above 60 today, I did an analysis of a Star Magnolia and a Vinca as shown below.

White as in the Magnolia is flat across the visible spectrum. This is in contrast to the other whites I did previously. Vincas all peak at about 450-480 and have that blue color that many like.

White Daylilies

January 15, 2018

A recent article in The Daylily Journal by Kendig discusses white daylilies. He ranks them as (1) pure white with none there, (2) bright white, (3) Near White,  Comparatively white, (5) white blend. Now from a scientific viewpoint one should or shall we say must have a measurable metric. There is one, spectrophotometry. I have done this on three shown below. The absorption spectra is shown for each and white means no absorption across the visible band. All have some blue absorption, thus the lack of a blue daylily. Even across the spectrum there are bumps. I have done this for about a hundred plants, not just white. My crossing for whites is predicated on spectrophotometer results and perhaps this should be the metric used.

 

New Season

January 13, 2018

We have begun planting seeds and reviewing last year. The seed data is as follows:

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