Sunday, December 31, 2006

MH0203E


24 EM Re 4.75, Melon Polychrome, Dor Dip
Frequent Flier * (Millie Schlumf * Early And Often)

FUTURE INTRODUCTION. This three time continuous rebloomer is a symphony in pale pastels: you must click on the picture to study the colors more closely. The ruffling waves gracefully all over the place on these LARGE flowers. The foliage is excellent, and the increase is good too. Best of all, it has 17 buds, which is unusually many for a rebloomer.

MH0203D


26 EM Re 4, Pink w' Faint Band, Dor Dip
Frequent Flier * (Millie Schlumf * Early And Often)

FUTURE INTRODUCTION. There is no other continuous rebloomer in this clear, light pink. It produces three sets of scapes in my garden. Good increase, great foliage, wavy ruffles, and color clarity that's startling in the garden. Only 9 buds, but that's as good as Stella De Oro.

Friday, December 29, 2006

Frequent Flyer (Kendall 03)


Frequent Flyer (Kendall 03) 28 E Re 4, Cream w'Lavender Eye, Dor Dip Ext Noc
(Millie Schlumpf * Brocaded Gown) F2

Stephen Kendall has bred a fabulous rebloomer! While reminiscent of the eyed SILOAM lines, it sends up three sets of scapes annually for me. Though the budcount is not high (averaging 11), the tall, graceful, well-branched scapes hold the recurved flowers in a fountain of non-interfering bloom. The foliage is a clean, deep green, and it has yet to display spring sickness here. It is fertile both ways, and throws strongly reblooming kids. A melon carrier and color clarifier: the lavenders and pinks from it are very good!

Jerry's Whirligig (Deschenes 00)


Jerry's Whirligig (Deschenes 00)30 L 6, Lavender w'Burgundy Eye, Dor Dip Ufo
(seedling * Orchid Corsage)

This is an "Oh, Wow!" UFO. Any connoisseur of unusual forms will immediately be drawn to this plant! Not just for the beauty and clear colors, but for the enormous size. While I've measured it at 6.5 inches as it stands, it's wingspread was 13 inches! Moreover, it's somewhat pod fertile: I know of no other daylily with a 13 inch wingspan that sets seeds. I've podded it two years in a row with little effort, while its much smaller pollen parent, ORCHID CORSAGE, has never podded for me. Imagine converting this enormous diploid to tetraploid....

It is not a true spider but its drooping, curling cascade form is especially elegant and distinctive. It presents a pleasing mixture of purples, lavenders, yellows, green and pink. A chevron eye contrasts well with a yellow green throat and very light lavender pink petals. This might also be the widest petalled cascade in existence, but not at the expense of substance; the flowers hold well all day.

Yet it has still more virtues to list. It blooms late in the season, is decidedly hardy and free blooming. This plant does not need a lot of care to thrive and increases well. It always opens perfectly, has three branches, and 18 buds. There are none of the common faults: the scapes stay erect even under the load of these large flowers, the buds are well staggered so that they don't interfere, and the blooms are held well above the excellent foliage. The closest thing to a fault I find with this plant is that it needs grooming to prevent the old flowers from interfering with opening of new flowers, and this is common in large blooms.

There are very few cascade unusual forms out there, and this is one of the best for breeding, for size, and for outstanding beauty in the garden. Nobody will walk past it without noticing!

MH0461B


((Corky * Early And Often) * Pinegarden Purity) * Ice Trumpets

This is the whitest seedling I've yet bred. I can tell because most white daylilies have fine yellow veins in the petals, but this one has white veins. It's in my tall-and-small lines, but because it was blooming in a tree-tray cell, I have no idea yet of the height, branching, or budcount it will eventually show. All I know is that it was brilliant among the other, more colored seedlings.

MH0404.19


(Frequent Flyer * Early And Often) * ((Boston Symphony * Early And Often) * (Millie Schlumf * Early And Often))

A clear, apple-blossom pink with narrow petals, a green throat, and ruffling even on the sepals: I'm in heaven! I don't know yet if it will rebloom, but I'll likely breed with this one anyhow. I didn't measure it, but I think it's a good 4 inches. Extraordinary color clarity!

MH0403.32


Frequent Flyer * ((Boston Symphony * Early And Often) * (Millie Schlumf * Early And Often))

This strangely colored seedling isn't captured well in this picture. A combination of a corduroy texture, a faint stenciling, and an unusual off-white color gives this one a very distinctive appearance, almost an antiqued look. I think this one did rebloom. It's not one I'd be tempted to use in my clear-colored lines, but it could be an intro if it has the performance.

MH0403.21


Frequent Flyer * ((Boston Symphony * Early And Often) * (Millie Schlumf * Early And Often))

I'm breeding for white rebloomers, but I expect color spinoffs along the way. Here's a beauty, a pale lavender with a darker eye and a green throat. If this reblooms, it's an introduction. If it doesn't, I have a load of pink/lavender/purple rebloomers that I could cross with it: it's carrying lots of rebloom genes judging from the parentage. The color clarity, ruffles, and general appearance really sell me.

MH0403.12


Frequent Flyer * ((Boston Symphony * Early And Often) * (Millie Schlumf * Early And Often))

It's too early to know anything about this seedling except that it has extraordinary color clarity. It makes other eyed daylilies look muddy. Whether or not it reblooms, it has enough rebloom genetics that it will be crossed into all my white rebloomer lines. If it performs well enough, it might be an introduction simply for the color clarity.

MH0377A


44 M 4, Red Self, Dor Dip
(City Of Sin * Pardon Me) * Red Spire

FUTURE INTRODUCTION. I wish the camera could capture velvety, deep, oxblood reds: this photo does not do justice to the striking color of this flower. The sheen from the velvet dulls the color for the camera, but not for your eye.

This is the first step in my tall-and-small red program, whose goal I describe as a "fountain of blood". This one is a really good step: it is the most sunfast red in my garden. It never slicked this past summer, while all other reds did. The branching is good (low branches!), the height is fine, and the budcount is adequate (20). But when I dug it from the seedling bed, I was surprised that it had slender, 8 inch rhyzomes like fulva! (And so did many of its sibs and half sibs from Red Spire.) Needless to say, my program will now bifurcate into clumpers and spreaders. If I can keep the deep color, sunfastness, and rhyzomes while putting different forms and sizes into its descendents, I'll be a happy man.

MH0402.11


Kanai Sensei * ((Boston Symphony * Early And Often) * (Millie Schlumf * Early And Often))

It's too early to know much about this seedling, other than that it's quite white. If it reblooms, it's an introduction. Even if it doesn't rebloom, it has so much rebloom genetics in it that it will definitely be crossed with my reblooming whites. Nice wide segments, ok size, green throat, ruffles: what's not to like?

MH0321A


28 EM Re 4.5, NearWhite Self, Evr Dip
(Winter Wonderland * Early And Often) * (Sunshine On Clouds * Early And Often)

FUTURE INTRODUCTION. This one has it all except a modern form. It's the whitest, largest, best budded, and most vigorous of my near-white rebloomers. It's put up three sets of scapes. The flowers are just barely in the large category, heavily diamond dusted, green throated, lightly ruffled, and open well in cool weather. It's my second most heavily used parent for two years running. The foliage is excellent, it has 16 buds, and the scapes are erect.

MH0318A


20 E Re 3, NearWhite Self, Dor Dip
MH0021A * (Sunshine On Clouds * Early And Often)

FUTURE INTRODUCTION. My most exciting near-white rebloomer. It's not the whitest, though it's far from cream. It has a nice green throat, a voluptuous bagel form, ruffles, and three sets of scapes per year! I've got hundreds of seedlings coming from it. The one fault is that the scapes lean: easily fixed in the next generation.

MH0315C


20 E Re 2.75, NearWhite Self, Dor Dip
(Frequent Flyer * Early And Often) * (Sunshine On Clouds * Early And Often)

FUTURE INTRODUCTION. I fell in love with this one from the first flower: the delicate appearance is reminiscent of wildflowers such as Mariposa Lilies (Calochortus). To my great delight, it put up three sets of scapes! Needless to say, I've been breeding heavily with this one, intercrossing with the nearwhite rebloomer lines, and introducing rebloom into the tall and small white lines. The sepals show some apricot color. I find the flat throat and gaps between the petal bases very attractive.

MH0315A


20 E Re 3.5, Lavender Self, Dor Dip
(Frequent Flyer * Early And Often) * (Sunshine On Clouds * Early And Often)

FUTURE INTRODUCTION. I was delighted when this vivd lavender showed up in my seedling bed, and thrilled when it bloomed three sets of scapes! The color is very clear, it has a green throat, and it has ruffles. It does have some faults: the scapes lean and can fall over if they're podded.

MH0231D


34 E 3.5, Cream Self, Dor Dip Noc
(Aerial * Boston Symphony) * (Corky * Early And Often)

FUTURE INTRODUCTION. I've long admired the dark scapes on Corky and Golden Chimes, but I want to get away from the yellow to cleaner, brighter colors. Here's my first candidate. The graceful dark scapes here come from CORKY ancestry on both sides; neither parent shows dark scapes. This picture exaggerates the contrast a bit, and only the last 8 inches of scape are colored, but the purple scapes are distinct. The ancestry is: (Aerial * Boston Symphony) * (Corky * Early And Often). 25 buds, 4 branches, good increase, wide petals, ruffles and green throat make this one a winner.

MH0233D


30 EM 3.75, Melon Polychrome, Dor Dip
(Sunshine On Clouds * Early And Often) * (Corky * Early And Often)

FUTURE INTRODUCTION. This seedling combines height and delicate-looking flowers on slender, graceful scapes. It carries genes for clear colors and rebloom: I've bred heavily with it.

MH0013F


20 E Re 3.25, Pink w'Rose Halo, Dor Dip
Frequent Flyer * Early And Often

FUTURE INTRODUCTION. What a gem of a flower! It has an impressively clear color with iris-like precision of form, and is a continuous rebloomer. The fans also really interest me: slender, erect, close-packed, much like STELLA DE ORO. I've bred with this one quite a bit, and it throws numerous continual rebloomers in very clear colors. See MH0315A and MH0315C.This cross would also benefit from being remade long, as it produced many strong rebloomers.

The actual color clarity is rarely as good as the picture: usually, it is more of a melon pink. Budcount is not terribly high, but that's not an important feature for rebloomers.

Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Early And Often (Huben 01)


Early And Often (Huben 01) 26 E Re 4, Peach Polychrome, Dor Dip Ext Fra
(Sunny Honey * (Three Seasons * Tuscawilla Tranquility))
Honorable Mention award 2006

At last: a northern rebloomer that isn't yellow or gold. Blooms 9 weeks for me on three sets of scapes. The heart of my breeding program, producing a great diversity of seedlings, many of them rebloomers. Very rapid increase. Tested (in WV) and found highly rust resistant for two seasons.

Early And Often was my first introduction, and has lived up to its promise as a continuous rebloomer. Some growers report as many as seven sets of scapes per season. Unlike other diploid rebloomers, it is a color clarifier and readily gives up the melon tones in seedlings.

Another web page devoted to Early And Often has more details and photographs.

Flowers Of Sulphur (Huben 03)


Flowers Of Sulphur (Huben 03) 20 E Re 4.25, Yellow Self, Dor Dip Vfr Ext
((Monica Marie * Stella De Oro) * Spring Frolic)

Why another yellow rebloomer? Well, it's a pure sulphur-yellow self, all the way into the throat, much bigger than most others, strongly diamond dusted, opens well, and has a delightful short stature. Only 9 buds (2 more than STELLA DE ORO), but routinely blooms at least two sets of scapes. Breeds rebloomers, and carries melon.

Delicate Lace (Huben 03)


Delicate Lace (Huben 03) 18 E Re 4, Cream Self, Dor Dip Fra Ext
((Monica Marie * Stella De Oro) * Spring Frolic)

What an unusual form! Quite orchid-like: any narrower and it would be spatulate. The foliage is truly dwarf, with a flower large enough to surprise: it's almost a rock garden plant. Blooms start out cream, but rapidly fade in the sun to a highly diamond-dusted pearly polychrome. It usually blooms two sets of scapes for me, but more in other people's gardens. 8 buds. It throws excellent reblooming kids of all shapes and sizes, and carries melon.

Twist Again (Huben 03)


Twist Again (Huben 03) 28 E Re 5, YellowGreen Self, Dor Dip
(Cool Spice * Spring Frolic)

The longest-blooming daylily in my garden. Four years running it has bloomed for 11 weeks on three sets of scapes. The color is a very cool yellow-green that fades in the sun to a remarkable cream and green giving the impression of a cream flower with a green bullseye. There is no other northern rebloomer on the market with this color. It has an excellent budcount of 20 (unusually high for a rebloomer.) The heavily ruffled petals twist differently in every flower, providing lots of motion in this unusual form. This one sells in August and September when people see the rebloom.

Kanai Sensei (Huben 06)


Kanai Sensei (Huben 06) 18 E Re 3, Melon Polychrome, Dor Dip Emo
Early And Often * Rosy Returns
Seedling number: MH0010.4

Kanai Sensei is named for my Aikido and Iaido teacher for 20 years. It always opens to a perfect little bagle, of a peculiarly difficult to describe color. It has a tiny green throat, and somewhere between 6 and 16 buds depending on how well it is grown. It's sunfast, and has excellent low foliage. What makes it special though (besides the excellent rebloom) is the phenominal increase. It's the fastest increaser in my garden, yet doesn't seem to get too crowded. Its small stature, rapid increase, good foliage, rebloom, and nice clumping habit make it well suited for edging. As a parent for rebloomers, it throws all those characteristics very nicely: see MH040211.

Sunshine On Clouds (Huben 06)


Sunshine On Clouds (Huben 06) 26 E Re 4.25, Cream w'Pale Midrib, Dor Dip
(Happy Returns * Deicer) * (Three Seasons * Monica Marie)
Seedling number: MH9872I

I had no intention of introducing this seedling: it wasn't white, it only rebloomed a bit for me, it didn't increase as fast as my other rebloomers, it was a reluctant pod parent. But Bob Sobek proclaimed it the outstanding clump in my garden for the brilliance, unique shade, and floriferousness. It is a brilliant light yellow, in the cream range but with none of the dullness of most creams. I attribute that to the extreme diamond dusting. The upfacing blooms have a yellowgreen throat. Crossed with EARLY AND OFTEN, it is the parent of my first nearwhite rebloomer, and the grandparent of my latest crop of nearwhite rebloomers. It has 18 buds on three branches.

In my garden, Sunshine On Clouds reblooms lightly, but in other people's gardens, it is a much stronger rebloomer.

Welcome!

Welcome to Diploids Resurgent!

I'm Mike Huben, gardener, botanist, hybridizer, and all-around plant fanatic. (That's Magnolia ashei, a big leaf magnolia behind me.)

I've named my site "Diploids Resurgent" because I'd like to encourage others to appreciate the diploids too, rather than simply follow the tetraploid fashions. There's a world of daylilies out there besides southern-bred eyed and edged tets, and the most diverse are the diploids. Oh, I've got southern-bred tets in my garden: some are fantastic, and I wouldn't put them down. But here in the north (Arlington, MA -- near Boston) we have different needs that the southerners can't or don't breed for.

Every year I breed a thousand seedlings at my 1/5 acre. This small breeding program is carefully envisioned generations in advance, and focused on just a few goals.

(1) Near-white rebloomers with qualities like Stella De Oro. Ever since I first saw the "Re" in a daylily description, I wanted rebloom in my garden. But even SDO balked at reblooming in my garden. It took 4 generations, thousands of seedlings, and 10 years, but I've succeeded. Improvements and diverse, clear colors are also on the way.

(2) Tall-and-small near-whites like Golden Chimes. I want that graceful, airy look to the tall scapes, clean white trumpets (or "butterfly" open flowers), and perhaps black scapes to contrast with the white flowers. I've now got 2nd and third generation seedlings, including a cream with dark scapes, very clear white trumpets, and 50 inch white trumpets.

(3) Tall-and-small sunfast reds like Golden Chimes. My pet name for this project is "Fountain Of Blood". In my first generation, I have a 44 inch blood red with a green throat. It is perhaps the most sunfast red I've yet seen, and I've seen a lot of reds. Even more exciting is that it has long rhizomes like fulva. Perhaps I will breed something as persistant and spreading as fulva, which could be a "Niagra Of Blood".

I also allow myself a fair number of fun crosses to experiment with new ideas.

This year (2006) I won my first Honorable Mention award for Early And Often. It didn't win for its face: it won for performance. Let's hope that's a trend!

This site is an experiment with Blogger, to see how easy it is to make a small catalog with pictures. Let me know if you like it!

Prices, Availability, and Ordering

Welcome! This year again I have two new introductions. I've also got a limited supply of some earlier introductions. Most of these are strong northern rebloomers which will rebloom under conditions where even STELLA DE ORO hesitates to rebloom: partial shade, sandy soils, and low heat.

Ordering information is at the bottom of this page. Order early: I've sold out every year. No rust in my garden yet, for those who wish to avoid it. However, my quarantine is ended. Rust doesn't survive the winter without special care in zone six and colder.

Snowy Stella, auction only

Ice Trumpets, $50 single fan

Kanai Sensei, $40 double fan

Sunshine On Clouds, held for increase

Early And Often, $25 double fan

Delicate Lace, $25 double fan

Twist Again, $25 double fan

Flowers Of Sulphur, $10 double fan

Frequent Flyer, contact Stephen Kendall

Jerry's Whirligig, contact Jerry Deschenes

Order now for spring 2007 shipment. $5 shipping and handling per order. Send checks to:

Mike Huben, 27 Winter St., Arlington, MA 02474
(781) 643-1534
<mhuben@world.std.com>

Snowy Stella (Huben 07)



Snowy Stella (Huben 07) 24 E Re 3.25, NearWhite Self, Dor Dip
Seedling number: MH0257C

At any northern nursery, Stella De Oro sells like hotcakes because customers are told it reblooms. The question most often heard is “Do you have it in other colors?”

At last, Stella De Oro’s rebloom is available in a near-white.

Snowy Stella is definitely a near-white, and definitely a very strong northern rebloomer. It increases very well, has an excellent stature, 16 buds on erect scapes, blooms are well presented, has a nice clump form, and pretty much all the fans rebloom. Scapes are somewhat staggered too: that prevents gaps in the bloom.

Compared to Stella De Oro, the flowers are similar in size and form. The scapes have twice as many buds, and the continual rebloom is far more certain and abundant. The plants are slightly shorter, and bloom starts a week or two later.

It has a few minor faults: it's not the whitest white (it is tinged with apricot, though it beats most recent tetraploids), the throat bleaches from green to yellow in the sun, the pistil is sometimes curly or small (as in White Lemonade), and it's only an OK pod parent: doesn't produce that many seed.

Many people have tried and failed to produce northern rebloomers in other colors. Snowy Stella (MH0257C) took 10 years, 4 generations, thousands of seedlings, the rebloom genetics of Apps, Millikan, and Sobek, and the near-white genetics of Millikan, Hansen, and Gates. The ancestry is:

Snowy Stella: (Winter Wonderland * Early And Often) * (Sunshine On Clouds * Early And Often)

Sunshine On Clouds: (Happy Returns * Deicer) * (Three Seasons * Monica Marie).
Early And Often: Sunny Honey * (Three Seasons * Tuscawilla Tranquility).

The secret to the breeding of Snowy Stella is the poor conditions for rebloom in the breeding beds. Dry, poor soil; shade and root competition from trees; crowding and low heat in a coastal zone 6. If Snowy Stella will rebloom under those conditions, it will rebloom anywhere. Its grandparent, Early And Often, has demonstrated this principle.

There are only 3 pieces for sale this year. One I'll sell at the Can Am Classic this spring, one at the NEDS spring sale, and one probably at the daylily internet auction. No more will be sold until 2009. A few people are trialing (and increasing) it this year: Sobek (MA), Derrow (WV), Kamensky (MI), and Harmon (NH).

Ice Trumpets (Huben 07)



Ice Trumpets (Huben 07) 30 E 3.5, NearWhite Self, Dor Dip
Boston Symphony * (Snowed In * H. yezoensis)
Seedling number: MH0055D

The fashion for large, ruffled, round, eyed, edged, tetraploid daylilies has brought about neglect of other forms. In years past, many daylilies were celebrated for their simple, delicate, wildflower-like forms. Names like Corky and Golden Chimes are not much remembered, and their forms never made the transition from yellow to other colors.

Ice Trumpets is an important step in my quest for Golden Chimes in near-white.

In just two generations from the species yezoensis, I have a very white, very green throat, narrow petalled trumpet form. As a matter of fact, it looks a lot like a small Easter Lily (though it is nowhere near as white as the real thing.) It has 21 buds and 4 branches for me: in the Sobek and Harmon gardens (nearby) it does MUCH better, and put on a show that drew me from across the garden. This one is distinctive in the combination of form and color. The height doesn't reach my ultimate goals (it's a mere 30 inches) but it's still a literal standout. I've bred with it very heavily: it has almost everything I want except more height. No trace of rebloom here or in Utah, though the F1 parent does rebloom.

Ice Trumpets is a great color clarifier in my breeding, and some of its children are among the whitest daylilies I’ve ever seen. Others have excellent height, budcount, branching, and trumpet form.

Incidentally, Ice Trumpets demonstrates the principle that even starting with a species, in two generations you can be back to near-white with green throats. Too much daylily breeding is aimed at immediate results in the first generation, and too little plans on success reclaiming recessive characteristics in the second generation.