2011 Introductions

This year I'm introducing two varieties from a new goal: Tall and Small Reds and Purples.

But before I get into that, first let me remind you of the Clump Photo Contest! Free Intros as Prizes!  Only two people have remembered to enter so far: lots more can win.

As a small-scale breeder, I don't introduce a fixed number each year: I introduce only the exceptional. And I have to wait until I have a supply. That would take a long time in my poor garden: I'm indebted to Bob Sobek, Martin Kamensky, Mike Derrow, and Carl & Marlene Harmon for increasing my seedlings.

Red Spire (Saxton 96)

I've been inspired by H. A. Fischer's hybridizing of tall and small flowers such as Corky and Golden Chimes. These have graceful, swaying scapes with lots of branches and buds and extraordinary plant characteristics. Unfortunately, he stopped about 40 years ago, and stayed in yellows.  Stanley Saxton led the way into red tall-and-small with the extraordinary (but slow to increase and scarce) Red Spire.  Bob Sobek has also worked on height, branching, color clarity, and sunfastness of reds and purples.  I'm combining the Saxton and Sobek efforts to continue the tall-and-small theme into reds and purples and bring the flower colors and forms into more modern and diverse directions.

My tall-and-small Red Spire breeding in reds and red-purples has a naming theme based on 'blood'.  I'm introducing these because not only are they exceptional garden plants, but they are excellent breeders passing on intense, clear colors, strong sunfastness, excellent increase, height and good branching.

Arterial Blood (Huben 11)

44 M 3.5, Red Self, Dor Dip

Sobek 90.34A=(City Of Sin * Pardon Me) * Red Spire

Seedling number: MH0377C

Here is my first tall-and-small red, and it is glorious.  Brilliant, velvety, saturated, flaming lipstick-red flowers with green throats held far above the foliage like embers rising from a fire.  Oh, there have been other tall-and-small reds, but they are mostly dull in comparison.

Red clarity in daylilies has many enemies: sun, thrips, and dull color.  Arterial Blood is more sunfast than most (though it will slick on particularly bad days and recover in the evening.)  I reject most reds from my garden because they are less sunfast.  But its particular strength is in thrips resistance: resisting those winding trails that blemish the petals of so many purples and reds.  In my unsprayed garden, Arterial Blood seldom shows any markings.  Dull red color is another bane in my garden: I despise it.  Often it is due to a yellow throat and base color underlying a weak red.  Arterial Blood's rich, deep coloring over a pale base color and green throat make this one of the more brilliant flowers in the garden.

Arterial Blood's height, branching and budding comes from the excellent Red Spire.  Branching and budcount are extraordinary (at least 27 buds and 5 branches.)  I pollinate every bloom because this one has proven to be the most vigorous and rhyzomatious of the Red Spire kids to date. Red Spire itself increases slowly and doesn't do all that well in my poor conditions, but Arterial Blood greatly outperforms it.

The children of Arterial Blood are quite diverse, but some are showing excellent clarity, sunfastness, height, branching, budcount, thrip resistance, color saturation, and rhyzomatiousness.  Colors vary from reds to red-purples to black-reds.  See MH0875B and MH0873D for examples.

Venous Blood (Huben 11)

50 M 4.5, Purple Self, Dor Dip

Sobek 93.36 * Red Spire

Seedling number: MH0379B

I want clear, sunfast colors on graceful, species-like plants, and Venous Blood delivers them.

The color of Venous Blood is a clear, velvety red-purple that can reflect light off the velvet.  It glows beautifully when backlit, highlighting the yellow-green throat.  It doesn't slick for me, though it can look dull in drought conditions.

What do I mean by species-like?  Tall, graceful scapes with excellent branching and budcount.  (5 branches, 34 buds.)  Flowers that avoid the baroque fashions, and resemble the species in size,  form, and simplicity.  Vigorous, rapid increase even in poor conditions in the north.

If you'd like a flower that dances at chest height on slender, swaying scapes for 4 weeks (no rebloom here), this is a great one for an accent or the back of the border.  It's a little large for a tall-and-small program, but that's hardly a fault in the garden.  If we wanted all short plants, we could stick to petunias!

2011 Prices, Availability and Ordering

Due to a delightfully large and unexpected demand, especially for collections, I'm holding nearly all previous introductions for increase.  If you must, desperately have the previous introductions held for increase, please wait until next year, search for them elsewhere, or offer us double last year's price.

Snowy Stella is back in stock again!

Scroll to the end of this post for the two sources.

	Arterial Blood (Huben 11) 44 M 3.5, Red Self, Dor Dip Tall-And-Small Red. Brilliant, velvety, in-your-face, red blooms.  Thrips and sun resistant, 27 buds, 5 branches.  Excellent increase!	$50 sf
	Venous Blood (Huben 11) 50 M 4.5, Purple Self, Dor Dip Tall-And-Small Purple. Bright, clear, velvety, in-your-face, red-purple blooms.  Sunfast, 34 buds, 5 branches. Vigorous increase!	$50 sf
	Snowy Stella (Huben 07) 24 E Re 3.25, NearWhite Self, Dor Dip Northern Continuous Rebloom. The whitest northern rebloomer, available at last! Very rapid increase.	$80 df
	Early And Often (Huben 01) 26 E Re 4, Peach Polychrome, Dor Dip Ext Fra Noc Northern Continuous Rebloom. Starts 5 days after Stella De Oro. Very rapid increase. HM 2006.	$15 df
	From Darkness Comes Light (Huben 10) 34 E 3.5, Cream Self, Dor Dip Noc Dark Scapes. A breakthrough! Cream blooms on inky purple scapes, 25 buds, 4 branches. Exceptional plant habits!	Held for increase.
	Ace Up My Sleeve (Huben 10) 22 E Re 4, NearWhite Self, Dor Dip Northern Continuous Rebloom. Increases slowly, but an exceptional breeder of continuous rebloomers.	Held for increase.
	Boston Marathon (Huben 10) 24 E Re 3.5, Pink w'Rose Eye, Dor Dip Noc Northern Continuous Rebloom. A pretty pink rebloomer with a great green throat. Blooms until frost.	Held for increase.
	Let Me Be Clear (Huben 10) 26 EM Re 4, Pink w' Faint Band, Dor Dip Northern Continuous Rebloom. The clearest pink rebloomer. Excellent foliage. Blooms until frost.	Held for increase.
	A Small Multitude (Huben 10) 44 EM 2.5, Gold Self, Dor Dip Noc Tall And Small. Minute, species-like spatulate flowers on tall, well-branched scapes. Extraordinary breeder.	Held for increase.
	Umpty Kajillion (Huben 10) 42 E 3.5, Melon w'Cream Polychrome, Dor Dip Emo Tall And Small. 40 buds, 6 branches. Exceptionally floriferous, terrific scapes.	Held for increase.
	Vanilla Stella (Huben 09) 18 E Re 3, NearWhite Self, Dor Dip Northern Continuous Rebloom. Starts 10 days after Stella De Oro. Very rapid increase.	Held for increase.
	Begin With A Bang (Huben 09) 34 EE 4.5, Red Blend, Dor Dip Starts blooming a week before Stella De Oro, and blooms well into mid season. Extraordinary foliage.	Held for increase.
	Vanilla Gorilla (Huben 08) 44 M 8, Cream Self, Dor Dip Ufo A striking, tall UFO with excellent branching and budcount.	Held for increase.
	Ice Trumpets (Huben 07) 30 E 3.5, NearWhite Self, Dor Dip Emo Resembles an Easter Lily: no other daylily like it. Excellent budcount, blooms high above foliage.	Held for increase.
	Sunshine On Clouds (Huben 06) 26 E Re 4.25, Cream w'Pale Midrib, Dor Dip Early Bud Builder. Brilliant pale cream, very long blooming. Breeds strong rebloomers.	$30
	Kanai Sensei (Huben 06) 18 E Re 3, Melon Polychrome, Dor Dip Emo Northern Continuous Rebloom. Very rapid increase, could be used as an edger.	Held for increase.
	Twist Again (Huben 03) 28 E Re 5, YellowGreen Self, Dor Dip Noc Northern Continuous Rebloom. No other northern rebloomer has this color. Green holds in the sun.	Held for increase.
	Delicate Lace (Huben 03) 18 E Re 4, Cream Self, Dor Dip Fra Ext Northern Continuous Rebloom. A rock garden daylily: small plant, large bloom. Very rapid increase.	Held for increase.
	Flowers Of Sulphur (Huben 03) 20 E Re 4.25, Yellow Self, Dor Dip Vfr Ext Emo Northern Continuous Rebloom. A total self: even the throat is the same pure yellow.	Held for increase.

I'm thrilled that my introductions are being sold through both Harmon Hill Farm and Partridge Hill Gardens. I highly recommend both gardens for the quality of the plants they ship, good service, and their excellent selections. Partridge Hill Gardens ships internationally. Please contact them to purchase, but feel free to contact me with questions about the introductions.

Harmon Hill Farm

Carl and Marlene Harmon

49 Ledge Rd.

Hudson, NH 03051

Phone:(603) 880-6228

E-mail: harmonhill25@comcast.net

Partridge Hill Gardens

Ellen Laprise

23 Partridge Hill Road

Dudley, MA 01571

Phone: (508) 943-1885

E-mail: gentian1@charter.net