Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Early Daylilies- Earlybirds get the Prize!
This is my new bed for Flore Pleno, a triploid variety of the fulva species. It's orange, but with 9 petals and 9 sepals. They can't be planted in the same bed as hybrid cultivars, because they spread by rhizomes. So they come up in the middle of other clumps unless there's a mowing strip around them like this.
This arrived from Florida last week with a scape, so I let one bud bloom to confirm identity. It's "Mister Right" (Joiner, 2003). I think that's a great name for a daylily worth waiting for.
The second daylily to bloom this year here in Philadelphia was Megan Skinner's Earlybird Orangeade, which she says gets its early genes from Esperanza.
The first daylily to bloom for me this year was Earlybird Sunshine, by Megan Skinner of Allentown, PA. They hybridize on a small city lot, so they sell their introductions through Manatawney Creek near Pottstown, PA. http://www.manatawnycreekfarm.com/ has additional links to the Skinners' introductions, and also has a gallery of Stout hybrids.
I tried to space out my purchases this year, but two dozen (3 orders) arrived on the Wednesday after Mother's day, our traditional "frost free" date (although Allentown, PA got a 32 degree night over a week later this year). I soak them in a weak fertilizer solution for 4 to 24 hours using milk containers with the tops cut off. (I used the kitchen pots until my wife found out.) Then I water them in with the same solution.Labels: Earlybird Sunshine Orangeade Daylilies Early
