Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Three Happy Hooligan, hails a Happy Hybridizer!
Sorry- I loaded Happy Hooligan first, and that puts them last in the blog- You'd think I could remember something simple like that. Above is the reason I like and will keep Merlot Rouge, besides that it's an early double (for me, registered Midseason). That's the light edge around especially the sepals, which gives the doubled parts (the "hose") a little extra character.
Tooth yesterday wasn't a first bloom, so I COMPLETELY MISSED that this was a POLY!!! Count'em- 4 petals and 4 sepals. Don't look for sharks teeth on this ten-year old Dan Hansen intro (32ERe6.5) even though that work appears in the registration. Ten years ago Dan had a different definition of sharkstooth than we do today, and his job is to sell daylilies. SOMETIMES there is a single white-edged knob near the base of the petal.
Tar and Feather first bloom. Kaskel 99, 26MRe6.5 Evr Tet.
Another case of advertising "puffery"? Pat Stamile's 2002 Green Mystique. The mystery is because it takes a Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass to find the puny green throat.
But Pat has a WINNER in Burgundy Twister! 2003, 36EERe9.75 Evr Tet. Why is a registered EE blooming after lots of my EM's? Microclimate? This spot gets afternoon shade from my shed, so maybe the soil stays cooler longer. This year Philadelphia had the HOTTEST average temperature on record for April AND May. Several PA daylily growers have remarked the season seems early and compressed this year.
Arms to Heaven is registered MIDseason, but Ellen Laprise of Partridge Hill Farms near Boston says it blooms early for her too. Roberts 01, 36MRe8 Sev Tet. I wouldn't kick this out of my bed even if it WAS a midseason!
Vanilla Stella good macro. This is getting some of today's Happy Hooligan pollen if I can find enough. Most of the stamens on doubles like Happy Hooligan are converted to petalloids, with little or no residual anther. HH DOES have a viable pistil sometimes, though. Whoever buys Vanilla Stella at the GSDG auction will have to mail me the seeds if I can't harvest them beforehand.
Good macro of one of three Happy Hooligans blooming today. Talbott 92, 18EMRe5.5 double. Evr Dip. Registered as a "blend" because I don't think anybody had a consensus for a term to apply to daylilies with measles. I think FRECKLES describes most of the existing cultivars better than stipple, a painting term for using "small short touches that together produce and even and softly graded shadow." 
My other two Happy Hooligans. At least the left one has a pistil. Since I have no other Dip stipple or even Dip double today, I'll cross these with reblooming Dips with non-yellow but light base colors. like Vanilla Stella, Peace Out, or Lullaby Baby, all blooming today.Labels: Happy Hooligan stipple Tooth Poly
