Growing Daylilies Together

Out of curiosity and my interest in breeding for blacks and obtaining the darkest daylilies I could find to use for parents, I gathered a bloom from each of my darkest this summer so I could compare them side by side to see who was the darkest that I had.

With the exception of Sleepy Hollow, Jane Mahan, Midnight Magic and a black/purple seedling I obtained from Jamie Gossard that were NOT blooming that day, here is a picture of my darkest ones in full blistering sun on a 94 degree day at 6pm.

From left to right in both photos are:
Top row:
(1)Wayside King Royale, 2)Bela Lugosi and (3)Spanish Harlem

Bottom Row:
(4)(Ezekiel x Ed Murray) x Gossard Seedling-A
(5)(Ezekiel x Ed Murray) x Gossard Seedling-B
(6)(Ezekiel x Ed Murray) x Gossard Seedling-C
(7) Ebony Jewel



The first three blooms on the BOTTOM row were seedlings from the same cross, the same seed pod. The second bloom, (Ezekiel x Ed Murray) x Gossard Seedling-B is the darkest daylily, registered or not, that I have in my entire garden to date.

In blistering heat and full sun conditions, the only one of these that shows signs of stress is Bela Lugosi, which the substance of the petals seems to turn to complete mush, and whom I have since moved to a shadier spot in the garden.
Does anyone else have side by side photos they could share of their darkest ones? If not, maybe we can expand on this discussion next season.

What a great post, Becki. I'll certainly use your idea of putting blooms side by side to evaluate them.
I was sad to see that Bela Lugosi showed so poorly. I used Bela as one of my parents this year, but I crossed him with an orange, so hopefully that gives his babies some built in sunscreen.

Oh, I love Bela Lugosi, Carole. I bloomed a few of my first seedlings out of him this year and will have more bloom next year. I expect he will do much better here next season getting only morning sun.