Lately I have seen many articles and notes on rust, many of which I find very interesting.  Claims that entire lines are 100% rust free, that it is 100% avoidable, etc etc.  I've also seen other posts from folks saying no matter what they do, they get rust.  Here are my thoughts on this topic:  First, let me say I was one of the very first in the country to document the effects of rust on daylilies when it first hit our country.  I was one of the unlucky recipients of plants that were infected, and so San Antonio, Tx had daylily rust very early on.  It was at that time that I decided to NOT treat at all, but to see the effects of rust on my garden.  I found that rust did NOT kill the plant, but rather blemished it and possibly weakened it (debatable point).  I also found that some plants were severely infected with rust, while others seemed to have very little rust at all.  But I also found that the next year, plants which previously showed very little rust suddenly had much more the following year.

Over the next few years, I purposely brought in numerous plants whose hybridizers claimed were "rust free", and found them to get rust very quickly when exposed to it 100% of the time in my trials.  "Rust Free" is an interesting label...if  you are spraying for rust, your plants will indeed be "Rust Free", at least visually, as the fungicide inhibits the rust pustules from forming.   We have also found that if your plants are exposed to extreme winter cold conditions, this ALSO supresses the rust genes from showing on the plants, in many cases never showing at all.  Does this mean the plant is truly "Rust Free"?  Or is the ENVIRONMENT the key factor as to why the plant does not show rust? 
Summer a  year ago the Lily Farm had rust in a fair abundance, and we sprayed diligently for it.  This past winter was one of the coldest East Texas has had in 20 years, and guess what, magically we did not see a SINGLE PLANT on 6 acres with rust until almost August this summer.  Did the plants suddenly form a resistance to rust?  No, but rather the extreme cold they were subjected to clearly offered the key to the disease never raising its head until very late summer.  Why the difference??

In summary, my thoughts are this:  Some plants offer a greater resistance to rust than others, and I believe there may even be some that offer total resistance.  But the only way to know that for sure it to develop plants where you NEVER spray, and then have those same plants that do not show rust to live in an area of high humidity where rust is prevelant.  Louisiana comes to mind for me....highly humid, terribly hot....now THAT is a testing ground for rust.  Climates that experience cold winters are exempt, as we already know that we can send plants infected with rust to those areas and many times the plant never shows rust again after going through the winter cycle.  But remember, to NEVER SPRAY is a problem, especially if you are a commercial nursery, where spraying is required by the state agricultural departments.  

Just my thoughts, but I always question "magic bullets" unless they apply to everything, everywhere, in every instance.

Off to build a new daylily bed....should be a great day today!

MC 

Hello daylily world!  Couple of updates and obervations......the updated Lily Farm website (www.lilyfarm.com) will be released on Saturday, September 11.  My daughter Kelsey is out of town and is missing a few key parts, but returns to San Antonio on the 10th and assures me it will be ready to go.  Catalogs are going out this Friday, so if anyone needs one and is not on our list please let me know and I'll add you.....Exciting stuff this week, as not only does the catalog hit the mail, but Jill (wife), Lindsey (youngest daughter) and Coco (beloved dog) are coming to see me this weekend!  YES!!  I can't hardly stand the wait.

Daylily things.....observations in general....we watered more this summer than probably ever before, starting around 6pm and turning off at 6am, watering every other night.  The daylilies look better than we can ever recall seeing them at this time of year considering the extreme heat we have been dealing with here in Texas.  My belief is the water is strengthening their immune system ever so slighty, or it could be as simple as the water is cooling the ground temps and preventing the soil bacteria from attacking the crowns.  Jack and I have always believed once the ground soil hits a certain temp, that is when the dls are most succeptible to rot.......proliferations......moved about 20 or so from their dixie cups into Pro Mix potting soil....had them in the Dixie cups for about 4 days, and once the roots started taking off, they went right into the Pro Mix.  They look superb!

Last thought.....when dealing with electricity, it is ALWAYS a great idea to shut it off before trying something you KNOW you are not good at...in my case, I learned just how much fun a blast of 120 can feel through your body....uhm...not good, not good at all!!!  Lol!!