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[keith bellinger <bartermn AT epix.net>]

Crossing the Roadlilies
By bartermn

7/30/03

The first homesteaders didn't have much time to fuss with flowers. The 
ones they did plant needed simple beauty and rock hardiness. Daylilies 
were a logical choice, the lemon (yellow) and the tawny (orange) were 
popular farmyard plantings and soon spread to line country roads. 
Grandma called them "ditch lilies;" they were "road lilies" to my 
father. Those fancy ones we buy at garden centers and admire along 
interstate highways arrived by a different route.

In 1965, as part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "Great Society," 
Congress passed the Highway Beautification Act. What came to be known as 
"Lady Bird's Bill" promoted among other things, the planting of flowers 
along the nation's highways. The First Lady believed that a more 
beautiful country could calm people and bring them together during the 
period of Viet Nam and Civil Rights.

Thirty years later, the Governor of North Carolina proclaimed 1995 "The 
Year of the Daylily" and masses of them were planted along highways 
throughout the state. He stated, "Daylilies add to the natural beauty of 
our state and play an important role in preventing soil erosion." He 
listed a dozen important social, economic and cultural attributes 
associated with the "Swiss army knife of the plant kingdom."

Bill Johnson, head of North Carolina's Roadside Environmental Unit of 
the Department of Transportation, states, "Mowing and maintaining grass 
is expensive. We're constantly looking for grass substitutes. What you 
don't see when you pass those beautiful flower beds is the constant 
research to find the most inexpensive yet effective way of reducing 
costs to the taxpayer."

Daylilies are classified in the genus Hemerocallis, derived from two 
Greek words meaning "beautiful for a day," referring to the approximate 
life span of an individual flower. However, a single plant may produce 
20 to 40 flowers in a period that lasts up to five weeks.

To plant a new daylily, in loosened soil dig the hole slightly larger 
than the root mass, make a mound in the center, then set the plant on 
the mound, spreading the roots out and down. Cover the roots with soil 
to the crown (the point where the roots meet the base of the plant). 
Water it in well.

Allow about two feet of space around each plant. While most plants will 
bloom the first year, the flower will not really show its true color or 
size until the second.

Daylilies are easily propagated by division. Clumps should be divided 
every 4 to 6 years. Dig the plant and look for clumping of leaves into 
what are known as "fans." Cut the plant into sections so each new piece 
has at least one strong fan. Replant the fans as soon as possible to 
keep the roots from drying out.

A.B. Stout is considered the "father of the modern daylily." His 
extensive breeding programs started in the 1920s and resulted in some 
50,000 crosses and hundreds of thousands of seedlings.

Today's daylilies come in most colors, from rich vibrant red, to pink, 
lavender, royal purple, white, and even black. There are also bicolor 
daylilies and ones with halos, "eyes" and other distinctive markings.

Not only has the color range been extended, but the shape and size of 
the bloom also; including circular, star-shaped, spider types, trumpet, 
recurved and double. We now can select from early, midseason and 
late-blooming cultivars, those that bloom at night, those that re-bloom 
later in the summer, and even some with fragrance.

If you would like to follow in the footprints of a true pioneer and 
create a completely new variety of a living thing, the daylily is 
relatively easy to hybridize.

First you need to know whether your chosen parents are diploid or 
tetraploid. Most tags will indicate a tetraploid by the use of an 
asterisk before the cultivar name. You can only breed a dip to a dip and 
a tet to a tet.

At the center of the flower are typically six stamens and one pistil 
(they should be easy to identify - there's 6 of one and only 1 of the 
other). The powdery substance at the ends of the stamens is the pollen. 
Simply take it from one flower and place it on the tip of the pistil of 
the other flower. Some people pick the whole stamen with pollen attached 
and brush it across the top of the pistil; others use a Q-Tip™ or 
artist's brush.

The best time of day to do this is just after the pollen has dried and 
become fluffy, usually about mid-morning. The later in the day you apply 
the pollen, the less your chances are for successful pollination.

You may want to keep records of the crosses you make to help identify 
what works and what doesn't. When marking your crosses, the first name 
is the pod parent and the second name is pollen parent. For example, 
"Clementella" X "August Pioneer", means the pollen of "August Pioneer" 
was used on "Clementella" to form a seedpod.

Let the bloom from the pollen parent fall off on its own accord. If the 
cross was successful, there will be a tiny green pod right at the spot 
where the flower was attached. This pod contains the seeds and will 
continue to grow during the next few weeks.

The seeds will take 40 and 60 days to mature to the point where they can 
be harvested. You can tell when it's time to harvest, the seed pods will 
begin to split open. Squeeze the pod gently to see if it is ready to 
split. If the seeds are harvested too early they might not germinate.

Remove the seeds from the pods and let them air dry overnight. Then 
plant or store in air tight containers-Ziplock™ bags or 35mm film 
canisters work well-in the refrigerator.

Modern homesteaders may have an easier life than those in the past but 
time is still valuable; a beautiful flower that doesn't demand a lot of 
care can leave time for exploring facets of gardening once reserved for 
botanists.