Self-Seeder

11 years ago

I have been watching this bumble bee created daylily. It came up in between a Stella, and a double ditchlily that I had in the front of the house. No other daylilies have been planted in that area for 20 years. It is a small area around the mailbox with a yellow rose bush and the 2 daylilies.

The buds start to open and it holds in a position of growing as a half open bud until it gets big enough to open. This process takes about 2 days.

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Day 3 it opens

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Day 4 still open I do not see much difference except it appears to be a little lighter in color. You can see a bud growing to open beside the open bloom.

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The buds stay open a average of 3 to 4 days before it closes. Depends on if it is cloudy/sunny. Cloudy it is open 4 days if it is sunny it closes in about 3 days.

It is an extremely stiff bloom. The stem is also stiff almost a stem of a small tree stiffness. Perhaps because of the heavy bloom the stem has to be sturdy to hold the bloom. The blooms are about 7"

I will post day 5 tomorrow.

Comments (21)

newyorkrita
11 years ago
Now, that really is unusual!!!
mizellie
11 years ago
Wow. Maybe you are growing an extented bloom for us. That would be great to breed and see what would come of it. It's very pretty too! Ellie
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hosenemesis
11 years ago
Oh my goodness! It's pretty, too! I would definitely give this one a special spot and see what develops. Good job, bees!
Renee
msjam2
11 years ago
Wow! That is amazing!
jean_ar
11 years ago
I would build a fence around this one, so nothing happens to it,its very pretty, too.

jean
shive
11 years ago
The bee did a brilliant job on that one! It's very attractive and large. I've never seen a daylily bloom stay open longer than two days. That is unusual.

Debra
deangreen
11 years ago
very nice, I like a bigger bloom with such a bright color. I have some that open up a day early but not 2 days! ha
marquest
Original Author
11 years ago
I went out today and felt the flower. I am wondering if it is so thick if it is to difficult to close. It has a thick rubber feel.

It sits there so long before it opens, it is strange. I will take another pic tomorrow.
dspack
11 years ago
I'm mostly a lurker, but this one has me really interested! Try for seeds if you can, too.
gardenofeden777
11 years ago
Wow that is wonderful! Congratulations on your baby, she's
a keeper! The colors are also amazingly beautiful! A real tropical colored beauty! Rena'
houstmag
11 years ago
Very pretty bloom and I agree it's a keeper for sure especially with it's habit of holding the bloom for multiple days, your bees did good.
Linda
anniegolden
11 years ago
I think this is the most revolutionary daylily discovery of all time.
Christine
Nancy
11 years ago
Such a pretty bloom, & so unusual. Intelligent bees.
organic_kitten
11 years ago
Beautiful bloom, wonderful habit...keeper. Guard it well.
kay
marquest
Original Author
11 years ago
Okay this is day 3 open bloom. I took a side view so you can see the development of the next bloom.

I noticed there are not as many blooming scapes as my other daylilies for the age of plant. There are only 4 blooming scapes. Maybe because the blooms last so long it cannot support putting out a lot of scapes.

Sorry I accidently deleted one of the pics above trying to download today's pic.

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dementieva
11 years ago
If it really stays open 3 days and looks good on the third day as a regular feature, I bet you could make some money selling divisions of it.

Very cool in any case.

Nate
marquest
Original Author
11 years ago
I am not looking to make any money. It would be way to much trouble in my book. What I am going to do is try it out in someone else's garden and see what happens for them.

As you can see from the side view it is not looking great because it is starting to close. That is why I took the side view so people can see the beginning of the closing.

A few years ago I posted a daylily that was two different colors in different parts of the garden. I sent it to someone but I never heard from her so I do not know what happened. I do not have that many daylilies I am not a collector.

I am just a casual gardener. Plants are fun. They do some of the strangest things. Nature is something.
marquest
Original Author
11 years ago
Day 4 this is it. It melted but the other one opened. It looks like a melted blob of glue. It was 90 degrees yesterday and at 9 am today it is 80 already.

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lisa_3
11 years ago
I'd be happy to volunteer for a host garden! I'm over in Ohio and play at hybridizing. I am also involved in a garden club in the area with several other home hybridizer's. I could even show you a few seedlings I have pending with promise and we could swap one and watch each others. Just let me know. :)
shive
11 years ago
I'd love to try it in my garden and hybridize with it. It's so unusual that it stays open that long. I wonder if it would do the same in my usual 90-degree temps. I would be happy to trade you a registered plant for it.

Debra
grass_lover
11 years ago
The bloom is very pretty. Please keep us updated on how it does... I can just imagine how much fun someone that hybridizes could have with it! :)