Masking tape sounds like a solution to the problem to me, wrapped around each pod.To get it off, a good razor blade would do the trick.

I like the colored paper clip method you're using for marking.

My only thought here would be maybe you can harvest some of the seeds early. Someone with more experience may correct me, but I think taking them a few days before they open wouldn't be a problem.

Nate

What are the paper clips for? What about buying some organdy bags in Michael's bridal section and let your seeds drop into that? Would that work? I have read where people have found some of these organdy bags in Walmart's craft section too. Why wouldn't one nylon tied around the entire bunch of seed pods; would that help?

Jean - I may have to resort to the duct tape. I'm not sure that I want to try it - apart from making a mess of it, I'll probably savage myself hacking the pods apart.

Nate - I know that seeds can be harvested if the pod gives way and cracks under gentle pressure. I am sure, though, that some number of the pods won't be ready before I have to leave.

Pippi - The paper clips identify the pollen parent. (This is not a new idea; lots of daylily people use this or a similar method (colored wires instead of colored paper clips) to mark their crosses. Each color, or combination of colors, denotes a different pollen parent.)

Organdy bags (just like using cut-off pantyhose or other nylons) tied around all of the pods would only work well if all of the pods were pollinated by the same pollen parent. As you can see from the photo, I have been making crosses from several different pollen parents. Sure, you can maybe catch all of the seeds - but then how do you know which pollen parent which seed came from?

As for tying a bag around each individual pod (or pair or whatever # of pods by the same parent), I'm afraid that some of those pods are so cheek-by-jowl jammed together, that if I try to get in there and force the pods apart to get the bag/pantyhose/whatever in there, I will end up snapping off a pod with (possibly to probably) immature seeds inside.

You seem to have painted yourself into a corner. :(

Most of the solutions I can think of involve uncertainty in which seeds are from which pod if multiple pods open.

Since the pods on each scape are different ages, you could use one of those methods and just hope that you don't get multiple pods in a bag splitting open far enough to drop their seeds.

Nate

Sounds like you need a good friend to check on them every day - someone you can trust!

Nancy

This might not work, but you could go to a feed or horse tack store and buy very small rubber bands - used to braid show horses' manes - and cut netting in small squares - I think you could ease the netting around each pod and the small rubber band you could also ease over the pod and it would be tight enough to hold the netting. You might find rubber bands at Walmart this size also. Or.....instead of rubber bands, go to Lowes and buy a roll of twist tie material that you can cut off and put a little twist tie around the netting. I bet you could ease the square of netting around each pod. Time consuming.....but might be worth it to save the seeds. Good luck!

If you're only going to be gone several days, I don't think you have a problem. The day before you leave, give each pod the squeeze test. If they will split, then harvest them. If not, they will be good for at least a week before splitting open, and even then, several more days before they start dumping seeds. Barring storms or other things, like dogs, that might knock the seeds out or off. But to be sure, tie a length of nylon around the whole bunch. If one should surprise you, you have the seeds.
I keep a jar of old nylons, about 4" in length, and twist tie any pods I want to protect from loss. Ed

Alameda - Small rubber bands might work to hold netting closed above and below the pod (if you could ease those squares of material in between the pods), but they won't hold the pods closed.

Ed - We'll only be gone five full days. (Our daughter is at her college, doing lab work as part of a fellowship she won. DH wanted to go visit her (she was home for a few weeks earlier this summer but we won't see her again until Thanksgiving), and she requested that we come on a particular weekend, so that we could help her move out of her summer digs and into the dorm she will be living in next year.)

So if the pods fail the squeeze test the day before we go, then they'll probably still be closed enough to retain the seeds by the time we get back?

If that's the case (and that sounds good!), then the combination of day-before squeeze test and tying some nylon around bunches of seeds might actually be a viable solution.

Thanks! (And that includes everyone who responded.)

So if the pods fail the squeeze test the day before we go, then they'll probably still be closed enough to retain the seeds by the time we get back?
Yes, and I feel pretty comfortable saying so. I live with fairly high humidity, and in places with low humidity, the pods might dry a little quicker. This might be a good thing for everyone to test in their area; the time it takes for the pod to just crack open, till it opens enough to spill the seeds. But in my experience, I've never had it happen in less than weeks.
Ed

Hmm - why not put those small rubber bands around each seed pod? That would hold them closed enough so seeds don't spill out. The ones I used to use for Shih Tzu dog topknots would be perfect. They are very small latex bands, like those in the link below.

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Latex Bands for Dogs

Nancy, I tried the rubber thing previously. (I don't know if they were of the same material as your doggie bands; I got these at Office Max.) Our sun fried them or something... they were all brittle and the pods that were opening, opened regardless (broke the bands or something... they certainly didn't hold the pods together).

I don't know how they'd do in the sun. The doggie latex bands do last quite a while for topknot bows. I may still have some in the freezer. I'll just try one to see if it lasts for a week. I hadn't thought about the effect of sunlight on them.

Nancy

You could put rubber bands around each pod, then cover the whole group with some kind of white porous cotton and secure that on the scape with a twist tie. The covering might keep the rubber bands from deteriorating?

Yesterday I put an ordinary Plymouth rubber band on one pod, and two color-coordinated latex doggy ones on other pods yesterday. I'll see what happens to them in the sun. They should be opening this week.

They sure can ripen fast. I pulled eight pods off late yesterday evening that had not looked ripe yesterday morning!

Nancy

After 5 days of our hot summer sun, the rubber bands were still in good condition. The Plymouth rubber band worked fine, and the blue latex bands, which are very small - about same circumference as a pencil eraser - worked fine, too. (Those are available on-line - see below). I harvested the seeds today, without any spillage.

If your seed pods are looking good when you leave, then the rubber bands should work just fine. To be certain, in addition I'd put some nylon net (tulle) over the whole scape of pods and twist tie it below the group.

Nancy

Here is a link that might be useful: Lainee Dog Supplies

Hmm, I see that the rubber bands worked for you. Can't say why mine didn't work for me! I guess that I will give the bands another try.

Since it seems that *your* bands are trustworthy, I ordered some bands and a pair of scissors from your link - thanks. Out of honor to your pics, I ordered the blue bands. (I had to put "n/a" for the dog breed and color, though. Lol. I hope it all gets here before we leave, which is in less than 2 weeks now.)

I had harvested maybe all of 2 pods before I started this thread, but the last couple of days I have harvested several more - including all of the pods for a couple of crosses, and some of the pods from a seedling of mine. I am hoping that I can harvest most of the pods (especially most, if not all, of the pods on the polys) before I go. That will cut down on the number of pods to band, and tie up in nylon or whatever.

Thanks for your reporting, Nancy (and the excellent pics)! I'm sure that it will be a help to many.

(And even though it will be thread-drift, how about a pic of your dogs? I have never had smaller dogs, but I *am* (for the most part - there are a few breeds I confess I can't stand) a dog lover.)

Oh, daylilies. We use paperclips, twist ties, sales tags, horse food, dog rubberbands, pantyhose, window blinds, and milk jugs to take care of them. Love it.

Nate

Here's a pic taken around 1987-1988 of Tara Tsu's Krystal Gayle, and me with a big frown and my tongue sticking out - not sure why. Maybe from all the grooming! I used to sew those latex bands onto the back of their satin bows. I still have a box of them in the freezer, 20+ years later.

Nancy

How cute! Thanks for the picture!

Your comment about the look on your face made me laugh. Recently I had my husband take a picture of me with SEARS TOWER. He is unused to our camera, I was anxious about being late to a movie we were going to (movie/hot dog/popcorn date), and he kept grumbling about my camera and ended up taking about a dozen shots - all of them with me with a (greater or lesser) frown on my face! Lol!

LOL - you look somewhat concerned or perplexed! Flowers are gorgeous.

Nancy

Thanks. The rose is 'Flower Carpet Coral' - a great landscaping rose (but not really suitable for cut flowers). I am thinking of getting some more of this series, in other colors, this fall. (That's IF we get some deer fencing in.)

I hate the picture myself (mostly because I recently gained back most of the weight that I lost last year, sigh, but also because I wanted this to be a nice portrait kind of thing). But since you were brave and generous enough to post *your* pic, I figured that I might as well post mine! ;)

Well, that was the picture that was the quickest to find. I'd have to hunt for my dog show pics - don't know where they are at the moment. Krystal was one of the top eight females (this forum won't let me use the proper word) at the American Shih Tzu Specialty - so I was very proud of her. Her picture is on my desk. They are all gone now, and I still think of them often. They were the sweetest dogs imaginable.

I didn't know that was a rose. It sure is pretty.

Nancy

I'm aware of the proper term. ;) Congrats on Krystal's (and your) accomplishment.

We never had show dogs, or any purebred dogs, though my daughter and I liked to watch the Westminster Dog Show on TV when she was younger. I was raised (off and on) with mutts, and as adults we had a dog pack of three rescued mutts (shepherd-terrier mix, black lab-shepherd mix, and a gorgeous dalmatian mix female who had my heart). They've been gone for years now (but like you, I think of them often). We've been dogless for years (for a variety of reasons), but we are considering looking into adopting one or two more.

Mutts make the best dogs! They are usually very healthy as a result of hybrid vigor.

We stopped showing dogs after two top toy-breed handlers "borrowed" to put it kindly one of our dogs from our own handler, flew her to Alaska, won a 5-point major with her, and had a car wreck while there. She ended up with a severely injured spine. I doggedly pursued a complaint to AKC. Only after it was published in Dog World did AKC hold a trial board hearing. All three handlers were suspended (but later allowed back into the fold). Our dog had spinal surgery, and was never shown again, although she lacked only one more win for her championship. Did AKC transfer the points to her record that she had won at other shows as a ringer? Of course not. I had experienced enough of the corruption and cronyism I believed to exist at AKC dog shows, so I walked away from it all in utter disgust with no regrets.

After that, two of our Shih Tzu died untimely deaths, and my husband and I were so grief-stricken that we decided we could not go through this over and over. We gave most of them away, keeping only our very old ones. Once they were gone, we weren't going to get any more dogs.

Several years later, I stopped by the pound, and adopted a German Shepherd female and a Golden Retriever male. A neighbor later brought a tiny puppy over to me, part Chihuahua and Jack Russell, and a year or so later I got a toy Rat Terrier female. So now we have four - two very old ones. They are my constant companions, in or outside of the house. But we sure are tied down and cannot easily travel, without a huge kennel expense. That's the only downside.

Nancy

Good grief!! @_@ I am so sorry to hear about your bad experiences in the show dog world. It's sad.

Our dogs give us joy - but there are also the downsides. I understand very well both the grief of loss and the hassles. (Kenneling 3 or more dogs at a time - it's not just the expense, but also finding a decent kennel to begin with, getting the openings that you need when you need them, worrying about your dogs while you are gone - been there done that.)

Part of why we are still dogless pertains to grief, but it also has to do with the nature of our current property (which had several years of landscaping work wherein I felt it was impossible to have a dog). The landscaping is largely done (a garden is never finished, is it?), but there is a creek that runs through the property, and we have deer issues - both of which are worrisome wrt dogs. If we can fence the deer out and do something about the creek (would have to fence that too, except during storms, to keep the deer out), then we might get one or two (at most) dogs.

Nancy-I know the feeling-but wouldn't trade my fuzzies for the world. I have an Aussie mix and an American Eskimo Mix I got from rescue groups and a German Shepherd mix I found roaming the streets and starving. Vacations aren't an option as we can't afford kennel fees, but I have had a dog for almost my entire life and can't imagine what life would be like without one.
Hope your seed pods are safe and sound when you get back!

Lisa - I'm the one with the seed pods. ;) Thank you for your kind words, though.

(Grief and the property issues aren't the only reasons we are still dogless; there have been health issues the past several years as well - which I don't want to go into. DH, who is really a cat person (not a dog person) has been bringing the dog topic up a lot recently, so either he wants a dog too, or thinks that I need one. I have to see how things work out deer fence-wise (and also health wise), though, before I am willing to commit to another dog (or 2).)

And just to get the thread back on-topic (lol) - yesterday I harvested several pods off of a sometimes polymerous seedling of mine. I think there are only a couple of pods left on that, so if things go south (the doggie rubber bands don't get here on time and/or whatever rubber bands fail, or I run out of time to rubber band and tie up pods), I will at least have several seeds (from 3 crosses versus registered daylilies, two of which are somewhat polymerous here) from *that* daylily to plant. (And harvesting those pods means less work banding-and-bagging all of the pods left on the other daylilies.)