Monday, July 11, 2011

Pollen Pushers

'Siloam David Kirchhoff'
I'm not the only one who collects pollen in the early morning. I compete with the insects, and they're probably having more luck than me. Some of my crosses have been a complete bust. I want to blame the weather, but I probably could've done a better job watering the garden. I took the resilience of the daylily for granted. The seed pods need hydrated soil to develp properly. 

'Fooled Me' x 'Pat Garrity' has produced nice pods and I'm almost confident I will have something to harvest in a few weeks. 'Janice Brown' x 'Beautiful Edgings' also shows promise. Other crosses might come through with a pod or two and, with a little luck, I'll have enough to fill the raised bed for next season. It's all a big experiment. Hybridizing daylilies might seem like it takes an extraordinary amount of patience, but it occurs with lightening fast speed compared to seed-to-flower time for orchids. And I kind of like the slow pace. 

2 comments:

The Sage Butterfly said...

Your lillies are so lovely. I like the photo of the bee on the lily. I have some that are still blooming, but I know they will fade out soon.

CatsandCatts said...

Thanks! Most of mine have closed up shop for the year. 'Pardon Me' looks like it has more energy left in it.

The bee was a tough shot. I quickly realized that it made more sense to keep the lens on a flower than to try to follow the bee!

all the best, B