Creating modern hardy hybrid daylillies...
especially for gardens in northern zones!

Daylily: Our Day in the Sun

I really tried my best to catch the "presence" of this MASSIVE plant in my photos of this monster, and hope you can see just how the entire body of this plant is quite enormous in stature.

Of course I was fascinated by Goldner's "Sears Tower" when it came out, and grew it for decades. Oddly though, I really never used that plant for breeding... something about the smaller flower on it had me just growing it as a novelty. Expanding on Downie's "Bee's Big Ben" proved more fruitful for huge yellows, my faves being "Now Go Hide" and "Dance Without Pants". I LOVE having the latter two in my gardens, but it sure did take a while before I finally put the two lines together in my head... much less in practice. Well, I finally made the rendezvous... and just LOOK what happened!!!

It's as if I got the very best of both genetic worlds... all wrapped up in one HUGE package, with this amazing gal! The scapes are the killer on this one... NEVER have I seen such deep and wide self-balancing lateral branching in my life, supported without problem on tremendously strong plants. Flower edges on opposing side of a single scape can be just under TWO FEET from each other, and at heights I've never achieved before. A bud-builder... it's nearly an "eye to eye" experience when checking the blooms out, for God sakes!!! "Sears Tower" (ST) is registered at 72" tall. Over the past 15 years, I've never had it taller than 58" - which was only once. That's not at all uncommon in my area (not knocking ST, it was great - for its time), as I've very well learned that daylilies grow much taller in the north... where stat's were taken on ST. This new plant has been 60-67" here for its years of maturity, has a major "plus" with such intense branching and bud count... I'm SO anxious to see just HOW big this sucker will get in zones 4-6 - which is exactly what it was designed for!

I just LOVE the "wide open" feeling it exudes... as if it were truly worshipping the sun. Being a "child of the outdoors" myself... I've been a bit more attuned to changes than the average guy... so yes, it bothers me to watch it change so rapidly. I'm not sure what "our type" can do about it at this point, but I DO know full well that THIS is the greatest time we could have been blessed with simply... being alive. Indeed, enjoy "Our Day in the Sun". It wont last forever, but I sure hope you also find the time to experience the warmth and beauty of this experience... while it does!!!