Hi John

Wow! You have Walnuts? That sounds great. Do you roast them? I hope they are the eating kind.

You’re gonna get hooked. Your choices are tremendous and the colors beautiful. You’re Zone 5b. I love Zone 5b. Hot Hot Hot Zone 5b is Kansas City and St. Louis, MO. Check out this link. http://classygroundcovers.com/cat----Zone5WithPhotos “with-out-a-doubt”; you must start with Hostas and Daylilies. I love them for their variety and color. We can go crazy trying to collect with them.  Find a friend that has some and help them divide their over grown bunch. They’ll love you for it. We’ve done that several times. It’s a great work out too.  I divide ours every two to three years. I just about covered the place with them. We’re talking about doing a “perennial share/swop/trade” event. From ordinary to fancy, they hit the spot. Hostas love shade and can tolerate some sun. And Daylilies love the sun and can tolerate some shade.

But check the zone rating on the plants before you purchase them. And determine how many hours of sunlight you get on each location.  I gue guesstamate (I hope that’s a word).  Don’t be afraid to experiment.  We move things around like crazy: from front yard, to backyard, to sideyard, to “The Back 40”, to the woods, and to the neighbors. Of course, neighbors love that latter. And in KC you can grow “many” more hot weather plants, than Minneapolis. Zone 4. http://classygroundcovers.com/cat----Zone4WithPhotos But we can share some beauties.  New stuff is coming out all the time. 

I’ve try my hand at starting new stuff too. It’s called “Hybridizing”. I’ve done a few daylilies and hostas, but only a few made it so far. You shouldn’t have got me started. I need to let you know. If you create (hybridize) a white or a blue daylily flower; you’ll go down in history. Many have tried and will continue to try.

·        Backyard Hybridizing Daylilies

·        Hybridizing is the combining of two daylily cultivars to produce seed and subsequently a plant that has the random combination of the characteristics of the pod and the pollen parent. Each seed and each plant is genetically unique.

·        How To  In the center of each daylily flower are several stamen and a single pistil. Apply pollen from one daylily stamen to the tip of the pistil of another (or the same) daylily. Allow the seed to develop (do not remove the spent flower). Harvest the seed within a day or so when the ripe, brown seed pot starts to crack open. Allow the seed to dry a few days (I store them in a small paper envelope to dry) and then chill them in the refrigerator over winter inside a sealed plastic bag. If you put too moist seeds in the plastic over winter they can become moldy.

·        Plant the seed in the spring. First year's growth is foliage alone (this is for northern gardens, in Florida many seedlings bloom the first year). Most seedlings will bloom the second summer. Blooming the third summer should show you full potential of the plant.

·        Sounds Easy  it is not always as easy as described, but it is easy enough that hundreds of your fellow gardeners are giving hybridizing a try. In fact, the only hard part is keeping those weeds out of your seedlings for a few years before you throw 99% of them away. And then you will know why new introductions are expensive.

·        Dips and Tets You will need  to learn is the difference between diploid and tetraploid. You can't cross diploid and tetraploid daylilies. The best way to tell the difference is to already know what the plant is. Otherwise, a microscope can distinguish between diploid and the larger size grains of tet pollen. Diploids are easier to cross meaning that they set seeds more readily. Hybridizing with tetraploids can be frustrating because many crosses will not result in a seed pot and there may be fewer seeds in most pods. High temperatures can reduce success rate. Some tets are poor pollen parents, or pod parents, or both.

·        Tips Everybody has their own techniques. I find the best time to hybridize is 9am - noon. Some temperamental tets are easier to set after the first pod has started. Don't allow garden visitors to deadhead where you have pods set. I start my seeds indoors under lights in January; this hasn't  resulted in any first year bloom but it does give me something to do in January.

·        Choices Never (never say never) cross plants that have the same faults such as too few buds or scapes that fall over. If you want to see true advances in daylilies, start with the newest introductions. Read the previous sentence again. The new introductions are expensive to acquire but gardeners have already made hundreds of crosses with the older plants. Even if you use the new introductions you are working several generations behind the plant's hybridizers. Try outcrosses (plants with very different family trees) to combine distinct gene pools.

·        Record Keeping Keeping records of crosses does not produce better plants. It is fascinating though and might improve your hybridization program by identifying the successful pollen parents. The rule of thumb is that a thousand seedlings will make many nice flowers but only one or two that are distinct and worthy of registration. Registration information is available from the AHS. 

Let’s me know if you find some cool new plant.