NOTES ON HYBRIDIZING

This month was extremely rainy in my test field. I hope, this can help my most critical plants to root better. Last year we did not have any serious rain in july/august, so I had to water some plants, but of course this wasn‘t enough. So, this year is looking different, however, the constant moisture leads to the pronounced fungal infection in some roses, which are especially prone to it (f.i.  ‚Erinnerung an Brod‘). Some of my own seedlings can benefit from this condition in terms of showing their resistance to infections.  The seedlings shown here look quite ok: ‚Startklar‘ (Chateau de Cheverny x Arethusa) ‚Druide‘ ‚Latein‘ (Penny Lane x Novalis) ‚Markanta‘

 There are two seedlings which bloomed recently, both originate from the cross Penny Lane x Arethusa. It is remarkable that such small plants (about 5 cm tall) are producing blooms already. Probably, it may indicate that they will bloom and rebloom easily like their pollen parent, Arethusa (bengale). And a few photos I made during my latest pollination round in hemerocallis (Free the Night, Cape Breton, Wolverine, Our Miss Ruby, Frill of It All, Shores of Time): ‘Shores of Time’ is a dormant daylily with a lot of children plants listed. It would be interesting to use it in my breeding project. It is a new plant in my collection. So, I have already managed to use its pollen to spread around a bit.  ‘Wolverine’ hem is a well established plant and is blooming nonstop now. However, it does not ‘take’ too well, probably because of heat. Only a few pods are there, considering the fact that I made > 40 pollinations… ‘Free the Night’ is a robust daylily, with strong scapes, florife...

With each day there are less and less daylilies to pollinate. I reuse the tags from the aborted pods, it makes things much easier. It was much cooler today in the morning, I hope, the blooms will ‘take’ better. Some photos were made today during pollinations: And, of course, my rose seedlings:  

 I am still nursering a few babies. They are still germinating directly in the fridge. However, there are some achenes which I decided to put into the pots outdoors to let them germinate at summer temperatures. Mainly, these were the seeds from the crosses with tea roses (like ‘General Schablikine’). They did not germinate too willingly in the fridge. This was also an experience from last year. So, this year I decided to change the protocol and look what I get: It is General Schablikine x Bennetts Seedling. There is another germinant in this pot, though it is looking a bit odd. I hope, more will come.

 Took some photos while pollinating daylilies. It has become cooler after yesterdays rain. Hopefully, the blooms will ‘take’. The peak bloom was about 2 weeks ago, so not so many flowers are present. New Paradigm, Shores of Time, Linda Beck, Polar Dusk, Snowy Apparition, Change of Heart, Toucan Sam.

Hello! I hybridize roses and daylilies, trying to produce new varieties of a gardener‘s interest. Here I give an insight into my routine work with plants, mainly with hybridization, nursering young plants, selection process and all my ups and downs during this exciting journey. I started my hybridization experiments about 10 years ago, and since then I managed to produce some varieties which are still in testing.  Hybridization of roses and daylilies is done in Vienna, Austria, in my rooftop garden, where I keep my parent plants (mostly, pollen parents, as I can collect pollen elsewhere). It is very important to have them within reach for a swift handling and for statistics. The young seedlings are kept there as well. Hence, the first step of selection is made in my rooftop garden. Those seedlings who performed well, are taken to my test field, which is about 120 km away to the north-west of the country.  My test field is an untamed area, with a different climate, where only t...