Viewing comments posted by adknative

When cooking with onions, note that - if you cut the base (root area) from the onion, soak in water for a day or two, it will reroot and can be planted into a pot (or soil), where it will regrow more onions.

Each year, we plant seed potatoes ... a range of varieties, from fingerlings to early, mid or late season. Being in a cold climate / short summer, late season potato choices are rare. But despite having grown many different varieties, each year we always try several 'new' (to us) to see what happens.

Fingerling 'Magic Molly' was a 'new to us' variety for the summer of 2023, and we planted the minimum seed potato quantity we could order (either .5 or 1 lb.). This potato was one of our (2) best producers in 2023 (which turned out to be a very poor year for many others).

Magic Molly increased tenfold over what we had started with (I do keep record each year of pounds planted / pounds harvested). It also tastes great, cooks superbly, and holds its deep purple flesh even after cooking (which the kids love - who knew kids would think purple potatoes are super cool?).

And being a fingerling, the size is perfect for many recipes - from soups and stews to home fries or potato salad, this is an excellent potato. So for 2024, we have upped the order on Magic Molly and we'll be planting quite a bit larger quantity this year.

One of only (2) daylilies I have lost over many years (here in zone 3) that I believe failed to survive due to lack of cold hardiness. Treated it precisely the same as all others coming from a southern garden: planted in spring (about an inch deeper than northern garden suppliers), and mulched it well. It struggled to adapt even over our short, cool summer and did not survive its first winter here. Would not recommend for cold climate gardens.

'Yankee Pinstripes' is noted as blooming early midseason. 2023 was the first year for it in my zone 3 gardens and the FFE was on 24 Jul ... it was still flowering steadily on the 10th of September. That is a minimum of eight weeks of buds and blooms ... not listed as reblooming, but I think it must have sent up rebloom scapes. (?) I will be watching for that in the coming seasons.

I have noticed that 'Eviction Notice' has more of a raspberry pink tone earlier in the day than later on. The colour does not 'change' so much as it seems to deepen slightly towards the red end of the spectrum by afternoon, particularly on days with a lot of sun.

'Singing in the Wind' is registered as very late and I will attest to that, as it blooms well here in mid-September. Although there does not seem to be a category for daylilies whose buds survive frost well, 'Singing in the Wind' will continue to bloom after we begin hitting nights that drop below freezing. For northern gardeners who want to extend the season of blooms, I would recommend this daylily for its beauty and its hardy nature. And, yes - it's fragrant.

'Higgledy-Piggledy' exhibits the gray-lavender tones I most associate with Trahlyta, as seen clearly in the single form FFE I posted from Aug 2023. Note that it doubles 40%, though the double is striking when seen. This is its first summer in garden, will look forward to next year's flowers.

'Merry Morgan' (Bunting 2008) is noted as being polymerous (99%) and single form. In reality, it doubles in form (nearly 99%), but does not poly with any consistency. I think I have seen two or maybe three poly blooms on it in the five years I have had it.

If you appreciate it for its double (not single) form, then I would say that it is reliably hardy in northern gardens. If your interest is for its ability to produce polymerous blooms, then I would say there are many better options to choose among.

'Emerald Isle' is a vintage daylily (Fay, 1954) with 40-inch scapes, and with buds and blooms which just won't quit. The flowers are about 5.5 to 6-inches... I have never noticed any fragrance... but they start the early day at almost a pastel, pale butter yellow and by afternoon, light the garden with deep golden-yellow sunshine.

As a clump, there are between 10 and 15 scapes, but each scape is just loaded with slender, elegant buds. 'Emerald Isle' blooms from late July till end of August (end of summer) and should never be taken for granted. The flowers are well-spaced, never hang up or water spot, and 'Emerald Isle' tosses out poly blooms almost casually among the usual flowers... at least one (among the dozen or more) almost daily. Cold-hardy and gorgeous.

When I first planted 'Streaker' in the gardens and it began blooming, I would have described it as more 'pastel' in tones. In 2022, I moved it to a different location. While both locations I would say are in 'full sun' ... it went from more of a 'morning' sun (6 hours or more) to 'afternoon' sun (full sun by late morning and right through the afternoon). And it went from 'pastel' to very 'vividly vibrant' in my gardens. Just an observation, not sure if this would hold true in other gardens or not.

Just a note on 'Embellished Pink' ... In zone 3, for some reason, I 'almost never' find proliferations on daylilies here. That's why it was so amazing this year (2023) to find not only 'a' prolif on 'Embellished Pink' but I found (3) of them.

I cut the scapes and planted them into potting soil (just at the base of the prolifs, so their roots could grow right into the soil); and, due to cold weather, put them down in my grow room to see whether or not they would 'take'. All three rooted well and are growing happily. Next spring, I will move them to the gardens. Not sure whether anyone else has found (free) proliferations growing on 'Embellished Pink' scapes, but I surely did this year.

'Give Me Eight' is a fun daylily to have in the gardens... of course, first a plant must be suited to your zone and growing conditions, and should have a consistent bloom and enjoyable appearance. 'Give Me Eight' has all that - and more. I believe I read somewhere that it polys about 70% of the time and I do know that it produces polymerous blooms consistently. But what surprised me this year (its 2nd season in the gardens) is how long those blooms last.

Nowhere have I seen 'Give Me Eight' noted for extended bloom, but in my gardens the flowers regularly last well into a second day. Last week, I kept taking photos of the same two poly blooms to verify how well they were holding up, and they went almost 2 full days before wilting. That's crazy and cool, both at the same time.

I am not sure if our cooler northern garden season is contributing to their perseverance, but I will attest to the fact that ... here in zone 3... 'Give Me Eight' is well in the lead for extended blooms.

I love this daylily! I added 'Gaia' to my gardens last year (2022) and it bloomed the very first year, virtually unheard of for colder climates. Zone 3 winter did not faze it at all, and this year the plant ... while still immature... has been blooming steadily for several weeks. 'Gaia' produces gorgeous flowers, always well-formed and with outstanding colour to go with the watermark. A real eye-catcher in the gardens.

I've been growing 'Eye Popper' in my zone 3 gardens for four years and have to say: this one just keeps getting better. Daylilies multiply slowly here, but Eye Popper has tripled its fans.

The blooms are extremely consistent in shape and pattern, the toothed edge is always present, and 'Eye Popper' has never shown any sign of water spots. Scapes are sturdy / never flop. The blooms hold their colour well, even in afternoon sun. (And it's also fragrant.) This one, I think, is under-appreciated and deserves to be in more gardens.

While 'Sharply Focused' is noted for hardiness to zone 5, I have been growing it quite well in zone 3. It blooms in early to midseason (then reblooms). It just keeps putting out perfect bloom after perfect bloom, with a lovely multicolour eye and pie crust edge - and does not 'hang up' on opening blooms that are already fully fledged by just after 6 a.m.

The lighter, smokey-blue tones of the complex eye (with a lavender-violet outer, second ring bleeding like spilt watercolours into the near-white petals) will grab your attention from anywhere in the gardens. (It has also produced poly blooms in my gardens.) It reaches every inch of the listed 36-inch scape height, flowering well above the foliage. If you only want to add 'one' new daylily into your garden this year - this would be the 'one' to add.

'Before' is noted as being nocturnal, opening around midnight ... I generally see it begin to open by late afternoon, early evening... literally, the buds are starting to spread by 5 o'clock in the evening. And very early morning, they are fully open and have begun curling (never the same from bloom to bloom or day to day).

At 5 or 6 in the morning, the flowers are fully open to the day and covered with dew... I have noted, on several occasions, that the intensity of the green throat can be extremely vibrant before 6 a.m. It will pale somewhat as the day begins and soften as the sun begins to hit the blooms, but that early intensity is so strong you might think the photos have been tweaked - not the case. The camera can barely do justice to this lovely daylily.

'Love Struck' ... as with a number of modern African Violets (Streptocarpus) is exhibiting a tendency to exhibit blooms in various colours... and all on one plant! This suggests to me that the genetics are 'not' stable and therefore more likely to produce variants or sports.

Sleigh Bells off-spring from leaf cuttings are producing not only variations to the variegated foliage itself, but also in the leaf shape and form. Some are heart-shaped with a serrated edge ... and others are showing a much more rounded form ... lacking not only the actual 'heart' shape but also the serrated edge. Both types exhibit a much higher degree of variegation and, unlike the registered description, have variegation distinctly white (not beige).

Pink Watercolor (the Russian version being Rozovaya Akvarel or Rozovaia Akvarel) is another currently available AV that seems to have some very interesting genetics... in that they are not 'fixed' or entirely stable. When I obtained leaf cuttings to grow this African violet, I hoped (as I always do) that 'at least one' of the offspring will display the characteristics for which I bought it.

I must say, though, that I am getting variations ... the offspring are wonderful. I did get one with blooms that are very close to the registered form... in reverse. Instead of large double pink blooms with a white center - I got large double white blooms with a pink center. But I also got another version that is definitely large, double and pink... not much white. Waiting for buds to open is like Christman morning - you have very little idea what is going to be inside.

African Violet (Streptocarpus 'Stargate') is listed (registered) to have dark green foliage. I started my plantlets with (2) leaf cuttings which were received directly from Lyndon Lyons Greenhouses, Inc. (who originally created and registered this variety). And some of the off-spring do precisely match that description: dark green foliage and blooms true to description.

And then there are the others... I have at least a half-dozen off-spring of Stargate which are all exhibiting variant foliage... an almost mosaic blend of golden/beige/ bright green foliage as it ages, with green at the crown. So far, the blooms are correct to description but there is clearly something hidden in the genes that is appearing in the foliage.