I would like to see and hear everyone's opinion on which of their daylilies they grow are the whitest and most hardy.
I'm searching for the best white to add to my breeding program here in ZONE 5B.

LILLIAN'S THIN ICE

LILLIAN'S VAPOR TRAIL

LILLIAN'S WHITE LIES

Parent to LILLIAN'S THIN ICE grandparent to the other two.
LILLIAN'S SWEET THANG

David, wouldn't your zone 5b be under the Canadian zone system? I'd have thought you would be zone 4, probably 4b, in the USDA system equivalent.

David, there is a thread on white daylilies that I have bumped up so you can look at everyone's whites.

I second LILLIAN'S VAPOR TRAIL as just about the whitest I've seen.

Very white in my garden is a small diploid - 'Silver Run' (Lee, 1989). It is a prolific bloomer and very fertile.


A tet that is a great pod setter with hot pollen is 'Spacecoast White Chocolate' (Kinnebrew-J., 2007)


'White Mountain' (Stamile, 2006) is a heavy blooming tet that easily sets both ways.

There is a white thread that I bumped up so you can check out the whites on it also.

WE are just about 2 hours from the AMERICAN border, east of TORONTO and 1/2 hour north of Lake Ontario. Our zones are same latitude as yours, so ZONE 5B is where I am..
thank you all for the help.
DR

I'm in Ontario, David, and used to live somewhat west of you which is why I asked. I know you are in Canadian Zone 5b but the USDA zone equivalents are sometimes a level lower. I asked because this Ag Canada map shows the USDA equivalent zones and I thought you looked to be closer to 4b but you would be able to place it more exactly. Zones don't go by latitude, the USDA system is based on minimum winter temperatures (the Canadian system takes more factors into account). I used to be Canadian zone 5 but USDA zone 4, however in the latest map incarnation I think I'm 4 on both, which makes it easier! Edit: Looking at this again with my laptop instead of iPad so I can zoom, it seems to show Peterborough right on the boundary of 4b and 5a, with areas below it in 5a except along the shoreline of Lake Ontario. This is on the new map, when I lived in that area it was designated as 4b on the previous map.

http://gmaps.nrcan.gc.ca/laasm...

I have always wanted to get "Silver Run" in/into Canada.

I have so few whites in the garden. Whites are always on my want list, but it's difficult to find a hardy plant that performs well and has a near white bloom in the north. Good luck with your hybridizing for whites David.
The best white I have is an oldie, Whiter Shade. Branching could be better, top and some 3 way.


See Me-Feel Me-Touch Me is registered as ivory and it does have a yellow cast to it. If your looking to work with teeth + white SMFMTM or maybe Buzz Saw might be worth a look.


Have you seen Culvers Alpine Junction, Tundra Bird or Bristol Cream. I keep meaning to order Bristol Cream....Alpine Junction looks good too....

Michael Miller has some very nice white intros. I have an order coming from him this spring and may add one to it, if I can make up my mind which one...

I really hadn't paid attention to whites until I added 'Lullabye Baby' to my beds. While it's listed as a near white with pink tinge, in my garden it looks white unless you're very close to it...simply glows (see attached photo). After that I've been hooked. That was a year ago. I added 'Mal' last year that's a near-white and this year am adding additional fans; have also ordered 'Wedding Band' and, if I can find the space, will probably add a few other cultivars.

My ultimate goal is to find 'Wedding Gown' which (in my personal opinion) is one of the most beautiful near-whites I've seen.

John - Did your Mal bloom for you last year? I acquired that one in the Fall and am curious to see how white it is.

I'm in zone 5b kitchener, Ontario. I find August Frost is white some of the time,


And Buzz Saw alternates between white and yellow cream.



makes lovely kids though.

I think Ice Carnival is really my whitest white; an oldie but a goodie.


Another pic of August Frost

I bought some seeds on LA that are from 'white' parents:
Dip Snowflake Empress x Heavenly Angel Ice
Tet President Ronald Reagan x Arctic Wind
Tet Fancy Lace x Shimmering Dawn (pale yellow)
Tet Boundless Beauty x Thelma Douglas
Tet Boundless Beauty x Fancy Lace
Tet Wonder of it All x Michael Miller
Tet Wedding Gown x Great White Dove
Tet Portofino (pale pink) x Fringy

I also have a white double, Peggy Jeffcoat crossed with Almira Buffalo Bone Jackson as well as will Tavares Lemon Lime.
Also, Margo Reed Indeed x Awesome Butterfly is a cross with white.

My white daylilies are:
Snow Crystal
Michael Miller
Voila Francois
Victorian Lace (pale pink)
Spectral Elegance (pale pink/coral/yellow)

I also have Margo Reed Indeed - editing this line out. I have a cross with MRI as a parent but I don't have the plant.

I thought some of these would cross nicely and really am looking forward to what I get. I also thought I might cross some with great patterns that I would like to have a whiter background for them. Always nice to have a project.