I am fortunate to now have TWO color changers in my yard that are blooming. The first is a great, unregistered seedling from a local hybridizer that I simply call "JK2"in my garden. The other is the now-infamous Pigment of Imagination. At first, I thought POI would be just like JK2, but they really are two very separate plants.

For the impatient, gimme-the-lowdown people, here are the morning and dinnertime comparisons:
JK2:


POI:





If you like the details and extra pictures, read on...
8am POI:


9am POI:



This is where stuff starts happening...
9:40am JK2 (top 2 pictures) and POI (bottom, or third, picture below):



11am JK2 (first) and POI (second pic)




More 11am photos of JK2:


More 11am photos of POI:



1:30pm photos of JK2 (first) and POI (second):




More 1:30 photos of JK2:




Another 1:30pm photo of POI:



2:30pm JK2 and POI:



5pm JK2 and POI:



Another 5pm picture of each:




I got JK2 last year and hybridized HEAVILY with it... I wonder if this could be the key to opening up whiter whites (with genetics that cause the bloom to bleach in the sun) and/or open up the blue color in daylilies...

POI is brand new in my garden this year and I only had a few blooms. Pollen hasn't been so good on it, so hopefully next year I have better luck with it. I did manage to hybridize with it a bit this year, and I am particularly excited to see what comes of the crosses I get between the two different color changers, if they take. Fingers crossed!

I should note something that may or may not be visible in the pictures: POI has more substance (which makes sense, considering one of its parents is Substantial Evidence!), has more green in the throat, and is more bagel-shaped, with a flat, round face.
JK2 is a little thinner, has a more unusual form, somewhat cascading and more ruffled...it also seems to get lighter/whiter than POI. It might also be slightly bigger, but I don't have that detail handy at the moment.

I think, ideally, I would like to see a seedling with JK2's color (which bleaches out more), but POI's substance. ....and with lots of buds!

I know from last year that JK2 is extremely pollen fertile. Let's hope POI is as well...and that both are easily pod fertile. POI just rejected a POI x JK2 pod that was beginning to form, so right now it has 0 pods...

I just updated the photos.... So now the whole day, essentially, of comparison has been captured. I hope you enjoy!

I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the two, so please comment below!

I just found 'Pigment of Imagination' and subsequently found this post. What do you think of POI's foliage? Have you grown any seedlings that has the color changing trait yet? I'm very interested in this phenomenon.

Robin,

I wish I could say that I have, but due to the changes going on in my life the last couple of years, I haven't grown out any of my hybridized seeds from my color-changing plants. It is possible some of my seed swap members may have some color changers from seeds that I contributed to my swap from my color-changing parent flowers, though. :)

-Libby

I can certainly understand Libby, change is one thing that's guaranteed in life. I hope you're dealing with it well. I thought it was incredibly generous for you to share your seeds with fellow gardeners. Perhaps they'll have some color changing seedlings to share with you.

I'll share with you my seedling that started my research:

Dnd, love your comparison shots! I finally got two pics of different looks on my Pigment of Imagination. I had to write myself a note to take my phone out to the garden in the afternoon. I've only had this plant since last spring.

At first, I didn't know which flower it was - the change was so great! I saw this in the garden


And this a couple days later.


I love how different and fun the color changers are!

I took a pic of my seedling last year and it looks quite different from this year, perhaps it was a weather factor.
2018

Robin, I love your seedling!

Wow! Really interesting color changes! I like all the seedlings posted here. I would love to see more!

DND, hope you will have better luck next year with hybridizing your seedling and POI.

Karen. I too hope that DnD will have better luck resuming her program next year. I was fortunate to find her and her documentation.

Thanks Mary, they are amazing and fun. It looks like a pretty regular Daylily in the morning. I was thinking about purchasing POI to breed it with, I thought breeding it with another color changer would increase the chance of getting a color changing offspring.

Last year's morning pic:

Sorry, wrong thread.

Charley

I have heard of color changers but I have never seen progression throughout the day as posted by DND above. It is wonderful to see their transformation. I have to say that the color that they end with is the loveliest. I just love its blue shade. How is the substance of your seedling toward the end of the day, Robin?

Karen, I find the substance is the same at the end of the day. One would think, the tissue would thin exposing new layers of color, but this is not the case. I've also noticed, the blooms take a longer than normal amount of time to close at the end of the day.

kousa said:I have heard of color changers but I have never seen progression throughout the day as posted by DND above.

From the AHS Daylily Dictionary:

https://daylilies.org/daylily-...

Thanks for the link Sue, that was really good photo documentation.