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Progress in growing single flowers of tetraploid daylilies
I want to devote this study to the progress in the cultivation of classic, single forms of tetraploid daylilies, which took place in the world at the beginning of this century. The choice for these daylilies is not accidental, because they are the most numerous and most common category of daylilies in cultivation, and according to American Hemerocallis Society they include 42,233 registered varieties.
It seems that the progress of cultivation with this number of registered varieties is impossible and the anatomical features of each new variety can only be a repetition of another, previously registered. This circumstance is a special challenge for daylily breeders. It is also multiplied by difficulties for breeding in Europe, due to the epidemiological ban on importing daylilies from America to Europe. This prohibition prevents breeders in Europe from accessing attractive, reputable American nurseries and thus the most valuable biological material for breeding.
Despite these limitations, progress in breeding daylilies understood as constant creation of forms that would be new in the morphological and color aspect takes place constantly, systematically, although it may not be easily noticed.
The Experimental Daylilies Nursery I have founded in 2010 adapts its breeding programs to the emerging new trends in universal breeding. In my opinion, in the last decade of our century, at least three of them turned out to be dominant: 1. morphological variability of daylily flower structure and 2. graphic and color variation of the eye zone 3. sculpting smooth surfaces of petals.
1. Variation in the morphological structure of the daylily flower
At the turn of the centuries, according to the trends prevailing at the time, single flowers of tetraploid daylilies were mostly characterized by broad internal petals, sometimes covering entirely the external petals sepals, located below them, Fig. 1-4. This was in line with the physiological function of the external petals, which were assigned the role of scaffolding, supporting the stylish, color-attractive internal petals.
A commonly present decorative element of the flower at that time was an eye of different width and color, defined as a one-colored, homogeneous structure, sharply delimited from the color of the internal petals (Fig.5-8)
The achievements of the Experimental Daylilies Nursery, however successful in terms of morphology and color, were only a confirmation of the type of construction of the daylilies dominating at that time. (Fig.9-12)
The beginning of the century was also a period of visible evolution in the construction of tetraploid daylily flowers. The varieties, timidly at the beginning, started to appear more often as the years went by with narrowed inner petals revealing the outer petals hidden so far under them, making them a full-fledged element for the presentation of the decorative qualities of the flower. Transferring the drawing from petals to sepals was a novelty in the cultivation of tetraploid daylily flowers. The narrowing of the internal petals also modified the shape of the eye, which turned from the structure similar to the circle to an oval; or various three-field figures often extended towards the periphery of the petals (Fig. 13-20).
The results of our proprietary cultivation work in this period corresponded with the general global trends (Fig. 21-28)
2. Variability of graphics and colors of the eye zone
Another element of the progress of modern cultivation of tetraploid daylilies was the graphic and color reconstruction of the eye zone. The unquestionable precursor of this direction of cultivation was the diploid variety 'Aphrodite' registered by Taylor in 1948 (Fig.29).
It remains a mystery why it took the daylilies breeders over 60 years to obtain the same spectacular success as in the case of the author of this variety. This was done by Bob Faulkner, whose achievements in the cultivation of diploid daylilies have no global equivalent. For they were the first category, in which breeding progress achieved unbelievable success, totally inaccessible for tetraploid daylilies at that time (Fig.30-37).
The eye as a one-colored, homogeneous structure surrounding the throat of the flower has changed into a mosaic of various, multi-colored, graphically sophisticated compositions. It was understandable that the cultivation of tetraploid daylilies had to make efforts to introduce similar solutions into the area of own breeding achievements. It was then that a new category of flowers called "patterned daylilies" was born. One of the first tetraploid daylilies in this category were the varieties bred by Stamil: Screen Pattern and Get Jiggy (Fig.38,39) but soon the awakening ambitions of other breeders resulted in a whole range of new varieties.
Hansen, DeCaire, Ansari, Gossard achieved the most outstanding achievements and were shortly after followed by many other breeders (Fig.40-47).
It should be emphasized that the source of obtaining the patterned eye zone effect in tetraploid daylilies were diploid daylilies converted into tetra form. The list of varieties that took part in this transformation is long and certainly the list below present just a modest choice of them:
Ben Lee
Colorful Etchings
Cosmic Kaleidoscope
Crystal Blue Persuasion
Dark Mosaic
Devil's Footprint
Dragons Eye
Exotic Echo
Kaleidoscope Intrigue
Kaleidoscope Jungle Catungle Cat
Kaleidoscope Puzzle
Lavender Blue Baby
Pattern Maker
Priscilla's Rainbow
Siloam Virginia Henson
Super Fancy Face
Texas Kaleidoscope
Tiger on the Mountain
The proprietary achievements of the Experimental Daylilies Nursery in the category of patterned tetraploid daylilies follow the achievements of leading American nurseries. Obtained clones are currently under observation and prepared for registration. (Fig.48 - 55).
While the program of breeding progress of patterned tetraploid daylilies could be considered closed, a careful observer will find one more feature that distinguishes the obtained breeding results from all others. This feature is the multicolor drawing of the eye zone and in a captivating way it is represented by varieties bred by Stamile (Fig. 56-59)
3. Carving smooth surfaces of petals
Another category of anatomical transformations of the characteristics of tetraploid daylilies, which have their own history, is the introduction of carving into the construction of a flat surface of petals. The first clones presenting this feature, still at the beginning of development, appeared at the end of the last century with varieties registered by Carr and Salter (Fig.60-61). They were characterized by longitudinal ribs raised above the surface of the petals running from the throat to the circumference of the petal, sometimes with radiation outside. A more vivid picture of this feature was presented by later varieties of Stamile and Carpenter (Fig.62-63) and several other authors who took up this direction of breeding.
In the initial period, all registered varieties presenting a bas-relief of petals were similar in structure and color. In my opinion, a significant breakthrough in breeding this category of daylilies was the 'Heavenly Highway's Home' variety presented by Godwin in 2009: a rosette of a golden bas-relief cast on the background of a bright pink surface of the petals completely filled the eye zone and a golden, densely draped frill of the petals complemented the rest of the decorative values of the variety (Fig.64).
Hansen successfully developed the culture of carved varieties of tetraploid daylilies in the following years, registering as the only attractive clones in the world with the presentation of carving as an important decorative element in the anatomical structure of the flower (Fig.65-68)
The Experimental Daylilies Nursery inspired by Hansen's achievements introduced among the Polish breeders the Bridge programme aimed at growing tetraploid relief forms. The last flowering seasons revealed the first flowering clones of this program (Fig.69-72).
Presenting the achievements of the Experimental Daylilies Nursery, I also wanted to express my concern for the fate of European daylily breeding. Isolation from the achievements of American breeders can motivate to greater use of our own capabilities and ideas. The coming years will show how few still daylily breeding centers in Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and other European countries, including Poland, are able to successfully create innovative directions for breeding tetraploid daylilies, despite these restrictions.