Daylilies: Rainbow Hill Daylilies, 0 by nutsfordaylily

nutsfordaylily wrote:
Just wondering if anyone here has every gotten daylilies from Rainbow Hill Daylily Farm. I have only ordered once from them. Brad Best is the hybridizer. This was my first time ordering a pricey daylily. I got MICHAEL'S SWORD (a bearded daylily) for $150. The fan I got was very small. Brad said they ran small, and not only that but they were still just out of dormancy in his area in early May, so it would be smaller than usual, as well. I'm assuming he's honest. However it took 2 years for it to bloom. He did give me a good bonus plant, one that he was selling for about $120, called PARADISE OF GOD. That one bloomed after the first season. I'm hoping both show significant increase this year. MS does not show the full bearding yet, but Brad did say it takes 4-5 fans before it does, so I'll be waiting on that. It gets 90% bearding once it gets going, but its progeny are getting 100%.

I purchased it to incorporate that bearding trait into my own hybridizing plan. I never did do any crosses this past summer, but the previous year and the year before I did, and those seeds are waiting to be started, which I will do this year. I will be spreading MS's pollen around liberally this year as well, and will try with POG, too, among many others. I have unregistered seedlings of my late mother's that I want to make crosses with as well.

Anyhow, I'm just wondering if all the fans he sends tend to run very small. I saw an ad he has on mydaylilies.com, which I just joined, and he's selling seedlings, 10 for $37.50, all crosses from newer varieties. Was thinking on maybe getting some and see what I get. I can always sell off the ones I don't care as much for. I always get customers who will buy unnamed daylilies. A lot of people don't care if they're named or not, they just want something that appeals to them.

Karen

MICHAEL'S SWORD