Mobile Hemerocallis Society Meeting Jan 23rd.

I headed south on Saturday to the Mobile Hemerocallis Society, While others were headed North
to the MWS. I was expecting warmer temps while I knew the ones headed to Nashville were
going to see snow and ice. Well to my surprise it was cold in Mobile too.  Got up Sunday morning
to a frost on everything. I sure wasn't prepared for that. But the day turned out to be great.
Temps warmed up close to 60.

It was great to see Fred Manning again (acting president of the MHS) Although I didn't know any of the other members I met a great group of people. Very interactive which makes one feel right
at home. I even aquired a new recipe for a great snack from one of the members. 

For those of you who don't know Fed Manning he is know on the Lily Auction as Spunky1.
Here is a picture of Fred with my lovely equipment technician  and granddaughter Brooke.
As well as a picture of the group. 
A big thank you to the Mobile Hemerocallis Society for the warm welcome.

Birmingham Dayliy Society Jan 16th meeting

I had a great time on Jan. 16th at the Birmingham Daylily Society. A super nice bunch of folks.

It was great seeing old friends and making new friends. I was really pleased to see members

from the Central Alabama Daylily Society

there also.

This is Morris and Becky Parr and myself.

The Central Alabama Daylily Society will be

hosting our fall regional.

Mera Crews came with Morris and Becky
Mera is working on gathering all of Linda Agin's
introductions and has quite a few of them already.
Mera and Me:



I had headr of Mr. Joe Langdon and got the opportunity to meet him,


My lovely granddaughter Tiffany who assisted me
in loading , unloading and setting up for the program
                                                                                  

Tiffany and David Allison seam to hit it off as they were probably the only two Alabama fans
in a room full of Auburn fans. Well that was until Morris and Becky got there.

Looking forward to going to Mobile this weekend. Maybe it will be some warmer there.

We had snow flurries tonigh. I am so ready for spring.

Video

Please scroll down to the post of A New Year with Daylilies to see the video on planting of the
sprouted seedlings.  Or click on  "A New Year with Daylilies" in the menue to the left. I want to keep the theme going right on through so all the information will
be found in one place.

Soil mix

Before planting the seedlings I wanted to tell you about my potting soil mix.  First off there are many soil mixes but I have found this to be successful for me. I use the Pro-Mix BX. for my seedlings. I sometimes incorporate about 1/3 Evergreen soil conditioner in it, for drainage purposes. The Pro-Mix is not readily available here in my small town, so I have to have either the local feed and seed store or the Co-op in Columbus, Ms order it for me. The Pro-Mix BX with Biofungicide is composed of Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss (75-85 % / vol.); Dolomitic & Calcitic Limestone (pH adjuster); Endomycorrhize (Mycorise Pro); Macronutrients; Perlite (horticural grade); Micronutrients; Vermiculite; and a Wetting Agent.  http://www.growersupply.com/prprbx.html.  Not the cheapest thing on the market but with mixing in the soil conditioner it really goes a long way.  This is just what I use for the seedling trays.
I will use the soil conditioner with mini pine bark nuggets for the gallon or larger pots. More on that later.

Snow and seeds

Well we have three inches of snow this morning and here in the south we are pretty much stranded as we have no snow plows. I decided to check on the seeds and have posted an updat with pics. Scroll down to Jan 3rd posting.

Tip for today

Though I would throw out a tip for the day that I found useful.I have three cats and they love digging in my raised beds to use as a restroom. Then my sons dogs will come and did a very large hole trying to did up the cat's business. I found that spreading used coffee grounds on the beds will stop the cats digging, therefor also stopping the dogs digging. Coffee grounds also provide a slow release nitrogen. I understand that if you have a Starbucks that they bag there ground and set them out for customers on a first come first serve basics.

I don't have a Starbucks near me and I don't drink coffee. Only my husband. So about two tablespoons of grounds per day is all I have.

This is Princess, and  Ity Bitty.Couldn't                

get Duchess to be still long enough to get

her in the pic.
They are all just what I call barn cats
and great hunters. They constantly bring
me mice, moles and even a rabbit every
once in awhile.                  

Beluga Whales

                                       Though I would post this video of Beluga Whales
                            made with my Olympus camera at the aquearium in Atlanta GA.
                              If this works well, I will be adding videos of garden visits this
                                                                   coming season.

                                                                  Hope you enjoy it !

A New Year with Daylilies

With all the cold weather we have been having and me itching to dig in the dirt, I decided to plant some seeds. When I opened the crisper to get the seeds last month I found over half of the packets had some seeds that had already started sprouting. So I had to get busy and fast. Yesterday was the third planting of seeds since Dec 26th.

I use the wet paper towel method to start my seeds in the winter. The first thing you must know about this method is that the surface you are working on and your hands must be clean. If not, you will get lots of mold in them. I use Clorox water,  1 to 10 ratio, to wash the counter and my hands. I also wipe down the faucet handle and the marker that I use.  Don't take any chances. Then wet the paper towel  and squeeze it out. (just use tap water)

Spread out and fold in half, place the seeds on one side then fold the paper towel over the seeds, folding in the outer edges, and then place in a zip lock bag. I use the freezer bags because they are thicker. Write all the necessary information on the bag . I always write the cross the date they were planted in the towels and how many seed in the cross.

This method allows you to store many seeds in a small area. Just stack the bags and keep in a fairly warm place. The seeds do not need light to sprout. I check on them at least every three days. Some people plant as soon as they see the little white sprout starting. I wait until they have little leaves on them and then plant them in tree trays. I will follow up with this cross shown that I just planted in the next few days.


Someone asked that I post the pictures of the two parents of this cross. Thanks Nancy for the suggestion.  Pod Parent first is Nancy's Quilt a 2007 Linda Agin introduction. Then the pollen parent is God Save The Queen a 2005 introduction by Morss

Here are the nine seeds planted on Jan 3rd.

Just three days later on Jan 6 th. Six of the

nine have started sprouting.They go back into

the bag as is and wait a couple more days, I do move them around on the paper as the roots will grow into the paper if not moved regularly.

Today Jan. 10th one week from planting the seeds   
in the paper towels I have eight of the nine sprouted

and one bad seed.  It is removed and the seeds are rearranged so that the little green tips are close to the top edge and pointing to the top. They are then covered back up and put back in the bag.The tips will grow to the light. Some would have already planted at the first sign of sprouting. But I will make a video if possible  when I am ready to plant these and post it here.

Below is the video of the actually planting of the seeds pictured above. Be sure had have your sound on as it has verbal instructions. Then there is an image of the  final planting along with two other crosses.

The label has the parentage and a number one on it. At the end of the row of planting a label with a number one is inserted and you are then ready for the next cross to be planted.

I had several people want to know where they could get the tree trays.

Extra deep nursery tray for tree seedlings and woody ornamentals. Vertical channels direct root growth downward with little or no root circling.  Available in 38 with cells measuring 2 1/4 x 5. Outside dimensions of 10 3/4 x 211/8, same as plug tray line or standard 1020 line. Also available (special order) in 21, 30 and 72 cell trays.

                                                  Here is a link to where I order them from.

http://www.jrjohnson.com/product.php?productid=16387&cat=266&page=1

Link below for the flats. You can get these with holes or without. I am using the plastic liner because I am reusing trays that I have had for some time. These are great for starting tomato and pepper plants. But the next order I make will be the flats with no holes in them so I don't have to use the plastic lining for the daylily seedlings.

http://www.greenhousemegastore.com/product/1020-trays/flats-trays-inserts