A CROSS TO BEAR  part two

As was just said at the end of part one, '

   If I don't make the effort                

   and just dream of a cross,
   it is only a dream-
   a dream that dissipates,
  never to become a reality.

Yes, the cross I need to take up
in the heat of the season,
in the sweltering, humid warmth 
that my body so rails against-
that cross makes me rise earlier
than my comfort zone......

that calls for me to 
    REMEMBER TO BRING MY TAGS AND MARKERS WITH ME
that
    CAUSES ME TO HAVE MY NOTEBOOK AND PEN 
    AND CAMERA WITH ME TO RECORD THAT CROSS, 
           noting the date , the time of day, the weather, and 
           the behavior of the plants I am working with.
                                          

All that effort
All that work
All that concentration
     to do it right-

REAPS REWARDS ...even though I might not see that reward for years to come.

Even as we may not see the rewards of taking up our cross daily in our every day lives.....

THEY WILL COME! THEY ALWAYS DO BECAUSE GOD IS ALWAYS THERE TO REWARD OUR FAITHFULNESS, TO REWARD OUR OBEDIENCE.....the fascinating thing is that when we do it GOD'S WAY,

                               OUR WAY 
                             seems so empty,
                             so meaningless,
                             so unsatisfying....
              Just a blowing in the wind.....
              For our ways
              are not GOD'S WAYS.

OH MAY WE SEE, EVEN TODAY
       MAY WE START, EVEN TODAY
              THAT THERE IS VALUE
                         THERE IS MEANING
                         THERE IS JOY 

IN FOLLOWING JESUS' EXAMPLE

       MAY WE KNOW
          THAT GOD WANTS TO USE US IN OTHER'S LIVES-
       MAY WE KNOW THAT THOSE "OTHERS"
                     ARE WATCHING US,
                     ARE NEEDING US-
        TO LOVE THEM ENOUGH TO FORGIVE 
AND TO LET THEM SEE JESUS IN OUR LIVES.
        HE NEVER SAID IT WOULD BE EASY, BUT HE DID PROMISE US BLESSINGS AND ETERNAL LIFE WHEN WE FOLLOW HIM AND LET HIM BE THE LEADER.
                                                                       

A CROSS TO BEAR  part one

Here in the Upper Midwest Spring is definitely sending out signals to us. Many parts of the country are already exhibiting all sorts of harbingers! With Spring so close within reach, I find myself making plans for this year's 'crosses' in my hybridizing program for this summer. In fact, truth be told, I have been doing a lot of pondering all winter long, so now it is a good idea to make some definite choices.  Choices choices choices! What a dilemma!   

center flower to be used as pollen parent on all surrounding it

For me, as well as for many of you, I am sure, I view things with a Spiritual bent, always. Life goes so much better when I do.

So as in daylilies if we want to see fruitful results of our endeavors, we plan ahead. Why am I so human that making a cross in my DAILY LIFE (A Cross To Bear) it is more difficult? Please read on, maybe we can find the answers together.

Matthew 10:38 & Luke 9:23 & Luke 14:27 all speak of taking up the cross and following Jesus. As the text in the Amplified Bible puts it so well: 

(cleave steadfastly to Me, conforming wholly to My example in living, and if need be, in dying also) 

It sure isn't easy  to die to self. 

   Dying to self is AN EFFORT! 

                             A CONCERTED EFFORT

                             A DOING-NOT A WISHING!

   It's caring for the sick 

                             WHEN YOU DON'T WANT TO

   It's turning the other cheek 

                              WHEN SOMEONE HAS HURT YOU

   It's forgiving 70 x 7 

                               WHEN YOU DON'T THINK      THEY DESERVE FORGIVENESS EVEN ONE TIME 

   

   It's being angry

                               AND NOT SINNING!

   It's hating the sin

                               AND NOT THE SINNER.

THE CROSS MAY SEEM HEAVY-AND IT IS IF YOU CARRY IT ALONE.

BUT WHEN YOU CARRY IT WITH THE DESIRE TO FOLLOW JESUS (in short "What Would Jesus Do?) THE BURDEN IS LIGHT BECAUSE HE IS RIGHT THERE BESIDE US!

As with the daylilies , if I don't MAKE THE EFFORT AND JUST DREAM OF A CROSS, IT IS ONLY A DREAM..A DREAM THAT DISSIPATES, NEVER TO BECOME A REALITY.

Below are a few photos of some of the selected beauties I am planning on using for this summer's crosses. Enjoy! 

        
                                 TO BE CONTINUED

FRETTING AGAINST GOD

I would like to welcome my friends from far and wide and I hope this day finds you well and looking forward to the wonderful Spring weather ahead. This has been a momentous winter for many across the country and my heart goes out to those who have really suffered through it. 

I titled this blog

          FRETTING AGAINST GOD 

        (BECAUSE OF MY OWN FOOLISHNESS). 

This Truth is found in  Proverbs 19:3 which states:

                       The 

                  foolishness 

                     of man

               subverts his way

                [ruins his way]

                      THEN 

               his HEART is 

                RESENTFUL 

                        and 

                      FRETS 

                   AGAINST

                 THE LORD. 

How succinct; how true! 

We blame God 

                    our Creator, 

                          THE 

      CREATOR OF THE UNIVERSE

                     our Advocate, 

     The One who has good plans for us, 

                         INSTEAD 
         of blaming ourselves for our own 

                      shortsightedness,

                      our ignorance,

                     our carelessness, 

                           or even 

                    our willful actions-

                          not caring 

                       at the moment

              what the consequences might be,

                    WE BLAME GOD!

We blame God because 

                        then

we don't have to look into 

                        ourselves,

                             our foolishness....

                                 thus

                                    we don't have to face 
                                        our failures,

                                          our responsibilities,

                                             our inadequacies.

                 INSTEAD OF ASKING HIM:

                       How did this happen?

          What did I do that might have caused it?

                         What should I have done? 

           WE fret and blame God and likely may experience other foolish moments that could have lasting consequences. 

This reminds me of a foolish mistake I made the Fall of 2013 with my daylilies. That summer I had seen for the first time a much anticipated daylily bloom out of BEWITCHING EYES X PURPLE PEACE. It was a very long three year wait, as the other unbloomed seedlings that I had planted had bloomed within a year or two of planting. This one just got taller and wider and stronger. If you love daylilies like I do and work with them as much as I do you can identify with my excitement when I saw its first bloom! At that moment it didn't matter that I had waited three years...... It didn't even matter that it had only 7 buds and 2 way branching because it was only the first season of bloom. I proceeded to stare-well maybe "gaze" would be a better gardening term- at it and was just filled with thankfulness for the long awaited reward. Oh what a beauty! For you people who like to know and visualize what  I am exuding over, here is a photo of the first bloom of its short-lived life. 

It got even prettier as the summer swept by.....

before I knew it another month had gone by (actually a full 36 days later) and "Opportunity Knocks"(our pet name for it)was still blooming, with a beautiful rebloom scape by then and even when the night had reached a cool 57 degrees 'she' was still beautiful! 

I mentioned its short-lived life...and we have been talking about the foolishness of man and blaming God for our foolishness,  our mistakes, our blunders, our errors or in my case it was my impulsiveness. This was the first time I had ever moved a newly bloomed seedling the same year that it bloomed. Until that time I had ALWAYS left my seedlings  in the ground for 2 or 3 years so they could grow  good root structures and hopefully be hardy through our super cold winters. But because of my enthusiasm for the plant, and wanting to use it as a pollen parent the next summer, I moved it closer to the area of the plants that I had wanted to breed with. Not only that, I had already stressed it out by breeding with it, trying to ensure that I would have seeds from it to plant next year and continue on its line. Now if I had thought ahead and actually thought about that summer of high heat and drought-as I have mentioned in other blogs, we have "only" God's watering system, so it had gone many weeks without a drop of rain-then I would most likely still have "Opportunity Knocks'. Instead I proceeded to stress it out by making seeds on it and transplanting it after I had let it bloom out, late in the season,  disrupting its underground growth potential. I so wish I had  erred on the side of caution and not bred it nor moved it and been wise to just wait another season. When the 2013 growing season began I wasn't at all aware that this special beautiful seedling wouldn't be showing its beautiful self to me again! Thus I began to blame the weather of the past two years, not realizing that if I had only stopped to recall those very same weather situations of the past three years I would never have made the mistakes that caused me to loose that precious beauty.  Not to be....but hopefully I have learned-the hard way- what not to do in the future. 

This wasn't the only plant that I mistreated out of ignorance and enthusiasm, although I didn't lose it, Thank God!!. This was one of my own seedlings that I had nurtured and bred and was highly productive, and prolific, with a long blooming cycle and rich deep purple with a lighter edge. 

        So here is my registered GALLANTLY STREAMING which bloomed and bloomed all summer and then got "butchered" because of my foolishness, never thinking I could almost lose it by something I had done to it...after all I had raised it for many many years! You can see all the yellowing of leaves because of the drought-that should have been my first clue!

Here is another photo of GALLANTLY STREAMING and it has a bud count of 28 with 6 way branching.I had great plans for this one also, but I will most likely have to wait another year before I can breed on it. One more shot....

But instead of being patient and prudent, I just HAD to have some line outs so I could start to sell some of these beauties. Little did I know that that thinking brought me to almost lose the whole plant. I didn't even bother to take any photos last summer as, even though it bloomed it was short and struggling to make clumps again. Just a few of the line outs bloomed at all. 
So what good would it have been to fret at God and blame the weather..if I did that, I would have just turned against God instead of learning from my past mistakes, and eventually I probably would have made the same mistake again..that's how we are..human nature...how frail and ignorant we are!!

Another circumstance happened last year that if I had wanted to, I could have blamed God. But in reality it was my choice to purchase this cross of seeds on the Lily Auction and I knew the possibilities of possibly never getting anything to even live through its first winter here in Wisconsin. So imagine my thrill....excitement....JOY when I first saw this bloom in 2012.    The cross is PEARL HARBOR X BEFORE MY EYES and I garden named it "frenzy" because of its wonderful erratic behavior....in my mind as a hybridizer I made a lot of exceptions for it because it was so heavily ruffled which just doesn't happen in Wisconsin! I even "forgave" it when its first bloom was all "hung up"..here is the photo of that occurrence.....

then a few days later it improved.....

and  oh look at this edge!......

about a week and a half later it had become lighter in color but still had the gorgeous ruffling.....

then one day later, "Frenzy" had finally settled in and this is what I captured.....

You may be asking, what does this have to do with Fretting with God?  That's easy from my perspective, since I was there....you see last summer I didn't see it...I kept an expectant eye out for it; I hadn't moved it or "abused" it, I had just let it be....
I have to admit, I was sad-who wouldn't be??!! I am still hoping that it will show itself this summer and that I hadn't seen it because of no blooms showing and that hopefully its year of rest may give it the opportunity to rebound this year. I don't know, but I DO  know that I am thankful to God for the blessing He gave me, even if it might have been only for a season. I suppose some might think I was foolish to have even considered purchasing seeds from southern-bred plants....but the truth is I knew it was a calculated risk and I have been very blessed with receiving many southern genetics to mix with my northern hardy genetics...at that point I have to just realize that I am getting an education and experience "under my belt". 

As usual this blog has gotten longer than I expected, so I will leave out the story about this last series of photos with  PLEASANTLY PLUMB X RANDY STEPHENS as the parents. 

this photo was taken on its first bloom in 2011 and the next two are from this last summer 2013..so far so good! I wonder what it will do if and when we get some of the good weather we have had in the past...

I hope you have enjoyed seeing the transitions that can be expected from seedlings to maturity and that his has been a reminder to all of us to make sure we are not blaming God for the foolish things that we so often do..many times inadvertently, but we still do them! 
May our Creator richly bless you and your special daylilies this season and the years to come.    
                                                                                                                                   Nancy

IF DAYLILIES COULD TALK

Good Day!

I hope all of you are doing well....for us it is sunny and about 6 degrees F with some wind. It actually seems pleasant today-but that's when I compare it to the -20 degrees F we had last week and the piles of snow drifting just yesterday.

When I think about it, I wonder...

    If daylilies could talk would they say something like

"I AM SO GLAD THE SNOW CAME TO COVER ME UP AND PROTECT ME...I WAS WONDERING IF IT WOULD EVER GET HERE! BET MY MASTER GARDENER WAS WORRIED ABOUT ME AND ALL MY FRIENDS.  I SURE HOPE 
THAT HER LEG DOESN'T BOTHER HER AGAIN THIS SUMMER......-HEY-MAYBE THAT'S WHY SHE DIDN'T GET ME MULCHED LIKE SHE USUALLY DOES! SURE HOPE I CAN GIVE HER SOME REALLY GREAT BLOOM THIS NEXT SUMMER.  I KNOW SHE LIKES MY BUD COUNT AND BRANCHING STATS!  I COULD TELL SHE WANTED A LOT BETTER BLOOM THAT WOULD LAY FLAT AND HAVE A PRETTY EDGE. MY GOSH! SHE GETS OUT HERE BEFORE 6:30 EVERY MORNING AND I 

SURE WANT TO BE PRESENTABLE. AT LEAST I AM NICE AND TALL, ONE OF THE 
TALLEST IN THE WHOLE GARDEN-MAYBE THAT WILL COUNT! MAYBE NEXT SUMMER 
WE WILL GET SOME GOOD RAINS AND GET MORE SNOW THIS WINTER-THIS DROUGHT 
HAS BEEN HORRIBLE..I JUST DON'T FEEL LIKE PERFORMING THAT MUCH ! TRUTH BE 
TOLD. A LOT OF US DON'T LOOK TO OUR FULL POTENTIAL. DUMB DROUGHT! BRING 
ON THE RAIN!! AT LEAST WITH MY PARENTS BEING WOMEN SEEKING MEN X WHITE 
BASE  I GOT REALLY GREAT BRANCHING AND HEIGHT AND NOW HOPEFULLY WHITE 
BASE WILL COME THROUGH TOO! BUT THEN THEY SAY...YOU CAN NEVER PREDICT 
WITH GENETICS. WITH ALL THIS COMPETITION OUT THERE I SURE HOPE I'M NOT A 
DISAPPOINTMENT TO HER! I KNOW SHE REALLY CARES..MAYBE SOME OF MY 

SIBLINGS WILL DO REALLY WELL FOR HER..THAT WOULD BE GOOD."

                

 

                                               

PLEASE NOTE: THE ABOVE PHOTOS ARE OF THE DAYLILY THAT GAVE ME THE INSPIRATION






I think I hear another one talking..I hope it doesn't brag too much!

" WOW! I WONDER IF THE OTHERS SEE MY WEIRD, LONG, LONELY TOOTH!  I BET THAT SHOCKED ALL THOSE OBSERVERS THAT WERE TRYING TO SEE THE  'NEWEST AND LATEST' ! WELL AT LEAST MY FOLKS GAVE ME A RARE COLOR, MAYBE THAT WILL KEEP ME ON!  THEY'RE AREN'T MANY LAVENDERS TO BE FOUND OUT HERE.  I WONDER IF MY PARENTS , SHORES OF TIME & LINDA SIERRA WILL BE PROUD OF ME!"

Note: this "master gardener' (only God is the REAL MASTER GARDENER!) is still waiting to see if and when the drought situation gets better, more long white teeth on this gem.

Opps! I see another lily of the day wants to speak up!

" HEY LOOK AT ME OVER HERE....YOUR'E GIVING ALL THOSE OTHER ONES TOO MUCH ATTENTION! SO I THINK I AM GOING TO DO A DANCE FOR YOU TODAY! YOU KNOW I DON'T DANCE LIKE THIS EVERY DAY, BUT I HAVE TO GET YOUR ATTENTION SOMEHOW! GOOD! YOU TOOK MY PICTURE! NOW I'M HAPPY AND I CAN SETTLE DOWN! I KNOW MY PARENTS WOULDN'T BE TOO PROUD OF ME, AFTER ALL THEY (PRECIOUS CANDY & GOD SAVE THE QUEEN) HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR A WHILE AND I DON'T THINK I WOULD BE SELECTED AS A 'KEEPER' IF I KEEP ACTING UP LIKE THIS! MY OWNER BETTER NOT PUT ME IN HER 'ANOMALIES' FILE AND SHOW IT ALL OVER THE PLACE! IT'S ONLY A FUSED PETAL AFTER ALL- AND I DO HAVE 20 BUDS AND 5 WAY BRANCHING..THAT'S PRETTY GOOD FOR US UP HERE IN THIS FROZEN TUNDRA!  "

Oh I am hearing a lament over there..I hope nothing's wrong!

"ALL THOSE BEAUTIFUL TALL DAYLILIES ARE SO JEALOUS! JUST BECAUSE I AM SUPER RUFFLED AND HAVE AN EXTREME BUD COUNT, THAT'S NOT EVERYTHING! I KNOW MY GARDENER MADE A BIG 'TO-DO' OVER ME AND ALL BUT I NEED TO GET TALLER-WELL..MAYBE THEY COULD KEEP ME AS A FRONT OF THE BORDER PLANT..I HOPE THEY THINK BROADLY AND WILL INCLUDE ME-AFTER ALL I HAVE SOME PRETTY IMPORTANT PARENTS (SUNDAY SANDALS & JELLY MAKER) AND SHE DID SPEND SOME BUCKS ON ME AT THE LILY AUCTION TWO YEARS AGO!  I JUST HATE STIRRING UP STRIFE IN THE DAYLILY FIELD AND GETTING ALL THIS ATTENTION! THEY EVEN TOOK A PICTURE OF ME WITH A WHITE PAPER BEHIND IT SO THEY COULD SHOW OFF MY BRANCHING! THAT'S TOO MUCH! NOW THE PRESSURE IS ON FOR ME TO PERFORM AS WELL NEXT SUMMER..OH HEAVENLY FATHER SEND DOWN THE RAINS..AND PLEASE LET ME HAVE SUPER SNOW COVER SO I DON'T SUFFER TOO MUCH..SURE WISH MY OWNER HAD BEEN ABLE TO GET ME MULCHED THIS FALL..WELL AT LEAST THEY (YES HER SON TOO!) GOT SOME NICE SEEDS FROM ME!" 

I hope you enjoyed my musings for the day....I guess the most important thing we could take away from it on a personal level is that ...

too many times we are so unaware,
 or so self-important 
or self-unimportant

 that we fail to see all the good that our Maker has given us. And that, like the daylilies, life is short, life takes us through hills and valleys,  many time very high  humanly impassable hills and deep deep valleys of adversities and calamities. It is when we dwell on the negative and lose sight of the good ahead that we lose hope. 

Scripture says 
"Yea though I walk THROUGH the valley of the SHADOW of death.....
it doesn't say I will lay down there and stay there...

God is too good to we, His creations, to leave us alone...

the rest of that verse says
 "I will fear no evil"...
for there is hope and protection if we just go to Him in the times of our troubles. 
I wish it were as easy as turning on the hose to give us water when we are thirsty..even the daylilies suffer THROUGH  the drought..but they DO make it through it!

As gardeners we never lose hope for a better tomorrow, a better season..may that be for us too in our lives..may we say honestly and expectantly..
my hope is in the Lord



WHOEVER  MAKES A GARDEN
HAS. OH SO MANY FRIENDS!-
THE GLORY OF THE MORNING,
THE DEW WHEN DAYLIGHT ENDS.

                    Douglas Malloch (american poet ,
                                            syndicated writer)

AGAINST ALL ODDS

Hi to all on this beautiful sunny 70 degree day! It's been a long cold Winter and I am happy to report that after a long cold Spring also, we are having some beautiful weather! I was out in the dayliliy field this morning getting a start on my 'summer tan' of black fingernails! 

When I write a blog, it usually is a result of some kind of an inspiration; this time it was a phrase that just stuck in my brain: "AGAINST ALL ODDS".

As most people know by now, genetics are like that also...I was born with auburn hair and my parents and sister were all brunettes....AGAINST ALL ODDS. Unless you have an understanding of elementary genetics that says my auburn hair came as a result of combining two recessives. 

So with that in mind, I decided to show a series of daylily collages whereby both the parents are displayed in the larger photos and then a row of three across shows their progeny. I chose cultivars that I really didn't think I would get as nice results as I did, since all of the parents are older, and yet AGAINST ALL ODDS some true beauties have resulted. 

This first one has a story behind it that I featured on my website at  www.gardenglory.net  Just click on the SEEDS OF HOPE, column left. 
The story is about the one in the center that we nick-named "subtle faith". The parent seedling on the left is a FESTIVE ART seedling and the other parent is one of my new intros named SEEDS OF HOPE out of PALACE GARDEN BEAUTY. Its name came about because of the story I referred to above. It reminds me how I hoped that "Subtle"(its garden-name) could clarify the FESTIVE ART seedling that I garden-named "Fertile Myrtle" because it was the most fertile daylily I had ever used! 

Below is a result of breeding a seedling back to itself. When this is done, all the good and all the bad are revealed. I did this as a challenge from my son and I am so glad I did. I am happy to report very few disappointments and numerous thrills. That in fact was a shock-I expected many duds! But you can see three of the results for yourself. The two large photos are of the one parent on two different days; FIRSTBOURNE OF MANY is its introduction/registered name. FIRSTBOURNE went on to be a really good parent when outcrossed also-another blessing!  




Now along comes a seedling from some Lily Auction seeds I purchased. I got so excited about it because it had all the fancy frills of Southern bred hybrids and was grown up here in the Northern Tundra! The parentage is (PEARL HARBOR  X  BEFORE MY EYES) and as you can see, it became much fancier-especially more so than PEARL HARBOR. But fancy isn't everything-it has to have a good plant habit underneath and we will be 'proving' it the next three years to see what it's all about.

Below is a group of three deep red seedlings that came out of either a (JAMAICAN MIDNIGHT seedling  X ABLAZE IN GLORY) or in the center, (JAMAICAN MIDNIGHT X ABLAZE IN GLORY). JAMAICAN MIDNIGHT is a lovely older almost black creation that I will most likely always keep. ABLAZE IN GLORY is my new iridescent red 2013 Spring intro out of (CRITICAL MASS X BEAR CLAWS).  AGAINST ALL ODDS, it came about- only five Lily Auction seeds, one germinated, one intro! I was told many years ago that you can expect one good intro out of 1,000 seeds! 

This final collage shows WESTBOURTNE NIGHTLY PRAYERS (left) x RUFFLED STRAWBERRY PARFAIT. I purchased WESTBOURNE NIGHTLY PRAYERS because of its genetics in the background. It had STARTLE in it which was known to give some great edges. I bred it to RUFFLED STRAWBERRY PARFAIT because RSP had already proven itself to me to give some lovely reds and pinks with teeth. Despite RUFFLED STRAWBERRY PARFAIT being very very linebred, it gave me only one "look-a-like" of itself and one lovely ivory one also. The rest in this pairing were all very colorful-which is what I love-COLOR!!

If you have read this blog for any length of time you are probably wondering where the spiritual ramblings are...truthfully-I don't know either! I guess sometimes beauty speaks for itself and AGAINST ALL ODDS these creations came with a smidgen of help from these hands and the rest was done by the Creator, THE Author of Beauty, the Creator of you  and me, whom He loves very much and is VERY PROUD of each and every one of His creations, large or small, animal, plant or human. Oh may we be reminded of how much He loves all of us..whether it feels like He does or not...May we see our beauty as He sees it!
Amen

THE AUTHOR OF BEAUTY

Hello to all my friends out there in 'Blogdom'!

This morning I was reading out ot the Apocrypha in the section of Wisdom of Solomon and I found this interesting phrase:

'THE AUTHOR OF BEAUTY' and I could'nt resist comtemplating on that phrase. As I have written numerous times before, the daylilies always bring me into awesome contemplation on beauty and the Author of Beauty.

    When we look at a painting
                 or a photograph
                 or a flower
                 or a wood carving
                 or a statue 
                   such as 'David

   We not only see the beauty
           we love the beauty
          we adore the beauty
 we may even covet the beauty.
   So with great effort and much       
                      dedication
we pursue that beauty, even if at times that pursuing,                
      that attainment
              requires sacrifice
                     but
         no matter the sacrifice,
             we have conquered!

           And yet we have lost-

             be it relationships,
                   finances, jobs,
                  homes, families,
                   we have lost.

While all the time the very thing
                   we 'worshiped', 
            the thing we coveted,
               became our demise.

How easy to forget
      The Creator that gave to us
              the material
              the knowledge
              the understanding
              the skill
      to create a thing of beauty.

When in all reality,
  all truthfullness,
  He and only He is 
the Author of Beauty.

Then and only then can we truly appreciate what we have been
              given, given to 
                    enjoy, 
                     but 
               not to idolize,
               not to worship,
because we think we created it. 
Oh may we humble ourselves and worship the Creator of all things, the Author of Beauty!

    John 15:5 says "...without Me you can do nothing". We need to think on that and really know what that means! 

      Below are some of the beauties I have been blessed to have a small part in with our Author of Beauty. They are all out of one of my favorite cultivars, RUFFLED STRAWBERRY PARFAIT.

 The parent of the one to the left is a seedling named "Beyond Comprehension"  and RSP. It is the full sib to the ruffled salmon one below and a clear vivid red with fascinating midrib details.

 This one to the right and above is 3/4 related to the
red one below as it is also from an IMPERIAL WIZARD seedling X RSP. I dubbed it 'Salmon Catch' as it is the clean color of salmon. It stands 36" tall and is 6-7" in bloom size and has 'quite the teeth'.

 The one to the left is out of an IMPERIAL WIZ-ARD seedling X RSP. I see a pattern trying to
evolve in the center. It is very tall and well branched
also.

 Can you see this one to the right
towering above the others?
It is a whopping 52" high! I 'dubbed'
it 'Neck High' as that's where it reaches
up to me! The pic at the top of this
blog is a closeup of it. It is out of a tall
BROADWAY RUBY SLIPPERS
seedling which was ver unexpected
because BRS is very red BUT quite
short!
The deep red one below, with a red halo is out of a JAMAICAN MID-NIGHT seedling x RSP. It too is quite tall. It has a definite black overlay to it and seems to go darker to the edge.

This JAMAICAN MIDNIGHT seedling x RSP stands 44" tall! I garden named it "Above All Else". This bloomed for the first time last year in our horrible summer so I am just hoping and praying  that it will shine even more with at least an average summer!

 And yet another JAMAICAN MIDNIGHTseedling X RSP in a beautiful true cherry with extra wide
 petals, some undulating ruffles and gold glitz.

 This deep ruby red velvet bloom (below) brought these words out of my mouth when I saw it:
 "Just what I wanted!" It is fully related to the cherry red seedling above, and yet it has ivory teeth and much deeper colors! It is one of the latest bloomers in the garden which really sets off a spark of color near the end of the season.

The camera doesn't fully capture the unusal colors of this JAMAICAN
MIDNIGHT seedling X RSP. It is a rose mauve with true lavender/grape ruffles and watermarked eye that is lined in purple. I never would have guessed this combination of colors, much less the amount of ruffles coming from a JAMAICAN MIDNIGHT seedling!

 The eye from this one came from my ew Fall intro RAINBOW OF GLORY
and it as you can tell by now has RSP as the other parent. Again the camera doesn't capture how it just 'beams' out as you as you look at it , but it does! I garden named it 'Beam". I might just breed it to the one above and double up on the color and on RSP and mabe put some ruffely teeth on the edge! It is a late bloomer like RSP.

The one below is a full sib with completely different colors and characteristics-that's what I so enjoy about breeding-the element of surprise!

 Below is a beautiful red bitone with a shadow of a deeper red eye that I will be using in my Red-on-Red pattern program. It is out of my new intro ABLAZE IN GLORY (CRITICAL MASS X BEAR CLAWS)
 X RSP and has very wide petals again with a wonderful toothy glitzy yellow edge.  It's first year of bloom gave only 10 buds and 2way branching (during that horrible summer I wrote about) and is 28" x 5.5"

 Below is a full sib to the seedling above and sports orange teeth on a cherry bloom with a deeper cherry halo in the center.

 ABLAZE IN GLORY X RSP gave a large array of reds...the one below is a very dark red velvet with the beginnings of bear claws. This is the rebloom scape. I like the very green throat and hint of a halo to work with.

 The one above is the same cross as the two above (AIG X RSP) and yet it has quite a wild edge and the colors are toward the pink spectrum. I hope the 10 buds and 2 way branching gets much better!

 This red seedling above and below is out of one of my favorite cardinal red seedlings out of (HEAL THY SPIRIT X MORT MORSS) and RUFFLED STRAWBERRY PARFAIT. It was beautiful every day and the edging was so fancy that I garden-named it ' Christmas Ornament'. I love the bronze color on the teeth...just like an ornate picture frame!

 Below is a full sib to the seedling above, and yet in totally different red tones, with a lavender shaddowy eye and white teeth. Hopefully Even more teeth will come this summer since this was it's first year of bloom. The velvet texture is something that really appeals to me! So does the glowing green throat.

 You can see the clump effect in the
photo to the right.First year bloom, bad summer weather and yet three blooms at one time on a well branched scape!
 I like!!

 Below are a few of the RSP X SEIZE THE NIGHT seedlings that looked particularly good last summer. For many of them this was their 2nd year of bloom. This first pic and two other pics of it is garden named 'Bronze Teeth' , a very smooth happy daylily.

 The photo above of 'Bronze Teeth is during the later, hotter , dry days.
Below is a full sib garden-named 'Curley Cewels' taken after a downpour in the night. It is a pink rose with yellow tendrils and teeth, a deep green throat.

Below is an older RUFFLED STRAWBERRY PARFAIT X UKN seedling that has some beautiful babies on the ground. It is a very smooth red with a pink watermark, gold teeth and always flat and wide open no mmatter what the weather!

 The next few are out of WESTBOURNE NIGHTLY PRAYERS X RUFFLED STRAWBERRY PARFAIT and most of them bloomed 2 yrs from planting. these are all full sibs.

 We dubbed this one to the right and
below, Green Teeth for obvious reasons.

Even though this one is only 18" tall (first year bloom so it may get taller) it is worty of observation, not only for its abundant beautiful toothiness, but for its vivid intense colors.  Very few buds last summer, but I sure am hoping for greater things! It's very late so I need to be patient! 

 WBPXRSP below garden-named Men's Prayer Breakfast'

 WBPXRSP above named "Prayer Vigil" with pure white teeth.

WBPXRSP "Triple Pink"

 WBPXRSP we came across the one above last summer and the first thing we said was "Whoa"!!
The two photos below is of a full sib garden-named "Wiskers".

Apocrypha Wisdom of Soloman 13:3-5
'If through delight in the beauty of these things men assumed  them to be gods, let them know how much better than these is their Lord, for the Author of Beauty created them. And if men were amazed at their power and working, let them perceive from them how much powerful is He who formed them. For from the greatness and beauty of created things comes corresponding perception of their Creator.

    It is my hope that you will be reminded how special you are as one of Gods' beautiful creations and that you will look at life a little differently when you recognize the AUTHOR OF BEAUTY in a very real and personal way. 
God Bless.....

Nancy