Jättesnygga!!! Fanns ju flera där som gav direkt ha-begär! Hur har du kontakt med honom??

/Lillianna 

Hej igen.

Brian Mahieu hade sett att det var trafik till hans hemsida härifrån så han bad mig posta följande:

"I am really looking forward to corresponding with the gardeners in this forum.  It is very thrilling that these plants I specifically designed for your climate are being seen there, and even being grown there! I can't wait to talk to the gardening group online as soon as I get my password!  Please forgive me but I must post in English. "

Scandinavia, Mahieu -03:

http://brianmahieu.com/viking.html

Vill bara passa på att tacka Annika och Anette för den härliga föredraget om dagliljor. Vem hade kunnat ana att en mörk novemberkväll mitt i skogen skulle bli så trevlig! Nu står de nya plantorna nergrävda och fröna ligger i blöt på diskbänken.

...ååå vad jag längtar till våren...

Hej

Kul att du tyckte om föredraget. Ursäkta att jag klampade in så sent. Vi får ha lite dagliljeskådning i sommar. Det finns ju en trädgård i Perstorp också med många dagliljor har jag hört, och här utanför Svalöv finns en annan som jag känner till. Dit får vi säkert komma också om vi frågar.

Skall man säga välkommen åter!

Måste dölja det här för Eva hur det nu skall gå till. Inte för att jag har något emot dagliljor men hon är galen i dom.

Problemet är hur vi skall få till en resa sönnanut så lång tid som det tar. Blir väl att flyga till Malmö och hyra en bil så att det inte tar en halv vecka att komma ner för åker vi bil så måste vi ju hälsa på trädgårdsvänner efter vägen.

Bengt

Så fantastiska bilder. Tycker spindlar är så vackra men har haft svårt att hitta några här i Sverige. Är det p.g.a. att de är nyare än de vanliga eller har det inte funnits härdiga varianter för vårt klimat tidigare?

Jeanette

Det finns både nya och gamla spiders, men jag tror de har ökat i popularitet det sista. Det tråkiga är att alla sorter är så gamla här, det nyaste man brukar hitta är 15-20 år gammalt. Microförökat. Nu börjar det ju dyka upp oldare, tex Karin i Skara, Eurocallis och Happy Garden i Belgien, samt de franska Iris en Provence och Bourdillon.

Jag hoppas få fram lite roliga plantor inom några år, framför allt spiders och UFO. Jag hör av mig om det blir något att sälja.

Hello Everyone,

It is an honor to be able to post on your group.  Thank you Anette for helping me to get signed up, and Thank you Annika for introducing my plants in Sweden!

I have been hybridizing hemerocallis for 15 years.  Since the begining of my breeding program my goal has been to create hardy, tropical-looking plants for temperate gardens.  Specifically I wanted to develop plants that would bloom and thrive in  Northern Europe, Scandinavia, the U.K., Canada and the northern and midwestern U.S. Because I came to daylilies via ornamental horticulture, my goals have been contrary to many of the directions of daylily hybridization in the U.S.  My primary goal has been to create a garden plant, not merely a pretty flower.  Also I wanted to create a daylily that was specifically adapted to environmental extremes.  The climate where I live has winter temperatures of -10 to -15 F, (-23.4 to -26.1 C) and summer temperatures over 100 F!  Often we do not have a snow "mulch" in the winter and the daylilies are not mulched, to test for winter hardiness.  Evergreen varieties do not perform well in this climate as they have foliage that looks like "boiled cabbage" in the spring, and that injured foliage attracts fungal and bacterial pathogens and insect pests.  I have culled evergreens from my lines, though a few hardy ones with healthy spring foliage have survived. 

Most of my daylilies have large flowers of 6 – 10 inches on plants 4 – 6 feet tall. I have designed these plants to be used in mixed borders with other plant materials.  The flowers have been selected to be in open, artistic forms that look exotic but not artificial in a garden setting.  The tall plants of the Viking series are especailly suited to being used at specimen plants in a mixed border, as are my Volcano series plants and Tropical Bird series. The blooming period of plants in my breeding program is from April 25 to October 19.  This is because my extensive use of daylily species in developing my lines. 

I would love to correspond with any of the members of this forum.  I can not read a word of Swedish, so please write me privately in English, or post here in English, with the permission of the forum.

Happy Gardening!

Brian Mahieu, artist-hybridizer

www.brianmahieu.com 

Welcome to this forum Brian !

kerstin  

Hi Brian. Welcome.

I think your style appeals a lot to many of us. Our gardens are often a mix of wild and cultivated and that makes the open lilyformed cultivars look more at home. Let´s hope the problems with phytos will be overcome so we can bring more of your flowers here :)

Thank you Anette and Kerstin,

It is always heartening to hear that one's art is appreciated. There was an idea here for several decades that daylilies should be on scapes of 24 inches tall. Obviously, I don't ascribe to that notion.  I want daylilies for every part of the border, front, middle and back. I see them as specimen plants not as bedding plants. There are many breeders developing beautiful daylilies for the front of the border, so I have concentrated on the middle and back of the border. The height and open form and branching of the nocturnal species have given me the genetic imprint to develop these plants.  Anette, I too love the lilyform of the daylily species and this form has definitely been obscured by recent hybridizing trends (and I am guilty of this too!) :-)

Orchids provided the main inspiration for the forms of my daylilies.  I have also tried to re-create orchid-like coloration and patterns.  Bi-colored orchids are a particular favorite, and I am still trying to get pink or purple petals with green sepals on a daylily!  I also love the brown/purple/green coloration of many orchids. So I have been working hard to get some daylilies in that palette.  

 thanks for the encouragement,

Brian 

tall open, artistic -forms-nice ! Tried hemerocallis many times -but they dont like me -or my garden -So for me it would be intresting to try something new :)

They are hardy and goes well in other gardens -nearby.. 

The Viking was nice ! 

K 

Kerstin,

I'm glad you like the daylily forms I am working on. You said that hemerocallis don't like you or your garden.  This is something I heard when I began hybridizing.  Most of the widely distributed daylilies and many of the most popular ones have been developed in semi-tropical portions of the U.S.  These are beautiful flowers, there is no disputing that, but it is impossible for someone in a semi-tropical climate to select a plant that is adapted to a temperate climate. Just as it is impossible for a temperate grower to use selection to breed a plant for a semi-tropical climate.  This has been a source of a bit of a north/south war here in the U.S. But I try to be philosophical about it.  Just as in selecting other plant species for a garden the idea of "right plant in the right place" is applicable.  Plants for one's garden should be from an area with a similar climate, that is simple botany.

I know there are daylily breeders in Belgium who are using plants from Florida in breeding programs with great success.  they are making crosses with these evergreen plants and selecting the ones that thrive in the local climate to breed with.  This is part of the answer for developing plants that will thrive in your climate.  The idea of "European-bred" daylilies is a wonderful one, and I would love to have some of these plants to work with here to reinforce those traits in my breeding program. 

Best regards, Brian 

well .. my friend grow the same type of hemerocallis, as me  with good results ..

I live 400 km from the polar circle and 1000 km from Anette :) 

I think i have taken them for robust common perennials too long -they have not got fertilizer as much as they should..

From this season I ve tried to give them some more attention -they are big green plants, but they never blooom ..

  This summer at least Stella de oro gave me some flowers :) Thanks fore the tip Karinskara

Kerstin,

I had a freind in Finland, and his growing season was so short he would only grow the very early season daylilies.  Stella De Oro is one of the earliest here and that is why I think it bloomed for you. Probably many of the daylilies you grow are Mid-season or later and the scapes are frozen before they have time to bloom. Try to find out the varieties that bloom in your area, check the designation for season of bloom and I suspect they will be EE (extra early) or E (early bloomers), you should also select DOR (dormant variteies).

many of the daylily species would be suitable for you, H. minor, H. gracilis, H. yezoensis, H. flava. some early primary hybrids like: ORANGEMAN  would also probably work for you.  I would love to hear what varieties bloom for you there.

Brian 

Here is a link to the definitive site on daylily speices: 

http://www.hemerocallis-species.com/HS/HS_JP_e.htm

This is the best collection of daylily images and information I know about.  You can click on a species name like H. minor and get a photo and very specific information like season of bloom.  Dr. Plodeck is based in Basel, Switzerland.

enjoy,  Brian 

Dear Rolf,

Thank you for the welcome!  I'm glad you like 'Apophis'.  I don't think there is another daylily out there quite like it, and the response from the gardening public has been outstanding, we are nearly sold out of it.  I introduced a full sibling to Apophis in '05 called PIT OF DESPAIR. the U.S. grower/distributor for my plants still has some of it to offer at this link:  http://www.bluegrassgardens.net/Catalog/Brian%20Mahieu.htm

he also has many of my previous introductions from $10.  My goal is to get a good distributor in europe for my plants maybe in Holland or Belgium or SWEDEN?? :-)

I hope it is permissible to post the above link.  I can't read the rules for this site!

cheers,  brian 

Thanks Brian ! I will check the links - and also what types that goes well here .. besides my garden .. LOL

K  

I wanted to ask you, did you ever hear about John Candow (1922-2002)? He had a big (by swedish standards) collection of hemerocallis, and about 50 cv:s of his own. Can´t find them or him in the database at Tinkers, so I suppose they were not registered with the AHS. The collection, or most of it, was donated to the Gothenburgh Botanic Gardens

http://www.gotbot.se/stallbacken.html

Hello Brian, it's very nice to see you here. As you know I really like your daylilies. This is one from John Candow, who Anette wrote about, 'Candow Cherry Blossom'

Dear Ingmarie, Anette, Lotta and everyone else.  I have been having trouble logging in for a few days.  It is a confusing maze for me here I feel like a blind person since I can't read Swedish.  But I have saved my log-in link so I should be able to write more easily now.  I would like to know how to share photos and post pics in my letters here.  Thank you for the "welcomes" and the photos of the Candow daylily. I enjoyed them.

 Anette wrote:

I wanted to ask you, did you ever hear about John Candow (1922-2002)? He had a big (by swedish standards) collection of hemerocallis, and about 50 cv:s of his own. Can´t find them or him in the database at Tinkers, so I suppose they were not registered with the AHS. The collection, or most of it, was donated to the Gothenburgh Botanic Gardens

http://www.gotbot.se/stallbacken.html

I have not heard of John Candow until you mentioned him.  I went to the Gothenburg Botanic Gardens website and LOVE the gardens!  How beautiful.  It was a happy moment for me when exploring the rock garden site to see that there are many native American wildflowers there. These are some of my favorites: Wood lilies (Trillium), dog's tooth violet (Erythronium)  penstemon, phlox, alum root (Heuchera).  Tradescandia "spiderwort" is another favorite.  I imagine you grow it there. Here is a website with pictures of many of the beautiful wildflowers that grow in my state: Missouri. http://www.missouriwildflowerguide.com/

 I am also giving a link to the AHS database for anyone who does not know about it.  This is the link where one can search for registration data on daylilies.  I did not find any of Candow's daylilies, but I don't know the names.

 more in a minute!

Brian 

Oops, I forgot to paste in the link to the AHS (American Hemerocallis Society) database.

http://www.daylilydatabase.org/index.asp

This is where one can look up any daylily registered through last year (the new ones are not in the database yet).

cheers,  Brian 

Hi Brian

You´re not the only one with log-in problems. I receive Server Error frequently. This forum has recently been moved from one host to another, and redesigned totally, it has been a bumpy ride. So just keep trying if you can´t log in.

I think one of the staff Henrik Zetterlund at the Gothenburg bot gardens, have made several trips to North America collecting woodland species, someone correct me if I´m wrong.

He´s also a bit of a joke http://www.gotbot.se/Dionysiaharen.html

Well -if hemerocallis not seem to like my garden yet.. Penstemons doo:)

I love them!

Hi again. I have just decided to order some plants from Bluegrass. If you would like to join, send me a mail. Just write my name followed with @ and then boang.net.

http://www.bluegrassgardens.net/Catalog/Brian%20Mahieu.htm

http://www.bluegrassgardens.net/Catalog/PageA1.htm

http://www.brianmahieu.com/mahieu_burris_2007.html

Kerstin,

Your penstemons are stunning!  I have never seen them in that blue color, incredible.  The native ones here in Missouri, USA are just plain old white.  European hybridizers took what we considered "weeds" here in  N. America and created beautiful garden plants from them. A wise person said:  "every garden plant is a weed someplace in the world."  That is true, we often don't appreciate the beauty in the commonplace.

thank you for sharing those beautiful photos.

We are getting our first autumn frosts here and the fall colors are very beautiful.  it gets dark at 5 p.m. now.

 cheers,  Brian

Anette wrote: 

think one of the staff Henrik Zetterlund at the Gothenburg bot gardens, have made several trips to North America collecting woodland species, someone correct me if I´m wrong.

He´s also a bit of a joke http://www.gotbot.se/Dionysiaharen.html

That is exciting that the Gothenburg bot gardens make trips to N.A. collecting plants.   I had the pleasure of taking a German friend to my favorite woodland area and collecting plants for his garden there.  He was like a child in a candy store!  Whenever I see these wildflowers now I hear him exclaiming their latin names in a beautiful German accent:  "UVULARIA! ... Vonderful!"  "TRILLIUM!"  "ERYTRONIUM..." our common language was latin, and that was very neat.

I would like to post some pictures of this woodland area.  could you tell me the Swedish world for "photo" and how to put them in these posts?

Brian 

Here is my friend Harald Juhr's website.  he hybridizes peonies, iris, daylilies etc.  His garden in in Hoffheim, Germany and the site is in German. If any of you speak German (I don't) please tell him I said "hi"!

He told me he had a tall daylily seedling that looked like 'Rognvaldur' Mahieu '03 (sorry no umlaut on this keyboard!) 

http://www.taunusgarten-juhr.de/index2.htm#/start_e.htm 

Brian 

Hi .The swedish word for photo is foto, easy.

You can upload pictures to your personal page http://www.alltomtradgard.se/min-sida/brian_mahieu/galleri/ 

Klick "Skapa album" at the bottom of the page.

Type a name and a description in the two boxes.

Klick "Spara" (Save)

Klick "Lägg upp nytt foto i album" (Add new photo to album)

Klick "Bläddra" (Browse)

Write a name and description of the picture and then press "Spara" (save)

Now you have a picture in your album. Open it to get a bigger one, mark it so it turns dark, copy and the paste it where you want it. Or just add a link to your post.

You can also add pictures directly from your pc by marking, copy and paste, some work for me some don´t, I think it might be the type of file that makes the difference. Someone?

Yes, Anette -and also what typ of browser you use ..(this forum is "new")

Thanks Brian -all my penstemon seeds come from either American penstmon soc. or  other US seedfirms. 

Anette,

 Thank you for the instructions, I will try posting photos when I have time. Today I have to work on other "stuff". :-)

 For now I will have to give links to photos of my garden from my website.  http://www.brianmahieu.com/lilywood/lilywoodg.shtml

The first page shows some early blooming Hemerocallis with columbine.  I think this would be a good combination for Sweden.  The varieties were a species: H yezoensis, and an early primary hybrid H. "Gold Dust".  I love them both.

 Here is a slide show of my "old home" and the gardens I planted there over a 12 year period.  I no longer have this home/garden, but it was heaven while I lived there.  Losing one's garden is something like losing a husband or wife!  As gardeners, I imagine you understand. My daylily "Lost Gardens" was named for this home and garden, as it was the first place I saw "Lost Gardens" bloom.

slide show: 

http://www.brianmahieu.com/New_Home/ 

Brian

Hi Rolf,

Thank you for looking at the slideshow.  I'm happy you liked the garden.  I created it to provide subject matter for my plein air paintings, it was truly a labor of love and a living artform.  The hardest plants to lose were the trees and shrubs that I pruned every year into bonsai-like forms, called "diabonsai".  I had a 30 foot western red cedar (virginianus) that I would climb into and spend up to 8 hours a day pruning every February!  (I would lose total track of time.)  Those trees were truly living sculptures, and very hard to lose.  Now I live in town and have a postage stamp garden, but I did move a few small shrubs.  The first plant I moved was Hemerocallis citrina, and that is a telling thing.  That plant is "home" to me.

 One of my favorite plants is arrundo donax, a giant cane native to south america.  we have a huge grove of it on the south side of our house it is over 20 feet tall!  (I don't know how many metres that is).  This plant is related to corn and looks a lot like it.  Also I love miscanthus floridulus "giant river cane" which is over 10 feet tall, I also have groves of it here.  I like the "jungle" look in gardening.  Can you grow these plants there?  What about macleya cordata? "plume poppy" that provides a nice architectural foil for grassy foliage. I grow petasites alba at the back of my garden, this is also nice with the  narrow, linear daylily foliage.  I just have to root prune the petasites to keep it out of the rest of the garden.  I would love to grow gunnera, but our climate is too extreme for it. 

Cheers,  brian 

I found an online translation service for Swedish to English.  

http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=Swedish&to=English 

This is how it translated Marie's post:

Mary from Tierp was answering 2007-11-16 050925:: whom blossom whom picture and which levnadsöde. Luck that the stayed happy end through! 

Marie, thank you for your remarks.  Yes, it was a happy ending, I still have some beautiful flowers.  Memory always makes things lost sweeter.  I apologize, I can not read Swedish. but the translator will help me.

Here is what the translator did with my above remarks:

Marie , tack själv till deras beräkningarna. Ja , det var en glad sluten , JAG stilla har något skön blommen. Minne alltid göra sakerna vilken de/vi/du/ni är förlorad sockra. JAG ursäkt , JAG kanna inte läsa Svensk. utom den översättare vilja hjälpa mig. 

I imagine this translation will provide a few good laughs for you! :-) 

all my best, Brian 

Brian,

I am not a great fan of grasses (yet) but I know that several species of Miscanthus can be grown in Sweden, at least in the sothern half. We have so different growing conditions in Sweden, in the south it is possible to grow some hardy palm trees and in the most northern parts only the most hardy perennials that exist.

A live a bit north of Stockholm and lucklily a lot of nice perennials are fully hardy here, e.g. Hemerocallis! I bouth a few från Tamberg in Germany and my favourite amongst them is his Rotes Rathau.

I suppose you know of Tambergs, otherwise this is their homepage. 

PS. Yes, that translation of Maries msg was really funny! :-)

Dear Rolf,

Thank you for the link to the Tamberg's site.  I did not know the weblink, though I have grown and hybridized with some of Dr Tamberg's tall daylilies. I like them very much, they illustrate very clearly a difference I see in the European and American sensibility with regard to daylilies, and beauty. It is impossible and dangerous to make generalizations; however it seems that the European garden aesthetic is more tolerant of "simpler" daylily forms, more "natural" or even species-like forms.

I am currently reading the first Midwest Hemerocallis Society (later to become the American Hemerocallis Society) Yearbook, published in 1947. I have to say that it is refreshing to read the over-arching thoughts of the early daylily hybridizers.  They were much more focused on creating garden plants.  That is a direction that I feel modern daylily hybridizers will be forced to deal with –– something like we are being forced to deal with (or at least acknowledge) climate change.  Intense inbreeding within closely related lines is and does bring about serious plant-health issues, and this has plagued many ornamental species: bearded iris and roses to name a few.  The David Austin roses are a good example of "going back to the species" (or early primary hybrids) to bring back hybrid vigor.

When bringing in species blood like Dr. Tamberg is doing with Hemerocallis Altissima an explosion of hybrid vigor occurs.  Naturally the form of the flowers will be more simple, but this is beautiful to eyes not jaded by over-ornamentation. 

There, I'm not a bit opinionated am I ? (big smile!)

Brian 

Been reading this tread with increasing interest. Really recommend you to visit Brians website if you havent already!

Brian, you really put fuel to the Hemerocallis collection I have. I hope it will be possible to have selected parts of your hybrids availabel here in Sweden in a near future.

-Maybe members here could do a purchase togheter, having one phyto and one larger shipment to keep the cost down?

-What do you think Anette?

Svante, Gothenburg Sweden 

Oh dear.. what a tremendous lot of beauty! I love Hemerocallis too and when I've settled down in my new place I'll surely want a whole lot of them!!! In the meantime I just admire them on your website...alongside with your paintings! It seems like we have the same interests! ;) Welcome Brian!

http://www.bofransson.com 

Dear Svante and Bo,

Thank you for the welcome here!  I still feel guilty for posting in English, but that is the only way I can participate. :-)  Svante, thanks for your comments on my plants, I too want them to be growing all over Scandinavia, Europe and the UK, I designed them for that, and nothing would make me happier.

It turns out that your climate is more mild than mine, over here we always think of Scandinavia as being so cold, but our summers are much hotter and winters colder, and often we do not have a snow mulch.  So, in selecting plants for my harsh climate I hope to be selecting plants that will perform well in your climate as well.  I have had great reports of my plants growing very well in England, especially "Thorhalla" and "Gudrid" two of the first in my Viking Series. By using nocturnal species as foundation plants in my lines I have created extended bloomers (that are open for 24 hours or more) these plants open at night and open well in areas with cool nights.  I know Annika has been growing several of mine for a few years and I would love to know how they are doing. 

Bluegrass Gardens, the U.S. distributor for my plants is having a huge sale on my previous introductions (2003 and earlier).  He is offering these plants at prices beginning at $7.50.  Several in the viking series are available, and I think they are particularly suited to your climate. Others I would recommend are: Gudrid (one of the most fragrant daylilies out there), Orchid Visitation, Bengali Princess (one of my favorites, underappreciated here due to the simple star-like form, but the bengal rose coloration is superb, and I feel would really shine in your climate -- with cooler weather.) Royal Flycatcher (a very, very vigorous eyed coppery UF), Jungle Folw (a unique tan with pale taupe lavender chevrons), Kilauea, Nyiragongo (a molten blackish red) and Carmine Ibis, Ethereal Light.  I will stop there.  Carmine Ibis is a monster of a plant (58 M 6 DOR light FR, 5 way branching 24 buds,) and I think would be very vigorous over there and the color should be superb.  Please note, I am not making any money on these '03 plants, I just want you to know about the great deals and to be able to try some of my plants in your climate at bargain prices. Here is the link: http://www.bluegrassgardens.net/Catalog/Brian%20Mahieu.htm

I think it is a great idea to order as a group, then you only have to pay for one Phyto.  THANK YOU Anette for facilitating this!

 Bo, I went to your website, and I am excited to learn you are a plein air painter.  I love the painting of the olive grove and the beach.  I have been a plein air painter since 1987 when I returned from  a one-month stay in Paris.  During that time I visited Monet's garden at Giverny, and that is where I developed my passion for ornamental horticulture, and creating daylilies that could be used in mixed borders. On your website I saw macleya cordata "plume poppy".  that is one of my favorite plants as a companion for my tall daylilies (at the back of the border).  I like the large, architectural leaves as a foil to the grassy hemerocallis foliage.  

My web browser will not let me paste images in my posts, so I have to give a link.  If you would like to see my version of Giverny, the gardens I planted to paint over a 12 year period they are here: http://www.brianmahieu.com/lilywood/lilywoodg.shtml

Thank you all for your encouraging comments, and for allowing me to post here in English.  It is all very heartening.  like painting, hybridizing can be a lonely business, and it is great to get feedback from gardeners!  This is just like talking to gallery visitors at an art opening and hearing how my art speaks to them!

I'm a happy guy!

Brian 

Regarding Arundo donax "giant reed", one of my FAVORITE plants:  I was looking for a picture of this grass to show you, and I learned that it is an invasive weed where conditions allow ie: near water.  http://tncweeds.ucdavis.edu/esadocs/arundona.html

In my garden it is growing well away from a water source, it does not re-seed etc, but if in proper growing conditions it is a real rogue.

So please investigate this plant first!  Probably not a good choice for you there.

 cheers,  brian

Anette,

Arundo donax is hardy in my USDA zone of 5-b -10 to -15 F, (-23.4 to -26.1 C), but I tink it is not hardy in 5-a, a zone north.  As I recally your winters are a bit more mild (in that part of Sweden) so it should be hardy there.  But, probably "marginal" in many areas. The variegated arundo is a more well-behaved plant.  Our non-variegated plant is really gorgeous, but I ca see it would be a rogue when in a waterside habitat. 

Today is Thanksgiving Day here, a big holiday, so I've got to go and cook the traditional meal. One of my favorite dishes is a "dressing" made from cornbread.  You bake the cornbread (mine is gluten-free, as I have celiac sprue disease [gluten intolerance]).  the cornbread is then cubed up and let to dry a little.  Then you sautee a lot of celery and sweet onions in lots of butter with salt and pepper.  Then mix the cubed cornbread with the celery and onions with lots of sage, black pepper and "poultry seasonings" and make it very moist with homemade turky stock.  This is then baked as a traditional side dish, and I love it.  It's called "cornbread dressing".

Happy Autumn!

 Brian 

Wish I could come and stay for dinner. We´re picking up Pizza today ;)

I´m going out in the greenhouse again to finish cutting my vines.

Happy thanksgiving!

Anette

Anette and Bo,

Thanks for the Thanksgiving greetings.  (I'm probably not supposed to talk about cooking here, but this is sort of horiticultural too) :

Another traditional American dish is cranberry sauce.  These are bog plants and I'm sure there are similar things in Scandinavia, or a related plant.  I have had lignonberries and cloud berries and liked them very much.  Do you grow these berries in your gardens?  I'm sure you have had cranberry sauce over there, I would think it would be well-liked. but it is very tart.  The canned stuff is awful.  I make it from fresh berries cooked down with water and sugar and a dash of salt.  The cranberries have a lot of pectin and it is a beautiful ruby -colored, whole berry, jam-like sauce. 

ok, back to the kitchen!, Brian 

Hello Mahieu!

 I´ve been reading this long thread with a great interest and I´ve been looking into your lost, wonderful, garden and I´ve been admiring your daylilies with some kind of desire. And now you are tempting us with your cooking! Will it never end! :-))

You probably know that we are not celebrating Thanksgiving here in Sweden, but we soon will, perhaps. We´ve recently imported Halloween from you, so perhaps it doesn´t take a long time before we have a turkeyholiday here.  (But we don´t have your cause to celebrate Thanksgiving)

You asked if we grow lingonberries and cranberry in our gardens. It´s not so usual, but we pick them in the forest. Lingonberry is called "The red gold of the forest" and people pick a lot of them in the autumn.

As so many others befpre me, I want to welcome you to our forum!

Kerstin 

Kerstin,

 Thanks for the information on the lignonberry.  Those and the cloudberries are very rare here, and only available in gourmet shops and specialty stores.  I worked in a gourmet wine/cheese shop in college and was introduced to much wonderful food and those berries were among them.  As I recall lignonberries reminded me a bit of red currants in flavor, but that has been over 20 years ago!

I found a website with some info on cranberries/lignon berries, it seems they are related.  cheers!  Brian

http://www.innvista.com/HEALTH/foods/fruits/cranberr.htm

Cranberry [for V. oxycoccus AND V. vitis idaea - Lingonberry -- see separately)]
canneberge (myrtille rouge)[French], Moosbeere (Preiselbeere)[German], mortella di palude (Italian), arandano agrio (Spanish), arando (uva dos montes)[Portuguese], tyttebær (lignon)[ Danish/Norwegian], tranbär (cranberry)[Swedish], lignon (Swedish), isokarpalo (puolukka)[Finnish], klyukva (brusnika)[Russian], zurawina (brusznica/jagoda)[Polish], klikva/zoravina (boruwka)[Czech], klukva mociarna (Slovak), tözegafonya (Hungarian), brusnica (borovnica)[ Serbo-Croat], rachitelele (merisoara)[Romanian]
(Vaccinium sp. -- Family Ericaceae)

Fruits of this genus are highly confusing as it includes such berries as cranberry, blueberry/bilberry, whortleberry, bearberry, and the arbutus. Cowberries and lingonberries are also similar but smaller. These tart, red berries are the most important of the edible berries, borne by a group of low, scrubby plants that grow on moors and mountainsides, in bogs and other places with poor acidy soil throughout the world; but they are best known in Europe and North America. The generic name, Vaccinium, is the old Latin name derived from "vacca" (cow) and given because cows liked the plants. It is also the reason behind its old name of "cowberry". Pilgrims called them crane berries. It is speculated that the Pilgrims called them "crane berries" because cranes fed on them, or maybe because the arched blossoms of the plant resemble a crane's silhouette. Other old-time names included bog ruby and cow berry.

The plants to which the name cranberry was originally given are two species which occur in Europe, as well as in other temperate parts of the world. Vaccinium oxycoccus is sometimes called the small cranberry, and V. vitis idaea is more readily found in the northern and higher altitude regions. It is sometimes called mountain cranberry, or foxberry in North America; but, in Europe, it is better known as lingonberry. Both plants bear red oval berries with a sharp flavour, which makes them popular for preserves. Generally speaking, all varieties of cranberries taste the same. Their colour ranges from pink to deep lacquer red. White berries are now available. This is not a separate variety, but chosen at a particular time before they ripen fully into the familiar red colour. These are made into the white cranberry juice. Dried cranberries are sometimes sold as "craisins". Although they look like raisins, their taste is not nearly as sweet, but they can be used in a similar way.

For centuries before the first settlers arrived in America, native Americans prized wild cranberries for their nutritional and medicinal value, using them to make a fabric dye and for decorative feathers. Although cranberries were already known in Britain, the pilgrims found that the American berries were larger and more succulent, and called them "craneberries" because their pink blossoms resembled a crane's head or, maybe because of the crane's fondness for the berries. Commercial cultivation began in the 19th century; and now cranberries are available fresh, frozen, canned, dried, juiced, and made into jellies and relishes. Various Vaccinium species in other parts of the world produce fruits comparable to the cranberry but are of less importance. One such is V. reticulata of Hawaii, which bears the ohelo berry. It is red or yellow in colour and sweet enough to eat raw; however, its pectin content is very low.

Hi again. First seedlings this winter. Crosses of Grey Witch x Radioactive Curls and Starman´s Quest x Shuffle the Deck. They were germinationg in the zip-lock when they arrived so I had to grow them now. Hope the gnats will not eat all.

Wow Anette!  

Those are beautiful seedlings.  Is "COIR" coconut fiber growing medium available there?  It has many beneficial properties, readily re-wets after drying out (unlike peat) and it is very free-draining, it also has anti-fungal properties.  I used it in ebb/flood hydroponics and it radically cut down on the algae on top of the pots and all but eliminated fungus gnats. I started my seedlings in a 50/50 blend of coir and perlite.

 cheers,  Brian 

Dear Forum,

Recently a friend in Sweden and I have been discussing your growing season, and the cool night time temperatures there.  I have always known that some daylilies have trouble opening in cool temperatures.  This is a reason that I have focused on using nocturnal cultivars and nocturnal species in my hybridizing program.  However, I was surprised to learn just how cold your night time temperatures are there during the summer!  (a very cool temperature here in USDA hardiness zone 5-b would be 70 degrees F, sometimes it stays in the 90s F at night!).  I was shocked to learn that your nighttime temps in the summer can be 48.5 - 59.5F!  That is really cold!  most daylilies need 59F to open properly and be the correct color. I think that daylilies are particularly sensitive to temperatures, and they contain a vast array of floral pigments, some are particularly temperature sensitive: anthocyanins and delphinidins to name a few.

Another fact I learned is that your temperatures in August can be quite cold and that early and mid-season daylilies are best for your climate.  In working to design plants for climates such as yours I need to have a frame of reference for your bloom season:  When does Hemerocallis 'Stella De Oro' start blooming there?  the FFO date (first flower opened).  My grower/collaborator and I are trying to figure out which of our cultivars would be most suited to your climate, and which to breed with to create more that would display well there.  Once we know when "Stella" opens there we will know exactly were in your season our plants would bloom (comparing their bloom season to Stella here.)

A trend in my hybridizing has been to extend the bloom season several months past peak bloom here (July 4).  I have some daylilies that bloom into the 3rd week of October. And many of mine will bloom for several months.  'Volcan Fuego' is one of these, and I was told it was thriving there. 

I would love to know any cultivars that open well for you and perform well in your climate.  Also I would like to know some that don't open well.  What I am looking for is trends in the parentage of these plants.  I suspect that we will learn that nocutrnal-based plants are best for your climate, and dormant foliage. But I want to keep an open mind and just look at the data.  So, I need the data first. :-)

Would someone be willing to start a poll for me? I only look at this tread, as if people want to interact with me they write in English.  Perhaps someone could start a poll in Swedish on daylilies that thrive and open well in your climate, and those that don't. Then direct me to that thread, or post some of data here?

Thank you for your interest and help!

Brian 

http://brianmahieu.com/viking.html 

Hi Brian.

Our daylily-list is working again. Here you can see the cultivars the members of this forum grow (or at least some of them). Not much information about how they open etc. I will start a new thread on this topic shortly.

http://www.alltomtradgard.se/tradgardslistor/?categories1=4&query=*&searchType=categories

And if you loook at the tradgardslistor - and see the word

Zon " means zone -Zone 5-6 Sweden is (not really but close to-) zone 3 USDA) problably you already know this

I will check out when my Stella de oro starts bloomning this season.

I have 400 km to the polar cirkle -but I also have midnight sun or at least -nearly full day light, around the clock from  end of may to midde of July.

 have a nice day!

kerstin -today -15 C

Dear Anette,

Thanks for starting the tread about hems. that open well in your climate.  That is critical information to have, and I will track that thread and respond to any posts that are in English, if people have any questions for me.  The daylily link is great, I am looking at the daylilies that are grown there and this is very helpful.  

Kerstin, I look forward to the FFO (first flower opened) date on your Stella De Oro.  Thank you for looking at that for me.  I would love to  see a comparison of USDA hardiness zones to your zones (a map for instance.) I found a map of European zones, but most of Scandinavia is cut off.  If you know of a resource, please post a link for me.

happy (snow gardening!)  Brian 

Here´s a link. http://www.odla.nu/metoder/zoner.shtml

Swedish zone 1 is appr USDA zone 7. 2 is appr zone 6 and so on.

Anette,

Thank you for the zone map, that is wonderful! Do the Swedish zons (the numbering system) relate to the rest of Europe?  ie: do they use the same numbering system?  According to this map, my daylilies have been developed a climate with similar minimum temperatures to your zons 2 and 3.

Great information to have!

Brian 

Hello, Brian, and thank you for all info onDaylilies and all the lovely pictures.

The hardyness of plants in Sweden is really dependent on how much freezing the roots can handle. Except in zones 1 and sometimes 2 we generally have deep ground frost for several months.

Grading plants by how low temperature they can take is not all that relevant, since many plants can take quite heavy freezing for a shorter period, but will die from a longer period of frozen roots.

Many mediterranean shrubs, like rosemary and bay are not hardy here, not even in zone 2, because they cannot have their roots freeze. Many perennials can survive, though, further north in Sweden, but not in the far south. Then the snow cover protects the roots and prevents the plants from being awakened during the winter by short warmer periods.

I don't know how long periods of ground freezing you have, but for Swedish gardening this is the biggest limitation.

All-in-one to compare..

http://www2.dicom.se/fuchsias/usdazones.html 

Dear Eva,

Thanks for the comments, they are really helpful. I can tell you that in this climate bay is impossible and rosemary, lavender are also very difficult and few survive the winters.  Horitculturists have told me it is not because of the cold here, but because of "wet feet".  I don't know how long exactly the ground stays frozen here.  We usually get first frost around Mid October, and frost free date is May 15.  Snow cover in intermitant.  We do get wildly fluxuating temperatures and this can kill lots of plants and heaving out of the ground is a problem with fluxuating warm/cold periods.  

My Zone in the U.S. is right on the borderline, and I'm told that actually being further north is better for lots of things due to having a snow mulch and more constant temps.

I will see if I can find some data on how long our soil is frozen here.

Kenneth, thanks for the great link to the zon maps. they were really helpful. 

happy gardening,  Brian 

Hi Brian. I hope I will get the journal. I joined when we went to Florida, hope the registration has come trough!

I´m bying to much seed this winter too , it´s heaven! ;))))

Dear Anette,

<>I hope you get your Journal too.  I still have not recd. my copy in the mail (I got some advance copies)  I think most people here will start getting the Journals this coming week, as I recall they came last year around Christmas time.  I would expect yours would be later than that.  

I saw where you posted a pic. of ORCHID CORSAGE and LILTING BELLE in another thread.  I'm not sure what the discussion was about,but I'm guessing it has to do with cultivars being mixed up in the trade?  ORCHID CORSAGE was one of my foundation plants and the images you posted look like ORCHID CORSAGE to me. :-)

Maybe the foliage habit would help you with an i.d.  ORCHID CORSAGE is dormant, LB is SEV.  

cheers,  Brian 

Dear Anette,

I just looked online at some pics of ORCHID CORSAGE and LILTING BELLT.  They are virtually identical from the photos! I got my clone of  ORCHID CORSAGE directly from Staney Saxton (the hybridizer) so I am sure it was correctly identified.  I can tell you that (although listed as pod fertile on Tinkers) it is a profoundly difficult pod parent.

Ok, not sure if I have helped or muddied the waters!  Please let me know what you were saying about the cultivars and if I was guessing correctly.

many cultivars do get mixed up in the trade, especially species and early, "historics".  For example there are said to be about seven "versions" of 'Kindly Light' in gardens, obviously only one is the "real  one".   many spider hybridizers have used one "version" that is pod fertile. Lots of the Reinke's spiders come from this one.

best, Brian 

Hi Brian. I received that photo on the Spider-Robin and posted it here as an illustration of how difficult it is to tell some cv:s apart. The photo is Orchid Corsage and Lilting Belle.

The discussion then was about the practise (or rule here) to name identical cultivars with the same name. I just mentioned this is not the case when it comes to dl:s and there are many more traits than the flower itself to consider.

I´m happy you said Orchid Corsage is one of your parents. I like it very much (just from pictures, don´t have it yet) and have bought a few crosses from it.

I have bought about 40 crosses so far this autumn, I´m sure I am not going to be able to stop just yet.

The Reinkes have a lot of nice spiders and UFO:s, I´m so sorry I cant buy plants more easily at the auction.

Did you se Earlybirds new seedlings?  http://www.earlybirddaylilies.com/cgi-bin/intralinks/store.cgi?action=search&keyword=&category=*my+seedlings&startlist=0&sku=&skucategory=&listall=&uid=51363

I love her red seedling Bark at me x Mascara Snake and the two out of Purple Many Faces. Eruption x Heavenly Angel Ice was a great combo too, and all the nice seedlings from Heavenly Curls. The "blue" cross Tralytha x Stargate Portal looks very blue.