What IS Hybridizing?...

It's what creates daylilies like these:

This giant red is a deep blood color when not in bright sun. Somewhat "beefy" (a little taller, larger than most), but still beautiful.

These daylilies actually glow with a neon yellow and orange that creates such a brightness, one would be attempted to look away the first time their eye looks at them in bright sunshine.

The curl-back in this shot of the flower petal is something I enjoy in a good daylily hybrid.

Just look at that ruffled edge! A "breeder" from my breeding stock for ruffled edges, this is a very good daylily to have when trying to hybridize. It has shortness of flower stem, multiple buds and blooms, nice broad flower petals - all good things.

This is an established daylily called "Hope Diamond" and was gifted to me by one of the great hybridizers of the past, Clarence Blocher. I also use this daylily when breeding my own.

Next time, more on how I got started in gardening and hybridizing, and, my two favorite mentors...

As Promised...

...more pictures of my project with the designer fabric "Dolce" (for my daughter):

Here, you can see all three coordinates you saw in an earlier post put together in one project (but I can't tell you what it is yet!)...

This is the same item from a different angle and includes something very desirable in such an item. And, is something that I do for all items of this type...padding! 

Ah - a little "inside" peek...












These final photos represent a different item with some bordering embroidery, as well as how I used one fabric for the outside, while lining the item with another coordinate - not in the order you would think - but hey, that's just me...

Soon, you'll be able to see the finished items in their entirety!








Next time, the daylilies are beginning to bloom!

How Can Something So Wild...

...look so beautiful?

Believe it or not, this is the flower of the milkweed plant. I took this picture in our woods up north. We have some growing in our evergreens at home as well and I've warned my hubby not to pull them out! That is because they are the plant that is chosen by the Monarch butterfly to lay her eggs on. Once the eggs hatch and turn into caterpillars, they eat the leaves of the milkweed to grow. Eventually, they form a cocoon and later, turn into another beautiful Monarch butterfly.

So you see, just because something is wild, does not necessarily mean that it is not beautiful, or capable of creating something beautiful in its place!

I hope you had a great Fourth of July!

Next time, you'll see more pictures of the project I'm working on in "Dolce" for my daughter's birthday. Until then...