Daylily Nut -- Hemerocallis 'Quint Quandary'
Fall 2004 Registration, Spring 2005 introduction.
Wetzel (2004) EERe ext. dor. dip. 10% Polytepal, 19" 3 1/4", 2 branches, 8 buds, (#92-00-16 x H. 'Happy Returns'), seedling #98-08-32. Fertile both ways. Easy pollen parent, more reluctant pod parent.
H. 'Quint Quandary' has several great things going for it that, when combined, lead to a distinction worthy of introducing, I believe.
First of all it is a gray-green or almost lime green grassy-foliaged dormant diploid everbloomer. Foliage is healthy, but distinct in color from H. 'Stella de Oro's foliage. In my garden H. 'Quint Quandary' begins bloom at virtually the same time as H. 'Stella de Oro', takes little or no rest, and continues to throw abundant rebloom scapes until frost kills it back.
Second, it blooms polytepal about 10% of the time. (That's how it is registered -- in 2005 it bloomed 13.26% polytepal.) It's pod parent is seedling #92-00-16, the same pod parent as the polytepal introduction, H. 'Quad Quiddity'. It's pollen parent is Apps' very popular everbloomer H. 'Happy Returns'. Furthermore, most of the polytepal blooms that it throws are 5x5 (five petals and five sepals, as opposed to the more common 4x4 of most polytepals). The polytepal habit has been very consistent every year.
Third, the flower color is slightly lighter than H. 'Happy Returns', which makes it quite distinct from most everbloomers. Its scapes are not as rangy as HR. Both scape height and bud count are very similar to that of H. 'Stella de Oro'.
Fourth, H. 'Quint Quandary' is a somewhat difficult pod parent. This is a distinct advantage for landscaping purposes, as the plant almost never sets bee pods, so it maintains a much cleaner appearance in a setting where no maintenance (deadheading) is done. In fact, the spent flowers are quite unobtrusive, and "self cleaning".
I crossed H. 'Quint Quandary' with H. 'Quad Quiddity', and of about 40 seedlings which first bloomed in 2003, there were two that are both high percentage polytepal and EE rebloomers which continued to bloom from early June through late August. You can see them here. The promise of an everblooming polytepal has been realized with this generation!
So ... why the QUANDARY? Well, it's QUINT-ness is the quandary. I faced the dilemma of whether or not to register this flower as a polytepal, considering how rare polytepal blooms are on this plant. The decision finally rested on two issues: the question of what really defines the distinction of this plant, and of what is its greatest usefulness as a parent. In both cases, the answer is its "polytepal-ness". The biggest distinction is definitely its propensity to throw 5x5 "QUINT" polytepals. But for hybridizers, it also readily passes on its polytepal habit along with its abundant repeat bloom. Without those distinctions, H. 'Quint Quandary' would be lost in the shuffle, as just another "little yellow varmint".
The DaylilyNut Farm has never had rust. It is state inspected, and is located about 25 miles west of Baltimore, MD. In 2006 the garden was moved to a cold-pocket valley, on the boundary between USDA climate zones 5 and 6 (coldest winter night is about -10F).
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Pete Wetzel
P.O. Box 21
Eldersburg, MD 21784
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