The two miniatures featured at left are - top left, ‘Poppy Music’ - a hybrid named as a fundraiser for our local high school music department.  Both of our children were involved in music studies, and the schools Chamber Ensemble came and played every year for five years at our annual open gardens.  The students were able to show more of the general public the extent of their musical skills - skills that normally only the parents and those who attended school concerts were able to enjoy. 

Bottom left is ‘Tour of Langley’ to commemorate the many visitors that we greet each year to tour the gardens.  We have seen bus trips from England, Japan, Australia and many from across Canada and the United States.  While hybridizing is still our main focus, we originally opened the gardens for viewing in July each year to educate and teach about daylilies to those who were not aware of exactly how many different cultivars there were  available.   We now grow over 3,000 different varieties and are adding to that number all the time!

Daylilies!  After all, this is what we are really all about.  While we love all plants and appreciate so many, the daylilies hold the true passion for us - in particular the cultivars that we have hybridized right here in our gardens.  It takes many years of patience, and  much composting, to actually come up with some that are worthy of registering and introducing to the world market.  This section is dedicated to both the varieties that we have acquired over the years, ones that we have used as parents in our breeding program and the resulting ‘children’. 

The first part of this section is dedicated to our own cultivars.  Shown above is ‘Bare It All’ - a wonderful small flowered daylily that surprised us when she started doubling in warmer weather!  Originally introduced as a single flower, the past few years she has consistently doubled once the daytime temperatures get over about 85 degrees F (25C).

Below are two of my favorites - ‘Cruzan Cream’ shown at left, with its big 6” blooms on 26” scapes and a plant that blooms profusely in mid to late season.  A lot of our more recent hybridizing efforts have been towards the later blooming cultivars - not only to extend the season in the garden but also to avoid the pesky gall midge as she is long gone by the time these varieties bloom  (see Culture section). 

Shown on the right is ‘I’m Up Here’ - an intro from 2010 that stands an amazing 4 feet tall!  She has lovely soft lemon-green blooms but the height is the distinction on this one, making her a wonderful centerpiece or background plant.  Also a late season bloomer.

A great deal of our breeding program has also been on miniatures with eyes.  At left is shown ‘Langley Eyecatcher’, and with its large multi-faceted purple eye, it is indeed eyecatching!  This beauty stands only 18” tall and blooms all through July.  She has also been a very good parent, passing along interesting eye patterns to her children.   For those who have asked, daylily hybridizers will collect hundreds, sometimes thousands, of seeds each year - but after six to eight years of growing those seeds, so many are discarded and only a select few make it through to be registered.  We look for distinction, good foliage, beautiful flowers and good all-around garden value. 

Also at left, one of our miniatures with an amazing lime green throat is ‘Langley Liz’, named for our daughter who used to help in the nursery when she was younger.

I love the lime green throats and have many in my miniature line upcoming with the brilliant green centres!  My goal is for a pure lime green mini - no other color but green!

NAMING OPPORTUNITIES - Every year, we offer one or two of our seedlings that are about to be introduced to be named by people who wish to give a gift commemorating a special person, place or event - anniversaries, weddings, birthdays, any occasion you choose - select one of our seedlings and we will prepare all the paperwork to register the plant with the AHS, thus giving that plant the name you chose in perpetuity.  What better gift could there be?

Two of the plants that have been named for special people are shown above - top left is ‘Mary Lois Duclos’, named for an amazing lady by the same name in Hudson, Quebec.  This plant grows well in her eastern garden.   Top right is ‘Mission Claire, named by William P.J. McCarthy for his young daughter, Claire.  Mr. McCarthy has also named plants for his wife and sons - those pictures will be posted at a later date.   Both of the plants above are large flowered (six inch and five inch respectively) and bloom heavy and long. 

APRIL 30, 2012

We are pleased to introduce our three new hybrids

for 2012!  The first one, pictured at right, is named

‘Bohdan’s Honeybee’.  This flower has been named

in memory of Bohdan Kadylo Sr., a great gardener,

loving husband, father and grandfather.  Dedicated

by his loving wife, Veronica, of sixty years whom he

called ‘Honeybee’.  All proceeds from the sale of this

daylily over the next two years will be donated to

Cancer Research at the University of Alberta

Hospital.

This plant has a lovely height, 26”, and blooms

large flowers in mid summer.  The soft flesh-cream petals are highlighted by the maroon eye and lime green throat - truly a standout plant and we are happy it has been named for such a good man.

Our second introduction for 2012 is “Our Mum Rae Alden”.  This beautiful flower is named for a truly beautiful lady.  Her three daughters, Judy, Robbin and Carell, named this flower in honor of their mum’s 90th birthday.  Rae is a dedicated gardener and can still be found out there in the garden, weeding and collecting seeds.  It is an honor to have a flower named after her.

This plant stands elegantly at 28” tall, blooms in mid summer with big 6” flowers of bright gold and a stunning red eye.  This flower definitely gets your attention when you see it!