Sunday, May 15, 2011

Daylilies by Brian Mahieu


I love that the Mahieu breeding introduces older genetics into modern breeding. It would be sad to lose diversity in the breeding gene pool, by only having heavily line bred plants to work with. They have however such amazing color and form breaks. I have purchased a number of Mahieu plants for crossing with new breeding breaks, so as to see what the added diversity might uncover.

If you like these Daylilies you have to check out the links below. I have enjoyed many hours browsing and researching on them. The forum is an amazing place to ask questions, there are extremely knowledgeable members, including geneticists, so no question is too technical.




See below for the tiniest taste of David Burris's site, these are only what I have purchased from his hundreds of gorgeous offerings

Amy Mack


Fragrant Spatulate UFO. Gorgeous bitone polychrome of creamy melon pink with a lavender overlay and huge creamy lemon watermark. I feel this flower is a breakthrough into a new class of UFs along with ORCHID CONVERGENCE. The intensely orchid-like shape of the cascading spatulate is becoming a breeder's hallmark. Named for Brian Mahieu's dear friend and adopted sister, artist Amy Mack.
[{(MONT BLANC x ERIN FARMER) x (ORCHID CORSAGE x JUST FOR LAUGHS)} X HEAVENLY CURLS]

Apophis

PINCHED CRISPATE UF purple black with velvety black halo chartreuse throat. Superlative in every way, very consistent form. This is one of the most fertile plants we have ever seen. Radically fertile both ways with diploids, and will set pods on tetraploids. Microscopic examination of pollen shows both diploid and tetraploid pollen indicating unreduced gametes. Set pods on these tets: 'Outrageous Fortune" some of John Kinnebrew's 'Spacecoast' series and Laura Burris's tetraploid seedlings.[{seedling x (SERPENT’S TOOTH x SATYR)}X(SATCHMO x BLUE VENTURE)]

Bagana

Volcano series, Solomon Islands
Mahieu Diploid 97-240 E
[DIVERTISSMENT X SEEDLING]
45 ML RE 7 SEV 4 way branching 38 buds, 5:1 Crispate SPIDER

This flower is very showy in the garden and should be a welcome addition to any breeding program wanting Spiders or Unusual forms in warm colors: The plant is EXTREMELY pod Fertile, and pollen Fertile. The pollen parent was probably JENNIE LOVE, or another H. f. rosea seedling or clone, though the cross tag was lost in the field. The color is a medium orange with a red chevron band on the petals the throat is glowing orange to chartreuse in the heart. This well-budded spider has pinched petals and recurved sepals. Vigorous grower.

Bengali Princess

(Mahieu 2001) D-96 35 A
[HOOD COLLEGE X KATY'S BLUE]
40 EM 6 DOR, 4 way branching 30 buds, fertile both ways. Star form

This unique flower has a STAR form that is very elegant in the garden. The color is an unusual light bengal rose, diamond dusted with a lavender-blue glaze and a huge watermark on the petals. Throat color is lemon-chartreuse. An excellent parent for clarifying muddy colors. Very sturdy scapes and a good grower.


Brushed by Bluebirds

I don't know where to even start with this one. This is an amazing kid out of my '04 intro Galaxy Explosion. "This is the bluest eye out there" was what my good friend Melody said when she first saw it. When it first bloomed for me I was truly shocked beyond words. It's a little confused on what form it wants to take but who cares with an eye like this. This group it came out of has also some hot pinks and yellows but nothing as blue as this. Just shows you the awesome power Galaxy Explosion has locked within it's genes. The color is a rich royal purple with light sepals which officially makes it a bi-tone. It has an extremely light throat of cream with just a touch yellow. And then there is the eye. It has the clearest blue eye of any daylily I've seen yet. Alot of the "Blue" ones I have are really a lavender or purple or a blend of both. Not this one. Very Pod and Pollen fertile. Has good 4 way branching with a bud count of around 24 or so. Proliferates well and is super extended staying open 24 hours or more for me here. It was not registered as a rebloomer but it has rebloomed some and the degree of rebloom varies from year to year. Brushed By Bluebirds is one of my best registrations I have to date. This plant has perhaps the clearest blue eye of any other daylily I have ever seen anywhere. The clear rich royal purple color is a beautiful contrast against the blue eye and near white throat. This daylily is an extremely important color break.When I dug BBB up this fall to line out and to pot up, I noticed it had huge kwanso - like roots and was very rhizomates as well. This was very exciting to see after noting how well it performed in the past few summera as we have had some of the worst drought and heat conditions on record ever for our region. When others were withering away in the heat, BBB kept right on going and flourishing. It is pod fertile and extremely pollen fertile. Some of the F-1 seedlings out of BBB are stunning to say the least. Many of them even better than BBB. This plant is an a must have for the hybridizer wanting to get clear blues.


Edge of Chaos

Cascading ufo, purple with huge chalky lemon-white watermark that is mascara edged. pollen parent is a Lonnie Ward seedling, this flower recovers some of the patterns of the small Salter lines on a large Unusual Form. Will cross with both diploids and tetraploids, this trait led to the cultivar's name. Easily pod fertile with tetraploids pollen fertile with tetraploids: 'Darla Anita' , 'Great White', 'Mask Of Eternity'
[(CERULEAN STAR x LOCH NESS MONSTER) X {(Fairy Tale Pink x Donetha Marie) x Enchanter’s Spell}]
[ploidy of parents: embryo conversions] pollen appears to be diploid but this plant behaves as a tet. though registered as a diploid.


Galaxy Explosion

Coppery-salmon blend with a deep black-purple eye above a gold throat. This daylily has proven to be 100% rust resistant and has been tested across the U.S. in heavily infested rust areas. It is a really fast increaser going from a single or double fan to 5 or six in one season and mature clump by the second full season. It is extremely pollen and pod fertile and is making some amazing offspring. Parent to Brushed By Bluebirds. Registered as having 3 way branching and 18 buds but when it matures shows better B&B.

Gudrid

Viking series
Mahieu diploid 98-530 J
[ETHEL RUTHRAUFF X (H CITRINA X LOLA BRANHAM)]
48 ML 6.5 NOC VFR EXT DOR, 5 way branching 34 buds trumpet form

This is a beautiful intense violet bitone with a blue chevron watermark. The form is a trumpet viewed from the side, 4.5 inches in length, closure to 3.5 inches. GUDRID has some of the most gorgeous, deep blue green foliage in the garden gracefully arching and ruffled. Very insect and disease resistant, an excellent grower and clumper. Extremely fertile both ways, with her Patrician lineage GUDRID promises to produce a new dynasty of clear purples with excellent plant habits. The trumpet form is easily overcome by crossing with flat-faced daylilies.

Kahoolawe

Volcano series, Hawaii
Mahieu Diploid 98-562 B
[(GOLLIWOG x ORCHID CORSAGE) X JUST FOR LAUGHS]
43 M 7.5 NOC EXT DOR, 8 way branching 48 buds, Spatulate UNUSUAL FORM

Polychrome of peachy lemon, melon & pink with cadmium rays from the lemon to chartreuse throat. Suede texture, diamond dusted. fertile both ways.

Lilywood Orchid Tones
Mahieu Diploid 97-349 C
[PATTERNS X ELFIN ETCHING]
35 ML 4.5 NOC EXT FR DOR 4 way branching 32 buds

Another little bagel with a twist: combining Lambert's bloodlines with Salter's blue eyes. This is a gorgeous little bitone of lavender pink with a purple-blue layered eye, sepals are creamy lemon on the tips. Petals have pinched midribs. Dark green throat all day. Very Fertile both ways. PATTERNS is a beautifully branched and budded sunfast lavender.


Nefertari

CRISPATE UFO, incredibly saturated, rainfast and sunfast violet purple with mascara-edged, lavender blue, watermarked halo. This is one of the most saturated purple daylilies we have seen. Proven bloodlines for great UFs in the purple colorway.
(TRAHLYTA X JOHNS HERITAGE)

Nyiragongo

Volcano series, Zaire
Mahieu Diploid 97-211 A
[BROWN RECLUSE X reuthers brown spider]
40 M 7.25 DOR NOC EXT 5 way branching 31 buds, CLASSIC SPIDER (though Crispate) 7.5:1 ratio

This flower is absolutely MOLTEN! From a distance it looks like a glowing red with a blackish overlay. Upon closer inspection, molten orange emanates from the throat. The form is a cascading and twisted Classic spider. A boon to both spider and Unusual Forms breeders as it is easily Fertile both ways!

Pit of Dispair

Mahieu 2004 Diploid 00-216-J
[(reuther's brown spider x Lambert seedling D-86-8C) X (SATCH MO x BLUE VENTURE)]
47 M Re 7 SEV NOC EXT 4-way branching 26 buds
(Lambert seedling D-86-8C looks like a 10 inch version of DIABOLIQUE, though with different parentage.)

This is easily the most brown-black daylily I have seen -- the eyezone of this bloom makes NIGHT WINGS look RED! This large flower displays some crispation with all segments either pinching or twisting slightly, but I did not register it as an Unusual Form. The substance is extremely heavy and wax like with ridges/sculpting coming out of the lime starburst throat edged with a lacquered violet-red zone. Base color is deep cordovan-brown overlaid with purple-black. The entire eyezone has a velvety BLACK-blue halo, weatherproof and sufast. Outstanding flower! Very fertile pollen, uncertain pod fertility.

Rosella Flight

Tropical Bird series
Mahieu Diploid
[NINA REBMEN X JENNIE LOVE]
36 EE 5 Re DOR 3 X 24 or better branching and budcount.

A rosella is a type of Australian parrot. To my mind, this incredibly floriferous daylily resembles a flock taking flight. A combination of Kraus' azalea pink NINA REBMEN with Stout's early H. f. rosea introduction JENNIE LOVE, this cultivar was, specifically, developed to have rhizomatous growth like H f Europa, but in a gorgeous rose pink with a green throat and great hybrid vigor and gardenability. This seedling was the best of 89 siblings. The color is a clear rose pink with a deep rose pink band on the petals. Green to lemon chartreuse, dart throat pattern. Radically Fertile both ways.
Excellent, weatherproof substance, rhizomatous growth habit for naturalizing meadows, banks, streamside plantings, mixed perennial borders.

My use of H f rosea and it's progeny like JENNIE LOVE is due to Rosemary Whitacre's theory that H f rosea furnished the last part of the "spidering genes complex". She seems to have been right -- as subsequent generations from these crosses have shown.

Royal Flycatcher

Tropical Bird series: a brown tropical bird whose crest is coppery with black spangles much like this
flower.
Mahieu Diploid 98-470 E
[CHALLENGER X (MONT BLANC x BLOODSTREAM)]
48 ML 6.5 DOR light FR 4 way branching 32 buds Spatulate UNUSUAL FORM

Interesting breeding involving Stout's altissima-based CHALLENGER and Lonnie Ward's BLOODSTREAM with a Lambert thrown in! Full sibling to PACK HUNTER. This is a very showy flower in coppery red with a blue sheen and a darker oxblood band. The sepals are pinched and hooked. Throat is cadmium yellow to olive green. Healthy blue-green foliage. Fertile both ways.

Volcan Fuego

Volcano Series: Guatemala. Also the name of one of our favorite varietal coffees from that region!
Mahieu Diploid 97-278 A
[H hakuunensis #2 X BURNING DAYLIGHT]
48 L 4 RE NOC EXT light FR DOR a bud-builder with 5 way branching 64 buds, trumpet form
blooming for a month and a half July 14 - Sept 1 in zone 5 Sending up rebloom scapes in November!
Get this plant if you want to know what hybrid vigor is all about! This is a very vigorous grower and increaser. The foliage is up to 2 inches wide, corrugated and a lime green color (not dark green) and exceptionally resistant to pests and disease. The thick scapes create cones of fluorescent orange trumpets due to their candelabra branching. Oddly, this orange flower opens at night. Early in the morning, the blooms are reverse bitones with the sepals flecked in scarlet and a suggestion of a stippled halo. By mid-morning, the blooms are just SCREAMING light cadmium orange. This is definitely one that they will be able to "see from the road". Extremely Fertile both ways, this plant has produced offspring with, very rare, radial branching. That is, the branches radiate out from the scape like spokes of a wheel rather than side to side like a menorah. I think VOLCAN FUEGO will be an important landscaping plant. We lined it out two years ago, and it has made a chest high HEDGE!

William Mahieu


Brick red with black eye zone gold throat
QUIRKY X Sdlg

Hope you enjoyed my small Mahieu collection, remember Bluegrass Nursery has the full Collection along with hundreds of other by many great breeders.

1 comment: