Daylilyjoy

I have actually seen caladium-themed yards where every shrub border and tree was bordered in huge beds of caladiums. It is the most awesome sight! I'm always in awe of people who have so much restraint. Unfortunately, I love ALL plants! I just pop in as many varieties of caladiums as I can here and there among other plants. The great thing about these bulbs is that they are cheap and reproduce every year. Anyway, I've grown caladiums in every Florida garden I've had. Only drawback is that they are only nice about six months of the year here in my area. Dormant or teeny-sized most of the other six months. You have to remember where you have them, or plant winter/spring perennials like alstroemeria, oxalis, and amaryllis among them to keep track. My favorites are 'Festiva,' 'Pink Gem,' 'Red Flash,' 'Florida Cardinal,' and a splotchy one that I thought was 'Gingerland' but might be wrong on that one. Gingerland is supposedly a dwarf, and the ones in my garden grow huge, so I will have to identify it properly one day. Good luck!

You are awesome! Thank you for generously sharing. I can, also, feel your gardening enthusiasm in each of your posts/comments. Happy gardening forever!

I've never had them defoliate like that this early in the season. Every single year, they burn and drop leaves at our first frost. They appear dead for a couple of months afterward, then come back from the ground. (When I see new growth, I cut away all the dead branches as low as I can.) But our frost usually happens in mid-January or February. Mine are still large and green, with both blooms and berries right now. I was at my sister's house today (about 45 miles north of here), and hers were still nice as well. How long have yours been in the ground? Maybe a young plant is more cold-tender. (???) Fort Meade has had a few nights at 40 degrees this month, but not low enough to damage anything. If the plant was rooted well enough, it should come back from the roots. I would just leave it and wait. Good luck! And have a great Christmas!!!

Thank you for the info...it's young...only in the ground about a month or so. I guess we'll see?!?! I was frantic when I saw it...if I'd had your number, I'd have phoned you in a panic!!! LOL! We're enjoying a wonderful Christmas...church candlelight service last night; traditional phone call to my family up north to read "Twas the Night Before Christmas" together; woke up early (5:30) to open gifts; cooked, eat, and listened to Christmas music all day! Nice and relaxing! Now I'm preparing to clean out my daughter's closet...a bi-annual event!!!! : ( Hope you're enjoying your Christmas as well!!!! Thanks so much, again!!!

Cajunbarry, it sounds like you are a daylily expert. You should blog on how to hybridize. I would love to try! Did you take photos of your new daylily? The specimen in the photo is 'Enon' ($), which I believe is a diploid. If you know it as something else, please let me know. It is my absolute favorite because I love the cherry-pink petals and the greenish throat. For some reason, this daylily sometimes shoots out flowers with one or two extra petals and sepals and extra stamens. That photo shows one of those blooms. Don't know why it does this, but I'm not complaining--they're even prettier that way. Anyway, this daylily is a semi-evergreen, and I'm not sure of long-term success with it. I've had it three years now. It blooms great every year, but it acts so strange. The leaves keep trying to go dormant, then come back. ????? I'll post a photo of a normal 'Enon' bloom. Maybe you can solve the mystery of why it sometimes has extra petals.

Okay, I've discovered that these blooms are described as "polytepalous." Some daylilies are bred to produce extra tepals (tepal = petal + sepal) while some daylilies produce these spontaneously. At least, that's what I think I understand. Apparently, most hybridizers snub their noses at polytepals (I read that somewhere online). I think this particular daylily looks the most beautiful when it has five petals.

I came across this synopsis of tetraploidy and polytepal (extra petals) formation. Seems there is no substantial tetraploid polytepaled daylily, hence yours has got to be a diploid, as you said. Check this out: "Polytepals are not universally loved. Many hybridizers see them as the ugly ducklings of daylilies. Polytepals with four petals tend to look square, which has less of an aesthetic appeal for many people; however, we are in the infancy of this flower type. Most polytepals lack petal width and refinement, but such is typical of the early days of any breeding effort. Also, all commercially available polytepal cultivars thus far are diploid-with some exceptions, hybridizing efforts and breaks by serious hybridizers today occur at the tetraploid level. The lack of even a single readily available tetraploid polytepal has seriously hindered hybridizing efforts to date. However, several tetraploids occasionally throw polytepal blooms, and efforts are ongoing to convert diploid polytepals to tetraploid."... bottom line is, "they're working on it" ;-) cajunbarry

No, we've never had deer problems in our gardens. Raccoons, armadillos, yes, but no deer.

Thanks, FigTree, I kept hoping for a "tropical" category.

your wish has been granted! tell me if there are any hubs you would like to see.... suggestions?

Thanks, figtree. I'll try to figure out how to use it. It would be fun to post my garden thoughts every day. Are you a programmer for this site, then? I noticed the gallery problem has been fixed. Much better!

Nope not a developer, but I help them with the communication stuff- so any suggestions to me to give to them would be awesome!

OK, just remember...you asked for it! #1: If we write on someone's contribution or wall or comment on a photo, we won't know if they responded unless we visit it again. Furthermore, if someone comments on my photo, I will not see it, unless I sift through them from time to time. It will be out-of-sight, out-of-mind. I've been spoiled by FB notifications, I guess. Or maybe I just don't know how to use this site. ??? #2: If we add plants, but we can't remember what we added, how can we find them without sifting through a gazillion plant files? Is there a way to search the plants by name of the gardener that created the file? I ask because I think I'm missing one that I want to "plant," and I can't remember what it was. The number "created" by me doesn't match the number I found to "plant." The ones I did find took a lot of time because I didn't write them down--and I hadn't discovered the "planting" by "saving" option yet. #3: I like the new order in the gallery, but there's too much of a gap to get to the comments section. Also, if you click on a picture in page 2, you see the picture, but you somehow are reverted back to page 1. May be something they're already working on.

Thanks, gardengirl. We are blessed with the most amazing birds here--goldfinches, painted buntings, and indigo buntings especially! They are so colorful. And the strange thing is that most of the birds come here in winter and spring. Stranger still, we have hummingbirds year-round! I am obsessed with taking pictures...so my family tells me. I've always taken daily walks in the garden to see what's going on, but now my camera goes with me.

No, just an everyday mom with an obsession for plants and all living creatures. The subjects of my photographs are amazing, and I am amazed by them. The invention of the digital camera and more recent invention of mega-sized memory cards have unleashed a monster in me! I use a Canon Powershot...nothing fancy. Wouldn't recommend it to anyone because mine has difficulty focusing, especially when using the macro or zoom functions. Definitely not a professional camera, but it beats nothing.

Hi, Lily, this is Daylilyjoy. You already know me as the other obsessed gardener on FGF. Sorry...you couldn't get rid of me by coming over here. We still seem to be the only two obsessed gardeners in the whole state of Florida!!! Actually, my sister joined FGF, but she won't post any of her pictures or any comments--she actually has some plants I don't have. She commented that I was the only one who ever posted anything...oh, and that other lady (that would be you).

Yes, thank you, they are all in my garden. And I definitely push the envelope when it comes to tropical plants. I've always been jealous of northwest gardeners! Isn't that an ideal climate for gardening?!!