by Jan Wyers
Many of us have gardens crowded with plant treasures which give us immense pleasure each year and miniature daylilies are real gems flowering when the June blaze of colour has left us. Today's small flowered and miniature daylilies give a succession of flowers mainly through July and August but sometimes through September and into October in an amazing myriad of colours.These daylilies are classified by the size of the flowers; the miniatures having flowers measuring under three inches across. Generally these plants are beautifully proportioned with one of the tiniest being 'MINI STELLA' having grass like foliage from which the tiny one and a half inch gold flowers arise on scapes of only ten inches. Most miniature daylilies are taller and flower at one to two feet. A lovely miniature bred by Kennedy in 1972 is 'PUDDIN'. It has little flowers of yellow with a green throat which are reminiscent of buttons held above the foliage at about twenty inches.
The small flowered daylilies are one foot to two and a half feet tall but this is a very rough guide as it is the size of the flowers, from three inches to up to four and a half inches, that is used to classify these plants. The shape of the flower can be vastly different, from little bell shaped flowers to small round buttons, to a miniature spider like 'NUTMEG ELF' with its masses of slender orange petals and sepals shimmering in a summer breeze well above many other daylilies.
The diversity of these desirable plants is astounding but this was not always the case. The story of the miniature daylilies started with Hubert Fischer, an American daylily hybridiser, who unlike most of his contemporaries was interested in miniatures although the prevailing view at the time was that no one would want them.
He continued to pursue his goals and produced 'TINY TOT' in 1949. This was followed by 'GOLDEN CHIMES' and 'THUMBELINA' the success of which created quite a stir and vindicated his faith in miniatures. Both of these cultivars won major awards and were followed by 'CORKY' another enduringly popular introduction which is still popular today.
The Fischers really put miniatures on the map by donating the Donn Fischer Memorial Cup. This trophy, named in honour of their son is awarded annually by the AHS to the best miniature. This had the dual effect of granting miniatures official recognition and also prompting interest amongst hybridisers and gardeners.
From 1962 when the first Donn Fischer Memorial Cup was first presented, fittingly enough for 'GOLDEN CHIMES', miniatures had arrived.
In 1964 the A.H.S. made a further distinction by authorising an award for the most outstanding small flowered daylily, the Annie T. Giles award. In spite of the popularity of Fischers miniatures there were few if any other hybridisers specialising in this size group.
It was some years before colours in the miniatures were found in anything other than yellow or orange. To maintain the momentum more distinctive flowers needed to be introduced. 'RED MITTENS' bred by Heineman in 1966 was one example and it won the Donn Fischer award in 1970.
Lucille Williamson specialised in miniature and small flowered daylilies and her contribution was vital in this area. Not only did she bring colour but also patterns and eyezones. 'LITTLE GRAPETTE' a popular grape purple, the pink 'LITTLE CELENA and 'LITTLE SHOWOFF' a well named outstanding eyed daylily. 'GREEN FLUTTER' which went on to win awards and the Stout Medal in 1976 is a deservedly popular daylily and widely grown.
In 1979 J.L.Cruse introduced some daylilies with contrasting colours. A miniature yellow with a bold maroon red eyezone named 'LITTLE BIG MAN' and 'LITTLE GYPSY VAGABOND' a light yellow with a bold black purple eyezone are good examples of his work at this date.
The prefix Siloam indicates the work of Pauline Henry from Siloam Springs, Arkansas. Mrs Henry is one of the hybridisers most responsible for popularising miniatures and small flowered daylilies. This is not due to any one outstanding hybrid but to a multitude of them. Mrs Henrys output over the years has been phenomenal. The typical Siloam hybrid is miniature or small flowered, dormant and perfectly proportioned. The bloom is rounded and lightly ruffled often with an eyezone in bold contrast to the background colour.
If there is a criticism of the Siloam range it is that some of them appear similar. There is some validity in this particularly when the flowers are viewed from afar. However as well as being part of the landscape the modern daylily demands closer examination. People have been known to bring chairs into the garden and sit as if mesmerised staring into the eye of a daylily.
Some examples of Mrs Henry's miniatures are the apricot with a rose eyezone 'SILOAM BABY DOLL' and 'SILOAM BABY TALK' a round pale pink with a deeper rose eyezone. A small flowered daylily which looks better than it sounds is a pink-beige rose called 'SILOAM ETHEL SMITH' and a shrimp pink with a rose eyezone that needs careful placing in a border is 'SILOAM LITTLE GIRL'. This plant looks good with a purple heuchera as a contrasting planting and a delight with an alstromeria purchased in a cottage garden which happens to have the same coloured flowers. 'SILOAM BYE LO' and 'SILOAM RIBBON CANDY' are two excellent eyed daylilies in shades of pink. A real beauty in pale ivory with a pale pink eye is 'SILOAM RUFFLED INFANT'.
From a collectors point of view I have often thought that we don't need any more eyed Siloams but then comes along 'SILOAM DAVID KIRCHHOFF' with its pencil line cerise eyezone and we have to have it. Perhaps it is better to be spoilt for choice than to be restricted. Not all of the Siloams are eyed and Mrs Henry has also introduced a number of outstanding daylilies in the large flowered and double categories.
Some of the Siloams including 'SILOAM VIRGINIA HENSON' have been converted to tetraploid and have produced some very interesting seedlings. Pat Stamile has produced a series of plants including 'STRAWBERRY CANDY' a four and a half inch outstanding beauty of bright strawberry pink with a rose eye and red picotee edging from 'TET SILOAM VIRGINIA HENSON' parentage.
Daylilies can be diploid or tetraploid which refers to the number of chromosomes; 22 in diploid and 44 in a tetraploid. This is relevant when breeding daylilies as diploids are crossed with diploids and tetraploids with tetraploids. The conversion of these plants from diploid to tetraploid is chemically induced by breeders who wish to expand the gene pool.
In 1975 Elsie Spalding who bred many beautiful pink daylilies introduced 'LULLABY BABY' a special soft pink small flowered daylily with lightly ruffled petals. This daylily won the Annie T Giles award in 1982 for the best small flowered daylily and the Lenington award for a daylily which grows well over most of the American States in 1988.
A very pretty and floriferous delicate orange miniature daylily bred by Ury Winniford in 1969 called 'BERTIE FERRIS' won the Stout Medal in 1980 and won a place in our hearts when it first flowered in our English garden in 1989.
In 1982 Darrel Apps produced the miniature red self 'PARDON ME' and in 1984 the small flowered ruffled round cream 'SUGAR COOKIE' followed.
There are a few small flowered near-whites worth mentioning and the late Bryant Millikan's 'ABSOLUTE ZERO' is one of them. It is a small flowered circular ruffled near white bred in 1987. 'MOSEL' is a creamy near white from David Kirchhoff in 1982.
'MINI PEARL' bred by the late Walter Jablonski is a superb blush pink floriferous small flowered daylily with glossy foliage. This man was also responsible for the famous reblooming miniature 'STELLA DE ORO' and 'MINI STELLA. 'STELLA DE ORO' was awarded the Stout Medal in 1985.The tetraploid version of this plant has slightly larger golden yellow flowers and reblooms.
A recent Stout Medal award winner (1994) was the small flowered 'JANICE BROWN' bred by E.C. Brown in 1986. A stunningly beautiful pink flower with a rose pink eyezone and a green throat.
The breeding work done by Elizabeth Hudson Salter has increased the colour range and especially eye patterns of the miniature daylilies. Her three inch blooms in a blend of ivory and palest pink named 'MOONLIGHT MIST' their round and ruffled flowers stand about eighteen inches and became an early indication that this plant was from an inspired and dedicated breeder. 'MOONLIGHT MIST' was introduced in 1982 and in the same year a bright bold rose red miniature called 'CRIMSON ICON' came on the scene. In the previous year she had produced an ivory cream small flowered daylily with a dark red-purple eye named 'CORSICAN BANDIT'. This flower often reblooms for us through September. Her dedication produced many new contrasts and eye patterns like the bold triangular eye of deep rose red on the soft pale pink petals of 'TINY TEMPTRESS' and the tiny flowers of 'TINY TALISMAN' a pale buff-ivory petal with a triangular eye of light plum. Among the first to flower in the garden is 'LADY MISCHIEF' a pale rose pink with a rose red eye. An exceptional plant for its succession of flowers is 'ICE CASTLES' managing to produce its pale ivory-cream flowers in excess of 30 days.
Elizabeth Hudson Salter must have thought she'd hit the jackpot in 1986 when she introduced 'ENCHANTER'S SPELL' a pale ivory flower with a multi-layered eye pattern in lavender and purple. The seedlings from 'ENCHANTER'S SPELL' include 'JASON SALTER' in 1989, 'LITTLE WITCHING HOUR' in 1991 and 'DRAGONS EYE' in 1992. Her work continues and also embraces tetraploids which are not yet widespread in the miniatures but her 'MOON WITCH' a small flowered cream yellow blend with a green throat is of a very high standard.
In 1983 a three inch round ruffled yellow called 'CAMDEN GOLD DOLLAR' was introduced by Elizabeth Yancey and is exceptional for its reblooming qualities. The brilliant scarlet red 'CHRISTMAS IS' (1979) with its large green throat that pours out onto the petals was bred by her husband Clarke Yancey. In 1989 Ra Hansen produced a black purple with a similar chartreuse green throat called 'NIGHT BEACON' that associates well in the garden with 'CHRISTMAS IS'. Both of these plants would look wonderful planted with lime green foliage as a background foil.
If you are looking for a soft yellow reblooming miniature daylily for the border, Clarence Crochet introduced 'YELLOW LOLIPOP' in 1980. It is just under a foot tall.
A vibrant yellow from Chuck Dunbar, in 1986, called 'BUTTERFLY CHARM', would be a good small flowered daylily to plant near a garden seat, its wonderful fragrance wafting through the air from its four inch blooms. Its half sibling 'BUTTERFLY BALLET', a more ruffled yellow, is also fragrant.
It is of course impossible, in an article of this size, to mention all of the breeders of the small flowered and miniatures and only a few of the plants can be mentioned, but a few more favourites are 'CRANBERRY BABY' a ruffled cranberry with a deeper eye and a deeper shade in the veins on the petals, bred by Croker in 1986 and 'BARBARY CORSAIR' bred by Hudson in 1991. It is always admired for its violet-plum purple flowers held high above the foliage. 'VELVET SHADOWS' from the same breeder is a similar colour but more compact, the flowers held just clear of the foliage.
There are some double sma11 flowered daylilies- 'POJO' is a deep yellow self which needs hot weather to produce double flowers in our garden.
'BUBBLY' is registered as a diploid miniature double. It is well branched and extremely floriferous. The pale apricot flowers are single in the garden. The only time it has shown its double flowers is under hot conditions in a polythene tunnel. It is valuable in our climate not for double flowers but for the sheer volume of flowers produced. Sadly so far these little doubles have not proved to be consistently double in England so there is scope for breeders to improve this situation for the future for colder areas of Europe. Now, there is a challenge!
The above article originally appeared in the 1998 Bulletin.
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