Champion Daylilies
Hybridizing Club
30
people have already signed up for their 2012 crosses
(availability is on a first come first serve basis)
Ever wanted to hybridize daylilies but don't have the space? Or don't have the colors you want to cross? Or maybe just want to cross some of the newer daylilies but they are too expensive to buy?
Well, this may be your solution. We will do everything for you. You choose the cross you want to try from the pictures on our website. We do the rest.
If it is seeds you want we will mail them too you as soon as they are harvested.
If you need more help from us we can do that too.
We will hybridize them, harvest the pods, refridgerate the seeds, plant the seeds under lights that first winter, transfer them to pots in the spring. Water, spray, fertilize and care for them. Shelter them during the following winter and take care of their needs again the next spring. When they bloom for the very first time we will send you a picture of each daylily. And, most importantly, all the daylilies from your cross are yours. You may come and get them or have them shipped to you any time (seeds can be shipped to you as soon as they are harvested).
Or, you may choose to leave some or all of them here at Champion Daylilies. You can watch them grow and mature through the pictures we send you.
Remember, at any point in the process you may have your seeds (right after they have been harvested), your little seedlings (about 6 months old) in the first spring, or at any time later your fans shipped to you. It is entirely up to you.
If your crosses develop into the quality you desire you can name and register them through the American Hemerocallis Society. You will be listed as the hybridizer, not Champion Daylilies.
If you register a daylily and decide to sell some of them we can help you in that endeavor also. We will set up a page just for you on our website. And you get money when people buy them.
So now the real question needs to be answered. Do you really want to be a daylily farmer? There are all kinds of risks that go along with hybridizing and growing.
The first risk is that you may spend the time to make a cross, and it doesn't take. No pod. So you try again. No pod. And so on. As you can see this can become very time consuming for no results. Or, you might be lucky and a pod forms on the first try. But does the pod make it to maturity, or does a storm knock it off? Or does your healthy young seed pod get devoured by a deer?
Let's just say that your cross turns into a nice mature pod that is ready to harvest. How many seeds will be found inside? One? Twenty? And will the seeds be of a good quality?
Dried and refridgerated, they soon will be ready to plant in the fall. Are the seeds still healthy and solid? Are they going to germinate when planted? We will see in a couple of weeks after planting. Be happy if 50% germinate. But, you might have one of the lucky crosses and 100% sprout.
The moral of the story is that every step of the way for many varied reasons some die off. Actually that is a good thing because nobody wants to develop a weak daylily.
The plants that make it to the second summer will bloom (some may actually bloom that first summer). This is what you have been waiting for. Maybe you have just come up with the first pure white daylily. Or, the first blue daylily. But more then likely you have come up with some pretty flowers, nothing extrodinary. Then, in amoungst your seedlings something catches your eye. It's that special daylily you were looking for. Something that is new and beautiful. And all the work and money has just become worth it. You are now a real hybridizer.
If all this interests you and you would like to get a more detailed copy of how this works along with the costs envolved just send me an email requesting more information on the "Hybridizing Club" at
Remember, this is for fun.
But if you want to experience the world of hybridizing, try your hand at developing new daylilies, or just come up with that special daylily to name after someone close, then this just might be for you.