The Daylily Place: Bryant Millikan Poll 2000

is another of Bryant's near whites which we keep around for consistent outstanding performance until late in the season

this white diploid is an especially fast increaser even here in Ontario. It is a medium sized white flower and was the first daylily to bloom in my garden last year (on June 9).

big pink worth growing.

This lovely orange is out of DANCE BALLERINA DANCE and has been a consistently good performer

ATOLL was a heartthrob until I got to know Moldovan's SOUTH SEAS, which has replaced it. Atoll is actually out of Moldovan's DANCING SHIVA, so one might say that Moldovan, even indirectly, is one of the masters of the coral effect. It's a coral pink with a pink lipstick print halo. The heartthrob effect is, on many hot days, caused by a suffusion of pink "mist" like a sexual flush all across the face of the flower. A real passion scene in the right conditions. However, with Moldovan's SOUTH SEAS one is in touch with

the torrid colors of Gaugin.

BIG SNOWBIRD

is a gorgeous white which we bought after seeing how wonderfully it performed at Adrienne Whyte's. (Adrienne was a close friend of Bryant, and she grows or has grown most of his best plants.)

28X6 near white with good branching, bud count and very long bloom season. Not the most formal blossom but is very nice; it's among my best performing whites, especially with the very long season (seven weeks in 1998).

Got this one after seeing it in Adrienne Whyte's garden last year. Big, near white, just beautiful.

Fabulous white diploid that is heavily budded and branched. Prolifs heavily. Should be converted and used with white tetraploids.

is one of his earlier tet intros which holds much appeal. It is an 8" salmon, yellow, and copper blend. The petals are quite full, and the color very rich.

…is an especially unique red - a very neat round form, medium sized but abundant blooms. Holds up well in the hot sun.

Years ago my husband used to use BODY WHITE in his hybridizing (along with Sarah Sikes' DESIGNER JEANS) and I am pretty sure that is by Bryant M. too.

BROCADED GOWN is a knockout when well grown. It's questionable in zone 4, though it survived its first winter in my Vermont garden, but it did not re-establish after that winter when I transplanted it into full sun in St. Louis, and it failed to perform well in part shade when I moved it across town. It also was in competition with tree roots in that spot. So I rate this as a plant that really needs to be happy in order to put out the award-winning display.

I must be doing something wrong as a Stout Medal winner could not possibly melt and turn to tissue paper before 1PM every day! There should be two categories of Stout medal winners. AM and PM! I'm serious.

has won the Stout Medal. This flower was actually found by Don Kercheval in a portion of their garden that was on the "other" side of their fence and property line. They dug it out after the second bloom and they moved it nearer to their house.

is a beauty which Don Kercheval introduced for Bryant after his death. It's performance is not YET quite as great as some of his others for us, but it is a very beautiful flower and it will be in our garden for some time to come

is probably one of the prettiest flowers in my garden. It's a beautiful pink with excellent branching and bud count which blooms for a long time here in Virginia

…is a flower that is so pristine and exquisite that I want to see it again. It stood out in an incredible jumble of crowded plants in a hybridizer's garden on regional tour last summer. It's so beautiful a creation that it can stop you in your tracks. I don't own it and don't know how it performs.

Another that should be converted. A pink that is a much more refined Barbara Mitchel. Gives GREAT seedlings and grows very well here. Certainly worthy of the Stout Medal.

*CANDID CAMERA - A fertile white tetraploid that could be used with such a program as very fertile (both ways) near white tets are had to find.

This beauty is a plant that you can count on for great performance continuing after most of your other pretty things have all quit for the season

Kathy Chenet sent me home from Big Tree with all of her CHIPPED ICE of Bryant's because it was a VERY unhappy performer there. This should be its first year to be really established here, and we're looking forward to it because Bryant did some wonderful work with near whites. Last year it looked quite promising

This is a day-glo, green-yellow that opens perfectly day after day. Very round form.

…is a lacquered red that can look great on many days here, but which looked TREMENDOUS on every single day in my Vermont garden. It opens well,

and seems to do better if not heat stressed.

is a nice red that makes a lovely fairly tall floriferous clump in the garden.

is not often seen in gardens. It has a very unusual hard-to-describe color, and GREAT branching and bud count when established

Very dormat smaller red with a white edge. We have some GREAT kids with this crossed with Ruffled Masterpiece and Molino Charm that are very ruffled reds with prominent white edges. Should be used more in hybridizing.

is a lovely soft pastel small-flowered hem.

Tetraploid. Very pretty and I tried hard to get him to name it "Delicate Daze" but he said that sounded too much like a Gates or Hansen flower.

he tried to name this flower "Princess Diana", but he said the registrar would not let him. He smiled at me and said he'd try for "Diana Stuart" adding the comment, "He won't know who she is."

Bryant's only unusual form, a bit hard to find and named after Don Kercheval, who actually made the cross on a whim.

A fabulously ruffled pink diploid. Should be used in hybridizing.

Brilliant red that holds most of the day. Solid DL increases well here on LI.

(1986): it is the 'hottest' red/orange blend with an interesting look because the undersides of the flowers are yellow, giving a real glow to the colour and a tiny yellow pencil edge to the petals. It's a really dormant tet and sends up big healthy fans that look like leeks. Every flower was perfect and was open to greet me by the time I got up each morning.

A yellow worth growing due to it's green cast. It also was named after a horse that Bryant had "hybridized".

is a very unusual dark red color on a very vigorous plant. I fell in love with it at Big Tree

24X4 blood red with nice light green throat. Nice color in blossoms more than make up for small size.

Very late bloomer in beautiful fall colors and should be grown as a season extender.

A deep pink-orange self that is beautifully formed. Should be more widely grown.

Lavender with a deep purple eye. A good parent for lavenders with a purple eye (and edge) with good dormat genes. I think it's a first generation from DBD.

is a lovely vibrant coral pink color which creates a big display here while in bloom

…is a red that Mr. Millikan said was under appreciated and much better than either of its parents. I bought it from him and saw it bloom only in St. Louis. It survived that killer Vermont winter after its first summer. In St. Louis heat the edges of that cultivar went tan, somewhat like AVANT GARDE, though with AG the color flaw is exploited into the status of a virtue and in KG the flaw is, to my eye, just an eyesore. However, when the edges have gone caramel, a flame of intense red remains in the center of each petal, producing passion in the hearts of some garden observers. I gave it to a public garden nearby.

McMullen/Jerabek

By far the most popular flower to be sold in the garden. Pink with a pencil eye and loved by all garden visitors. Bryant almost did not introduce this plant, but was talked into it by Don Jerabek.

is another older cultivar that was a wonderful performer here, but it increased so slowly for me that we regretfully let it go

Only 4" and an older cultivar, but a great parent for hardy, round and flat flowers.

was sent to me as a bonus by Don, and last summer it was a big winner for us. It just kept sending up bloom scapes almost forever that were topped with these lovely pink

…a Brocaded Gown kid, is, in my opinion, a near-perfect daylily PLANT. Its foliage was a delight for the eye at all moments of the long growing season last year. The well-formed lemon cream blossom with seersucker texture is susceptible to hard rain and to dry air. On a bad day, it seems like the consistency of wet kleenex around the edges. But after badmouthing this plant so much last season, I realized that its bad days were few and far between. On the upside, even on the hottest days this one retained a core of yellow color that seemed a bright accent all the way across the garden. Plus, it remained in bloom for more than four weeks. When I traded it to a friend, I couldn't part with it, so I kept a fan for my long-term collection. I got six months of pleasure from the foliage and one month of moderate satisfaction from the flowers themselves. I can't say that for most of the plants in my collection.

I waited years for the price to go down on MARIE HOOPER MEMORIAL. Finally I bit the bullet and bought it because it was so big and beautiful that I had to have it. Now I know why the price stayed up so long. This plant has been incredibly slow for us

would probably be an excellent landscape plant. If I dislike yellow, I hate gold, but this one just catches my eye each year

Another terriffic season extender, in fall colors.

won the award given to the favorite flower seen on our NCDC summer garden tour several years ago. It is so bright that it was a standout in several gardens

…is growing out of its mush right now and showing a growth pattern that is less than ideal, though not bad. I don't think it has a chance of forming a "neat clump." It's a wonderful daylily plant, though, with consistently good foliage and a great quality of orange. It establishes promptly. I tried breeding some intense pinks to it to see about adding some pink complexity to the orange, and...we'll see

Bought this one after I saw it on tour. (the one Pat Bennett talked about)

a tetraploid which is a bright orange with a draker eye. This one increases quickly for me too, is a colour which screams at you for attention, and is also quite fertile. I have a soft spot for orange daylilies.

ORCHARD SPRITE is from SOMBRERO WAY X MAY COLVIN.

Pinehurst, NC Zone 7-8

If my memory serves, he told me that was the either the first daylily or the first tetraploid daylily that he introduced and that he almost didn't. I cannot imagine why. It is a beauty and grows really well here. It won a JC.

I fell in love with the photo of OUR TINKA BELLE, and had to have it because we had the pleasure of meeting this lovable kitty before she died. Sad to say, so far it has been one of those slow-increasers which are being polled

A cross of Pastel Classic X Janice Brown. A near white with a deep red eye. Very special for Bryant and Don, as it was named for their favorite kitty (Out of four, the others were Mickey, Minnie and Molly. Minnie was a three-legged cat saved from the pound by Bryant.)

is one of Bryant's red tets. It is so popular here that we are thankful it increases so rapidly

There just aren't enough good words to say about the understated beauty of PASTEL CLASSIC which Marge Soules selected and introduced for Bryant. This lovely flower is a consistent late bloomer here, which wins it even more points

was very aptly named for its unusual coloring, rose with a white midrib, which catches everyone's eyes. It's quite unique.

Bloom later than mid season (FFO 6/24/98) Lots of blooms and rich dark very "hot" pink color that holds surprisingly well in the Carolina heat. It has such a strong color that it does not mix well with many of the other dls.

I have grown many fine Millikan daylilies, but my favorite by far is PINK PANOPLY. It is a rich pink, heavily ruffled. Its special virtue is that it is one of the last to bloom (even though registered M). I never hear much about it.

pink with cream halo rebloomer

The best soft pink daylily I ever saw was growing in Millikan's garden. It was $100 dollars. Having more brains than money at the time I did not purchase it. Name of that cultivar was PINK THISTLEDOWN. Wish I had bought PT because now it is impossible to find.

A tall plant whose flowers are a light orchid/pink with a darker eyezone.

Another great season extender, again in fall colors.

…know why I bought it? He said in his price list, "can't keep a supply!" It's a great performer. Great color, long season of bloom, good rate of increase, does well even if loaded up with seed pods, holds up well in full sun. Though it lacks the modern form, it's a marvelous garden accent. When it's in bloom, it is what it is, and considerations of ideal form are irrelevant. It does a great job of being the kind of daylily it is.

Very nice and hardy pink tetraploid that is worth crossing into all the Tet Barb Mitchell's on the market.

Small and cute. Perhaps the greenist daylily we grow. Very heavy substance.

Those who know me well know that I am not particularly fond of yellow (vast understatement), but, in addition to the well-known BROCADED GOWN, we have particularly enjoyed…

Those who know me well know that I am not particularly fond of yellow (vast understatement), but, in addition to the well-known BROCADED GOWN, we

have particularly enjoyed…

was introduced the same time as CAMAY. I couldn't afford them both, so obtained VOR several years later. Since pink is one of my favorite colors, I probably prefer CAMAY. The performance of VEIN OF RICHES late in the season has won it a permanent spot in our everchanging garden, though. Wow!

A must grow for hardy ruffled diploids. Should be crossed with all the southern diploids. A great parent. Light apricot pink.

24X5 white with small green throat. A superb white with nice form and seems every bit as white as GENTLE SHEPHERD (but a much finer flower.) I'm very fond of whites and this one is my finest

Revised last on 25 January 2001.