MAHDI L. 40 inch D. Re. 6 inch

35 buds, 4 to 5 way branching plus terminal
Sdlg. S84-99: (Vatican City X Sparkling Champagne)
In the seedling fields I was enamored with this daylily even before its blossoms unfurled. How’s that you say? Easy, when you’ve been focused on breeding daylilies to be grown as garden/landscape plants as long as I have! This new titan has a magnificent plant with three perfectly proportioned scapes late in the season with rebloom already showing. Once the large, ruffled, voluptuous blend of rich red and purple shades opened I was hooked by its many charms. There’s more, the colors pleasantly vary from day to day, even hour to hour; not perceptibly but enough to be noticeable. Mahdi literally translated is: a guide, leader, and spiritual director especially for those of the Moslem faith. Our Mahdi is proving to be a leading breeder for improved future generations of our primary red and purple lines. Beginning its bloom cycle late in the season, Mahdi possesses the finest plant habit of any that I’ve observed growing outdoors in a garden setting. It has also sent up rebloom scapes the last five seasons out of six that it has been tested here. These large, beautifully formed and blended blossoms are picotee edged in an olive to mustard gold shade adding great contrast to the rich base color. Its color is closest to RHS 0027, Eryitrite Red and Oxblood Grayed Purple, with dashes of cinnamon and tones of lilac purple. This real chameleon is difficult to capture on film so we attempted to offer several renditions. The deep green throat takes on a mustard color by evening and its ruffled picotee edge changes to a bright gold. The blossom, although ever changing, remains beautiful throughout the day into late evening. Mahdi has proven itself to be a most impressive variety here and brings together for the first time our long established purple lines with those of Sparkling Champagne, our new and recently established laced yellow and pink line. Since Mahdi has so many of the positive traits we seek in a daylily it is no wonder we have incorporated it into many diverse lines with a high percentage of success. Very fertile both ways and has proven to be a remarkable parent passing on its positive traits into a wide color range of seedlings. In addition, heavy piecrust ruffling, laced, spiny and toothed edges appear among its offspring. Seedpods are full of large seed. Very limited! $ Sold Out