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Spiders for Daylilies?

© Ellen Roddy

What are Spider Daylilies?

Since I fell in love with Daylilies a few years back, I've been content with large, small, eyed, and miniature forms. Recently, I discovered another form which includes the Classic Spiders and Spider Variants. Geraldine Couturier, who is our resident spider expert in Knoxville, says that the first one she purchased was called KINDLY LIGHT. It was registered by Bechtold in 1949. Geraldine says that she really didn't specifically order a spider, but when it bloomed it became apparent that this cultivar was something unusual. This began her interest in the Classic Spider.

Classic Spiders

What do they mean when they say a cultivar is a Classic Spider? Believe it or not it is determined by the petal width and length. If a flower's petal length is at least five times it width, it is classified as a Classic Spider. Classic Spiders are slender, elegant, flat-faced Daylilies. If the flower ratio is less than a five to one ratio (4.9 to 1)it is considered a Spider Variant. If you are curious, the spider round robin subscribers are the ones who measured hundreds of flowers to come up with this ratio. They are such dedicated people. We have them to thank for the classification standards as they are now.

Marc King also thinks that they should use another measurement called closure. Marc says,"Closure is the distance across the heart of the flower, where the petals and sepal join together on the perianth tube. The width of this distance will also correlate with the openness of the flower." Visit Marc's site for a snappy drawing of how to measure a spider.

With Marc King's permission, there are a couple of his Classic Spider Daylilies pictured in the table below.

	Green Spider The Green Spider was introduced by Bechtold. It is unusual due to well branched scapes and is pod and pollen fertile.
	Jan's Twister It is a frosty peach color. It almost looks like a different form of Spider due to the twists and turns of the petals.

Characteristics of Spiders

Geraldine tells me that Spiders have notoriously weak scapes and are usually not as fertile as other types of Daylilies. This is why the GREEN SPIDER is so unusual. It has both well branched scapes and is fertile! This could be a worthy addition to your garden. Marc has it for sale at his site.

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