Thursday, January 2, 2020

Creepy Weird


Creepy Weird
(Sdlg# APBA47)



2020 - Reeder - Diploid - 
Apophis x Black Armadillo - 
42" scape - 7.5" flower - 5 branches - 22 buds - Midseason - Rebloom - Dormant - Unusual Form (pinched/cascade)

Velvety black and bright burgundy to violet blend, darkest at petal centers with lighter midrib, black eye with fiery red and bluish tones between eye and throat, bluish eye on sepals with bright green throat.

For a complete list of available daylilies and pricing, click here.


Creepy Weird is a stunning, large, dark flower that is alternately beautiful and eerie. There is something very scary about the flower, subtle and suddenly in-your-face, but once the shock of it is over, you are confronted with a large, complex flower. The blend of colors is really striking. Burgundy turning to black, then moving down to the flaming red-orange in the eye, with bluish hints throughout and lining the flaming eye, all above the big green throat. Because of the height it is nice at a distance, but once you get up close, you see lots of complexity and advancement in this one!


Creepy weird is my second introduction from Apophis and it is a nice complement to its half-sibling Vorlon Encounter Suit. Creepy Weird is a bigger flower with more cascading movement and longer, thinner petals than its half-sibling. The scapes are very tall and well branched with a lot of buds and the flowers are almost predatory and carnivorous appearing, hanging on the tall scapes.


Creepy Weird shows strong scapes on a well-established clump, but in the first year or two, the tall scapes can hang out from the clump and occasionally one will fall over. The scapes are stronger in full sun, and more prone to fall in partial shade. A mature clump in full sun has tall straight scapes that hold up very well. The plant has nice foliage, but not stunning - typical spider/UF type foliage, though an improvement over the foliage of the parents. The rust resistance is moderate, ranging from A+ to B through the five years of testing, varying from year to year. I rate it as a 'B' rating (the lowest observed rating), which is still a lot higher than in either parent. The resistance to thrips is moderately high. I was not sure if I would introduce this one or not, but everyone who has seen it in person was excited about it and insisted it should be an introduction, so here it is.


Creepy Weird is very pollen fertile. Pods have been difficult for me, though I have produced a few pods, but nothing to write home about. It produces beautiful seedlings as a pollen parent in unusual forms, a few quite narrow spider forms when bred with thinner partners, and rich, dark colors with complex eyes. I think if this look is what you are into, Creep Weird will be a wonderful addition to your breeding program, just cross it over very fertile pod parents. When I have done that in my program, I have produced offspring that show much better pod fertility.


Creepy Weird is the plant in the center of the above picture. The picture shows the original clump in my aunt's garden where it grew from 2011 through 2018. You can see the attractive foliage and the tall scapes holding up well in the full sun garden. The other pictures herein are from my hybridizing garden, on a division I took off the main clump in 2016, which grows in partial shade. The plant shows excellent increase in both environments and is a beautiful and mysterious addition to the midseason garden, and on through the late garden on the fairly regular rebloom.