Cultivar Name: The World Tree
Seedling Number: FATWSUS13
Bloom Diameter: 6
Scape Height: 60"
Branches: 6
Bud Count: 28
Bloom Season: Mid
Rebloom: Yes
Color/Description: Flesh-peach to cantaloupe petals and sepals, deeper golden-peach piecrust edge, above intense light orange throat.
Ploidy: Tetraploid
Bloom Habit: Diurnal
Foliage: Dormant
Pod Parent: Far Above The World
Pollen Parent: Substance Upon Substance
Year Bred: 2017
Rust Resistance: Unknown (bred after my rust resistance program ended. Pollen parent is a 5 year/A+ resistant cultivar)
Fertile: Very fertile both ways - great pods and high quality seeds
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Comments: The World Tree is an exceptional plant and flower from two of my favorite introductions at the tetraploid level. The World Tree, along with fellow 2026 introduction The Birth Of Venus, are my first introductions to really look like what I saw in my head when I visualized what I wanted my program to become at the beginning way back in the period from 2008 - 2011 when I was formulating the plan for my program. I am super proud of this amazing plant. It incorporates a massive plant with very tall scapes that are thick and strong with many branches and high bud counts, with a melon based flower coloring on a flower with a very open form, wider petals and a fancy, crinkly edge. The breeding potential for The World Tree is off the charts and I am seeing amazing seedlings, tall scaped with lots of bright, clear colored flowers in my seedling bed.
The scapes average 60", but I have seen scapes taller, with the tallest scape I ever measured (in the hybridizing garden, where everything seems to get taller and have brighter flower colors) was 73". I only saw that once, and the 60" height is much more the average, but I suspect it will get taller in some gardens where the conditions are just right and there are inputs of water and fertilize. The heights I see are with no inputs at all. The plant is very vigorous and recovers from division very quickly. The increase is strong and the plant can form a mature clump that is quite sizable by the third year. The plant can be left in place for many years without division, as it does not die out in the center within three years, but you can take divisions from it too, or divide it more frequently. It is very forgiving. The foliage is a nice dark green, healthy and attractive. The scapes are beautifully branched and heavily loaded in buds. The scapes average 6 branches, but I see more on some scapes. The plant is extremely pod fertile (see images below) and will produce a ton of seeds, and the seeds are large with very good germination. Combined with anthocyanin colors on a melon base will produce some gorgeous colors in the seedlings.
The parentage is a combination of two excellent introductions from my breeding program - Far Above The World and Substance Upon Substance. On the pod parent side (Far Above The World) we have Curt Hanson's wonderful Notify Ground Crew, while on the pollen parent side (Substance Upon Substance) we have Richard Norris' wonderful Substantial Evidence twice at the tetraploid level. That means not only is The World Tree a wonderful plant in its own right, but its genetic potential is off the charts. It is a major parent in my breeding program and will end up being a major lineage within my program going into the future. The World Tree opens the door to giant tetraploid plants with clear colored, fancy formed flowers in a wide range of colors that require a lycopene (melon) base for clear colored anthocyanin colorings such as pink, lavender and purple. As well, red and orange looks even clearer and cleaner on the lycopene base too. Lycopene base pigmentation (melon base coloring) is also essential for the whitest near white flower in daylilies, so The World Tree is extremely useful in a lot of color focused programs.
The name derives from the Nordic Axis Mundi/World Tree Yggdrasil, which in Nordic mythology is the tree at the center of the Universe, and persists into modern times through the Christmas tree. Be sure to look through all the images below. I take tons of images of this plant and its flowers every year, so I have a lot of images. I will post multiple pictures of both the plant and the flower, in both the hybridizing garden and the line out garden, below. Click on any image to see it large sized.
