Some hardy X tropicals for your enjoyment.

[turtlemike]

Some hardy purple and blues etc.

 

[KatFish]

Amazing as always!

[greenthumbnails]

  I like the first pic the best 

[SueSTx]

Nice colored pads also.

[Sean]

It will be very interesting to see the cold tolerance of these. They always said, the first person to develop a hardy blue will be a very rich person!

Cheers,
Sean

[turtlemike]

 That would be me Sean.

 They are all proven very hardy. They all pulled through Denver's winter this year and they had a brutal winter for zone 5. I never overwinter them in a greenhouse and if they are not hardy they die. I'm in zone six and I have many hundreds of them and they all get through the winters just fine and grow and bloom just like the hardiies do. I don't think that even one has died from the cold. Some start a little later but some bloom until Thanksgiving with flowers that stay open day and night starting in September. Wide open and high above he water with excellent color. I have seen one flower stay open above the water day and night for 12 days before it went under water still open and never closed and just rotted away. Most years they freeze off or the water freezes before they stop blooming. Almost two months extra blooming per season with the best color and form of the year. Long after the tropicals have lost their color and won't open fully. Long after they have quit blooming.

 Rich Sacher is testing a red one in New Orleans that he says is open before 6 in the morning even in the heat  I think it stays open past 6 in the evening too. He doesn't really know when it opens and closes because it is always open before he can see it in the morning and it is still open when he leaves so maybe it never closes. It blooms all summer and the heat never bothers it.

 I have several hardy tested blue waterlilies.  Tell me how to make the most money ! I might have some for sale next year but in the next several years there will be a lot of them. Pe patient I am getting them to market as fast as I can.

[turtlemike]

 H X T, 61-10. Proven hardy.

[turtlemike]

 H X T, 66-10. Proven hardy.

[Sean]

Simply beautiful. I tend to shy away from hardies and only grow tropicals as I heat the water. If Rich is finding some heat hardy, I may need to try some here after you release them. Cold tender lilies have never been an issue for me with my big titanium heater. I am very happy that you will be releasing these soon and I really like the idea that the one Rich is testing for you stays open for so long. We need more of these on the market for those of us who leave early for work and end up not being able to enjoy them until the weekend.

Your first run will be your highest and no reason you couldn't sell them for over $500.00 each. Competitors will get value out of propagating them unless you patent them.

Patents, Trademarks, and Branding

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) issues plant patents to anyone who has invented or discovered and asexually propagated a new and distinct plant, including new varieties or cultivars. A plant can be new and distinct based on several characteristics: growth or flowering habit; disease resistance; drought or cold tolerance; tolerance of heat, wind, or soil conditions; color of flower, leaf, fruit, or stems; productivity; storage qualities; fragrance; form; or ease of asexual reproduction. This new plant can be a sport, mutant, or hybrid, and all of these terms are clearly defined in the plant patent application. A plant patent lasts for 20 years, after which time it cannot be renewed. Patenting does not mean that a plant is trademarked or vice versa.

Contrary to public opinion, a patent is not a government seal of approval. It simply guarantees the rights of all propagation and royalties to the owner of the patent. The USPTO is not telling us that this new plant is the greatest thing since sliced bread; only that it is different enough to be recognized as unique. The marketplace will determine the ultimate value of a patented plant.

[turtlemike]

 Very dark navy blue. Proven hardy. I don't know its number but it is from 2011 seeds.

 Yea the 24 hour flower is a big deal. They only do that in the fall for me here but the fall performance is so great and long that it is about half the year.

 We plan on patenting them all and do our own patents to save money.  A very limited pre-sale to collectors at extremely high prices is what we have planned. The quantities are so limited and reproduction is very slow for the most part. Every plant is precious at this point for multiplying up numbers so they are nearly priceless at this point. I'm sure not selling any yet ! I have turned down an offer of 50,000 $ so far.

[Kat]

Hoping to eventually get some of your hybrids in my ponds as they are very beautiful.  Definitely drooling over the dark purple/navy 

[Sean]

may I ask what style of rootstock do these ISG lilies most resemble?

[turtlemike]

 The worlds first yellow hardy X tropical waterlily. There are many more. This is the only one with purple-pink petal tips on second,third and forth day flowers. Are there any tropicals with this color combo ? Or hardies for that matter.  Anyway I think it's a mind blower. And that is its first flower !

 The root stock is almost always a hardy rhizome but I have one that makes tubers on long stolons like a night-bloomer tropical, no night-bloomer in it, and when the tuber sprouts and grows it grows upright for a while and then has personality shift and goes horizontal and becomes like a normal compact Odorata-Marliac hybrid type to varying degrees. It is proven hardy. some are like a very tight Marliac and some more Odorata.

[turtlemike]

 More various new H X T colors.

[turtlemike]

 More Various colors. All proven hardy.

[Vickie]

Mike I am so happy for you. You deserve it your lilies are fabulous.

[greenthumbnails]

Congratulations Mike! I hope they do very well for you and they do well for you financially. Am glad to hear that you will be patenting them too. The website is looking really good 

[CoolShades]

Beautiful Lilies Mike!

[Sean]

That dark navy blue is quite striking!

[Sean]

Are these ISG's fertile and able to cross with each other?

[Desertponder]

Oooooo, that navy blue one is breathtaking!

[turtlemike]

 Thanks everyone.

 I'm working as hard as I can to get them to market and get the prices down so you can afford them. It's a long slow hard process. It's happening now though. Having some money coming in will greatly facilitate the process.
Better than starving like I have been. Building more ponds is high on the list.

 I haven't done much work trying to cross them but what I have done has not made a seed. My H X Ts don't make pollen at all and bees don't like them at all so they never get bee pollinated. I'll start working on breeding them eventually. I have too much breeding and seedling growing to do as it is.
 Brandon says that he gets pollen from his but I don't think that he has gotten any seeds. He uses different breeding plants than I do and his climate is much hotter.

[turtlemike]

 H X T 1-08.

 The picture doesn't say it all in this case.

 My first H X T to ever bloom.  It is a superhero of waterlilies. It starts blooming with the hardies in May and blooms non stop until Thanksgiving in zone 6b. Beginning in early September here it opens before you wake up for work in the morning and will be open long after you get home in the evening. Starting around mid  September It opens before the crack of dawn and closes after sunset and then progresses to staying open 24 hours a day and the flowers last about a week before submerging while still fully open. In November the flowers stay open 24 hours and the flowers stay above the water for up to 12 days and nights. Unless there is a freeze. I have seen a frozen flower above 2 inches of ice. The color gets better and the flower opens wider the colder the water gets. The only bad thing about this waterlily is above 95 degrees with a clear blue sky the petals burn. Great for the north.  Now for the blue and purple versions.

 There are only 3 plants in existence after two full years of growth outside.

[turtlemike]

 H X T, 33-10. Kiss The Sky.

 This one was named Best New ISG in the IWGS contest last year.  It was not judged on its bloom season or its opening and closing times.

 The flower changes from very dark purple to lavender pink by the third day.

 It has the same flowering schedule and habits as H X T, 1-08 above. The last two pix show it during and after sunset.

 Another superhero.

[turtlemike]

 More H X T colors.

[turtlemike]

 More H X T colors.

[migsly]

Those are just gorgeous, Mike.

[tlc]

You are a waterlily Wizard TurtleMike. I almost pass out everytime I see your pics. Thanks for sharing these :^)

[matherfish]

Mike, I am mesmerized by your overwhelming blooms. They are breath taking. I am also happy for you that your labors are starting to be rewarded, but happier still in that the ponding world will be rewarded by being able to add your beautiful plants to our ponds. Thanks Mike!

[turtlemike]

 They are on the way !