I'm starting this thread since the idea has been suggested on two other posts. (I'm not sure why those folks didn't just start this thread.) Anyhow, which daylilies have the prettiest faces in the garden, but don't necessarily have high bud counts or the best plant habits? They might have good, moderate or poor plant performance, but they have the prettiest faces that stop you in your tracks.

These are mine:

Bubblegum Delicious - I love the color and the edge on this one, even though it seldom has more than 10 buds per scape. Most years it's my favorite pink in the garden.


Fighting Fire has gotten 16 buds some years, but most years it has about 12-13 buds per scape. It does rebloom well. Again, I love the shade of red and the edge.


Stenciled Infusion is my favorite patterned daylily. It never has anywhere near the registered bud count, but most years reblooms. I can't stop looking at its pretty face.


Midnight Castle - Much shorter than registered and not may buds, but it's my favorite purple face in the garden. The color is one of the truest purples in my garden, and I love its white edge.n


Gilded Butterfly is short and only has about 9-10 buds per scape. It does rebloom well.


Simply Charming another one with 9-12 buds here. It sometimes reblooms.


Olly Olly Oxen Free - Shorter scapes than I would like and not a lot of buds, but I love the look of the flowers.


Violet Sabrewing is a favorite face that never has a lot of buds. It's finally multiplied into a clump though.


Spacecoast Night Vision is another true purple without red tones. It has modest bud counts, but usually reblooms here.


Last Snowflake's face enchants me. I wish it had more blooms.


The Ultimate Sacrifice usually has bud counts in the low teens and reblooms reliably here.

This will change dramatically as my garden grows each year - but from the few that bloomed last year
Frankly scarlet- high bud counts and such a rich velvety red

Omomuki gorgeous form and clear yellow



Mateus clean foliage and a solid pretty flower picture doesn't do it justice

Ok so omomuki didn't load

I adore this daylily. It's a great face on a semi-tender body.
Orchids and Gold:


This daylily is colorfast and sunfast as promised with only an average bloom number.



A beautiful color on a not overly vigorous plant:
No Way Jose:



Maryl

Pink Piranha was my favorite bloom this past summer, but it doesn't seem to like it in my yard. I bought two fans at our local daylily club sale in late summer 2018, it stayed two fans through 2019, and was down to only 1 fan in 2020. I like it so much that I'll buy it again if I can this summer and plant it somewhere different.

Maryl - What is the name of the second one you posted? I always like your Orchids and Gold.

Marcie - Pink Piranha is a pretty one. I can see why you like it. You might want to check the area where it's planted for grubs. They can eat the roots, and you can lose fans that way.

Debra, thanks for the tip! I'll check the area for grubs in the spring. I also suspect a family of chipmunks burrowed in that area this past summer, but everything else near Pink Piranha was still doing fine, so I don't know what that plant in particular would be affected more than others. What is the cultivar in your profile picture? It reminds me of Pink Piranha, and I wonder if maybe it would do better for me? I love so many of the blooms that you posted; I have Fighting Fire on my want list, but maybe I'll take it off hearing that it doesn't perform as well as you would like.

I agree about Pink Piranha being a looker. If it's like my Orchids and Gold, I'll keep replacing it until I can't find it any longer...........Ooops Debra. Forgot the name in the post. DH was calling me to a "waffles ready" breakfast and I hurried up too much. The second daylily with no name is Glowing Quasar. Rice doesn't list it as a rebloomer and it doesn't here (not unusual in my garden though). Has just an average bloom count, but they are perfect in so many ways that it stays.............Maryl

Eagleriver - Omomuki looks like a pretty yellow. I've heard people rave about it in past years.

Maryl - I saw Glowing Quasar growing in the Rice's greenhouse years ago. It was a stunner.

Marcie - My profile pic is my 2018 intro called Dearest Valentine. It shares a lot of characteristics with Pink Piranha. The edge doesn't have teeth though. The color in my climate is normally a highly saturated rose pink, but with very low night temps it looks rose red.

Dearest Valentine - In our hot summers, it's a highly saturated rose pink. Grown in the far north, it's usually a cerise rose red.

So, I guess the list is Daylilies whose Faces we Love but don't perform Well. Ok...

First up, Snaggletooth. Love it but I think two years later it's still only two fans with about six or seven buds each



Treasure of Love, so pretty, so brief




Fairy Tale Pink. I think I only saw 2 flowers. Maybe there were others but I missed them



Diva's Choice, so pretty, so rare, maybe 1 fan after 3 seasons left




They aren't all pink!

Spacecoast Seashells... I think most people have issues with this one




Lake Lure, only a few buds


Bonanza



Tuscawilla Tigress




Ossabaw Island



St. Simons Island




Most of these are in the front bed which continues to get shadier and shadier each summer. I might just have to move them to the back

Condilla, also under the oak tree shade


Early Snow... this one has no excuse except it's only had 3 seasons?



And then there are a ton of others that didn't flower at all. Well, we live in hope! There's always next year!

One plant stands out specifically for me as being a pretty face that underperforms in the garden for me.
I have received this plant three different times, even as a small clump. The color always has great appeal to me.
But, every time I plant it, the plants always reduce in number instead of multiplying. I still have it in a few places, but I think those are now all down to a single fan each. I have moved it on several occasions, given it extra water, extra fertilizer, more sun, and still it refuses to multiply and slowly fades away.

Zoia - I don't think I meant this to be pretty faces that DON'T perform well because I would consider The Ultimate Sacrifice on my list a top red performer in my garden. I meant it to be pretty faces that stop you in your tracks but who wouldn't fall into your Top Ten Best Performers. The plant performance could be good, moderate or bad. The main idea here is Prettiest Faces.

Perhaps the reason more people haven't posted is that didn't understand what the topic was about. I have added a clarifying sentence to the original post.

Snaggletooth is a beauty. I would give it another year and put extra mulch on it. Maybe it is a bit tender for your climate.

Larry - It sounds like Smoky Mountain Autumn is too dormant for your climate. That's my guess. It is a pretty one.

Maybe Char can remove Zoia's post and mine and place them in a new thread, "Pretty faces but poor performance".

The one new plant I had this past year that really stood out to me when it bloomed was this one:
'Boomerang Effect'

The blooms were much more impressive than shown in my photo, they just seemed to have a brightness to them the camera did not pick up.
I acquired 'Good Juju' in a trade with Karen back on March 10th 2020 and it impressed me with some beautiful blooms in July.
'Good Juju':

I got 'Nazca Hummingbird' from Char back in 2019 and it just churned out the most beautiful sculpted relief blooms for weeks this past season!
'Nazca Hummingbird':

There are a few that come to mind immediately. These can be noticed from a distance and draw your attention to them. Visitors say the same about them. There is just something that pulls at you when you first see them.
Heavenly Tiger Tails. Individual blooms are nice but as a clump it has the wow factor.




Alien DNA is another one that calls to you from a distance.




Desert Moon, short blooming time but wow when it is blooming

Larry - Nazca Hummingbird has beautiful ruffles as well as great sculpting!

@Ina,
What's the name of that last one posted?

Not only that,but Char does not have to contend with rust up in her northern area, and this plant proved to be extremely rust tolerant in my garden so far.

Alpha and Omega always draws my attention when it is in bloom

I do need more purples, they look great in the garden.