Mary Todd is a really nice older daylily. I have enjoyed it for many years, love the shade of yellow. Always blooms well, probably gets more shade than it would prefer, but seems to hold its own.
Mary Todd came to me as a freebee at the Madison Area Daylily Society sale in 2016. She has bloomed faithfully every year since and has a long bloom season here in Oklahoma. She has increased in size and I've shared her with a couple friends. She is beautiful and I'm glad I chose her as my bonus.
My Mary Todd is an early-mid season reliable bloomer for me. I also have mine planted in too much shade, but it is spreading and blooming well anyway. I pollinated a couple of its blooms with Mary's Gold this year and got a good yield of plump seeds in the 2 pods.
I have had Mary Todd on Daylily Hill for many years. Older photos show a giant continuous clump, but more recently, it has been divided into two separate clumps.
Mary Todd also blooms Early through Mid Season for me. Great color, very floriferous even though she is under tall oak trees. This cultivar survived at least 20 years of serious neglect and came through like a champ.
I have always liked the pictures of Mary Todd, but have refrained from buying this one because of the rust susceptibility rating. I'll just have to admire everyone else's pictures!
Diana pointed out that my photo of Mary Todd was labeled Buttered Popcorn…I actually think it's Mary Todd and I mislabeled it last year before I had a better understanding of the difference between the two. Sorry about that! Always aiming for accuracy!
Mary Todd has been a standby favourite of mine for 20 years. She is always reliable, in sun or shade.
She has been popular through the years, having a legacy of 81 children.
I initially got her because she was listed as being 'Very Fragrant', and I haven't been disappointed. - Here are a few snaps of her, through the years:
Didn't get over the foliage much for me, stayed down too short. Bloomed like crazy and I culled it out for the height though. The color is super bright across the yard if you just want color as a clump. The individual blooms are not special though. It was very hardy for me, drought tolerant and over wintered well, fast increaser. A great garden plant.
I am really surprised at the flowers being in the foliage. I don't think I ever had that problem with it, even in years when other daylilies had that problem with late freeze. I agree that flowers are rather plain, and will probably downsize it out at some point in favor of something more unusual. I need to make a note to check for fragrance. I have never noticed any.
I've had and loved Mary Todd for more than twenty years. Yes the form is a "plain" daylily, but it's an excellent foil for the fancy forms and patterns of its neighbors.
I moved a few fans to its current sunny location three years ago, and it has since multiplied into a large clump. I would call the color a yellow gold, and the scapes are always above the foliage (but not "leggy"). It starts in EM, but really gets into its own M and has many rebloom scapes. I haven't done a bud and branching count, but it seems like the Energizer Bunny, with lots of well-spaced blooms per scape.
Mary Todd holds its own in rain and wind. If I had any criticism it would be that the yellow fades a bit by late afternoon on a hot sunny day.
I read somewhere that daylilies opening before Mary Todd are early, and Mary Todd is the first of early midseason. These photos aren't great, but they give an idea of what a nice clump Mary Todd makes. It really is a good daylily. This year it first flowered June 23rd. The one photo is from July 8th, and the other photo, with the measuring stick, is July 23rd.
I love Mary Todd! The flowers are rather large and a lovely, cheerful shade of yellow. I have had her since 2008 and she has bloomed well every year since. I do notice a few scapes lying down each year, not sure why, but there are so many flowers it doesn't bother me at all.
2022 update…Mary Todd was it's usual sea of yellow in early July. She bloomed from July 2-24th with loads of flowers. I'm really going to have to dig a bunch out and distribute it to friends. I need the space!
2023 update…same as 2022. I haven't gotten around to digging her out yet. Maybe for this year's Daylily club sale if I can figure out which clumps are Mary Todd! If not, the plan is to mark the scapes with yellow tape and dig out at least half of them. She is currently a large sea of yellow on Upper Daylily Hill.
Bloomed from July 5-19, a straight Midseason for me.
