For me it's Primal Scream. I had this at my old house and you could see it from across the yard. The color was riveting. Now for the past few years it looks like a roadside ditch lily. Should i pull it? What are some of your disappointments?

That daylily (in the middle of the picture?) doesn't even look close to primal scream? 🧐🤔 Odd.
I just got it this year and the foliage is thicker etc.

The plant pictured is still pretty though so I wouldn't get rid of it...maybe just move it somewhere else. 😊

I agree, it looks like that Daylily ( possibly a seedling) took over Primal Scream's spot. I've had that happen occasionally.

I feel that somehow it reverted into maybe a plant in its lineage. It's gone from my favorite to my worse. I had forgotten what it was till it bloomed today then remembered this happened a few years ago.

If you loved Primal Scream years ago, I think I would buy it again and replace the unknown daylily that is in that spot. Probably need more details, but it sounds like when you moved, there may have been a mix up when replanting your daylilies. If you've kept records of your purchases, you might be able to come up with a name for the unknown daylily. And maybe your Primal Scream is in another area of your garden. But I don't know how big your garden is or how many daylilies you have. Just a suggestion.

Sorry if this comment isn't welcome, but I've become somewhat brutal in my selection process after over 40 years of growing daylilies. Primal Scream grew here for years, and after years of observation, I noted that yes, it had that wonderful color. Here, it would bloom heavily for about two weeks and then it was all over. Branching wasn't that great either. Picky, but as I grew some other really good oranges, I found that they had better branching and bloomed over a much longer period of time. Three that I'd recommend are BOB MARLEY, SCREAMCICLE, or FLAMING FLAMINGO. Two of these still grow here, and I've really cut back. These specifically do really well in more northern climates. There are others, too. Just saying.

Just a curiosity, Jim, but when was the last time you split the clump to give the fans more space?

The daylily in the picture is a bicolor, nothing like 'Primal Scream'. I don't think it would be a reversion and I don't think sports are common in daylilies ( @admmad ). More likely another daylily or seedling got mixed in/up and took over.

I feel that somehow it reverted into maybe a plant in its lineage.

Generally reverting into a plant from its lineage is not possible.

Reverting a single characteristic to its "normal" condition from its more recent (mutant) condition is possible but is extremely rare. It can only happen piecemeal in plants such as daylilies. As an example, if the normal characteristic was red flowers then yellow flowers could be the mutant condition. A yellow-flowered daylily could, extremely rarely, produce one red flower mixed in with its normal yellow flowers. It could even more rarely produce a fan whose scapes had only red flowers in a clump with other fans that produced only yellow flowers. Over sufficient time, if the red-flowered fans were much faster growing than the yellow-flowered fans the clump might become all red-flowered. Only the flower colour would be different. The scape height, number of buds, flower size, flower shape, everything else about the red-flowered version would be the same as the yellow-flowered version. For this to happen would be extremely rare - maybe once in many million plants.

Visible sports (single new mutations) in daylilies are very rare. Again, if a visible sport appeared in a daylily cultivar in someone's garden it would affect one gene and typically (but not necessarily) only one characteristic.

Under certain conditions, an annual seed producing plant can revert to appear much like its ancestral form if it is allowed to set seed over several generations (years). That would involve natural pollinations between different forms of the plant and letting the seeds fall and germinate into new plants year after year.

For a perennial plant, such as daylilies which typically do not produce much seed naturally and in which any natural seedlings must compete with established mother plants it should take much longer for natural seedlings to replace named cultivars, if they manage to replace them at all.

I have a field of daylilies that is about 25 years old. I have hand pollinated many of the daylily flowers in that field nearly every year and sometimes I have not managed to collect all the seeds. Some of the seeds that were missed have germinated in the field. I have let those chance seedlings grow in place. None of those seedlings have managed to replace named cultivars in that time or even come anywhere near close to replacing any named cultivar.

Julie, I have to agree on the performance of Primal Scream also. I made the mistake of dividing a double fan that I had just received to give apiece to a friend at least 8-9 years ago. It has taken all these years for it to catch up. I might actually have 5 or 6?? scapes this year.

I concur with folk's comments. I would try to find someone to give the disappointment to and put something more wonderful in its place. Just today, Bob Marley bloomed and I finally noticed what great branching it has. Glowing color but fantastic plant habit. So impressive! I went and took a look at the other oranges just to compare. Looking at Bob Marley's buds, I see plenty, including tiny ones, so it will be blooming for a while It's hard to go back to being content with the older stuff when the newer stars are doing their thing. This child of Primal Scream got all that branching from a roll in the hay with Fooled Me. Amazing!

BOB MARLEY growing here last summer:

FLAMING FLAMINGO:

SCREAMCICLE:

plasko20 said: Just a curiosity, Jim, but when was the last time you split the clump to give the fans more space?

I never split the clump i just moved it from my old house. I'm no expert on daylilies [or any plant] and have no idea what happened. Like someone said aside from it's showstopping color it' wasn't a great plant. I should move on , i had forgotten about this but when it bloomed yesterday it came back to me. If i find a daylily that wows me i'll replace it.

floota said: BOB MARLEY growing here last summer:

FLAMING FLAMINGO:

SCREAMCICLE:

I have to say that Screamcicle looks intense, that's the brightest orange i've seen.

I keep Primal Scream not because it performs that well, but because it has a sort of creamy orange color I have not seen before. Still screams at you somehow though. I saw Screamcicle in person yesterday, and it is really bright. I liked it so much more than i thought I would, but then, I am not a big orange fan. Sometimes it takes seeing them in person to realize how badly you need them

I totally agree with @jpm995, Screamcicle jumps out from the crowd. And I have both Primal Scream and Outrageous in my gardens... noting that Outrageous is a child of Primal Scream, and Screamcicle is a cross between Primal Scream and Outrageous. Screamcicle seems to have intensified the best of both of its parents, and concentrated the intensity from Primal Scream into an eye-popping, vivid orange.

If you have a daylily that just does not cut it... well, there are a LOT of choices out there now. And I agree with comments above - with so many other great daylilies, I think each one in the garden should earn its place ... or move over.

Screamcicle has such wonderful blooms but I have been underwhelmed by its vigor. It was wimpy in its former spot in the garden, although its neighbors were doing fine. Didn't do much, was low, scapes puny. I moved it into a full sun spot last spring and it is blooming a little again, but it's still disappointing. Pretty face, scrawny, shortish legs...

That's to bad Justine. Maybe given another year to settle into the new spot will have it performing better. I've seen Screamcicle in several gardens and the color will certainly grab your attention.

adknative said: ... noting that Outrageous is a child of Primal Scream,

Outrageous was registered in 1978, parentage of Outrageous is (Bengaleer x Allegiance) x (Paprika Velvet x Allegiance). Primal Scream was registered in 1994 and is Tangerine Parfait x Mauna Loa. Paprika Velvet is in both Outrageous and Primal Scream, Primal Scream through Mauna Loa.

Screamscicle, looks amazing, just added to my want list. I still like my Primal Scream as well in fact here is a pic just taken this morning.

I've grown Primal Scream for many years, and I wouldn't be without it. It's a daylily that always makes a bold impact. The flowers are unusual because of their variation in form, and the intense, ruddy overlay. It's instantly recognizable. Plus it doesn't have an eye.

It's consistently good here, one of the relatively few daylilies which tend to open correctly, almost regardless of the weather. It probably should be considered an EMO. I also like that the foliage is nicely arched, blue-green, narrow, and deeply-keeled.

I added Screamsicle about 5 years ago. It's nice enough when everything's right, but seems to have picked up a tendency to open over two days. By that I mean that two petals and one sepal will open the first day, and the other segments will open the day after. The sepals are often stiff and undeveloped when this happens. The problem lessens as the scape blooms out and the weather warms, but it's frustrating, first because the potentially best flowers are often flawed, and also because it's something I don't expect from narrow form daylilies. I suspect that it might not be a factor in areas with consistently warmer nights and higher humidity.