Background history:

'Unlock the Stars' is a semi-evergreen introduced in 2005 by Petit.

This plant can be found in our Plant Database at:
Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Unlock the Stars') .

Please join in, if you own this plant! We would love to know more! I award an acorn for performance information posted to this thread.



Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Unlock the Stars')

This is a very pretty plant that has done very little in my garden. I don't seem to have good luck with Petit plants, they all sort of putter along with almost no increase or bloom. Planted in April 2019 in the front bed, I didn't see bloom until July of 2021. Unlock the Stars produced 6 flowers from July 11-21. The following year, I only had four flowers, July 15-21.

Maybe this is because this flower is in the crowded, underlit Front Bed but I've never been happy with the plant. The flowers are beautiful when you get them though.

As with a lot of Petit varieties, this one seems to be a very unstable performer in the moody climate of Northern-Europe. It has very strong sturdy scapes, but only a few buds on them and the plant multiplies very slowly. It has been consistently double through the years though.

This photo is made on one of its best days. I think my photo is way warmer than the bloom actually was, because the green leaves on the background are also yellowish in tint and the throat seems orange. But it gives an idea of the shape of the bloom.

This photo, I find, gives the best idea of it's actual bloom color:

I've had Unlock the Stars in my gardens for seven years now, which (zone 3) attests to its cold-hardiness. It has bloomed every year for me, and yes: it always doubles.

That being said, I am sensing a common theme here... a bit "under"-whelming, when it comes to performance. It does not present a lot of blooms, though it flowers midseason (so there is plenty of time to develop scapes and buds) and I have never seen it rebloom. Its location in my gardens gives it full sun from very early in the morning till about 1 pm, which protects it from the hotter afternoon sun and still gives it at least 6 or 7 hours of direct sun.

And still... does not multiply (nor decrease) from one year to another. Very showy blooms... but also, very inconsistent colours. When I read (above) the comment about a photo showing its 'true' colour... well, it does not appear to have a 'true' colour, at least here in the north.

It can go from this...



to this...



or even this...



So, which bloom is its 'true' colour...? All of them. Any of them, depending on the day in the gardens.

The double blooms always open fully and well, never had a bud fail to open. Always double. And yes, they are gorgeous flowers. (Never quite know what it will look like, but always beautiful.) This one is a puzzler.... not a high bud count, never seems to multiply, and very inconsistent colours. But... and there's the catch. It's beautiful.

Would I recommend this daylily ...? No. There are better performers out there that are as (or more) showy ... 'Big Kiss' and 'Dorothy and Toto' both come to mind, I grow them as well and both have done better in my gardens: always double, have higher bud counts, and multiply readily.

Would I kick 'Unlock the Stars' out of the gardens...? Not yet. But if I ever get to the point where I need more space, and I start giving daylilies away to make more space... this one would be on that list.

Personally, I love to give a great review to beautiful daylilies. I wish I could do that for this one.

I grew this one for many years until I moved out all but a couple doubles to make more room for seedlings. It always doubled for me, and it always rebloomed. It was a pretty good multiplier too, as I recall.

Maybe it just needs a reliably warm climate.

2023, no bloom.