Background history:

'Bitsy' is a semi-evergreen diploid introduced in 1963 by Warner. No other information is available about this hybridizer other than there are 127 cultivars registered under this name.

Bitsy is an extra-early extended miniature bloomer. It has earned the following AHS awards: Award of Merit: 1969, Honorable Mention: 1966, JC: 1962, and DFM: 1968. It has a rust resistant rating of 1.0. It is listed as both pod and pollen fertile. There are currently 56 registered children for this parent: http://garden.org/plants/paren...

This plant can be found in the NGA Plant Database at:
Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Bitsy') .

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.





Also, please consider adding a "Local Report" to the NGA Plant Database! Thank you!

Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Bitsy')

Bitsy survives my zone 4 winters and reblooms without special treatment.

Bitsy is a reblooming machine. Only the hard frost can stop this one. Extremely fertile. Currently have frozen buds and pods. Last count showed Bitsy with at least six scapes. Never stopped blooming. Had approximately the same amount of scapes last November also.

Bitsy is one of the first hybrid daylilies to bloom here in the spring and often wins our local, informal "first" competition. And it is still blooming in the fall when the season has mostly ended.

During the height of the season, when other gorgeous hybrids are blooming, Bitsy may not seem particularly remarkable. The color is a nice sunny yellow, about that of Brocaded Gown. It is sometimes a little taller and the blooms a little larger than registered (usually larger than Penny's Worth, for example, which is also registered as 1.5"). The foliage remains attractive, and it multiplies reasonably well without being aggressive, so it is a good garden neighbor.

Bitsy's long bloom season definitely recommends it for a place in your garden. I moved a clump up close to the house, and have been enjoying it's happy "Here I am again" from the kitchen window.

Adding a link to a 'Bitsy' discussion in the Daylilies Florum
The thread "Question about the Daylily Bitsy" in Daylilies forum

I am going to write a formal review of Bitsy in addition to the several posts about her that I made in the linked thread above.

I got Bitsy from Oakes in the spring of 2021. It did not bloom in its first season. I moved it to a different spot that fall, and it has thrived and become a favorite. Its reputation as an early bloomer is fully deserved; during the last two seasons, it has been the first of all my cultivars to bloom each spring, beating out other earlies like Stella de Oro, Butterscotch Ruffles, and Samwise the Brave.

It sends up scape after scape most of the season, and I enjoy its perky yellow blooms. It's fairly tall here, some scapes reaching 30 inches. I see others comment that Bitsy blooms until frost. We don't get a real solid frost here, but Bitsy blooms most of the season. Best of all, Bitsy has shown no sign of rust, ever. Bitsy has earned her place in my garden.