I am seeing some-what low bud count and little to NO branching this year. I'm wondering if it could be from the horrible winter we had. (Winter of 17/18). I don't think it can be attributed to needing dividing because there are just too many that are lacking.

I know they have a way to go yet before they bloom, but I don't think more scapes will form yet, do you?

I've never paid that much attention to the scapes in the past until I started some seedlings in 2016. The scapes on those seedlings seem to be lacking a lot also. There are still a lot of registered daylilies and seedlings to shoot up scapes yet. I hope those will be better.

Sorry about some of the photos being fuzzy. The mosquitoes were after me.

I'm not someone who notices bud counts and branching, but I have noticed several scapes blooming in the foliage which isn't common for my plants. 4 out of the 6 blooming right now have this problem. Disappointing. We did have a tough winter...

Double post

Yes, mine are a lot shorter than usual and are blooming down in the foliage also. Bloom time is just beginning with some early ones. I was very surprised to see Buttered Popcorn's first bloom about 10 to 12 inches above ground level. I was thinking about getting into the annual Garden Walk in my area but I think I'll pass on that this year.

Only a few of my early bloomers have very short scapes. Most of those scapes appeared later than normal so I guess they just didn't have time to grow.

I'm also getting the opposite. Some of my later bloomers have already put up a single scape. These shouldn't bloom until mid-late July. I guess they are pre-bloom scapes.

Too early for me to tell about bud counts. I've only had 3 plants bloom. And those three typically have low bud counts but put up lots of scapes.

I have been getting broken scapes but I don't know what is causing it. Could be a squirrel but it doesn't seem likely as the buds are too small to be eaten. One was a seedling that was going to bloom for the first time!

My daylilies too suffer from low bud count and branching. Even the flowers that opened in this early season looked terrible. Debra (Shive) said that her mid and late season bloomers are a great deal better than the early ones. So I think it definitely has something to do with the cold winter temps and the low cool spring temps.

Elena

Your broken scapes is called "scape blasting".....copied from the AHS terms page:

"The sudden bursting, splitting or severing of a daylily scape in the middle. Scape blasting is usually caused by heavy rain following a period of drought causing a rapid increase of internal pressures within the scape. Fertilization just prior to or during a swift increase in soil moisture may contribute to scape blasting. Sometimes the rupture is complete, and all blooms are lost. At other times the rupture is partial and the daylily will continue to bloom. Should the scape not separate completely, the break can be supported with ice cream stick splints and duct tape. Scape blasting has been attributed more often to tetraploids than diploids, possibly because of their thicker, less flexible cell structures."

Scape blasting is quite common in the early spring while scapes are growing fast and you get a heavy rain. Hate when it happens!

I get some broken scapes, those that I think are caused by squirrels. The squirrels often are not really after anything, just playing and chasing each other like kids. I also get the scape blasting with all this rain we have had, only had two of those this year, and when I went to deadhead the scape a scape broke off in my hand, looking closely I could see it had already blasted mostly into and when I pulled on it it came completely apart. I have managed in the past to save some with splints, if the scape was not completely apart. It is amusing sometimes to see how badly they do burst open, I wonder if it actually makes a noise when it happens?

Unusual "scaping" for me here also.

Most of my E/EM/M and even some ML cultivars are all putting up scapes now at the same time. I can understand early scapes being pushed back late, but later ones pushed up early is a bit surprising.

Also very poor branching-- most have no branching (apparently not even a terminal V). Not sure on bud count yet, but no matter what the bloom show is going to definitely be reduced this year. More pressure to make every bloom count!

Also saw my first "blasted" scape. I have had birds break-off scapes before, but this is definitely different. As it is a seedling I am quite glad that it looks like it is going to survive.

Mother Nature sure changed things up a bit this year!

yes almost everyone of my dl, no kidding, is way shorter than usual, low bud count, aborting buds, smaller blooms ect.
We had a really dry fall and winter and it didn't rain at the right time this spring, even though I did some hand watering, not enough and it is not the same. This is probably the worst year I have ever had in the 18 years I've grown dl.

Plus the deer have ate over half of my buds off, even w me spraying.

As Karen said, my earlies had low bud counts with no lateral branching, but the mids and lates are much better budded. I only have 10 out of my 600 plus daylilies that are not short this year. It's so sad to see the UFs and other large flowered varieties with such short scapes.

My earlier blooming varieties are just plain "odd" this year and it is a problem when they are seedlings under evaluation for introduction. I have "mixed clumps".....with shorter than normal scapes in the middle of the clump and a lone "normal scape" or two out toward the edges of the clump. I've also seen the "instant rebloom" scape (which is usually slightly shorter) bloom before the main scape this year. Mother Nature did a number on us with a hard winter and cold spring which often does affect early bloomers. Thankfully, the mid to late bloomers look like they should.

Davi (Judy), Sorry to hear that. I thought maybe it would be an odd year just in my zone (or neighboring zones). I hope my mid to late bloomer will look more normal.

I think I'm starting to see what you guys are talking about. I have a couple of daylilies that are early bloomers that typically put on a real show. One was dug up last year so I figured that was why there were a lot less blooms. But the other (Festive Fall) is just as bad. Not that they are doing poorly. Just not up to their usual standards. What's weird is some of my other early bloomers seem to be doing better this year. And looking at scapes I'm thinking I may have later daylilies that also have lower than normal bud counts. I have had two that had single scapes with single buds but one was dug last year to redo a bed and the other gets far too much shade and needs to be moved. Other than that I can't say I've seen any scapes with horrible branching.

This was going to be the year that I measure, count and record. I was going to enter a lot of "plant reports" but have changed my mind on that because it would not be a true reflection of what the plant can do.

Mine doing badly so far, few scapes with low bud number and gall midge on top. Only ones that doesn't seem affected are Mystical Rainbow and Velvet Shadows. Think I might even lose one oe two plants that are new to the garden. Had very extreme long winter, skipped spring altogether and then had two months of strong sun and almost no rain, just two short episodes of torrential rain and gales that damaged plants and seedlings. Very down about it.

petruske said:This was going to be the year that I measure, count and record. I was going to enter a lot of "plant reports" but have changed my mind on that because it would not be a true reflection of what the plant can do.

Sue, do your measure, count, record in any case. Either this year is an anomaly and your record this year can be held up against 'normal' years as a bottom line benchmark, or this year will be the new 'true reflection' (shut my mouth.)

Every year is a true reflection of how a plant performs. Include weather data so that in X number of years you can look at your records and say something like; "Look at that week of high temps in March."

Or don't and enjoy your daylilies.

Went to a regional in Wichita years ago, a hail storm swept through one tour garden the evening before the buses arrived. Our host had one bloom, yep, just one to show, MILK CHOCOLATE Carney 1967;


Photo credit TroubleX2

Enjoy your blooms for tomorrow you may have but one.

Charley

I think the bud counts and branching are generally lower here this year. I do have a few brand new seedlings with very nice branching and bud count. I wonder if that means they will improve with a good year or whether they are just showing off in year one so as to not end up on the compost pile. Time will tell.

Charlemagne said:

Sue, do your measure, count, record in any case. Either this year is an anomaly and your record this year can be held up against 'normal' years as a bottom line benchmark, or this year will be the new 'true reflection' (shut my mouth.)

Every year is a true reflection of how a plant performs. Include weather data so that in X number of years you can look at your records and say something like; "Look at that week of high temps in March."

Or don't and enjoy your daylilies.

Went to a regional in Wichita years ago, a hail storm swept through one tour garden the evening before the buses arrived. Our host had one bloom, yep, just one to show, MILK CHOCOLATE Carney 1967;


Photo credit TroubleX2

Enjoy your blooms for tomorrow you may have but one.

Charley

Wow, one bloom left! I once had a deer eat all the buds and bloom off 1/3 of my daylilies and all my phlox and true lilies in the week before a garden tour, but at least I had something left. That was the year I learned about Bobbex and bird netting.

Charley - Yes you are right. It would be a good idea to still record the daylilies. As long as I include the winter that proceeded the poor branching and bud count. I probably could also add that last year was a "boom" year for my daylilies because we had a lot of rain at just the right times. It was amazing. Maybe they are just taking a rest after last year.

Valerie - I feel your pain. It is so disheartening when those darn deer can clean out a daylily in just one night. Here too, they love the hostas, phlox, lilies, coneflowers, and daylilies (when they are budded out).