I like low maintenance

Sweet Seneca Cameo--one of the "unsung heroes" in our garden. This one has outperformed all the small flower name brand daylilies ordered at the same time.


Southgate NOID Yellow--our name for this passalong DL from fourteen years ago. It always blooms for quite a time.

@Seedfork, I only have one tiny, square seedling bed. I sometimes have multiple siblings from a cross and but I always separate them. I do plant them fairly close together though (no pics because of rain and I really need to weed!). My seedling raised bed is under my apple tree and while it gets some sun I'd have to say that it is in less than ideal conditions. I also had a very small strip of land near the top of my hill that I planted my first seedlings I ever grew in 2014. That has excellent conditions for daylilies. I've got too many seedlings now so some are going into grow bags which get moved around a lot.

Of the four 2014 seedlings that remain all except one have reached the official clump definition (3 fans). One has reached your garden definition of 8 fans. The one that is only 2 fans was one I dug up because it had really short scapes so I punted it. Low and behold I found two fans of it the next year! That one is a very vigorous grower. In 2015 it had at least 10 fans! I used it in my breeding program and some of it's kids bloomed last year. One was really nice so I decided to keep the fans that escaped the compost heap.

Of six 2015 seedlings left five meet the official definition and one (a keeper) meets your garden definition. Another one is close at 7 fans. The one still single fan has a fairly nice flower but a tiny fan and very short scape. It will probably get punted this year despite the fact that I like the flower.

I have about 30 seedlings that sprouted in 2016. Five meet the official definition and none so far meet your garden definition of a clump. One does have 6 fans and two others have 5 fans. Most of these are in the square raised bed. It is far too crowded and I really need to move some out. Growing them close together might be good in the first year but I actually think overcrowding hinders their growth in later years.

I'm not a huge fan of rapidly increasing daylilies because my space is very limited. I'm happy if a plant adds one or two fans a year. I can see why people with lots of space (and time) would like large clumps though. It's just that some daylilies are so hard to divide you basically have to use a shovel! That kills me! I wouldn't mind so much a fast grower where it's easy to remove a few fans at a time. The worst are daylilies with huge fans that increase rapidly. I consider them bullies!

But from the looks of most of the people who posted, lots of seedlings are forming clumps pretty quickly. It would be harder to tell if you plant all the seedlings together in a clump. It would drive me crazy though planting them that way. I'd never be able to figure out who is who! But even if you plant them apart, if they multiply quickly you end up with the same problem (as I am rapidly learning).

Elena, well said. I've struggled with dividing Hosta before. Mostly to remove grass that had gotten into the clump. I don't like it. I can't do it! All my clumps of Hosta are huge! I don't care if they don't flower! (they all do, seeding tons of babies) I still haven't bought that tool that helps to pull clumps apart.
Right now there's a daylily clump out there in a bucket of water I've been trying for over a week to separate from a bunch of grass. Can't do it. Compost!

Mary,
I use two garden forks (pitch forks), back to back. I plunge them into the clump, back to back, then work them back and forth to split the clump. It works quite well.

bxncbx,
Well keep in mind most of my posts about seedlings is based on high hopes. Experience may very well prove that planting up to 5 seedlings from the same cross in one hole is not the way to go. Still, I have had several occasions where somehow I ended up with two different cultivars growing in the same spot and I had to divide them. Now, I did not always get the two completely separated the first try, but I hope I did the second time, it was much easier when they were actually blooming. I do have some cultivars that the only way to separate them is to just slice though them with a large knife (less traumatic that a shovel, but I have used that method on very large clumps when I knew I was going to have more fans than I could use anyhow). I don't anticipate seedlings being that hard to divide. I am actually hoping most of them will literally fall apart when they are dug, maybe with just a little tugging.
Yes, I do agree that it could be an advantage to get seedlings off to a quick first year to plant them as a group, but it would prove hard to keep them that way long, and it might actually overcrowd them. Even if they were not overcrowded I do think that after they bloom I will want to divide them. Even if the plants multiplied a lot, I plan to separate each seedling to its own hole, then after they bloom again I will be able to better tell how to group them. The first year I doubt many if any of my seedlings bloom, so It will be after the second year before I can actually tell where to divide them. I like the idea of having to divide and replant them anyhow to see how they will tolerate the stress.
Now just thinking about the process it becomes obvious that I will have to be ruthless in culling, or buy the lot next door. I think ruthless culling would be more acceptable by my wife.
Speaking of clumps here are a few photos from this morning.
My large clump NOID still kicking out the blooms:

'Optical Delight': It really makes a lot of blooms during the season.

'South Seas': A small clump but the variety makes a ton of blooms.

I am very pressed for time, want to post these before I leave:


Stella's Ruffled Fingers


Destined To See


Aniakchak

If you saw the clump shot I posted on May BLooms of 5 flowers of Lillian's Vapor Trail, you should love the 12 on this one.


Lillian's Vapor Trail

I'm just hoping I can get decent clumps in TX besides 'Europa' and 'Kwanso'
It's not quite that bad in truth but I can only drink so much coffee waiting on them.

In regard to dividing clumps, Dan Bachman sells a divider tool on his website. No I don't get a commission

Beautiful Avedon, as is the lawn and landscaping. And, oh my,
such a gorgeous photo of Lillian's Vapor Trail. Mine is just scaping,
so it will be awhile before I see blooms.

I created three new holes for some plants ordered from the classifieds. While I was standing there watering in the new spots with the added amendments I noticed some clumps getting my attention.
'Alabama Jubilee' has really done well this year. It started out very splotchy but has cleared up now.

'Passion for Red', not only did the blooms look great, but it is one plant in the garden that still has nice looking foliage.

Here is what the blooms looked like up closer:

'Panic In Detroit': I complain about many of my plants having scapes that are too short, this one I don't have that complaint with.

I had to get some closer shots to show off the buds and blooms.
'Panic In Detroit':


'Bela Lugosi': Two shots. What a nice clump this has formed.


'Kindly Light': Starting to put on its annual show of yellow color.

'Feliz Navidad': I missed getting the photo when it was loaded more with blooms, they were so pretty, bright and colorful.
Still, in person this was a beautiful clump.


'Helen Elsie': This has formed a nice clump and I love the bloom.


Love how pretty the buds are on this clump of 'Helen Elsie':

Two Sues--I was totally taken by surprise this morning when I saw all the blooms, I didn't realize they were so close to opening. I was afraid that my camera would not do these flowers justice, but the color is close.




Purple De Oro? Forgot to post these that bloomed May 22, not sure the name is right, but whatever they are, they put on a good show and the flowers are nicely above the foliage.

@ Avedon

I seem to have the same "Purple De Oro" ? as you do with the light midribs on tepals. Most of the cultivar pictures on this site do not show the light midribs on any tepals. On the other hand, the official AHS picture shows white/light midribs on the petals but not sepals. Could be an issue from tissue culture for mass marketing but who knows. In my mind, it's Purple de Noid

Awesome clumps Larry and Avedon. I bought Purple De Noid once and that was what I got. A noid red.

Wow great clumps

Lucky today to have this one:


Lillian's Thin Ice--you can see that there are many more blooms to come.

Beautiful

Larry, those clumps are just stunning, especially I love
Panic in Detroit and Passion for Red.

Avedon, well whatever your purple is, I love that clump.
And, oh my goodness Lillian's Thin Ice is a beautiful
clump foliage and all.

Wonderful day today for clump shots:


Destined To See


Alpine Mist


"Ruby Red"


Artistic Web

I think these last two are big favorites of our members:


Lillian's Vapor Trail


Two Sues

And here's the closeup of some of the flowers: