If I want the best coverage next spring, and need to split an order between now (Fall) and next year, is it best to order just Early-M daylilies this fall, and wait on the M-Late cultivars for spring? Will the M-Lates have time next summer to take hold and bloom that season?

I would think they would have time to bloom next summer depending on when you get them planted in the spring/summer. I have planted daylilies as late as May and still get blooms the same season.

Awesome, thanks so much Michele! I've really been wanting to focus just on the early seasons for fall ordering, and I'm ready to take the chance, now that I have a timeframe to help me out with the arrival and planting for later season fans (by May). That sounds right for my 8b climate too.

Just make sure that wherever you order it from, is sending it before it scapes. I just wanna scream when I pay for a plant and get it and it has a big fat scape cut in half and already 'bloomed' for the year. Makes me furious with myself for taking the chance. Some places( north) you can get them in may or june and they will still bloom after planting, as Michele said above.

Thanks, gardenglory I think I see what you mean ... to know a seller's climate zone and see if it matches up before ordering. I like the southern sellers, since my 8b seems to track pretty close (oddly, they track even better than local, but still very different, hybridizers' zones).

So, I'll buy and plant my EE/E/EM's this fall and they should be ready to scape and bloom next spring. Meanwhile, I'll order M/ML/L's to arrive for planting before May, and they should be ready for scaping and blooming by their intended season.

Now if I could just stop my wished-for daylilies list from growing Bigger every time I try to make it Smaller ... ... makes it very hard to put in an order ("oh, but what if.... or, that one too ... hmm, can't let that one pass me by...")

Tina, so many of the more recent daylilies now are rebloomers (didn't Fred say he won't introduce one if it doesn't rebloom?), and I never worry when I get one (or a whole bunch) from Maryott's that has a scape that's been cut off, because about half of them will still bloom before winter and then again the following spring/summer. Bill Maryott is over in the Santa Cruz area not too far from you and his plants do really well here in our heat, so I recommend you check out his website before making your final decisions. But keep in mind that he stops shipping at the end of this month so it's getting close.

Also, he sends lots of gift plants and you can put a "wish list" for gifts plants in the Comments section of the order form. And he seems to be especially generous when you order from him the first time!

This time around I'm also going to start fertilizing in the winter to try for earlier bloom, since by February all the leaves are out on my Japanese maples and it almost never freezes here anymore -- ever!