What makes a daylily a good bloomer? Is it the bud counts? what are your best performers?

Hi Susan, I think there must be a zillion answers to that question but I'll put in a few of my thoughts. Bud count isn't the most important because you could have a bud builder that makes more buds as the season progresses and so these bud builders can often bloom longer. Good branching is important so that the flowers can display properly. If you have a daylily that has all it's buds blooming at the top of the scape the blooms can get crowded and not open properly. Substance is another thing I'm always keeping in mind as a flower with good substance will hold up better in the weather. I don't like flowers that bloom down in the foliage as they are hard to see, I want to see them blooming over the foliage so they can show off their pretty faces. Rebloomers up north here are always a bonus so I'm always on the lookout for those.
The best bloomers that I have I've probably already talked about before but I'm glad to mention them again because I think they are so good and it's not just this year they really performed, they've performed very well in the past few years also.
GLORY TO HIS NAME by Jack Carpenter was a sleeper for me. I had no idea what a blooming machine this plant is and how long it bloomed for.


CATASTROPHE WAITRESS by Curt Hanson is another blooming machine. This daylily is another fast increaser that always puts on a show. I love the coloring on this daylily, it's very different.


VANILLA GORILLA by Mike Huben I can't say enough good things about this UF cascade. Any way I look at it this is a great plant.


SYMPHONY OF PRAISE by Tim Bell. This daylily got my vote for the Stout award. It sent out reloom scapes for me this year which considering the weather I thought was wonderful. This was one of my last plants to bloom in the garden.A lovely shade of pink and great ruffles!


ANTIQUE ROSE by Sarah Sikes. This is an oldie but goodie which gives me a lovely show every year no matter what the weather. I think it is one of the prettiest pinks in my garden.

You might want to check out this thread....

The thread "Your top 5 daylilies for 2012?" in Daylilies forum

Thanks Karin, I love all those and put them on my wish list. Thanks for the pictures also they are stunning.


** Thanks for the link Sandy.**

I agree with Symphony of Praise. Also, Destined to See, Creature of the Night, Red Volunteer, Early Snow, Tropical Hot Flash, Mary's Gold, Karen Leigh, and Pardon Me .

Seems like some daylilies perform better in certain years and not in others. Some perform well in one year and not the next. I think a good bloomer for me would be those that bloom beautifully every year and then send up reblooming scapes after the flush is over. The ones that meet these criteria this year are

Wild Horses


Arctic Lace


Great White Dove


Purify My Heart


Bill Norris

I keep asking myself that same question...what is it that makes a daylily a good Bloomer?
Of course the geographic area you live in will be a determining factor in what plants will be your best bloomer. I prefer the term good "garden performer". There are several threads here in the forum that address garden performance and many people list what their best ones are. There are traits that are often not thought of that can contribute to the plant being a good garden performer. Of course what we are normally looking for is a lot of blooms and a long bloom cycle.
There are so many traits that will contribute to those goals. Too, even though the question specifically asked about the best bloomers, who wants a plant with a beautiful bloom and embarrassing foliage? So a great "garden plant" will have good foliage along with lots of blooms over a long period of time. The plant will have disease resistant and resistance to pests.So once again your geographic area will have a great deal to do with the diseases and pests you have to deal with. As was stated above by others, the blooms need to be presented in such a way that they are above the foliage, and not so crowded they prevent each other from opening fully. The scapes have to be tall enough to display the booms, strong enough to support them without leaning or breaking. The scapes have to be well branched, etc. Rust and leaf streak can distract from even the most beautiful blooms. Thrips, midges, slugs, and snails can devastate the foliage and the blooms. So being resistant to all the above are certainly traits that would help make a plant a good garden performer.
It is not just a choice of one plant over another, but the selection of plants that bloom at different times of the season: Usually referred to a early, midseason and late etc. If you have very early blooming plants that open when the weather is cool you may find they don't fully open correctly, so that is something to take into consideration, you might want cold morning opening plants, early morning opening plants.You might want extended bloom from your plants so they are open when you return home from work. For the plants that bloom later in the season you will want blooms that can withstand the heat and not fade or "melt" in the hot sun.
The things we normally think about of course are bud count and branching along with rebloom when we think about a large number of blooms. I am currently trying to grow more "modern" daylilies with the higher bud counts and with a higher number of branches. However, 'Filled With Joy' one of the best performing plants in my garden this year is registered as three way branching and a bud count of 10-15 buds.What this plant lacks in bud count and branching it has made up for with its ability to rebloom in my garden.
The list of things that determine the best bloomers in the garden goes on and on, the choices vary from garden to garden. I posted a thread recently (I have received no replies so far...hint hint) asking about plants with a high branch count and the relationship with reblooming because I don't have much experience with these plants. Just so many things to consider, but that is what makes growing daylilies so interesting.
So I certainly suggest reading all the threads about "your best garden performers", "reblooms" etc. Some of these go back a few years and are full of wonderful suggestions.

I have to agree with Larry. It all depends on what traits are most important to you. I don't think I have any daylilies that most people would consider good bloomers. Low branching and low bud counts with no rebloom. But I'm ok with that because my daylilies perform fine despite my lack of watering and fertilizing on a regular basis. Also, with my tiny garden my plants have to be spaced close together (typically 6" or less apart) so I'm amazed they do as well as they do. In midseason my garden looks just as lush and bloomy as everyone else's despite the low bud count because lots of plants are blooming. My situation is much less than ideal but I'm working with what I have. Many of the newer varieties don't do well for me since they need more coddling than I can give. So I stick with plainer, older cultivars for the most part.

Such lovely blooms!
nh4me love your Catastrophe Waitress. I'd never seen that one before and I love the color combination! It's now on my want list.

kousa Karen, Purify My Heart is delightful! It just went on my want list, too.

You all are enablers! ;)
Cynthia

This 2016 season:

Cary Grant
Glory to His Name
Mount Herman Majesty
My Place or Yours
Victorian Garden Dancing with Rose
and a new addition to the garden, Sunset Mesa.

I noticed this summer that all of the daylilies which I had to divide and sell some fans of did not bloom well this summer. Could have been because of tampering with the clump or the drought or both I suppose.

Top for me this year:
Clarification
Mary's Gold
Point of View
Valedictorian
Wineberry Candy

Clarification was a big surprise since I planted it last August.

Cindy, I call it shovel shock. I noticed the ones that I also dig into take a summer to recover. We have had ample rain and it still has effected the bloom some.

I was surprised by it Teresa. That is a good term for it. I have never noticed the shovel shock quite like this summer before.

Interesting. I will keep "shovel shock" in mind for down the road should I ever have to separate daylily clumps. I would love to have that problem as most of my daylilies are still either single or double fans.

My best bloomers this season were..

Elegant Candy and Renee's Delight has done very well for me. We had lots and lots of rain but they always looked beautiful.