ShakespearesGarden said: Larry, just out of curiousity... Is it possible that because the bog daylilies have so much moisture available near the surface that the roots do not grow downwards as much as daylilies elsewhere? If it's been pretty dry, is there a chance that the bog is drier at the surface than "normal"?
I've never grown in a bog- no clue how the plants might respond at the rootzone. What's your experience with root growth? Is there a noticeable difference?

There's that word "normal" again, I just find it hard to say what is normal in relation to weather. The bog goes though wetter and dryer periods, I think due to how much organic matter I continue to add the build up does cause the level of the soil to rise and become somewhat dryer. I think one of the main causes of the bog being wetter or dryer in different years depends upon how much hurricane rain we get. There has not been much hurricane rain here the past few years, so now the bog is at a "dryer" stage in my opinion.
Does this make a difference in the roots, the plants in the bog and the plants in the dryer higher beds are different. I don't find that daylily roots in general go very deep. The depth does not seem to very that much but the type of roots that grow in the bog are different, mostly the bog plants grow much more of the very fine roots and that makes them very difficult to wash and clean when digging clumps because they cling to so much more soil. Normally the depth of a shovel or a pitchfork will be enough to lift even a large clump out of the ground. But, sometimes a few plants end up being too deep due to sinking and to too much mulch being placed around them and those are extra hard to dig out. It seems the daylilies have a self regulating way of adding and discarding the crowns and making depth adjustments with the roots. I have had plants with three levels of crowns as the plant got deeper and deeper into the soil.

Up here, color variation on blooms is pretty normal. We experience a wide range of temperatures throughout the Winter, Spring and Summer every year leading up to the flowering season. There are many years where I would never recognize a flower from one day to the next if I didn't have it marked. That's why I think posting only one picture of a flower really doesn't tell you much about its overall look. Better to see a variety of photos of the same plant, then you get an idea of it's range and possibly, the most typical coloration.

The very same thing is happening here. It must be weather for us for we don't spray, only fertilize and that was around the end of April. We had that spell of three weeks of no rain and now the rain has started again. There are some really beautiful flowers but so many are small and distorted with buds turning yellow or brown and falling off. I just noticed today that Ice Water may not bloom because all the buds look bad. I wonder what will happen in the future now that we are having storms with quite a bit of rain, will everything suddenly perk up, at least the ones that might have a chance of putting up new scapes or better blooms.

Same here, y'all! Have you ever seen Persian Ruby look like THIS? Brown!

And Bela Lugosi:

A number of other blooms were just not worth photographing. Redneck Reunion couldn't decide if it was opening yesterday or today. I haven't sprayed so I'm blaming the weirdly cool weather combined with horrible dryness for weeks, all chasing a rough winter. Occasional irrigation keeps 'em going but can inconsistently hydrate them.

Avedon and Hembrain,
Sorry to hear you are both experiencing things in your garden similar to how my flowers are performing. But now I am at least feeling that maybe it is nothing to do with my spray program or anything to do with me. I am seeing a lot of rebloom scapes forming on the plants now, and with these three or four or more days in a row of rain finally I am hoping this will be s short lived problem that will resolve itself soon.

Yup, 'Bela Lugosi'. These photos are of the same plant from different years caused by different weather in the time before the flowers opened. The photos were taken as long as 13 years ago.

Color and bloom size on some of mine are different/odd this spring. Winter seemed to hang on a long time. And it's dry. I haven't used any rust/insect/weed sprays. So, my money is on the weather. Which is not good or bad, it just is what it is. For instance, Quasar Cutie (dormant) is blooming it's head off, but the blooms look faded and old straight out of the bud. Wild Dreams (evergreen) right next to it has the usual glorious color. Both were moved to their current location last fall. And Helicopter is usually in full bloom by June 6/8, has scapes but is at least a week from blooming.

I have been following this thread with interest. I haven't observed any of the color change even though I am in the same zone as Larry. The spring here was cooler than usual, but also we had plenty of rain. It certainly sounds as if the unusual weather Larry experienced is the culprit.