Background history:

'Samwise the Brave' is a dormant introduced in 2020 by Reeder.

This plant can be found in our Plant Database at:
Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Samwise the Brave') .

Please join in, if you own this plant! We would love to know more! I award an acorn for performance information posted to this thread.



Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Samwise the Brave')

I obtained this plant from Sun Dragon Daylilies in the spring of 2022, so I haven't had it long. I wanted it because it was one of the daylilies Brian Reeder had tested for rust resistance. I had seen pictures Brian posted of it in his garden and others, and it makes a lovely clump. It was also a very early bloomer, according to his description.

The database pictures above (uploaded by me) are not actually my pictures. I posted them from Brian's website with his permission.

The plant has done OK for me, not spectacularly well. It has shown no rust, but it has not increased. Brian did send me its full sibling, Misty Mountains Cold, in the fall of 2022 as a bonus in a different order. That one has a similar appearance and also very high rust resistance. In case you're not a Lord of the Rings fan, the names of both plants (as are several others Brian has used) are taken from Tolkien's books.

Misty Mountains Cold has actually done better for me than Samwise; it has increased more, has gotten taller, and has put out more blooms. But neither plant has had a full chance to settle in, so I plan to update this review when I have had them longer.

These are pictures of the plants in my garden:

Samwise the Brave


Misty Mountains Cold

I got it either the year it was registered or the year after that to grow as a club plant. Probably it was in 2020.

We grow our plants for 2 years then return all but one fan (or 2 fans if we have 6 or more by that time). I'm sure I was able to keep 2 fans when it would have been returned in 2022. As of 2023, I have 6 fans of it, so it's a very good grower.

I was impressed by its performance. My notes say had instant rebloom; but I didn't write down the total number of days.

Bud count and branching were very good with 6 branches bearing 24 buds.

DeweyRooter said: I obtained this plant from Sun Dragon Daylilies in the spring of 2022, so I haven't had it long. I wanted it because it was one of the daylilies Brian Reeder had tested for rust resistance. I had seen pictures Brian posted of it in his garden and others, and it makes a lovely clump. It was also a very early bloomer, according to his description.

I bought both of those and only one survived. I thought it was Samwise the Brave, but it looks exactly like your Misty Mountains Cold.

The database pictures above (uploaded by me) are not actually my pictures. I posted them from Brian's website with his permission.

The plant has done OK for me, not spectacularly well. It has shown no rust, but it has not increased. Brian did send me its full sibling, Misty Mountains Cold, in the fall of 2022 as a bonus in a different order. That one has a similar appearance and also very high rust resistance. In case you're not a Lord of the Rings fan, the names of both plants (as are several others Brian has used) are taken from Tolkien's books.

Misty Mountains Cold has actually done better for me than Samwise; it has increased more, has gotten taller, and has put out more blooms. But neither plant has had a full chance to settle in, so I plan to update this review when I have had them longer.

These are pictures of the plants in my garden:

Samwise the Brave


Misty Mountains Cold

Ken - Would love to have an evaluation from you about this cultivar! (Please!)

beckygardener said: Ken - Would love to have an evaluation from you about this cultivar! (Please!)

If I ever get it in the ground, I definitely will add that. Right now, it's in a too-small pot (I think) and its blooms are nowhere near 4" size. 🤷🏽‍♂️

@MrKGDickie Ken, I realized that you quoted me and responded to a few comments I had made. Would you mind editing your post and bolding the parts you wrote? That way, it will be easier for a reader to follow the conversation, and Becky will see that you actually did review the plant.

I am not sure which of the plants you have left from the pictures. I have noticed that both of them, especially Misty, are variable in their coloring. Misty sometimes looks quite yellow in my garden. Here's an example:


Not always, though. Sometimes MMC is more of a bicolor like Samwise:


Possibly Brian Reeder could tell from your pictures. I suggest emailing them to him.

And since this is a review of Samwise, I should mention that I entered Samwise in my first daylily show, and the judges were delighted with it. Several told me afterward that they had never seen it before, loved it, and loved the name, too.

This is not a great shot; the lighting was terrible.

Here's Samwise in the garden this year: