I'm from the suburbs of Springfield, MA, and purchased my first daylilies last June. I bought all short varieties, as I wanted them for a rock garden. The plants were in transit (from Wild's) for several days, so they didn't look like much when they finally arrived. I first gave them a several-hours soaking in a bucket of water. Then I started them out in pots, in a good potting mix, so I could control their environment for a while. All plants survived, and one even bloomed, despite the fact that I divided a few of them. In early September I set them out in the garden. All continued growing well until they settled down for the long New England winter. This spring a couple of the plants have fewer fans than they had last year, and a couple of them probably are gone for good. I'm so sorry that many of you also experienced winter losses, but it's helpful to me to know that I wasn't the only one. This winter was a brute! Here's hoping it doesn't repeat for many years.
I do have a question: I have another daylily order in transit now from Wild's. It left MO on the 25th, and KS on the 26th, at 4:07 am. No further tracking info. Does UPS Ground travel on weekends, or is my order sitting in KS in a parked trailer in some terminal? I'm wondering if I should request that any future orders with them ship on a Monday? (I would consider ordering from a nearer vendor, but others seem to charge much higher shipping costs.)
By the way, one of you mentioned having lost a Milkshake coneflower over winter. I have only one coneflower plant, also a Milkshake, which I bought last year. No signs of new growth yet on mine, either. Here's hoping...
Thank you to those who run this site. I hope to be able to contribute from time to time, as well as receiving helpful information from others.
Kat2014

Kat!!!

,
There is a thread about the shipping subject here.
The thread "LA Sellers" in Daylilies forum

I think UPS moves packages on weekends, but they don't deliver unless you pay extra for it.

Kat2014
There is also a thread about Wild's you might be interested in.
The thread "Wild's Early daylily sale" in Daylilies forum

Kat!

Kat!

Kat.

Kat!

You will love it here- tons of info, tons of pictures, tons of laughs with great people.

I am the one who lost milkshake echinacea , may have to treat myself to a malted milkshake to feel better about it. hope yours makes it, if not, we can share a milkshake.

Lisa

Hi, !! Glad to see another "Newbie".

Hi Kat,

to the forum

My thanks to all of you for your welcomes and other info.

Seedfork, I read some of the LA thread. Don't think I'll be ready to consider any auction purchases for a long time, but I did note some of the shipping comments.
And I did read most of the Wild's thread. Thus far, they are the only grower from whom I have purchased daylilies, so have no comparisons as to plant quality. Shipping costs seemed reasonable, and I can't blame any plant losses on them. All plants purchased made decent growth before winter.
I'm not done buying short daylilies, though, so will continue to look around.

Is there much demand for the shorties? Some vendors don't even list height.

There still are no updates to my latest daylily shipment from Wild's. It departed Lenexa, KS at 4:07 am Saturday, and that's the last I have. Here's hoping the UPS truck didn't meet up with one of the weekend tornadoes.

Lisa, my Milkshake Echinacea "may" be coming through. I stress the word "may", because I'm not familiar enough with the plant to know if I'm seeing new plant growth, or just some weeds coming up. The growth is at the base of the dead plant, on its East side. Nothing anywhere else. A malted milkshake sounds good, but, here's hoping the plant survives. Actually, if it IS the plant I'm seeing, maybe I'll treat myself to a milkshake in celebration. Thanks for the idea.

Kat

Welcome Kat! Lot of good people here,glad you found us.

I have ordered from Wild's previously, never had a problem. But you are correct, this past winter was brutal. I too lost some new, and some established daylilies. I also lost a lot of tall bearded iris - and that was surprising. And don't even ask about my digitalis and poppies - all gone. But I think with plants that there will always be some type of loss, heck 2 years ago I lost a beautiful, stunning, mature maple tree. Budded out then died. Of course, I now have a large daylily bed where that tree once stood, so it's not all bad.

As for height on daylilies, check the plant listings here. Although I love big bold tall daylilies, I also have a few minis because they are so sweet and short.

Check out the other threads, and the porch swing thread. We love to chat, and don't be afraid to just pop in on the conversation.~Jan

Kat.

Kat, I'm new to the forum too but not to daylilies.
I'm hating to hear about y'alls Milkshake echinacea, I just ordered one. And 4 different other kinds. And sedum. Who put that 30% off notice up on Garden Deals for Santa Rosa gardens??!! We need to have a little talk!

Hi Kat!