@frankrichards16 that sounds like an awesome way to keep the heavy load of picture and database memory off of your computer! My foray into google docs a few years back was less than successful (took me a while to get used to excel in the day, too). So, I'll have to try it out again!

I should mention that I also keep a paper notebook like @Hemlady - a very small one (3x5 from the grocery store) to write down each days bloomers, sorted into two lists (dips and tets) so that I can make last-minute notes and adjustments about which ones to cross with what. It has become my main record for what normally blooms when, FFO dates, rebloom intervals, etc. And, just as a further help, I print out my main excel sheets in case my hands are covered in dirt (can't touch the computer!) by the time I need to check further details before pollinating.

Yes, the note book is a good idea. I find there are things I want to make a note of while I am out and then by the time I get to the computer it's what was I wanting to remember. LOL.. I like the features in the plantstep software. I need to go back and watch some more of the videos though. I think I will try an excel sheet. Would be nice to have all the info in one place and easy to find.

This has been a great post and I have learned a few things too, like keeping photos on Flicker and off the computer. Technology has come a long way since I tried that about 8 years ago!!

Cat, besides having a spreadsheet, I also have two 3 inch notebook with a photo and the info copied from the AHS site about size, color, etc. We have around 300 cultivars. I will say this, though, it takes a LOT of printer ink to print all those photos, but the book has been great for a quick reference when a computer is not handy. Also, we have another spreadsheet so we can see when each plant blooms each year. Like I said before...nerd for details...but this is my #1 hobby and my joy.

As far as taking a judge's class, I think that is a great idea. I became a Garden Judge last year. I know a lot about daylilies, but I learned a whole lot more. We are going to the Regional meeting in a few weeks and I plan to take the class again, just to listen and clarify a few things, because there is a lot of information. I need that refresher course.

Since a couple of you don't seem to mind if I post my NOID, I will put a couple of photos below. It is about 20 inches tall, the flower is 7 inches today. Last year it was taller, I believe, and many other plants are shorter this year because of the severe cold, we have heard. Up close, the flower appears to be a medium dusty peach, but at a distance it appears more yellow. It is a bi-color, has a white midrib, a yellow lightly ruffled edge on the petals, and a vivid lime green throat. It has a good substance, so is a sturdy flower, and not thin at all. It kept on and kept on producing flowers last year. I don't remember if it was a rebloomer, but would guess it had to be to produce so many beautiful flowers for such a long time. Two way branching, with 4 to 6 buds on each branch. Right now I only have two scapes, so that makes me think it is a rebloomer after all.

Thanks so much for your suggestions on this NOID. I want to keep it, but I need a name or it will eventually be given away.

I may start a new thread if I can't get a name. Thanks for suggesting that.

I'm keeping a visual record of what I planted in my new bed by piecing pics together in the order the flowers were planted...

(Click to enlarge if you want to see all 22 daylilies. I have everything except "Thundercat" in the bottom row)

Maxine, that is beautiful bloom! I have no idea which one it is, but I do hope that you will make a new thread for it. Many more people are likely to see it if you do that.

Something I used to do, which was very helpful, was to print out a list of the daylilies that I already own, and carry it in the truck. I have been known to see one at a nursery and buy it, not realizing that I already had it at home! It's hard to remember all the names when a pretty face is staring at you!

Maxine, that is a real nice one. Do you have any stats on it??

I have one that looks similar but more rounded. It is called Heavenly Harmony. The color shown here is much darker than it actually is. My camera did not get it right.

Cat said:Do you keep a record system? Just curious what type of record systems you keep for your Daylilies. Not necessary for seedlings (but include that if you want). Do you keep bed records? On paper? On computer? Do you use the Plantstep Flower Software, or just garden tags? Interested in what types of systems people use.

I have a spreadsheet outlining the location of every daylily in each bed.
Actually, three spreadsheets - one for the N, W, and S sides of the yard.
Currently the east side is not planted with anything.

Wow, I have gotten some great ideas from this thread! I have been keeping a binder with AHS info and pics of the daylilies I have. I am just kind of like that too. Hard on the ink, yes but still worth the quick reference. I did make up a sort of blank bed map that I saved on my computer. Then when I plant (a new bed ) I can just take that map and fill in what I planted in that row etc. Kind of just a fill in the blank and circle SF, DF, TF or Clump. Later when I am finished, I take it to the computer and add the info in to the plantstep. Also I am still one of those people that has to have a paper copy and not just rely on my computer. I have had one quite and lost all info on it, so best to have a paper back up.

Maxine,

Could your noid be Matt??
Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Matt')

Great thread topic! Lots of wonderful ideas and advice. I currently use Plantstep software. I would probably like Excel better for the sorting option, but would need to take an online class to learn how to use all the options in Excel. I do like the idea of printing out spreadsheets as well as data sheets for each daylily plant. I would laminate the sheets so they would not get dirty or wet outside. And would keep them in a 3-ring binder. I want to have photos printed at one of the stores, rather than spend more money on print cartridges. I would add those photos to each plant data sheet before I laminate the sheet. And I do think saving daylily plant photos online somewhere is a very good idea! Nothing worse than losing all your photos and data. Or you could back it all up on a CD or DVD. Having the photos and information in 2 different places is a really good idea!

I really need to do a map of my different daylily beds. I have daylilies planted all over the place. Not just in designated garden beds. I use them also as border or filler plants around my yard. I have over 300 daylily plants, so it is very time consuming to keep track of all of them. I need to start sharing some of my plants with local neighbors, friends, and family to downsize the numbers. With the rust problem, I don't dare share them with anyone that takes growing them seriously. LOL! (I am currently trying to hybridize them to create daylilies that are more resistant to rust, but that could take some time!)

From what I understand, you can import the records from Plantstep into Excel. I haven't tried it, but I think I heard that it can be done.

What an awesome goal, @beckygardener, and you are in good company around the country - there are many people working on that goal, but at the same time, never enough of them. I'll even say that I think your rusty fans are especially helpful to people who take daylilies very seriously - you might discover helpful ways to choose and blend cultivars by knowing which ones fare worst, may survive or even quickly overcome their rust, and which ones resist rust in your garden altogether. When rust is suppressed or non-existent, there is no way to know how the pod and pollen parents would perform on their own, or how the offspring might fare once you have a set of seedlings.

I'm also at the point, with just 200 cultivars, of needing to get serious about culling so that I can continue on with my own similar goal. In the past I've done this "by the book" based on stats that reflect what I thought might fit best in my mix, even by how quickly a new fan blooms true to type. Now that I have so many that meet my basic criteria, I think I will just try to figure out which I could not imagine losing from the garden, and let my eyes do this one next round of fan-reductions. I worry that I'll miss some big-picture reasons why I should keep them all, or not give away the "cull-ees" ... but I've got to learn to trust the foundation of data and observation that has led me this far, and work on reducing the group from an esthetic point of view for this one summer.

Have you decided how you will make your own reductions?

Natalie - That would be great if you are correct about being able to import data from Plantstep into Excel. Would sure save me the time of re-entering all that data.

Tina - I don't plan to get rid of all my rust prone daylilies. I still need them to expose all the others to rust to see which ones are resistant or recover quickly. But I have divided plants and I need to share some of those divisions with others locally. That would free up some space in my garden beds and yard to add new hybrids. It's such a chore to create more raised beds, but I still have lots of lawn/grass to cover with garden beds. My plan is to eliminate most of my lawn. The backyard lawn is almost gone. (It's such a waste of space, IMHO. Grass serves no purpose that I can determine and it requires water and fertilizer if I wanted to keep it nice (which I don't).

Something that I have noticed this year.... I have rust bucket daylilies that I moved to new raised beds that are getting some partial sun instead of all day sun. Both of those new raised beds now have plants that sure look a LOT better than the full sun daylilies I have around the yard. (When I say full sun, I mean hot areas!) My thought is that healthier plants resist rust and other diseases better than stressed plants. Those very same daylilies had rust last year and the year before, but in the partial shade beds, they are showing a lot less rust attacks. So now I've run into a new dilemma. The comparison between those different beds of daylilies is rather astonishing. Does rust spores multiply more in hot areas than in cooler, shady areas? Or is it all about the daylilies ability to resist or recover better from rust attacks if they are not as stress from the heat and soil baking sun? Or is there less rust spores in the new raised beds, therefore there is less rust on the plants. There is so much to learn about daylily rust fungus. This is a challenge that may take a some time for me figure out. It's really interesting to be doing these experiments and keeps me really focused on specific details at this time. In all honesty, I didn't think partial shade vs. full sun would make that much difference with the rust problem. But now I'm not so sure ....

I just opened Plantstep, and took a quick look. While I had a cultivar on the page, I clicked on "report", which is at the bottom, fourth from the left. One of the options is "Export to Excel". I do not know if you would have to do this for each cultivar, or if you can export all of them at once. I would suggest contacting the person who created the program for technical advice on that. There must be a way to do it! I'm too tired to play with it, but it's probably something easy to do.

If you export it to Excel, the file saves as C:\Rocket\Flower\Daylily.XLS. Open this file (it is protected) you can not edit it. Copy all and then paste in a new work book and then Save As Daylily List (or what every you are calling it). It's easy if I can do it, I don't know much about Excel.

I should but I doesn't tho I've kept a notebook from 1982. This morning I found a surprise seedling smeared the pollen somewhere and I neither remember where nor care. But I had fun---no, I was happy-the seedling, an early purple. Actually I do remember, but the red is a stubborn parent I can just hope!----

That flared eye (or throat) on the red might make a nice combination with the flared eye and chevron of the purple! I can't imagine how interesting it would be to read back over 30 years of garden notes! Do you ever get the chance to read them and find something interesting?

I also use Excel for registered daylilies, I use a spiral notebook for seedlings, do not trust computers for important things so I wright each cross in the notebook and have since the 1990s. I also save all photos and important files on a Jump Drive, have had two computers hit by lighting over the years.

Weedy.

He Weedy, !!