Posted this in wrong place earlier -- sorry. Am needing help to identify this daylily. It is HUGE -- notice in reference to hand holding it. It is bright red with yellow eye and came originally from Wayside catalog about 20 yrs ago. Name is long lost and would like to identify and label. It gets 2-3 ft tall.

Possibly Cherokee Star, introduced by Santa Lucia in 1995, sold by Wayside.

http://www.seedratings.com/ite...

or possibly Red Volunteer

http://millersoap.com/Desktops...

and, if all else fails, here is a very large list of Daylily catalogues

http://www.plantstep.com/catal...

We have lots of nice images right here on ATP of the ones Jean suggested:
Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Cherokee Star')

It's not Red Volunteer I have it and it's not that large Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Red Volunteer')

Did you ever know the name at one time?
It does remind me of Daylily (Hemerocallis 'All American Chief')
which is a 9" bloom on 32" scapes

Thanks -- I think you nailed it with the All American Chief.

If you can get another actual named All American Chief and grow them side by side, that would be the only way to be completely sure.

I don't think it can be All American Chief, if we "do the math…"

All American Chief was intro'd in 1994.

Hantesa says this was purchased from Wayside about 20 years ago - that would have been 1994.

I think I bought All American Chief for around $100 in 1998. I remember looking for it for a while before I was able to find any available to buy. I don't think Wayside would have carried it for sale that close to introduction. Maybe 10 or 15 years after introduction. I don't recall when, exactly, tissue culture became common, but I don't think it was used regularly that long ago. So, I think we have to consider that they would need time to multiply the plant to have enough fans to put in the catalog.

Same problem with Cherokee Star - it was introduced in 1995, one year after All American Chief.

At least Red Volunteer was intro'd in 1984, 10 years before Hantesa thinks this unknown was purchased… so there might have been enough time for stock to be built up for Wayside to have sold this in the mid 1990's.

If Wayside was selling this unknown 20 years ago - mid 1990's - I think it would have to have been really popular at the same time as Chicago Firecracker, Scarlet Orbit, Whooperee (sp?), Big Apple. So, possibly hybridized in the mid 1980s?

This quote is from a post in the daylily forum ---

Hantesa said:Can anyone help identify this big red beauty-- it is 3-4ft tall, huge flower with yellow eye -- originally purchased from Wayside Gardens catalog about 20 yrs ago.

This quote is from the first post in this thread…

Hantesa said:It gets 2-3 ft tall.

Do you know which information is correct? The difference between 2' tall and 4' tall is a lot and having a better idea the actual height might lead to a better guess at what this is.

(edited for clarity)

Ahh, see Juli is much better at connecting the dots and deciphering the clues! OK, back to square one.

Juli is the sleuth detective on ATP Sue!
Sue you are right, is definitely not Red Volunteer.
"About twenty years". definitely comes with some +/-. Something to consider.

Hantesa, this link may help. Each Image has info re: breeder,date,size etc. After looking at 5 or 6 sites and lots of pics, this site seems to have hundreds of named images is an easy to use format.


http://www.mydaylilies.com/day...

From my memories of the Wayside catalog in the early 1990's, it featured daylilies introduced by James Marsh, Roy Klehm, Robert Griesbach, David Hall, and Brother Charles Reckamp. Griesbach and Marsh were known for their red daylilies, a few of which were "regulars" in the Wayside catalog. I did a search of their registrations in the AHS databases pre 1994, and came up with this list;

Reckamp-Klehm reds;
Summer Air (34 x 6.5)

Marsh-Klehm reds;
Chicago Aztec (32 x 6.5)
Chicago Brave
Chicago Cardinal (32 x 6)
Chicago Fire (34 x 6)
Chicago Rosy (25 x 6.5)
Chicago Ruby (27 x 6) ***
James Marsh (28 x 6.5) ***

Griesbach & Griesback-xxx;
Baltimore Oriole ***
Canadian Goose ***
Christmas Red
Circus Wheel
Dragon Mouth
Egret
Fire Princess
Hemlock
Howard Goodson ***
Island Sunset
Joey Langdon
Lion's Paw
Mallard
Marginella
Marion Broadnax
Marsh Hawk
Mexicana
Mockingbird (34 x 7)
Oriental Gem
Painted Trillium ***
Pheasant
Red Cedar
Red Jacket
Redpoll
Redstart
Rose Murex
Rosy Finch
Ruby Throat ***
Sapsucker
Scarlet Maple (31 x 6)
Scarlet Oak (36 x 6)
Scarlet Tanager (32 x 6) ***
Summer Fiesta
Summer Tanager (32 x 6)
Towhee (24 x 6) ***

Notes: Asterisks denote names that I recall seeing in Wayside catalogs. It's just an impression, I could be mistaken.

Cultivars with (scape x flower) dimensions noted seemed to be in the ballpark for your plant. I didn't check dates as I searched, so if any of these were registered after 1990, it's likely that they weren't sold by Wayside in 1994, unless they were an exclusive. Wayside sent catalogs out nationwide, and probably wouldn't list a cultivar unless they had at least 100 plants.

A lot of cultivars were advertised & registered as having green throats, but the standard for "green throat" was a lot different in those days, so most of them would be interpreted in the field as yellow or gold - particularly after the sun had been on them a while.

Run these names through the database here and see if anything matches your flower. The All Things Plants database has many more pictures than does the AHS.

As I browsed, I left a few reds off the list, as they were registered with significantly shorter scapes than you listed, or smaller flowers, but keep in mind, 26-28" scapes were considered desirable, and many cultivars of that era exceeded their published specifications in that regard. The inverse was true with regard to flower sizes, which were often more like 5-5.5 inches and rounded up to 6". Flower size and especially scape height can vary with culture and climate as well, so your task is not an easy one. Hopefully one of the names on the list will trigger a memory.

Good hunting,
Ken

Thanks for all that extra info @CaliFlowers! I do hope @Hantesa comes back as the lst response was a month ago.

By the way, do you belong to the local NorCal daylily club? I was a regular long-time member before moving.