After the mean cold spell we just went through, I was looking to see if any of the clay pots cracked and how the daylilies looked after having a day to thaw out. The pots and plants seem to have survived. Variable appearances for the plants though.

'Fritz Schroer' suffered the most, but there are 2-3 others that suffered nearly as bad.


'Grey Witch' looks really good. I'm not saying it came out the best, but it's close and it and 'Fritz Schroer' were about at the same stage of growth. There was an even, gradual change from worst to best between these two examples.


And for a control plant, here is 'Coral Crab' which is in a plastic container. Plastic does not have the insulating properties of a clay pot (don't ask how I learned) and the pot, though large, isn't quite as large. So it, along with all those in plastic or smaller diameter pots, spent more than a week inside the garage. It's the first time it was inside this winter. Really, it just managed to grow a bit taller than 'Grey Witch' and they were nearly identical in growth before the weather system arrived.


Some of those that had strong evergreen type fans may get trimmed back in a day or two, but I'm not seeing anything that I don't think will survive and grow. Those brought inside may have a week or so head start on those left out. Eventually, those I keep around will be in containers that aren't brought in, but I wasn't willing to chance it this time. They've certainly managed all the previous spells this winter without a hiccup, but they weren't actively growing then either.

The first one appears to be an Ev and the last two are Dormant or Sev , mine look about the same.

I am sure someone new to daylilies would think Fred's statement was backwards. Surely the fresh green looking ones should be the Evergreens and the ugly brown dying ones should be dormants? But no, it is just at this time of year The Evergreens are the ones looking dormant and the dormants are looking green!

Just for fun, see if anyone can guess the registered foliage habit of these two from spring a few years ago in my garden:

If they were in my garden:
1. Semi-Evergreen
2. Dormant
In your garden? No clue!

well the correct answer should be ---- evergreen! But I have a feeling that is not it!

I have had some evergreens that were actually dormant in my garden.

That's not surprising. Most plants are registered how they behave in the hybridizer's garden. I have a mix of all three foliage types and most of them turn out to be semi-evergreen at most.

My guess would be SEV on the top one; DOR on the bottom photo.

Fred is correct that the first one is an evergreen. The other two are registered as dormants, but the last one was brought in and wasn't exposed to the freeze. I'm trying to observe because I'm not sure what will manage my specific growing conditions which are often unfriendly. Also, growing things in containers is different than growing them directly in a bed. They don't have to share water and nutrients with a neighbor, but those roots have more exposure to the temperature extremes. This year everything had started active growth and were growing well when we got the coldest weather of the winter.

Sue, I would say the top one is EV and the bottom one is DOR.

You are confirming what I already now. Not all EV's are EV's. And some SEV's are a lot more dormant then they are SEV or EV. That is a critical distinction in my beach side garden!

I had SEV's and EV's in my Utah garden, and they all went dormant. I bought from a local grower though, and she had been growing them for a while. I was really worried about it to begin with, but they did just fine. They adapted as needed, and I never lost one of them.

Here on the Gulf Coast its really hard to tell a sev from a dormant because most dormant's never go completely under ground during the winter. The foliage on most dormant's will just be shorter than the sev's. When I register a daylily as sev it will probably be dormant in the north.

And the answer is:

'Orchid Corsage' (Saxton), registered dormant



'Priscilla's Rainbow' (Spalding-Guillory), registered evergreen

Sue,
Orchid Corsage


and


Priscialla's Rainbow


Are two cuties to say the least.

They sure are, Mike. How does their foliage behave in your garden?

Sue, with so many plants I have never really took the time to observe specific plants. I somewhat notices the ones that are doing great in the early spring.Conversely, I also notice the ones that are not doing great. I will try and do a better observation this spring.