Some of my daylilies are suppose to be rebloomers. What makes a daylily a rebloomer?? Right now, most of mine are blooming, some heavier than others. How do I know when they rebloom? Will all of the present scapes bloom out then new scapes come out? This is their 3rd year so they should be mature enough by now. I have read to provide extra food and water for best rebloom.

You should get rebloom in your zone, I am just now seeing my first rebloom scapes. But yes, you should get your first scapes and then you should notice a second scape forming later. Some daylilies have instant rebloom, and you could have three or more scapes coming from the same plant at the same time.

Re-bloom is a trait of the plant AND dependent on your growing season.
In the Daylily database The Daylilies Database
Once you look up a cultivar, scroll down to "plant traits", if it says rebloom then it may rebloom for you. Here in Northern KY only some re-bloomers actually rebloom. The further south you go, the more seem to rebloom that say they will.

Daylilies are heavy feeders. Many here use some sort of fertilizer ranging from alfalfa pellets to fish imulsion to compost to comercial fertilizers. Water is the number one thing daylilies need to grow and do well. Hope this helps!

Lisa

Daryl Apps hybridizes for rebloom. This is what he said about fertilizing (see the Daylily Journal, volume 46 number 2 pages 124-139 1991):
"I really think nitrogen fertilization is very important. I've heard people say let's not overfeed daylilies; that's baloney. Get in there and put the nitrogen on, and get the increase, make sure the water is available. If your other elements are adequate, nitrogen fertilizers will give you the best rewards for the money invested."

I think that to get rebloom a mature daylily grows its normal set of leaves and then a flowering scape. It then grows a new set of leaves and then another flowering scape (and then may repeat the process). To grow leaves and scapes plants require fertilizer, water, sunlight, etc. Nitrogen is an important part of what daylilies need to rebloom.

I fertilized mine twice so far ... early Spring (Beginning of March) and beginning of May. I used a time-released fertilizer that also had milorganite in it. I've had several rebloom so far. The scapes came up from different areas of the clump. I don't know if any new leaves or fans formed, but the re-blooming didn't produce as many flowers as the first scapes.

Thanks to everyone. I understand now. I was thinking buying reblooming dls would give me a longer bloom time. I have some older clumps that were given to me some years back that really put up a lot of scapes and buds but I don't think they rebloom. But they do bloom for weeks and I adore them.

One more question---I am considering buying a few new dls next year to add a bit of purple and pink. I love some of the newer ones!!! I especially love the *prisms*. Their faces are so different. Who are the best vendors?? I won't be buying the newest introductions...just some nice, pretty ones...maybe from the past 5 years or so.

You could always get the daylilies that started the prisms.

Or

These are both inexpensive.

Where to buy daylilies....
Of course where everyone gets daylilies, the http://www.daylily.com/cgi-bin... lots of reputable sellers there.
For some newer ones and prisms... With fairly cheap prices on newer daylilies.
Maryott's daylilies
http://daylilygarden.net/cgi-b...
If you want a huge selection try Cottage Gardens, you have to know what you are looking for though because there is no pictures.
http://daylily.net/gardens/cot...

Also take a look at the Green Pages on All Things Plants.
http://garden.org/greenpages/b...

I could name many more great sellers!

Can't answer you on the vendors/sellers as almost all my daylilies are seedlings (grown from seeds).

I forgot to say that my reblooms seem to start blooming about a month after the initial bloom show.

Forgot to mention that there are lots of dayliles that are listed as rebloomers that don't rebloom here. We have 500+ registered daylilies, many of which are listed as rebloomers,
About 5 actually rebloom here in OK.

That Malachite Prism really catches my eye!! Thanks for all the great info!!

I can certainly vouch for the Maryott's Garden recommendation. I placed my first order with them a few weeks ago and was impressed with the large fans and bonus plants received. The owner Bill communicated with me via email when he received my order and the plants were shipped promptly. I'm looking to ordering from them again when the weather cools down in my area.

They do send GREAT plants and nice bonuses!

This is the rebloom scape on Serge Rigaud which started blooming today. The stalk needed staking and there are only 6 buds on it. It's also shorter than the initial scapes. I think the excessive heat is causing the stalk to bend over. The early stalks were very strong. Still it's a bloom. Parade of Peacocks finished the last bloom on a rebloom scape yesterday. There are still 2-3 buds on a scape for Galaxy Explosion if the grasshoppers don't eat them. The photo was taken near 6 p.m. after hours of exposure to triple digit temps F.