To my absolute astonishment 2 of my first-year plants put up scapes—only 2 weeks after being bare root planted! One of them has already had a bloom.

Since then 6 more are working on scapes. All of those are Owen cultivars which must still be on North Carolina time. Blooms will be smaller than ones on a mature plant, but I am thrilled to say the least!

Just in the last couple days I see a couple that I purchased from Keast are starting scapes. I must have a really green thumb. Or am really lucky. Or this must just be normal daylilies. Whatever the reason I’ll take it!


P.S. I got my last order in. This was from Harmon Hill. I can HIGHLY recommend them-- fantastic fans.


P.P.S. I haven't had internet at home for several weeks now so have not been able to check-in here very much at all lately

I would say more than half of our new additions have buds this year, so it's fairly normal.

My first bloomer was Big Beautiful Babe.
Here is the very first bloom late in the day after being pounded by sun all day



Here is another bloom this morning

My raised bed is almost full already!


Rocket City clumps are about ready to pop out scapes (a few have scapes already). Every clump either was divided last fall or is a division. The vigor of this dl is amazing. They also took it to the next level this year and I think it is because of the nitrogen fertilizer.


These dls really went nuts this year (year 3). I think they are a fulva species and I hope to get help identifying them once they bloom



Remember when I started with this?



Here is what it looks like now:


I am quite happy with the progress and I know it should only look better with time...

Big Beautiful Babe is a beautiful big bloom and I really like the self color. All your work has paid off; your beds look nice and clean. One thought I have is to move the mulch away from the crowns. Looking forward to more photos.

Thanks for the tip on moving the mulch, I was wondering about that. I moved the mulch in closer because the past 5 weeks have been dry as a cork and was try to help keep them from drying out too quickly. Finally have gotten rain the past couple days so will feel comfortable giving them some more air...
Thank you and I will post more photos soon!

Dennis, your beds are looking great!

I have been removing some of the scapes on my first year daylilies (actually, first ever) to give them a chance to put their energy into getting established. I'm not sure if it's really necessary to do this but it was recommended by a local gardener and seemed like a good idea. I'm going to let a few buds bloom just so I can see the flowers. I added about 22 new plants to the garden since May, and probably 1/2- 3/4 have tried to send up scapes.

permascapes,
I have often heard and read to remove the scapes, but I never have. I just let them bloom. If it has ever hurt them I did not know it.

Sara, it did occur to me that removing the scapes might help them establish. I tried to push that thought out of my mind because I REALLY want to see some blooms.

Sometimes it can be VERY difficult to "do the right thing" and delay getting what I really want, even if it would mean getting more of it later... I was starting to feel a bit guilty about it. So Larry, your comment has greatly eased my conscience!

Maybe I should have asked when these plants were actually planted. I planted a group at the very end of March, and they have all bloomed but one and I allowed all the scapes to grow. Admittedly, these were plants bought for G.H. Wild so they were cheap plants. Now if you paid a big price for a daylily and it has only been planted a short time and not really had a chance to establish good roots then you might want to remove the scapes and let the plant fully develop.

In one area of my landscape I have put

• 

  • Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Frankie's Fantasy')
  • Uploaded by Joy


• next to
  

  • Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Up Against the Sun')
  • Uploaded by Newyorkrita


• next to
  

  • Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Backseat Romance')
  • Uploaded by Calif_Sue

For some reason I really liked this combination, especially UATS next to FF!
Whether they will have some blooms all at the same time remains to be seen...

I will try to post a photo of this area tomorrow.

[This post is an experiment exploring how to add plant database photos and other formatting to a forum post. Thank-you to Natalie for helping me! ]

Oops we cross-posted Larry.

Hey, don't pull the rug out from under me now!

So many already have developed the scapes and buds that it is too late anyway...

I just went out and took a quick photo mostly to show the development of the plants, almost one o'clock in full bright sun is not the best for taking daylily photos.


There were actually six plants in this group and the closest one in the photo is 'Mini Pearl' and it has not bloomed yet. You can't see them all, some are hiding behind the Zinnias.

I have never removed scapes on new acquisitions. One reason is that I want to know that what was ordered is the same as what I received. Another is I'm impatient to see those blooms anyway; I like the grassy/clumpy look of daylilies but I'd probably go with some type of grass if that was all I wanted. So I just let the plant do its thing. I figure if it can't handle producing a scape, it will abort it - and I've had that happen a couple of times when scapes showed up on new acquisitions. Since the plants have gone on to increase well, I haven't thought it hurt the plant to allow the bloom.

Of course I am going to be pollinating every bloom and forcing development of seed pods. Ha Ha just kidding. That would probably be pushing it...

Larry those look to be doing extremely well! Very nice

Mine don't have that much foliage yet, but definitely putting out some so I think they are doing OK. In your zone they've probably got a month more growth time at this point...

Donald, I like your thinking. And am glad to hear you've had good results!

I'm in the middle of a full-scale war with mice, voles, and moles. My beds are a mess from them making tunnels and me pushing them down, etc. So far the dls seem unaffected so hopefully they'll keep on growing well!

I'm going home so won't be posting again until tomorrow (don't have internet restored at home yet)

This bed is on the east side of my property. I expanded it out from the Maiden Grass (and raised it up) to make room for some dls.

On this side are Backseat Romance, Up Against The Sun and Frankie's Fantasy. I gave BR and UATS room to form two clumps each.


On this side I have U Know U Want Me, Vitamin C, and Carnival In Mexico.

U Know U Want Me is budding nicely for a first-year.



This bed is on the West side. I expanded it out from the Ninebark shrubs to make room for dls. I have 5 different dls here which have room for two clumps each. From left to right: Fearfully And Wonderfully Made, Queen Kong, Galileo, Giggle Pie Delight (2 already planted), Blinded By The Light.

I never remove scapes from new plants either for the same reasons. I want to see if I got the right plant and I just can't wait another year to see the bloom. I have tons of scapes coming and by the time I get back from a week away, there should be lots of bloom.

Those beds and plants look great.