I've noticed a huge difference since moving north into a warmer zone.

Natalie, seems odd to say I moved north into a warmer zone,
That certainly is not the norm for sure.

We should just make a note here that a DF is not the same as two single fans put together. If you order a DF you should actually get two fans joined together, if they are not then you got two single fans, not a DF.

Cindy, it is a little weird! 600 miles north, and I'm warmer! Altitude is to thank for that though! I was at 4,600 feet before, and now we're at 1,750. Makes a huge difference!

Interesting discussion. Jerry Steele and Francois Verheart were 2 day lilies that I bought as single fans. Both took a couple years plus to start off. When I have bought double fans, I have gotten both joined fans and 2 singles. I know from dividing lots of them that sometimes they have a mind of their own as far as to how they want to divide. Some just fall into small single fans and others need a hacksaw to get them apart. Aways a challenge to know how many fans I will end up with when selling them.

Interesting topic! We are a relatively new daylily farm and have bought about 160 cultivars over the last three years. We try to get double or better but for some, price and availability dictate that single is the only way one can go. We find that singles naturally take longer to multiply than doubles - with doubles, you are starting with twice as many, so increase is a lot faster. However, what I think is the driving force behind increase is two fold. First is fan maturity. A fan that has been around for a couple of years is a lot faster to multiply than a new fan. The second factor touches on the "divide/not divide" question. If you divide a double fan, you are stressing the two fans a lot - they are literally chopped in half, lose a lot of their roots and have to recover underground before doing great things above ground and multiplying.

So in summary, I think that the best scenario is to get two (or even one) mature single fans that are "whole" rather than two single fans that were recently separated. A mature single or double fan will also establish and multiply nicely. I think that the worst thing to get when receiving new cultivars is tiny single fans with a couple of small roots. It can be a challenge to keep these alive, much less worry about blooms and increase.

One more note. The thing that I dislike most about getting new cultivars is when the vendor ships multiple small fans rather than a mature double (or single) and because the fans are small and young, it is likely that you don't see a bloom that year (up here anyhow). Then the ultimate disappointment is when the plant does bloom the following year it is the wrong cultivar!!

Sorry for the rant - I vote for mature single or double fans.

Cheers,

Waiting one to two years and then seeing the wrong cultiver is really a let down. I'm not good at record keeping and by that time it is usually to late to complain to the seller. Just glad most sellers do seem to be honest.

I too believe that most are indeed honest, and that if a surprise happens, it is because of error not devious minds. If you mean that the seller will replace or credit - yes, I have found that too.

Susan, I need to start journaling where I buy my plants/bulbs. I have one newer Lambertson from the LA two yrs ago that is a toothy PINK!

Guybo,
That was the best explanation of the growth advantage of DF's over single fans I have ever read...double fans normally being a more mature plant and having less stress placed on them and single fans experiencing extra root damage caused by the division of two fans. The tip to avoid small single fans with tiny roots, and the advantage of a single more mature DF over multiple smaller fans were both gems!
Great post! I am putting a star by it.

What Susan said is very common when I dig cultivars. More than often I will not see double fans. I don't know if it depends on the cultivar or what but often I see a lot of single fans. I always state in my auctions that the customer will receive one double fan or 2 single fans, depending on what I find when I dig. I am not a commercial daylily garden and so my daylilies are in clumps, not lined out, which makes it much more difficult to find a double fan to send. I cannot separate a whole clump everytime I sell 2 fans so often my customers will get 2 single fans or 3 to 4 single fans because I prefer to send extra fans as a bonus. When I happen to find a double fan, I still send a couple of extra single fans as a bonus. I have not had any trouble receiving single fans myself, except one time. I received a very, very small fan of Emerald Starburst that had one tiny root about 2 inches long. I was floored when I saw what I got for $50. I didn't plant it in the ground but instead put it in a pot because I was positive it wouldn't survive. Well it survived and today I have a nice clump of it.

I wonder if it depends on the genetics of a plant as to whether the fans are growing together or coming up as single fans. (I have noticed that in my own hybridizing program.) From what I have observed, the ones that grow in tighter clumps seem to be hardier, bloom more, and just basically increase much more rapidly than those that send up single fans with a short distance between each fan. Perhaps it is the growing conditions here in hot/sunny Florida. The tighter the clumps, the more shade on the roots. But with those tighter clumps are always the bug and disease issues too. So each type of growth has its positive and negative values.

Many here are right about the root growth..... The better the root system, the healthier and faster growing that plant will be, including producing more blooms!