Background history:

'Big Smile' is a dormant diploid introduced in 1999 by Apps.

This plant can be found in the ATP Plant Database at:
Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Big Smile') .

Please join in, if you own this plant! We would love to know more! I award an acorn for performance information posted to this thread.



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Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Big Smile')

I'm so happy we are going to do this one! I purchased Big Smile in 2011 from the Tulsa Daylily Society sale because someone on-line had mentioned how it made them smile to see it when they walked around their garden...it has had the same effect on me. It has bloomed well every year and this fall I divided it for the first time to share with some friends. The blooms are big and the tiny bit of pink at the ruffled edge just does something for me. It is one of my favorites. Ann

Big Smile is one of my favorites too. It increases very well, does excellent in hot sun, is very fertile, and scapes do not lean although they are tall. I will always have this one in my garden. I have never counted buds but it does bloom for a long time.

I wished this one was more of a sev, instead of a dormant. I've looked at the blooms in photos of this one numerous times .... wishing! Beautiful in photos! Anyone notice if it has some rust resistance?

I purchase Big Smile last year, and it did send up one short scape with a few buds on it. The blooms were large, but did not have the pink edge. I am looking forward to seeing it bloom this year, and am sure the blooms and scape will be much improved.

Gale

BIG SMILE has a beautiful bloom and does well in my zone 6 garden

I purchased Big Smile as a potted plant from a local nursery in the summer of 2015. It settled in well and bloomed the first summer. The next summer it bloomed well, and I set a pod on it with the pollen from Susan Weber. It produced 17 seeds from the one pod. I planted 6 of those seeds this spring and all 6 germinated and are growing strongly and waiting for warmer weather to go out into a seedling bed.

Big Smile grows well here, the scapes are tall, and strong. It is growing in a semi-shaded area, and blooms well in spite of that. I love the delicate shading of this daylily.

I don't have Big Smile, however, I did get some seeds from @Hemlady. Here are first year blooms from 2017:

Always has a quality bloom on tall scrapes. Increases well, a real no fuss plant. Love it.

beckygardener said:I wished this one was more of a sev, instead of a dormant. I've looked at the blooms in photos of this one numerous times .... wishing! Beautiful in photos! Anyone notice if it has some rust resistance?

See answer on rust below. I am in zone 8b.

I've had Big Smile since 2019, when I purchased two single fans. Both have increased some since then; two fans are now seven. Big Smile bloomed well in both 2020 and 2021 for me. This year it started blooming on May 31 and as of July 17 (today), it is still blooming with two buds yet to open. The scapes are tall, over 30" this year. I love the blooms on this one; the pink edge is most visible in the early morning and then fades later. I have it growing in full sun.

I've had two problems with this plant. For one, the buds have been chewed on by a large green grasshopper-like insect. (Katydid?) I wish I had taken a picture as I have often shooed it away. Some of the flowers were spoiled as a result. Second and more serious is rust. Big Smile came down with rust twice this summer. I just cut the foliage back for the second time. I think I am going to have to replace it, much as I like the plant.

Thanks, Nan for report about the rust! Very helpful information for those of us that live in the humid south.