I am interested in knowing how 'Itsy Bitsy Spider' (IBS) reacts to winters (all sorts of winters, including mild ones, intermediate and cold ones, etc.).

If you grow IBS, are its buds completely underground for you now or has it started to grow or does it keep its buds above the soil surface, but possibly below the dead leaf litter during the winter?

Anything you could tell me about how it looks during your winters (bud height, leaves alive or dead, etc.) would be helpful (with any unusual details about your winter weather as well) and your USDA zone or a nearby town I can check for weather .

I am looking into its winter dormancy.

Thank you.

Maurice you are lucky In a "normal" winter I would not be able to even find the label for Itsy Bitsy Spider never mind see the plant. This has been one of the strangest winters here....no snow cover, I saw the "graveyard" of labels all winter and we were overall very mild temperature wise. Most likely will be one of the warmest if not the warmest winter on record. IBS has always had the growth buds underground, the first few years I grew it I thought it was dead each spring until I realized it keeps them down under the soil line. IBS also does not seem to start to grow until it has warmed up a bit, I see growth on other dl's long before the green tips of IBS start to show. Once it is up it grows extremely quickly and is always one of the first to bloom here. One of my favorites!
I took some images for you. One of IBS as found, second after cleaning away what I could of the dead leaves and scapes and third after I dug down through the top layer of soil that thawed in the sun today. ( I do not recommend digging down, you can easily damage the growth bud!) Hope the images help. Are there any others you might like to see that I could be growing?

Char said:Hope the images help.

Yes they do. Thank you very much for taking the time to photograph them and to remove the litter and then the soil.

Are there any others you might like to see that I could be growing?

OK.
Nutmeg Elf
Hemerocallis citrina
Hemerocallis middendorffii
Stare Master
Ancient Elf
Heavenly Shooting Stars
Solaris Symmetry
Hemerocallis Dumortierii

I grow H. Citrina and H. Dumortierii and this winter i noticed green shoots showing at the ground level on them. We have had a normal winter for avg temps but no extreme cold. Our coldest temp this winter was about 10F which is a little warm for a coldest winter temp. (we usually hit single digits a few times). H. Dumortierii is the earliest bloom daylily we grow by far. First bloom for it is usually mid April and no other daylily will bloom before late May for us in most years. I have lots of dormants, more than half of the 600 registered DL's and hundreds of seedlings. I paid more attention this winter than I normally do to their foliage. I have a couple of older Stout's that went completely underground this winter but most others could be found just above or at the the soil with green tips showing. We have had mild weather for about 3 weeks and everything but a very few have started growing very quickly. Several dormants have grown 6-8 inches in the past two weeks. H. Citrina is coming on more slowly as it is 2 or 3 inches tall.
Terry

Maurice, I've been growing Solaris Symmetry for many years in my garden here in zone 5a with no problems. It has been through all kinds of winters here. (including mild ones, intermediate and cold ones, etc.)

I purchased it from Solaris Farms which is a couple hours drive North of where I live. Nate Bremer grows a lot of daylilies that winter well here in Wisconsin.

I have grown Nutmeg Elf for more than 10 years in Michigan (zone 5) with no problems what so ever. It increases well and sets pods super easy. I also grow Itsy Bitsy Spider and have had it approximately 5 years. Unfortunately, I can not tell you what they currently look like as that rotten white stuff is still on the ground. Although I can say daylilies that are planted close to the house where the snow is melting are starting to pop out of the ground which is a bit early.

I have grown Ancient Elf here in Northern Kentucky since it was introduced.
Little to no snow cover, many freeze/thaws, wet springs
Fantastic plant and very fertile.
Here is what it looks like now- still in the ground, green growth just visible.



And during bloom-