I bought this in 2011, It has done alright love the blooms. It was in a garden that got overrun by weeds that has been finally corrected, so looking forward to better growth and blooms in the future.

Just updating my performance report.

El Desperado is much happier since I took it out of the root cage.

Last summer it bloomed from Jul 10 through Jul 30 and then I did have rebloom in early September. It was the first time I had a rebloom. Looking back it is pretty consistent for blooming right around Jul 10th.

I've only had El Desperado a couple of years now, but last year it increased some and bloomed very well. It set one pod for me (El Desperado x Crowning light) and the 6 seedlings from this pod are growing strong thus far. It will be interesting to see what the kids look like. Fans this year look good and are up about 4 inches so far. It does bloom later in the season for me as well. I have never had any rust on El Desperado, but not really a problem with that in my area anyway.

Stats for 2019. I have had this daylily for a few years in MI.
FFO 7/30/19 Eastern full sun exposure 125mm (5") flower, 825mm (32" ) scape. Up to 32 buds, 11 scapes, Up to 4-way branching.
Has not been divided since original DF planting
Pod/pollen fertile for me

I originally bought El Desperado from Seawright Daylilies in the early 2000s. They had a lot of Stamile Daylilies there and I thought he was very handsome! I put him near Bandit Man ( a theme). But in one of the many yard and garden redesigns, I lost track of El Desperado. I always liked the plant though, so rebought it from G Wild in August 2020 and planted him on Upper Daylily Hill, by the Hydrangea.

Of course, this summer, the original plant showed it's face after not blooming in 2020. So now I have two nice plants in different places on the Hill. ED bloomed from July 11 to August 4th, often producing multiple blooms a day. A strong show!

This year ( 2021) El Desperado

2022. Shorter bloom period , July 14-30. Not as many blooms either. Drought? Heat? Needs division? Not sure..

2023 update…ED bloomed from July 17 to August 4 this year, putting on a pretty nice show.

For whatever reason, El Desperado did not bloom for me this year or else I just didn't get a picture of it. There is mole damage in this bed, so maybe the roots of the plant got damaged and set it back. I will have to check. Anyway, it is a wonderful plant. I have not seen rust on it.

El Desperado is a child plant of Autumn Jewels and honestly, if they weren't both growing in my garden, I would be hard pressed to tell the difference. I got AJ in 2015 and ED in 2016. AJ is taller and the bloom is bigger, but other than that, I can't tell the difference. El Desperado blooms almost the whole month of July here in my zone 6b garden.

7/19/2021 - Branching and bud count can be sporadic, but I did get this scape showing 4-way branching with about 25 bud count.


7/11/2018, around 5pm - getting almost full sun all day really takes a toll on the blooms.


7/4/2019, around 6:30am - but it is an EMO (early morning opener) and the blooms are beautiful in the morning.


7/21/2022 - It hasn't multiplied a lot and it hasn't been moved since 2016, but again, maybe the mole has affected its growth, but in 2022 it did quite well.