I just used my LA Photo Contest prize $ to snag Explosion in the Paint Factory. Hope to also add The Ultimate Sacrifice.

Congrats Leslie

Way to go Leslie!

Hi All:


Last summer, I ordered 35 new plants. It took me months to get all those new plants into my mountain garden, digging through all the bedrock. Never again. But with all my hard work, this summer I will get to see the fruits of my labor. I am looking forward to that. This summer, I will keep my buying down to 10 plants. I want to spend more time hybridizing some of these gorgeous plants.

In December I put an order with Karen at Floyd Cove. I purchased 3 new plants.

'Guy's Outrageous'
'Guy's Swan Song'
'Good Time Blues'

Karen is also sending me as a gift, 'Sharon Lianne' that they are currently sold out of but she has a couple of seedlings potted up for her personal care.

From the Lilly Auction I have ordered 2 oldies, 1 newish
'Buffalo Thunder' 3 Fans
'Deadliest Catch' 2 Fans.
'Pirate's Island' 1 Fan

Late last summer I ordered and planted
'Long Ago In a Galaxy Far, Far Away' 2 Fans

And too Late to Plant in the garden last summer, I potted up and growing beautifully in my south-facing Dining-Room is

'Tetra Rose F Kennedy' 1 Fan

I am sticking to my rule this year of no more than 10 plants including gift plants. I will not be a slave to all that digging. I want to enjoy those beautiful blooms. There is always too much work with fertilizing & clean-up in the Spring. And I do it all by myself. No help! With almost 300 plants, its enough.

I am purchasing some seeds of newer plants I don't have, but again my seedling beds are jammed packed. Always look forward to my seedlings. They are like new babies to me. I delight in seeing there blooms.

I send everyone bushels of warm hugs and promise to post more often this year. We are snow covered right now. The skiers are in heaven, and Winter has not been nearly as cold as some previous ones we have suffered through in Vermont. My plants thrive under the snow cover. All dormant now. I did take lots of pictures last summer, but haven't even dowloaded them yet from the camera. I am behind, very behind, and trying to catch up.

Alex

Hi Alex,
If you can keep to your stated goal of not buying over 10 plants, especially including gift plants, you are a better "man" than I. Do let us in a couple of months if you do it.

Lalambchop1 said:Hi Alex,
If you can keep to your stated goal of not buying over 10 plants, especially including gift plants, you are a better "man" than I. Do let us in a couple of months if you do it.

Make that better "woman" than you. I just added one more to that list, 'Pirate's Island,' that I forgot I won last week. With gift plants, I may have reached my max!

From your name I wasn't sure if you were a man or woman. That's why I put man in quotes. I'm still waiting to see how you do.

Inserting a gentle reminder - garden.org is a place where we can all share our love of gardening regardless of our political or religious orientation. Personally, I like knowing I can come to the Daylily forum, or any other forum on this site, to escape the constant news and find a bit of peace with others who share my passion for gardening. For these reasons I will ask that we stay away from posting on those two subjects and just enjoy coming together on a subject we can all agree on, our love of daylilies.
A further reminder - awhile back a "report this post button" was added to each post ( the little red button to the right of the green thumb). After a post receives enough reports the member is banned from a forum ( before anyone asks, I do not know how many reports it takes or have control over that ban). Please, be mindful of what you post....


It is so difficult to stick to a limit, Alex. I think last year I had 4 or 5 open spots and ended up with 20 new plants! This year with the reworking of the planting beds I have more spots open than plants coming...I may need to fix that problem

Char -
I'm hoping to cut down on what I add for daylilies this year, told myself I added so many last year I have to wait, but you never know!!!!! If I see enough pictures my arm could be twisted I still have two coming that I ordered last year for my new prayer garden, Woman at the Well and I believe Eye on the Sparrow. But then I did look at the website for LarryR and he had wonderful plants last year, is within driving distance, and I might not be able to hold back after I keep seeing all of his wonderful seedling pictures

Alex be sure to keep us posted if you go over that 10 limit

Char - Oops, I broke the rules. No politics. So very sorry to anyone I may have offended. Just thought members might want to know where I disappeared to for an entire year. It was and remains an important part of my life.

Nope, I've finished purchasing plants. Between last year and this year, I will have added & planted 45 plants, not counting any of my seedlings. This year I just want to relax, do some hybridizing along with some much needed garden maintenance, and enjoy the beauty of my gardens.

Hope you are well, Char, and that your plants are thriving under all the snow cover we have been experiencing in the past couple of weeks. The skiing has never been better!

There is just so much research one can do when trying to add daylilies, then a decision must be made. There are just so few comments posted about the thousands of daylilies out there.
The stats may look great, but the performance may not be so hot in a particular garden. I don't know why but it seems when I am trying to find info on particular varieties, very few of them are grown in my zone, and I try to stay mostly with evergreens and semi-evergreens. It seems I am a very frugal daylily shopper, I have just spent the past hour researching daylilies in the $5.00 and $10.00 range. I asked myself the question, would a $200.00 daylily give me twenty times the performance, or enjoyment of a $10.00 daylily? The answer for me, was a definite no! I had much rather have twenty $10.00 daylilies than just one $200.00 daylily, and how about forty $5.00 daylilies? Then I asked myself is there anything really appealing in the $5.00 to $10.00 range? Well, I looked at the performance of the daylilies in my garden (admittedly mostly inexpensive ones) and found that performance was not relative to price, and often in a inverse relationship.
I have not ordered these yet, but I have asked that the availability of them for spring be confirmed. So I would appreciate any comments on the following plants (positive or negative), there are always plenty more to choose from.
1. Helix

2. Kachina Firecracker

3. Wings On High

4. Color Flash

5.Hank Williams

@ARoseblush I was not offended in any way.
I will be working with my seeds this year. I have been tempted despite my will to hold back. :rofl:
P.S. Waiting to see what Mr Norris' 2017 intros look like.

Hazelcrestmikeb said:@ARoseblush I was not offended in any way.
I will be working with my seeds this year. I have been tempted despite my will to hold back. :rofl:
P.S. Waiting to see what Mr Norris' 2017 intros look like.

Mike,
These were posted on his site this week. He has some really pretty dips. After looking through my list, I realize I have purchased quite a few of his over the last year. Looking forward to seeing Pigment of Imagination and Sharon's Delight bloom the first time this year!

Hi Mike - I missed you too. Happy that you weren't offended by this 'Nasty Woman'!

Oh you're going to love working w/seeds. Trust me. The entire cycle from seed to seedling, to 'surprise' a flower. It's the most gratifying part of growing daylilies. You just have to have patience. If you plant some seedlings each year, you will always have something to look forward to every summer. I wish you all the luck in the world.

Ah, speaking of Mr.Norris, I am very interested in what Grace is doing w/Norris color-changers. The pictures of his beauties fascinate me. Really stunning. I, too, look forward to Norris intros, and to Grace's.

Stay warm out there in IL. It's February! We are half way thru this Winter.

Alex

PS I think I will name one of my keeper seedlings "Nasty Woman"!

ARoseblush said:
Nope, I've finished purchasing plants. Between last year and this year, I will have added & planted 45 plants, not counting any of my seedlings. This year I just want to relax, do some hybridizing along with some much needed garden maintenance, and enjoy the beauty of my gardens.

I'm trying to slow down a bit as well and take time to enjoy the garden more.The plan is to decrease the display beds by 1/3 over the next 2 years which will definitely cut into bringing in new additions. The seedling beds take up a lot of time, but they are where my main focus is.This year the majority of plants coming in seem to be Emmmerich's. I saw her speak last fall in CT and afterwards we had an auction of her plants. I managed to be high bidder on 3, Through a Glass Darkly, Free the Captives and one of her 2017's Let the Sea Resound.

Larry, I do not grow any of the ones you listed so can not offer any comments about them. I agree with you, performance is not relative to price.

Alex - back! Great excuse for not being here! I love the name of your future intro! I was thinking about naming an intro "The Resistance". Lol lol

I agree with your advice to Mike about starting seeds every year to always have something new to look forward to.

Mike and all - I am very much looking forward to this seasons blooms .....Registered and seedlings!

I am getting ready to head out to a Gardenfest show near me. I grow plants for wildlife, too. I have a bird bander coming out tomorrow to capture and band the painted buntings and other birds. This has been an extremely warm winter this year, but it has not changed the timing of the wild birds, thank goodness. Global warming is reality and it is very apparent here in central Florida.

@Seedfork
I can identify with wanting DL that do well in your area. Do you know about the AHS Popularity Poll? Each Region in the national daylily organization votes on their favorites. The poll winners from your region should do well in your area because they were chosen by as favorites by people who live near you.

I would also suggest you visit AHS Display Gardens. Here's a link to a list the gardens in Region 14 (your region) http://www.daylilies.org/AHSre... .

I'm a big researcher like you are. I've learned that it's important to do online research but nothing can show you what's what like seeing the plants themselves. Good luck!

You might also check out Dan Hansen and Ladybug Daylilies in Geneva, FL. http://www.ladybugdaylilies.co...
He has a selection of bargain basement plants that sell for $9 a clump. He is usually very generous. He also loves newbies. When I was brand new I was blessed to live near Dan. He "adopted" me and taught me how to hybridize. I volunteered at his place for several years in exchange for seedling bed space and use of his plants for hybridizing. I owe a lot to him. You might give him a call and see which plants he suggests you start with. Tell him I (Leslie Mauck) sent you. He can be moody. If he's grouchy the first time you call give him a couple of days and try again. Full disclosure! LOL

Yes I am familiar with the AHS Popularity polls, I often use them as a guide to new plants. I have visited a few of the display gardens in my area, and would love to visit many more.

@Seedfork

Larry am growing the top two. I ordered Helix in '15 and Kachina Firecracker was a gift last year. I will talk about Helix, and to be honest I was a bit disappointed when it bloomed.



It barely resembles the photo I saw when I decided to purchase it. As for performance, the scape's were shorter and didn't have the numbers of branching or blooms as what is listed.



One thing that I keep telling myself is that, I've only had it for two years now. It was potted after I received it, and finally added to a bed last spring. So in all actuality, it is still settling in. Hope to see some improvement this year.

Alex-

I saw Ruby Lipstick listed on the LA, and was considering getting it this year, and also saw where you have/ had it, and
was wondering if you can tell me about it? Has an interesting look, uncluttered.