I love reading about everyone's favorites and seeing those gorgeous photos! Makes me impatient for bloom season to get here. Seems ironic that the weather here in central/south Florida has been in the 80s and no daylily blooms. I bet Mother Nature is laughing about the temps this year! I don't expect to get much of a Winter at all this year. I imagine the early daylily bloomers will happen in March again this year. Not far off....
Since "last" year (seems weird to say that about 2015) was the first year I saw a few "registered" daylilies blooms in my yard, I don't have a lot to choose from yet. This year should be a lot better since I now have 50 registered daylilies (which was a big deal for me!).
My favorites about ATP this past year .... getting the Daylily of Day feature up and running on the daylily forum. I have found it to be a tremendous asset .... personally. To see what I should consider and what I should pass on is priceless. Rust being the biggest issue in my garden, I am ALL ABOUT rust resistance. Thanks to Dave for making this new daily feature possible!!!
My registered favorites this past year were:
Lavender Stardust: I was so surprised by the beauty of this one. It did not look that pretty in photos, but in person, I was very impressed. Seems to show rust resistance too. I love it!
Paper Butterfly: This shows "some" rust resistance, but not as much as I would prefer. It is such a pretty bloom, that I used it in a lot of my hybridizing this past year. (It made a lot of pollen seeds.)
Siloam Double Classic: First double for me. This was one I was hesitant about acquiring because it is listed as a dormant. But it surely is not a hard dormant because it seems to be more of a sev here. I didn't know if I would like doubles, but this one convinced me that they are worth growing and admiring. Rust resistant, great foliage, and beautiful peony type small blooms. A keeper!
My favorite seedlings this year, but the long term evaluation is still 2 more years off. Every bloom on this first one was a double.
Double: Laura Mast x Dragonfly Dawn
It's sibling was quite nice too:
Dragonfly Dawn x Dragonfly Dawn: I am hoping after another 2 seasons of blooming, I can name this one after my sister who is currently fighting for her life against cancer. This beauty was the right color (pink) and I loved the throat and pattern. Am curious to see what the blooms evolve into with time.
And another one that I loved the bloom, but the growth habit and size is still a make or break deal. Cindy's Tie Dye x Bluegrass Music. I love, love, love the bloom on this one, but the scape height and number of blooms needs to drastically improve for it to be a keeper. It might wind up being a bridge seedling:
