Well, as the year progresses the rust has become the worst ever in my garden. I don't know if there are going to be any plants that are not affected by it to some degree.
Some of the worst ones so far are Awesome Blossom rated 2.0, Tuscawilla Tigress rated 2.3,Lime Frost rated at 1.7, Buttered Popcorn surprisingly rated at 1.3, , Missouri Memories rated also at a 1.3 and Scottish Fantasy no rating. There are many many more that have some very noticeable rust developing and they may eventually look just as bad. The daylily bog bed is not looking very attractive at this stage. Blooms are popping up everywhere, but the rust is such an eyesore.
This is what Awesome Blossom looks like after just removing the worst of the rusty leaves.
You can see the scapes are even covered in rust after removing the leaves.
I cut back some Lime Frost plants today, this one I really cut back it was just looking awful and has not even sent up a scape yet.
This one I just cut back more moderately.
I cut back over half of the foliage on Scottish Fantasy:
As you look over parts of the garden you can see a lot of rust on the plants.
You can see the bog is still a little... shall we say damp?
I was hoping to make it though the season with out having to spray, but now it has become obvious to me that even with a lot of rust resistant plants there is no hope of having a beautiful daylily garden here without a spray program. As much as I was hoping to be able to avoid spraying for rust, it looks like the only choice now. I need to really educate myself, and just break down and be committed to spending some of the money normally spent on plants and fertilizer etc. on chemical sprays.
Who has a spray program for rust that really works and is fairly simple and affordable?
