I LOVE fragrant daylilies, and remember reading somewhere that most very fragrant daylilies are either doubles or have very large flowers. The idea behind this concept apparently is that larger surface area (i.e., larger petals and/or more petals) will produce and release more fragrance molecules. And I have noticed that a lot of very fragrant ones tend to be yellow, although there are many exceptions.
Many of Judy Davisson's big/tall UFs are highly fragrant. The other day I had several open blooms on OSTERIZED and the beautiful fragrance was wafting at least 10-15 feet away on a still, humid afternoon. Other very fragrant Davisson intros include MISTER BUTTERS, DIVAS IN DIAMONDS, LEAN GREEN FRAGRANCE MACHINE, TOWER POWER and MISTER GREEN JEANS. I have several of my own seedlings out of Davisson genetics that are highly fragrant.
This spring, I planted Virginia Peck's classic HUDSON VALLEY because of multiple reports of its wonderful fragrance. It has a scape with several buds forming, so hopefully I will soon be able to experience its famous fragrance for myself!
Among diploids, I have fond memories of the scent of Hemerocallis citrina wafting lightly on summer evenings. The best form I found was called "Yao Ming" sold by Plant Delights.
