Hello All:
I am a newbie here on the site. But I have been reading your posts on the Internet for several yrs. I have enjoyed immensely your comments, pictures, and advice on the care of daylilies. Mostly, I have felt your passion for growing these wonderful and forgiving plants. I started to grow daylilies in 2009 on a mountain hillside beside my mountain chalet (Zone 4b). I have always been an avid gardener but didn't discover daylilies until much later in my life. I wanted to cover a hillside, which faces due south, with as many flowers as possible because the land looked so vacant and empty. Now, this land isn't flat. It has a 35 degree pitch downhill. So that 'is' and 'has' been a huge challenge for me. Many times I have to slide down the hillside on my bottom to dig holes, carrying buckets of mulch and enhanced dirt with me, along with my fans. Being in the mountains, I have to contend with a lot of bedrock and clay....so digging on a hillside is not easy for me. But 'dug' I have, and now that hillside is glorious in the Summer with over 200 daylilies. I live alone and do all the work myself along with my best friend, my 10 lb Pomeranian, 'Spirit' (she keeps the chip-munks and deer at bay)
Some of the members here already know me, because I buy 90% of my plants and seeds on the LA. And I am going to say this about the Lily Auction. With the exception of about 3 sellers of the many on the LA, I have had an exceptional experience using this website. I keep careful notes on my plants and who and where they were purchased from. For plants, I receive excellent plants from the following:
NDL - Nicole DeVito (received 9 plants from her last Spring. 'Huge Fans' with xtra fans. Sent 3 gift plants of her intros. 4 out of 8 plants bloomed within weeks of planting for 4 months. The other 4 hopefully will bloom this coming summer.
Mljomo (James Hall) (Usually large single fans, healthy. Always sends several gift plants. Plants grow well here)
Gran (Gaskins) (DF seedling- medium fan, healthy - no gift)
Lilyladies (Faye & John Shooter) (Large DF fans with xtras- always includes intros for gift plant - Lovely people)
Abundantdayliles (Sattlemeier) Medium sized plants. Rapid increase after planting but did not bloom 1st year planted.
BBend82 (Joshua Jaques) Huge, healthy DF with extra fans. Doesn't sell often on LA -usually in Feb and March. Very accommodating.
Amazing Daylilies (Pete Harry) Huge triple fans. Gift is usually extra fans. 2 of 5 plants bloomed same summer.
Gold Coast Daylily (Holley) Large TF fans. Healthy. Bloomed 2nd year. Also sells great seeds,
I have several new plants already purchased from MIchele (Tink) coming this April, 2013....my first time buying. One of the reasons, I chose to buy from Tink besides having the plants I wanted at a more reasonable price was because I have great admiration for her from secretly reading this site for almost 3 yrs, and drooling over the pictures she posts here. So Tink, I am counting on you to send me a nice size fan of 'Dragonfly Dawn'! Just kidding, Michele! :)
I buy a lot of seeds on the LA. I do have a seedling bed. My favorite seed sellers for large, plump seeds that germinate are the following. I do not deviate from these sellers because I have learned that some sellers don't work for me either because the seeds are sterile or have diseases or whatever. I trust these sellers. Those followed by a * are the very best.
Ladylovingdove (Dot) *
Eurodaylily (Paul & Dace)*
Ahead ( Steve Todd)*
Rich (Rich Howard)*
Osugrad (Richard Eustace)*
Zildjian (Gil Fuleki)*
Farmerbell (Ann Bell)*
Gold Coast Daylilies (Holley)*
Darlene (Dale Dionne)
Jeffb (Linda Bard)
Judydu2 (Judith Duthu)
Ruby (about 75% success rate for me)
I will write to a seed seller if I think the seeds are either sterile or bad. And, I once had to write to the administrator for 5 plants that I had ordered for Spring delivery that never arrived. Apparently, I wasn't the only one who complained. Eventually, we all got our plants, (a month late) after some super sleuthing. The owner was moving his plants to his new location, and was just overwhelmed with too much on his plate at the time. The fans when they arrived were large and in great shape.
One more thing, I have received plants from the south that had 'rust' on them, that I have had to isolate. Since, Vermont, has a lot of snow in the Winter with temps below freezing for an extended period, rust does not winter over here. The next season, the plants are fine. But the buyer has to beware. I hate rust!
I am not quite sure how to use this site yet, so I hope you will be patient with me while I am learning. Compared to so many of you, I am a newbie. But from being a 'voyeur' for 3 yrs, I have learned so much already just from reading this forum on the Internet. Your knowledge has helped in so many ways without you knowing it. For that, I am very grateful. I will upload an original image from my garden after I download my images onto my hard drive. I am very happy to be here.
Alex
PS. The picture above is my beloved side-kick and fellow garden companion, 'Spirit' (Pom), on our deck 30' above my 8 formal gardens below (not my daylily garden). This is God's country, and the views from my deck are spectacular. I overlook the ski area with the slopes just a hop, skip, and a jump away. In the far distance is the beautiful Breadloaf Range, and the Valley is 6 miles downhill. Btw, 'Spirit' and the bone are inseparable.
