Fortunately, I purchased both hard and soft dormant daylilies before I read that hard dormants would not grow in my area (I heard the same thing that you described and was concerned). I checked my records and Smoky Mountain Autumn increased 250% last year (from 4 to 10 fans) and appears to be increasing rapidly this year, too. So, I think it is quite happy!
My best increase last year was also a dormant, albeit a soft dormant, and my worst increase was a hard dormant (0 increase but put on a beautiful display of blooms). I just walked back and checked, though, and I now have double the fan count so perhaps the 0 increase last year was due to it settling in?? Due solely to the observations in my own garden, I now think that the hard dormant rule may be a bit too generalized - perhaps it is more of a cultivar by cultivar issue?
