I'm from the suburbs of Springfield, MA, and purchased my first daylilies last June. I bought all short varieties, as I wanted them for a rock garden. The plants were in transit (from Wild's) for several days, so they didn't look like much when they finally arrived. I first gave them a several-hours soaking in a bucket of water. Then I started them out in pots, in a good potting mix, so I could control their environment for a while. All plants survived, and one even bloomed, despite the fact that I divided a few of them. In early September I set them out in the garden. All continued growing well until they settled down for the long New England winter. This spring a couple of the plants have fewer fans than they had last year, and a couple of them probably are gone for good. I'm so sorry that many of you also experienced winter losses, but it's helpful to me to know that I wasn't the only one. This winter was a brute! Here's hoping it doesn't repeat for many years.
I do have a question: I have another daylily order in transit now from Wild's. It left MO on the 25th, and KS on the 26th, at 4:07 am. No further tracking info. Does UPS Ground travel on weekends, or is my order sitting in KS in a parked trailer in some terminal? I'm wondering if I should request that any future orders with them ship on a Monday? (I would consider ordering from a nearer vendor, but others seem to charge much higher shipping costs.)
By the way, one of you mentioned having lost a Milkshake coneflower over winter. I have only one coneflower plant, also a Milkshake, which I bought last year. No signs of new growth yet on mine, either. Here's hoping...
Thank you to those who run this site. I hope to be able to contribute from time to time, as well as receiving helpful information from others.
Kat2014
