Hi everyone,

I am thinking of getting this at some stage but it is still very expensive here in Europe (can get it from Germany) and I will need to save up for a while.

I know that it won't look anything like the 'official' photo but does anyone know if it is a good plant?

Thanks.

I don't own it, but I have seen it in bloom here at Fairyscape and it is gorgeous. The eye is very blue. It was growing very well there and she was giving it very high praise.

Thanks Valerie,

I don't know why everyone uses that official photo as it actually puts me off buying it as I think that it can't really be that colour in real life so you are bound to be disappointed. Looking at the pics on the database it seems pretty enough in real life so why make the official photo so much darker?

If your supplier speaks highly of it, then that is a big help.

Nikki,
Take a look at the photos on the Fairyscape website, too. It wasn't dark like the official photo when I saw it in bloom. I would say that it looked like the first two photos in the plant database on Garden.org the most, and more like the first, as I remember it.
Here is a link to the Fairyscape photos:
http://www.fairyscapedaylilies...

Nikki,

We have grown Blue Viper for several years. We started with a tiny single fan. I prayed that it would make it through its first winter. It did and increased the next year but was not big enough to bloom. The next year it did bloom, and I was smitten. It has been a good increaser for us. I plan to use it in my hybridizing efforts this year. I moved it to a new location year before last where it probably gets more sun. The photos dated 2015 were in the old location. Those without a date were taken in 2016 or 2017. Photos were taken with two different Canon cameras. We live in Northwest Georgia (zone 7) which is in the southern U.S. Our winters are typically lows in the single digits at least a few times and our summers' highs are usually mid to upper 90's with occasion 100+ degrees. We water from our well. From the different photos taken in our garden, you can see a variation in the coloring which may be from the amount of sun vs. cloudiness, soil, fertilizers, and cameras.

Doris

Beautiful photos, Doris. Thanks for posting them

touchofsky said:Beautiful photos, Doris. Thanks for posting them

Thank you, Valerie!

@Casshigh

Doris, thank you so much for all the photos and the information, it is lovely in all the photos and sounds like one I need to get, preferably before the Brexit "apocalypse" when Britain is apparently going to be cut off from the rest of the world and enter a new 'dark age" according to all the scaremongers!🤣 This week they have been talking as if the UK is going to slip its moorings and float off up to the Arctic.

Hope the price goes down a bit before then!

Am I right in thinking that you also grow Child of Atlantis, if so are you able to tell me what that looks like in real life, please?

@touchofsky

Thanks for the link, Valerie. I must admit to drooling over the fairyscape site A LOT and looking at how the different daylilies look on there. It was that site that tempted me towards Blue Viper to begin with.

Nikki, have you looked into importing daylilies from Canada, maybe asked DEFRA? Xylella has occasionally been reported here but not (according to a distribution article I looked at) from the area where Fairyscape, for example, is located. This particular article said the furthest north Xylella has been found in Canada is Niagara which is about 600 kms away. Whether that's still the case I don't know.

I grew up in the UK pre-EU. Do you think once Brexit is complete that there will be restrictions on importing plants from Europe?

Nikki, we are adding Child Of Atlantis again this spring (April). COA is one that we have wanted, but it has been hard to find. We added it a couple years ago in October. I should not have planted it in the ground so late in the year, and it did not return.

Doris

Thanks Doris,

Hope it succeeds for you this time, look forward to seeing the pictures when it flowers.

sooby said:Nikki, have you looked into importing daylilies from Canada, maybe asked DEFRA? Xylella has occasionally been reported here but not (according to a distribution article I looked at) from the area where Fairyscape, for example, is located. This particular article said the furthest north Xylella has been found in Canada is Niagara which is about 600 kms away. Whether that's still the case I don't know.

I grew up in the UK pre-EU. Do you think once Brexit is complete that there will be restrictions on importing plants from Europe?

@sooby,

I think that it would work out just too expensive, Sue, as it is often a minimum amount for the order (usualy $300+), then the phyto certificate costs, then all the import taxes and carriage charges and then they still might be destroyed by customs. If I had a much bigger garden it might be something I could look into and see if it is worth the risk but luckily since joining this forum I have been pointed towards some good European buyers and even though I can't get the lastest ones, there is a good choice now that I have found the European suppliers rather than just the UK based ones.

CT daylilies has been approved to export to Europe (Rich on LA) and he has a good selection AND grows in pots same as myself so he would be someone to consider if I decided to go down that route.

Thank you for the suggestion, though.

I don't know what the situation is regarding importation from Canada and Goodness knows what the situation wil be after Brexit. The British media is going very much along the lines of stating that the other countries in the EU are angry and determined to 'punish' us for voting to leave and that we should take a hard line against them and their goods etc if they do that. It is just all very silly. I voted to remain in the EU and was dismayed by the result, however I also believe in the principles of democracy and would be very angry if the government decided to have another referendum to see if they can reverse the decision (which has been a suggestion here) and I think that if they did that people would then vote to leave in much higher numbers as it would be setting a very dangerous precedent if they just repeat referenda until they get the 'correct' result.

Doris, your pictures showing all the variations of Blue Viper are wonderful! Thank you! That is exactly why I come to NGA. So I can see true garden pictures of daylilies because the pictures on some sites just can't be right. Like Nikki, pictures that have been altered to the nth degree put me off too. With that said, Blue Viper is definitely a beauty in its own right and needs no alterations.

Nikki, yes, true that Rich has been approved for shipping to Europe, but I was thinking if you wanted something he doesn't have. Phytos from Canada are (or at least were last time I looked into it) a fraction of the cost of the USA ones and the value of the Cdn$ is not the same as the US$ for minimum orders but I get what you're saying.

I had reservations about joining the EU in the first place all those years ago but now I think I would have voted to remain too, although I didn't have a vote as an ex-pat.

blue23rose said:Doris, your pictures showing all the variations of Blue Viper are wonderful! Thank you! That is exactly why I come to NGA. So I can see true garden pictures of daylilies because the pictures on some sites just can't be right. Like Nikki, pictures that have been altered to the nth degree put me off too. With that said, Blue Viper is definitely a beauty in its own right and needs no alterations.

Thank you, Vickie! I agree that NGA is THE place to come if you want to see a true garden photo. I always check the NGA photos when I want to see what a daylily really looks like and recommend the NGA database to other growers.

sooby said:Nikki, yes, true that Rich has been approved for shipping to Europe, but I was thinking if you wanted something he doesn't have. Phytos from Canada are (or at least were last time I looked into it) a fraction of the cost of the USA ones and the value of the Cdn$ is not the same as the US$ for minimum orders but I get what you're saying.

I had reservations about joining the EU in the first place all those years ago but now I think I would have voted to remain too, although I didn't have a vote as an ex-pat.

@sooby, yes, at least with the EU we had protection like workers rights although bearing in mind the tory attack on disabled people, which has caused thousands of deaths here in the last few years in the name of austerity, an awful lot of damage is done before the EU is involved.
I do like the fairyscape daylily site and she has a very good selection of small and mini varieties and as I say, if I had more room I would definitely investigate the position re. ordering from Canada.