Too soon to fully evaluate here. It is rather short so far. Expect bud count to improve with age.
Jumped to Award of Merit quickly. Update: beautiful, but crowded scape with a number of buds not opening well. Never did attain height registered.
Thelma Douglas can only be described as one of those almost perfect day lilies to own as far as I'm concerned. The blooms are gorgeous to say the least, and they are thick and hold up extremely well in the heat of the ( zone 8b) summer sun. I'm just a "backyard dabber" and play around with pollen but you can bet that practically every plant I put Thelma's pollen on will set pods. I know Charleis Douglas personally and he uses this plant a lot in his introductions. They can't seem to keep this one in stock at BrownsFerry Gardens. This is one of my very favorite daylilies!!
We KNOW a hybridizer thinks well of their plant when they name it for their mother, and that's who this is named for! I've seen Charles get almost weepy when he describes this plant because he is so sentimental over it . It is a very good plant here with lots of positive attributes: pretty blooms, strong scapes, vigorous. Occasionally, I have a small issue with bud placement - that is, sometimes there are so many buds on a scape that on a given day, a few blooms may not open properly because there are so many blooms and not enough room. But that is truly a minor issue, and only a picky judge like me would likely be bothered by something that trivial, LOL.
I have contemplated adding this one to my garden, but I have been suspicious of it hanging up. Thanks for reporting your experience Boyd. MantisOH, I will be watching for your report next year, since you are closer to my zone.
Name: Chris Massengill Upper East Tennessee, Bluff Ci (Zone 6b)
Thelma is an excellent parent! I have two future releases from Thelma Pollen. Did not bloom this year, due to moving in February. but overall an excellent daylily,to stats and Parent.
I received Thelma Douglas from Harmon Hill in May at the annual 2023 NEDS club sale. I know that if they grow it ( everything is field grown there) it will do well here. I put her on the Lower Fence Bed at three fans but by October she was down to two.
Ok, I just noticed that Thelma threw 7 flowers last season between July 17- August 8. Not sure how I missed that! Here's a few pics from 2023
Thelma hasn't been particularly vigorous, she's just been sitting there at 2 fans. But she did bloom from July 8-25 with 11 blooms. I didn't have any issues with hanging up at all and I do have blooms with that issue but Thelma wasn't among them. The scapes were extremely short this summer, first year bloom and all that. The flower is very pretty, kind of a blush with a feathery lemon eye and ruffly lemon edge.
