They'll be back (maybe)

It appears that my daylilies have finished blooming, at least for now.  Prior to moving to our current home 2.5 years ago, I'd grown only one daylily.  Planted in a pot in my mostly shady backyard, its performance was unimpressive.  Our new garden came with loads of daylilies - forty or more clumps at my count.  All the same red-orange variety.  All of which went dormant in the fall, leaving empty spaces throughout the garden until the foliage returned in late winter.  I pulled out some of these last year, passing them along to friends, neighbors and family, but the majority remain in place.  Nell Jean of the Seedscatter blog offered me a possible ID: 'Sammy Russell Red'.  I think that's a good guess.

Inherited daylily blooming with agapanthus in May

Even though I didn't love this daylily, I credit it with promoting my interest in the Hemerocallis genus.  I got on-line to look at what was available and soon I was hooked.  In fact, for a newbie daylily grower, I think I went a little crazy.  The majority of the daylilies I've purchased since 2011 are evergreen varieties so they don't leave holes in my garden beds once they finish blooming.  A significant percentage also are reputed to be rebloomers, although not all have lived up to that reputation yet.  Sizes and bloom times seem to deviate from the specifications quoted by the growers in many cases but that could be attributable to our ever-changing climate or the fact that my plants are still in the process of establishing themselves in the garden.

Here's a review:

'Cordon Rouge', an early-mid season evergreen rebloomer (bloomed May through June in my garden)

'Dallas Star', a mid-season semi-evergreen gift plant (bloomed in June on my dry slope)

'Double Impact', a mid-season, semi-evergreen rebloomer (a few blooms in June; much shorter than reported; no evidence or rebloom yet)

'Elizabeth Salter', a mid-season, evergreen rebloomer (bloomed in May in my garden; no evidence of rebloom yet)

'For Pete's Sake', an early-mid season evergreen spider (bloomed May-June in my dry garden)

'Frank Gladney', a mid-season evergreen plant with large blooms (bloomed in May in my side yard)

'Pandora's Box', an early-mid season plant reputed to be evergreen (bloomed in June in my back border; died back last year contrary to "evergreen" status; slated to be moved to my dry slope in the fall)

'Persian Market', a mid-season evergreen rebloomer, received as a gift with purchase (bloomed June-July in my back border; rebloomed in 2012)

'Russian Rhapsody', an early season evergreen rebloomer (bloomed in May in my dry garden; no evidence of rebloom yet)

'Spanish Harlem', an early-mid season evergreen rebloomer (bloomed May-July in my front border; previously bloomed both last spring and again this past winter)

Two daylilies, 'Blythe Belle' and 'Prairie Blue Eyes' didn't bloom at all this year.  'Blythe', a very short reblooming variety, bloomed once last year but hasn't bothered to make an appearance this year.  I'll move her if she's a no-show next spring.  'Prairie Blue Eyes', another gift with purchase, has been moved twice so it may be in a snit.

My favorite Hemerocallis for color, size and reblooming quality is 'Persian Market'.  Last fall, I moved three small clumps from spots in my front and dry garden beds last year, where they bloomed heavily, to my back border.  Although all three rebloomed after their moves, they produced fewer blooms this spring than they did last year, which may be attributable to either the move or to the somewhat shadier location in which the plants now sit.  They may require another move if they don't recoup their former glory.

'Spanish Harlem' is my second favorite.  It is vigorous!  It bloomed heavily over a relatively long period from early May into early July despite an earlier bloom cycle in January.  It's also much taller than the 27 inches projected by the grower, with spikes reaching well over 3 feet.

My hope is that 'Persian Market', 'Spanish Harlem', 'Elizabeth Salter' and my color-favorite, 'Russian Rhapsody', will rebloom this year.  I know 'Cordon Rouge' will - it's already putting out new bloom spikes.

New spikes and flower buds on 'Cordon Rouge'