Gardening friends told me on numerous occasions what a great daylily 'Ruby Spider' was. I have to say, it wasn't until I actually grew it myself that I fully understood what they meant. Wow! If you like large nine-inch blooms, consistency and hardiness, this is the plant to have! Ruby Spider grows about 34 inches tall and is categorized as an Unusual Form-Spatulate. For a red it holds up very well in full sun. Ruby Spider was my first daylily out of the gate last spring, beginning its bloom on June 3. With re-bloom scapes, it continued through August 22!

Ruby Spider has a whopping 92 registered child plants on the books! This indicates that hybridizers value the genetics of this plant and want to pass them on to future daylilies. Hybridized by Patrick Stamile and introduced in 1991, this dormant tetraploid is a multiple award-winner that ranks very high in popularity. American Daylily Society Awards include the Award of Merit: 2002 (distinctive and beautiful); an Honorable Mention in 1999 (good performance); the Lenington All American Award: 2011 (best performer over a wide geographic area); the Lambert/Webster Award in 2002 (most outstanding unusual form); and the President's Cup (most outstanding clump) in 2004. You can't beat those credentials!

When 'Techny Spider' is in bloom, it lives in a constant state of perfectness. The soft pastel pink and yellow blend of these delicately ruffled, seven inch blooms is ethereal. The blooms are thick and waxy, which keeps them impervious to weather of any kind. Hybridized by Reckamp/Klehm and introduced in 1987, this classic cultivar is a midseason-late bloomer that grows about 27" tall in my garden. In 2018, it bloomed from July 13 through August 19. And yes, it's an award-winner! Techny Spider received the Award of Merit in 2014 and an Honorable Mention in 2010 from the American Daylily Society. These awards indicate that this plant performs well over a wide geographic area.

I must note that this daylily is very slow to increase. I choose to look at that as a positive because, really,  who enjoys dividing a daylily every year or so? Techny Spider can have as much time as it wants to increase because, in my opinion, it's so worth waiting for!

You can always count on "Integrated Logistics" to be showy and bold. This is one of the seven daylilies I grow hybridized by Curt Hanson in Ohio. I also grow Bela Lugosi, Black Falcon Ritual, Jerry Hyatt, Lounge Lizard, Primal Scream, and Virginia B. Hanson. They are all hardy and prolific plants in my Wisconsin garden.

Integrated Logistics, introduced in 2005,  is a semi-evergreen tetraploid that grows 37" tall and has 6" plus blooms. The flowers have a beautiful rose watermark and are pleated, which is a form of sculpting in which the petals fold upon itself creating a raised platform on the bloom. You can see how the petals narrow in the close-up photo.

Integrated Logistics is a very reliable and consistent plant. In summer 2018, bloom season was from July 10 through August 28 (including re-bloom). You can't ask for more than that!

Every fall I make a point of giving my daylilies what I call their 'medical' checks. I like to examine each individual plant, pull out any weeds, determine that no moles have tunneled under or around them, and make sure that squirrels haven't buried any walnuts close by. When I do checkups I occasionally find a proliferation on an old daylily scape.

"A proliferation is a leafy shoot from a node or bract found on scapes of many cultivars. Small roots often form and occasionally a flower is produced while the proliferation is still on the scape. (Definition from the American Daylily Society.)

For those of you who are unfamiliar with daylilies, their seeds are not identical to either parent plant. A proliferation is one way to get an exact replica of the plant you have (in addition to plant division). I have had good results growing daylilies from proliferations. In fact, I have huge daylily clumps growing in my garden that started with just one tiny proliferation! It's also a fun way to share plants with friends.

When I find a proliferation I cut the scape off of the plant and place it in a plastic cup of water to grow roots. I have found that the roots will grow quicker if you use a clear plastic cup (as opposed to an opaque one). Important: Be sure to keep the water in the cup clean. The roots generally grow large enough to plant in a week or two.  I like to leave a good portion of the scape on both sides of the plant. When I eventually plant the proliferation in dirt, the scape gives the tender new daylily stability. The scape above the dirt will eventually dry up and fall off. I leave my proliferations in a pot for a few weeks to form roots, and from there I place it in the ground. In two or three years the proliferations pictured will bloom and look exactly like the beautiful 'Red Volunteer' pictured in the first photo. 

I have grown 'Red Volunteer' ever since I can remember having daylilies. It is reliable, consistent, big, tall, and gorgeous. In addition to other awards, Red Volunteer won the 'Lenington All-American Award' in 2004, which goes to one daylily each year voted the best performer over a wide geographic area. This midseason, dormant tetraploid was hybridized by William Oakes and introduced in 1984.   My plant grows 38" tall and the blooms are 7" or more in size. It is a definite wow! There will always be a place for Red Volunteer in my garden.

It's mid-September and I only have three daylilies still in bloom. Due to the rain we've had recently, I was unable to spray deer deterrent regularly and the deer managed to eat some scapes of my late bloomers. But I am happy to report that for some odd reason the deer spared 'Suzy Cream Cheese.' This award-winning spider daylily is a late-season bloomer I would never be without!

Suzy Cream Cheese was hybridized in Ohio by Dan Bachman (who was possibly a Frank Zappa fan back in the day?) Suzy started blooming on August 21 and is still in bloom today. The flowers are an impressive 7" in size and the plant grows about 35" tall. The scapes always remain upright and never bend or droop. The flowers have good substance and the hot sun doesn't bother them a bit. Both of these photos were taken late in the afternoon on a 90 degree day. Suzy is a dormant diploid that thrives in Wisconsin. If you are a northern gardener and want lots of late-season bloom, Suzy Cream Cheese is a gotta-have.

When I look at photos of my daylilies, I notice many details that I don't otherwise see on my garden walk-throughs. In fall I enjoy taking the time to review all the photos I've taken throughout the summer and revisit bloom season through my camera's lens. This year I made a point to get more up-close photos to capture the minutiae of each bloom.

My cover girl this week is "Mexican Magic." This cultivar has a most unique and pleasing color combination of pale orange and purple with a deeper orange throat, plus the delicate ruffled purple edge adds a perfect finishing touch! As striking as this particular daylily is, I think every daylily is beautiful in their own special way. I posted a few photos below just to prove my point.

Daylilies pictured after Mexican Magic are: Bluegrass Music, Man of Sorrows, Sabine Baur, Wild Child, Magnificent Rainbow, Nip Me, and J.T. Davis.

I knew 'Pork Barrel Spending' would be a hardy daylily even before I got it in the ground. Last September, a few weeks after I had purchased and potted up my two scapes this bad boy was trying, in earnest, to escape its pot. (See photo below) What a unique plant this turned out to be! The large 8" blooms are are well-branched so they look really pleasing when many are open together on one scape.  There are always darker veins and spots visible on each petal, which makes the petals look kind of iris-ish.  The blooms are both consistent and weather-resistant.

Pork Barrel Spending is a Wisconsin daylily hybridized by Nate Bremer and introduced in 2013. It is a dormant tetraploid that grows 31" tall in my yard. It is also categorized as a UFo Cascade, Crispate, and Spatulate. I was very pleased with this daylily's performance; for a first year plant it bloomed from July 3rd to August 5th. By year three it should be nothing short of amazing.

Okay, I admit it...I bought 'Three Bad Pigs' because I loved the name! Over time Three Bad Pigs has proven to be more than just a catchy name; it is a consistent and prolific plant. The colors are vivid and the beautiful blooms look like my photos all day long. This summer it produced 27 scapes and bloomed like crazy after a merciless winter. Blooms started on July 6, and as of today it still has a few more blooms to go.

Three Bad Pigs was hybridized by Gene Tanner and introduced in 2008. It is a dormant tetraploid that has 5.5" blooms and grows 28" tall in my garden. This is a South Carolina plant that has acclimated perfectly to Wisconsin. As for the name? According to the Browns Ferry Gardens website, Three Bad Pigs got its name after three pigs got loose and had a 'good time' in the hybridizer's daylily beds.

I am completely in love with the daylily 'Music Monkey.' Hybridized in Wisconsin by Phil and Luella Korth of Pinewood Gardens, this showy, dormant tetraploid was introduced in 2007. It is categorized as a UFo (Unusual Form) crispate (floral segments that have a pinched or folded effect). The 7" blooms are waxy and thick. Sun, humidity, rain, or wind don't bother this monkey; he always looks great. Occasionally the sepals twirl and the bloom actually looks like it's dancing! Last year Music Monkey grew 31" tall and bloomed in my garden from July 9 into the second week of August.

Music Monkey was one of my husband's picks, using his 'pretty picture' method of choice. Who knew it would be so awesome? And it surely can't hurt having two award-winning parents like Primal Scream and Unending Melody. If you are a northern gardener, and love oranges like I do, you can't go wrong with Music Monkey. I like the catchy moniker too.

'Greedy Governor' was part of last year's mission to add more red daylilies to my garden, a color that I didn't have much of. The Gov's first blooms, on June 27, were greeted by extremely high humidity and unrelenting 98-degree temperatures. Being a red (some of which are notorious for melting in the hot sun), the flower substance still looked good in the evening, if only just a bit lighter in color. I thought the lighter look was pleasing, as well. Greedy Governor is categorized as a dormant tetraploid unusual form (UFO) cascade, crispate, spatulate. The blooms are large (8.5") and I love the way the sepals twirl and curl.  In the bright sun the blooms have somewhat of a yellow-orange cast to them and the diamond dusting appears to make them glow. Oh the details! I tried to capture this with my camera but didn't have much luck.

I can see that Gov is already growing taller (29") than expected (26") and this is just year one. No worries;  that can be easily remedied with a future move. From what I have observed so far, I think this will be a hardy, happy plant no matter where I put it.

Greedy Governor was hybridized by Nate Bremer of Solaris Farms in Reedsville, WI and introduced in 2013. I grow a few other Bremer daylilies and they all perform very well in my Zone 4B Wisconsin garden.

Over the last few years I have added more red daylilies to my collection because I had very little of that color in my garden. One of my favorites is 'All American Chief.'  What a perfect northern daylily! You simply plant it (anywhere) and it takes off and grows like a champ. And those blooms! They are all 9" in diameter. The foliage is attractive and contrasts nicely with the red flowers. All American Chief makes quite a statement when it is in full bloom. My husband doesn't remember many of the daylily names in our yard, but he definitely knows this one!

Hybridized by Van Sellers and registered in 1994, All American Chief is a dormant tetraploid that grows 32" tall. This cultivar appears regularly on popularity polls and won the Stout Medal in 2008, which is the highest award a daylily can win (plus three other awards). The takeaway? This daylily is a sure thing! If you don't grow it, you really should.

Over the past year or two, most of my daylily purchases have been big, tall plants with large blooms. Not only do the blooms catch your eye from a distance, but deadheading is also considerably easier when I don't have to crouch over a teeny plant to remove 20-30 spent blooms each day. For these reasons I've gradually been phasing out many of my smaller plants, although I do keep a few of my favorites up close to the house. Some of my tiny daylilies have been hard to say goodbye to, but I rest assured knowing that their new owners will love them just as much as I once did. The silver lining? I keep an extensive wish list with numerous  daylilies on it that are just calling out my name. Does this sound familiar fellow daylily addicts?

So 'Black Falcon Ritual' is one of those big, tall, showy plants that I really like. With a height of 38", deadheading this guy is a breeze. The large, consistent blooms are 8" in size and have a waxy, thick texture. After a rainstorm the blooms still looks great. For dark flowers that are the color of grape jelly, they retain their color quite well in full sun. Also notice the delicate watermark. The photos don't do this plant justice -- it is so much more beautiful in real life!

Black Falcon Ritual is categorized as a UFO (Unidentified FOrm) Cascade. UFOs are a classification of daylilies based exclusively on the shapes of the petals or sepals. The American Hemerocallis Society (AHS) defines a 'Cascade' as having narrow floral segments with pronounced curling or cascading, which revolve upon themselves in the manner of a wood shaving.

Introduced in 2005 by Curt Hanson, this semi-evergreen tetraploid won an Honorable Mention Award in 2009 which indicates good performance that goes beyond the regional level. BFR is an early-midseason bloomer in my Wisconsin (4a) garden that started on July 7th last year.

Note: Black Falcon Ritual has the famous 'Jerry Hyatt' in its lineage.

Here is one of my favorite doubles, 'Black Lace Conspiracy.' The first photo was taken in the morning when BLC looks grape-purple, and the second photo was taken in the afternoon when it mellows into a rich burgundy. I love both versions! Plus, if you look closely it has a really neat white edging which is more pronounced as the day goes on.

'Black Lace Conspiracy' came from my friend Becky who bought it at a daylily nursery on one of her adventures in northern Wisconsin. What a find! This dormant tetraploid was introduced in 2008 by Wisconsin hybridizer Nate Bremer. It grows about 28" tall and has 5" blooms, with a bud count of 21-25. It also doubles very consistently. This gem looks great in all types of weather and is a hardy, reliable performer in my backyard. Keeper!

Here's a daylily that will make anyone say "Ooooooh and Aaaaaahhh." Boundless Beauty's blooms are at least seven and one-half inches of ruffled confection. This plant has a bud count of 31-35 and in peak bloom it is quite an eyeful! Hybridized by Patrick Stamile in 2005, this semi-evergreen pastel white blend is a multiple award winner that grows about 28" tall. Although registered as a mid-season bloomer, in 2017 Boundless Beauty bloomed from July 15 through September 4 in my yard.

Boundless Beauty has a couple of negatives, but let me quickly follow that up by saying I can work with both of them, because I LOVE this daylily!

First, it didn't tolerate 100% sun the best. By afternoon on very hot, humid days the flowers were a bit wilted. So I solved that problem by giving this stunner one of my rare part-shade spots. With morning sun and afternoon shade, it was so much happier. Boundless Beauty is a hardy grower in Wisconsin and didn't miss a beat when I transplanted it.

Second, the flowers have so many super large ruffles (or 'chicken-fat' as it's sometimes referred to) that occasionally a bloom can 'hang up.' In daylily talk that means as the flower tries to open in the morning, it gets tangled up in itself and may only partially bloom; or it can tear as it tries to open. But even if there happens to be one bloom that hangs up, you can rest assured there will be several others that look absolutely perfect. Despite these two hiccups, Boundless Beauty is still a keeper - that's how spectacular it is!

With limited space in my gardens, I only keep plants that I am totally in love with. I've had numerous  daylilies over the years that arrived and eventually departed my Zone 4a Wisconsin garden.  Some of them were even multiple award winners. They just didn't work out for me for one reason or another. Maybe they would do well in someone else's yard, another growing zone, different soil, a shadier location -- who knows? So these opinions are all mine and relate only to my situation. I do keep all of my daylilies for at least three years to give them a chance to show me their stuff before they go anywhere.

As disappointing as it is buying plants and realizing they won't work in my circumstances, it's just a part of gardening that I accept. It makes me all the more appreciative when I hit upon a daylily that is absolute perfection. The fun is always in the journey.

Here are a few of the plants I parted company with and the reasons why:

• A little Fire, Scarecrow - An award winner that just didn't suit me and sometimes needed staking.
• Always Afternoon - The blooms on this Stout Medal winner melted in the sun. I didn't have enough shade to keep the plant happy.
• Baby Blues - I know this will sound completely crazy, but Baby Blues bloomed too much! It rivaled 'Stella de Oro' in bloom power. This departure was all about me, not the plant -- my back was very unhappy deadheading 30+ blooms a day on such a diminutive plant. For those of you who love miniatures, it's a wonderful, robust, super bloomer!
• Caribbean Whipped Cream - Some blooms were breathtaking; some were not. This doesn't bother some gardeners. I'm not in that group.
• Court Magician - A pretty color combination, but the petals regularly 'canoed' (curled over).
• Etched Eyes - Beautiful and unusual, but it never thrived for me. I found it a new home and it seems to be doing better in a friend's garden.
• Highland Lord - A double that doubled about half the time. It was either gorgeous or just plain red. Which is no doubt perfectly fine for someone else who is not picky-me.
• Lady Neva - Droopy scapes. The large 9" blooms were too heavy for the scapes. I disliked deadheading blooms that were usually on or near the ground, especially after it rained.
• Moussaka - Another plant with melting blooms. By 1:00 pm it was done for; not a good fit for my sunny yard.
  
• Night Beacon - A striking bloom with a great color combination, but some scapes grew really tall and others never made it past the foliage. The clump always looked odd with scapes and flowers poking out all over the place. I hung onto this plant for about six years hoping the growth habits would improve. They didn't.
• Nowhere to Hide - This is one of the most unique daylilies I have ever grown, but it had inconsistent blooms and ratty foliage. I wish it would have been happier, but I don't think it liked Wisconsin.
• Tholian Web - These blooms melted in the sun. I liked the plant so well that I moved it from full sun to a coveted eastern location with afternoon sun and high hopes. It melted anyway. Frown face.

Pictured above: 'Nowhere to Hide"
Pictured below L-R: 'A Little Fire, Scarecrow;' 'Always Afternoon'

Whenever I look at 'South Seas,' in photos or in real life, this daylily reminds me of the tropics. And if there's ever a time to think of the tropics, it's at the end of January in Wisconsin. The tangerine coral color screams tropical plants, warm sandy beaches, and the sound of ocean waves lapping on the shore.

South Seas grows about 30" tall with 5.5" blooms that are reliable, consistent, and hold up well in full sun. Last summer it bloomed from July 9 to August 10. Hybridized by Steve Moldovan and registered in 1993, South Seas won an Honorable Mention award in 1998, which recognizes good daylily performance that goes beyond the regional level.

In my garden I like to grow a combination of old-school daylilies with newer ones. South Seas is one of my older keepers. It arrived in my yard almost twenty years ago via proliferation from my friend Roger's garden. This exceptional dormant tetraploid performs like a champ and deserves a spot in any northern garden.

'God Save the Queen' grows in my friend Mary's daylily garden. It was love at first sight when she set eyes on this stunner. Plus the name made her smile, so that was the icing on the cake. What's not to like? The colors are so vivid! This daylily is a multiple award-winner and has been used extensively for hybridizing. There are eighty-six kiddos on record to be exact! In 2017 God Save the Queen won the coveted Lenington All American Award, which recognizes a cultivar that performs the best over a wide geographic area. Only one daylily gets this award each year. It's a great list to refer to if you are looking for a 'sure thing.' I have grown about a dozen cultivars that have won this award and they have all been hardy growers in my Wisconsin garden. Here's the list: Lenington All American Award Winners

God Save the Queen is an evergreen tetraploid, hybridized by Mort Morss and introduced in 2005. It's an early season bloomer that grows about 30" tall and has large 7" flowers. As shown in this photo, sometimes the petals can exhibit teeth. This daylily grows well for Mary and it's quite a standout in her landscape.

If you are a northern gardener and don't grow 'Heavenly Angel Ice,' you really should. This plant is outstanding in so many ways. The blooms are thick and waxy, and they look perfect whether the temperature is 55 or 105 degrees. Heavenly Angel Ice is categorized as a UFO (Unusual FOrm) Crispate, which means that each bloom presents a little differently -- the flowers curl, twist, and twirl. The bud count is a remarkable 26-30. You can see from the photos how many  buds are on my plant and I've only had it two years! Being a dormant diploid, it does very well in Wisconsin. In my yard, this daylily grows about 40" tall and the scapes never droop, even after a heavy rainstorm. It's a midseason-late bloomer that in 2017 bloomed from July 10 through August 14.

Hybridized in Ohio, and introduced in 2004 by Jamie Gossard, Heavenly Angel Ice is a multiple award winner. Awards include the Stout Medal in 2013 (which is the highest award a daylily can get), Award of Merit in 2010, Lambert/Webster Award in 2009, and an Honorable Mention in 2007. There are already 50 registered child plants on the record, so it's quite popular as a parent. Love. This. Daylily.

This gorgeous daylily is a source of frustration for me. 'Tom Leonard' is a dormant tetraploid so, by all rights, he *should* grow well in Wisconsin, but for some reason he has stalled. I have had him since 2013 and to date he has only increased from two to five fans. He looks very healthy and blooms every year, yet just doesn't thrive. Tom Leonard is on his third location change in my garden, and I'm at the crossroads of "I'll keep my fingers crossed," and "You are outta here!" I have given this plant way more leeway than usual because I love sculpted daylilies. The blooms are an impressive 7" in size, and the brilliant yellow/gold glows brightly in the garden. I also love the fringy look of the petals. Plus, Tom is a late-bloomer, and that is also desirable. So I do have many reasons to keep hoping he will come around! Tom Leonard was purchased from a reliable source so I know for sure he's a division, not a tissue-cultured plant.

Have you ever had a plant that just wouldn't perform? For the life of me, I can't figure out what more I can do to help him along. This is a problem I don't often have with daylilies. So I'm on the fence about this daylily...I will be patient and see what happens in 2018 but reluctantly, an adoption may be in this guy's future.

'Victorian Garden Rolling Thunder' was one of my favorites in 2017. This daylily exhibited different 'looks,' depending on the weather and temperature. In the morning it always bloomed near black in color, but as the day progressed the color mellowed. Some days it looked grey-tinged, while other days it appeared more purple and/or various shades of red/burgundy.

Hybridized by Gerda Brooker and introduced in 2009, Victorian Garden Rolling Thunder's blooms are 6" in size and thick in substance with a velvet-like appearance. For a dark-colored flower the blooms held up very well in full sun. It is a semi-evergreen tetraploid that grows approximately 32" tall. Victorian Garden Rolling Thunder bloomed from July 6 through August 17. I really enjoyed watching it from one day to the next, just to see what colors would emerge.