Here is my favorite ‘old’ daylily. Since I grow primarily dormants it is, oddly enough, an evergreen, but if I keep it protected it grows great.

Mister Lucky (Sellers, 1975)  Award Winner
Mid-season bloomer 28" tall (34" in my yard) 4" bloom, Evergreen, Tetraploid - Red with dark red eyezone

He's as old as the hills, but still holds a prized, protected spot next to my back door. Every bloom is perfect, the clump is well-behaved, has a nice foliage and the color is exquisite.

Strutter's Ball (Moldovan, 1984) is one of my all time favorites. I  have grown this award winner for over 20 years! Truly, one of the best sunfast purples you can get, this beauty withstands all types of weather conditions. A dormant tetraploid, Strutter's Ball grows 28" tall in my garden. The prolific flowers are 6" in size and the plant typically blooms from early July through mid-August. I would recommend this daylily to any northern gardener.

Heavenly Orange Blaze (Gossard, 2009) is one of my early blooming orange daylilies. The large 8-inch fluorescent flowers are quite a sight to see when in peak bloom. It is a dormant tetraploid that grows 41" tall. We purchased this plant from the advice of a Wisconsin Daylily Sociey member who was helping at the annual sale. He told us that Heavenly Orange Blaze was one of his favorite garden plants. We are very grateful for his tip!

Now that winter is almost over, I have been reminiscing about the beautiful  daylilies that bloomed last summer. Peak bloom in our area in western Wisconsin  occurred around July 20, 2022. Here are a few photos.

Daylilies pictured include Blueberry Breakfast,  J.T. Davis, Final Destination, House of Misrepresentatives, Dean Corey, Sabine Baur, Time Stopper, Ruby Spider, and Stranger Than Fiction.

New Series is one of my keeper daylilies. I have grown this beautiful plant for over 30 years. The 7-8 inch flowers are spectacular during peak bloom. This award winner was hybridized in 1982 (Carpenter, K.). It is a semi evergreen diploid that grows well in Wisconsin's climate. New Series is a perfect border plant as it only grows 25 inches tall. It is mid season bloomer in the landscape. Two thumbs up!!!

I bought My Friend Charlie about 8 years ago and I love it more and more as each year passes. It makes a stunning large clump. Charlie is a Paul Owen daylily (2012). This dormant tetraploid daylily is very hardy in Wisconsin. It grows 34 inches tall with beautiful 7+ inch blooms. It is a mid-season bloomer that lasts well over a month!

Nature's Blue Witches Brew (Story, 2010) is one of my favorite bicolor daylilies. This daylily came from my friend Sally. I love the unique smokey lavender-cream color. It is very hardy in Wisconsin and grows 38-40 inches in my garden. The flowers are four inches and they bloom from July 12 through August 7. This one is a keeper!

Rock Solid is very aptly named. It is weatherproof, reliable, and consistent. I received my plant as a division from my friend Mary.  It's a prolific garden plant. 

Hybridized in 2002 by Patrick Stamile, this dormant tetraploid grows 27 inches tall in my garden.  Rock Solid is an early midseason bloomer that flowered from July 2 through August 4 (bud count 31–35). Blooms are almost 5 inches in size. The genetics of this daylily are so desirable that there are 181 child plants listed in the daylily database. Rock Solid is truly a sure thing!

American Daylily Society Awards
Award of Merit: 2011
Honorable Mention: 2008

Unbridled Spirit is one of my garden favorites. The beautiful pastel pink blends with my other flower colors and the ornate edges with teeth and hooks add visual interest.

Hybridized in Kentucky by John Rice (2007), this dormant tetraploid is very hardy in Wisconsin. Unbridled Spirit is registered as growing 33 inches tall, but in my garden it grows 40 inches plus. The blooms are 5.5 inches and are consistent and weatherproof. This daylily is a late season bloomer starting in late July and going into August. It is worthy to note that one of its parents is the famous Forestlake Ragamuffin.

American Daylily Society Award: Honorable Mention 2011

About 25 years ago I received Spanish Glow as a freebie plant with one of my daylily orders. Believe it or not, I ended up liking Spanish Glow way more than the daylilies I actually ordered. Dozens of daylilies have come and gone in my garden, but Spanish Glow has remained.

Hybridized by Jeff Salter in 1988, this semi-evergreen tetraploid grows 26 to 28 inches tall with a 5 inch bloom. The soft pastel peach is lovely. It is a mid-late season bloomer, that blooms from July through August. Spanish Glow is a perfect garden plant...beauty plus performance!

American Dayliliy Society Award: 1992 Honorable Mention

Stranger in a Strange Land is one of my newer daylilies. I had an empty spot in our brick retaining wall. I wanted a smaller, purple, late bloomer; and this daylily checked all of the boxes. Hybridized in 2011 by Karol Emmerich,  this Minnesota daylily grows very well in Wisconsin. It grows with five inch blooms, between 22 and 24 inches tall, and begins blooming towards late July and well into August. It is sunfast and consistent in addition to being beautiful. It was a perfect addition to our tiered retaining wall. 

Here is another of my favorite orange daylilies, Screamcicle. Hybridized by Pat Cochenour in 2003, this dormant tetraploid grows 35 inches tall and has a large 8 inch  bloom.  It is an early midseason bloomer, usually starting in early July. Categorized as an unusual form crispate, this daylily is a great performer in my Wisconsin garden with a bud count of 26-30. 

American Daylily Society Awards:
​Award of Merit: 2014
Honorable Mention: 2009

I don't usually grow unregistered daylilies, but I couldn't resist this little sweetheart. I got this daylily from Bobbi Johnson (Johnson Daylilies). Hybridized by Bob Keitzman in Wisconsin, 'Nu-Era Sure is Cool' is the name he had picked out, but never got around to registering it. Bobbi may be registering this plant in the future if she gets permission from Bob's family. In any case, I am in love with this daylily. Blooms are small –I would say about 4 to 4 1/2 inches, but the scapes grow between 30 and 36 inches tall. I planted mine right up by the house so I could appreciate the beautiful colors and intricate details. Nu-Era Sure is Cool is an early-midseason bloomer, typically starting in late June or early July. The plant is hardy and the blooms are consistent.

There is a funny story about this daylily! I grew Egyptian Spice many years ago, but had given it away to make room for new daylilies. Lo and behold, last year I found it blooming behind our garage in the field. I am guessing a small piece of the crown got thrown in the field with a bunch of weeds. The poor thing looked so pathetic; it was begging for a second chance. Ange dug it out for me and we placed it in our large garden by the road. We gave it some TLC and lots of room to spread. 

Egyptian Spice is a beautiful amber-orange blend that grows approximately 28 inches tall and has large 6 inch blooms. It is a midseason-late bloomer, usually starting in at the end of July going into August. Hybridized in Chicago by Brother Charles Reckamp in 1969, this dormant tetraploid is a classic. It won an Honorable Mention in 1973 from the American Daylily Society. The plant is already thanking me as it bloomed wonderfully this summer. Welcome back!

Here is one of my early birds; the Wisconsin–bred 'Flaming Pumpkins'. My friend Sally surprised me with a division of her plant after I admired it in her garden. Orange, waxy textured daylilies are some of my absolute favorites.

​Hybridized by Francis and Genni Kleckner in 2012, this dormant tetraploid grows 36 inches tall with 6 inch blooms. This year the blooms are even larger because of all the rain we have had. I love the delicate ruffles and the subtle gold edges on the flowers. Last summer bloom time was from June 21 through July 21. This year bloom started about two weeks later, due to the cold weather. In 2020  Flaming Pumpkins was awarded an Honorable Mention from the American Daylily Society.

I have taken hundreds of photos of 'Heavenly Starbrite' and I'm still not convinced that I have accurately captured this daylily's true beauty. It is stunning in peak bloom. The large, waxy 10 inch blooms are beacons of light in the garden. In the morning the blooms have a greenish tint. 

Hybridized in Ohio by Jamie Gossard (2005), Heavenly Starbrite is a dormant tetraploid that grows 36 inches tall in my garden. This daylily is categorized as an unusual form crispate. Last summer, bloom time was from July 22 through most of August. Starbrite's parents are Techny Spider and Adeline Goldner, both are of which are very well-known daylilies. 

'Buckeye Barnstormer' is one of my awesome little overachievers. This 100% double daylily is such a show off that I have it planted by the back door so you can appreciate it every time you come in and out of the house or drive up the driveway. It makes a beautiful clump and the foliage is very nice.

Hybridized in Iowa by Ralph Haehn and introduced in 2000, this semi-evergreen diploid grows 26 inches tall. It is a perfect plant for in front of the border. Blooms are 4.5 inches in size. Buckeye Barnstormer bloomed from June 27 through August 1 last summer. It is very hardy and consistent in Wisconsin. One of the parents of Buckeye is the Stout Medal winner Siloam Double Classic. I have grown Siloam Double Classic and Buckeye definitely inherited the vigorous nature of its parent.

'Only Just Begun' has been with me on my daylily journey from the very beginning of my obsession. I have grown this cultivar for over 30 years and I am in love with it today just as much as the first day I saw it bloom. OJB is a 1976 Gilbert Wild daylily – you've no doubt heard of Gilbert Wild of Missouri, right? I'm pretty sure just about everyone in the daylily community started out with Gilbert Wild daylilies. I remember spending hours paging through their catalog, marveling at all of the different types and colors of daylilies that were available.

Only Just Begun is a dormant diploid daylily that is very hardy and consistent in Wisconsin. Although registered at 26 inches tall, my plant is so happy it typically grows up to 33 inches tall. The 5.5 inch waxy, cream–colored blooms have a slight tinge of pink. Dainty ruffles are an added bonus. Last summer, OJB bloomed from July 2 through August 4. This prolific superstar looks wonderful whether it's 60° or 100°. Rain, shine, wind, whatever, it always looks perfect.