February 9th, 2011: Daylily 'Splendorous Sue' (Hemerocallis ) by Calif_Sue

The Bloom of the Day for February 9th, 2011 was Daylily 'Splendorous Sue' (Hemerocallis ).

View the bloom of the day here: http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/botd.php?date=2011-02-09

Very pretty!

I agree!!!

Nice colors in that lovely bloom ... makes me wish I could grow Daylilies! How cute that is also bears your name!

Pretty pretty;o)

lin, where are you that you can't grow DLs? We grow them in the desert - they should grow just about anywhere - lol.

Wondering the same thing, why no DL's Lin?

locakelly & pixie:

I'm in Central Florida and some folks do real well with DL's and other bulbs in this area. It's not the plant ... it's the gardener! ^_^ I tend to plant bulbs and they end up too deep, leaves and mulch get piled on top, etc. ...

Wonderful, Sue! Love those veins but not the ones on my legs. They're far better shown off on daylilies.

Lin - Our niece lives near you and she grows great daylilies so maybe you should give them another try. Unlike lilies (Lilium), which are bulbs, the daylilies are fleshy rooted perennials and should survive and prosper for you.

pirl: Maybe I'm thinking of some other bulb type plants then that didn't do well for me. Now I've got to go check out some DL's ... ^_^

Just look at some of the daylily threads with photos and you'll be tempted to try them. Have fun.

Such enabler's you all are! :)

It's our job!

* * * grin * * *

Ok ... you all have me looking at Day Lily websites now and WOW, there are definitely thousands to choose from, I've seen many photo's of some really beautiful Day Lily's!

Now, someone please tell me, are they always so expensive? I've been looking at some on-line sites and I'm finding prices of $100, $200 and up!

Any suggestions on a not so expensive variety for a newbie to try? I know nothing about these plants. Website/Source?

Ok guys and gals ... disregard my above post, I found the Day Lily forum! ^_^

... going to lurk, read and hopefully learn!

You can buy many daylilies for $5.00 and $10.00, too. Keep looking and check back here if you want references. Have fun.

http://stores.ebay.com/Blue-Ridge-Daylilies-DAYLILY-STORE

http://mariettagardens.com/catalog/pagea1.htm

You can grow dormants but not all will like it in your warm zone. Look for EVERGREENS and SEMI-EVERGREEN.

Yeah - another DL convert;o) Lin, you will love them! The DL Forum here is awesome with lots of knowledgable peeps. Keep an eye out for trades too once people are able to dig and divide.

I've been lurking and reading on the DL forum and googling and reading about DL's. A neighbor told me Daylilies don't do well down here, that they need a winter chill to bloom and we sometimes don't get enough of a chill for them to thrive, but I did a search for the Central Florida area and found a couple of sites: http://www.samplegardens.com/index.php?module=pagemaster&PAGE_user_op=view_page&PAGE_id=9&MMN_position=5:5 with good information.

I found two nurseries not far from where I live that I might have to check out in the near future:

http://www.artgallerygardens.com/index.html

http://trimmerdaylily.com/index.html

I've read that blooming time for DL's here is from February to October but that May is the peak bloom time. I've been of course looking at on-line photo's and can't believe the thousands of beautiful blooms ... rainbows of color!

I believe there are many hybridizers/growers in Florida Lin besides those two, though Trimmer is well-known and held in high regard. Those grown "locally" would perform the best for your area. I love to drool over the new intros that come out every year but alas I can't justify spending that much $$$ on a plant I might kill - lol.

Pop in on the DL Forum with any questions you might have. Nice peeps there;o)

This message was edited Feb 10, 2011 10:50 AM

LOL, Kell, I was so busy yesterday, running here and there, even getting myself my first speeding ticket in over 20 years, I didn't even come on here to DG so this was a nice surprise :-)
I hope you had a better special day than I did. :0

Lin, your neighbor is highly misinformed, probably basing their assumption on a commonly planted landscape daylily 'Stella de Oro", which is a dormant and doesn't do so good in warmer zones. But there are many dormant daylilies that do just fine for us.
If you are anywhere near those 2 gardens you listed, those are 2 famous hybridizers in the daylily world. That area of FL is known as the Daylily Mecca, where the majority of the better known daylily hybridizers live. Of course there are several others in many other states. Here are a list of some of the top hybridizers. (only new intros are costly) http://www.daylilydiary.com/gardenHybridC.htm
And here is a nice list of daylily nurseries and display garden listed by state on the left side
http://www.daylilydiary.com/gardenHybridC.htm
And here is a totally addictive site, one that got many of us going on our wonderful collections, the Lily Auction, with categories for all kinds of price ranges.
http://daylily.com/cgi-bin/auction.cgi
and then don't forget to peruse the PlantFiles here.
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/b/Hemerocallidaceae/Hemerocallis/none/cultivar/0/
With 65,000+ registered daylilies, you are sure to find something you'll like to try!

Oh no - do not go to the Lily Auction - lol. You'll never leave!

Thanks so much everyone for all the good info! Going to lurk about at a few of those sites right now.

p.s. If no one hears from me in a week or two ... send out a posse! ^_^

Ha! We will.

Join some of the daylily threads and mention you're new to them. You'll get offers of free plants for just the cost of postage and you'll have more than you can imagine.

Gee, you guys are so bad trying to get us addicted like you are! I refuse to even look at any of your links. I will not be in daylily lust! Plantladylin RUN!!!! RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Splendorous Sue, a day late. I tried to get online yesterday to send you birthday greetings but did not have time. I have been in Florida for a week, just got back an hour ago. Had the best birthday ever! I am now officially 60 years old. Creeps me right out. LOL

I was trying to surprise you but had to switch to this pic the day I left and I was so afraid you would go to the BOTD forum and see the switch. You seem to see all on DG. I hope I did surprise you.

I am afraid to ask what went wrong. I have not checked my dmails yet but see I have tons. I guess I will read about it soon. No fair you did not have a great birthday!

Hey Pirl, I ate 2 lobster rolls in Florida and had steamers and even deep fried clams with their bellies. I thought of you and took pics. Have not downloaded them yet.

If the construction here would just get done we'll be on our way to Maine (yes, I do know it's February) to have our lobster rolls. Can't wait!

Maybe I'm the only daylily person who was never tempted by the Lily Auction site. That's one are where I am virginal!

I'm L.A. Wench!!!! ^_^

I'm a lobster roll wench!

Forgot to say - happy birthday to Sue and to Kell.

♬ ♭ ♪ ♫ ♩ Happy Belated Birthday Sue! ♭ ♬ ♪ ♩ ♫

I hope your birthday was as Splendorous and Beautiful as the Daylily in your photo!

Lin

I sure was surprised Kell, I never had time to get to the pending queue page to see any changes. You should tell them what you originally had picked out for the 9th! And how wonderful to be in Florida for your special day and a whole week of it too!

Well, it's was mixed feelings week actually! We got funded today and are closing on the house next Friday with, tada ***almost a 1/2 acre*** for my new garden in the country! The craziness of the past few days of jumping through hoops to get all the right paperwork signed, the pest and home inspections ordered, the mad rush of trying to get funded at an accelerated speed (less than 10 days!) I am on mental overload and just exhausted!
For those of you that have bigger lots than this, 1/2 acre is HUGE for me, I have lived in the city all my life. I'm going from a 6,000 to a 19,800 sq ft lot.

Pirl, LOL, lobster roll wench!!

I just checked the date of that daylily image as I have never owned it, I believe it was taken on a garden tour in St. Louis.

We also went from 60 x 100 to 1/2 acre. Beware - as the years roll by that 1/2 acre grows!

The plants will grow, the 1/2 acre can't, it's fenced! I may wish some day it was larger but it's going to be overwhelming to begin with. At least there are garden bones in place, meandering gravel paths, a small stone retaining wall where the back yard slopes down, lots of overgrown shrubs and untrimmed hedges and several small trees. The very back of the property backs up to a greenbelt so the lot looks & feels much bigger. The front also has overgrown shrubs and along the street next to the 1/2 circle driveway are a row of redwoods.

We'll be looking forward to photos, Sue!

Even if the property doesn't physically expand, by the time you hit the late 60's it will feel as though it has.

Wow Sue - congratulations on the bigger and better property! You're right, that is a lot of land when you are used to living in the city. Good for you! I live smack dab in the city, but it is an older neighborhood and I am on a corner lot, so our's is almost 12,000 sq ft. Huge by city standards - lol. Enjoy;o)

Poor Sue, feeling a bit blue! Hey girl, dwell on the positive. How lucky are you to be about to explode into your new garden space. A year from now it will look so good!