2012 Season Extenders

SEASON EXTENDERS FOR NORTHERN GARDENS

by Lynn Stoll

This article was written for the April, 2011 newsletter of the Cedar Valley Iris and Daylily Society and was subsequently featured in The Pioneer, the newsletter of AHS Region One.  Pictures of most of the cultivars described can be found on this website under Daylily Galleries.

Introduction

Wish the daylily season lasted longer?  Although we Northern gardeners do not have reliable rebloom, we can still provide ourselves with a long succession of daylily bloom in our gardens by careful selection of early- and late-blooming season extenders.  The cultivars described here will add at least two weeks to both ends of the daylily bloom season – thus providing daylily bloom from June to late August or even early September instead of only one month in midsummer.  The cultivars described in this article are selected on the basis of typical bloom time of established clumps in our garden, which may differ from registration information.

Early Bloomers

Many of the very early-blooming daylilies are small-flowered, often related to STELLA DE ORA.  STELLA is, of course, the quintessential very early cultivar; in our garden, its show of bright golden yellow begins in early to mid-June; after a brief rest during midseason, it then reblooms sporadically until frost if no seed pods are allowed to form.  Three other daylilies that begin about the same time for us, sometimes even earlier than STELLA, are LYNN’S DELIGHT, PETITE BALLERINA, and BUTTERFLY CHARM.  LYNN’S DELIGHT (Albers 1992) is the earliest of these three.  We grew LYNN’S DELIGHT as an unnamed seedling in our garden for several years before we persuaded Chicago hybridizer Don Albers to introduce it.  It’s often the first daylily to bloom for us in early June, and its bud count of 40-50 on established clumps makes it a mass of color for over a month, at a time when few other perennials are in bloom.  The 3½” flowers are a ruffled light creamy apricot, with good substance; new blooms open in the evening, before old ones begin to close.  LYNN’S DELIGHT has never rebloomed in our garden, though it is reported to do so in the South.  BUTTERFLY CHARM (Dunbar 1986) is a rich butter yellow with heavy substance and very good form, along with vigorous growth, exceptional branching, and 30 or more buds per scape; it’s one I recommend highly to garden visitors.  BUTTERFLY CHARM does rebloom for us here when it gets enough water.  PETITE BALLERINA (Romine 1987) is a VE small-flowered tet with an abundance of 3¾” lemon yellow blooms.  Although it does not rebloom, it has taller and much better branched scapes than STELLA, and provides a better overall show of early bloom.  Another VE mini I like is TINY GRIT (Faggard 1986), a distinctive 2½” bronze/cream bicolor with a faint red halo; its outstanding branching and bud count give it a five-week period of bloom, with occasional rebloom. 

A number of tet spiders are very early bloomers.  Many of these were developed by Patrick Stamile, and I have learned through painful experience that many are relatively tender evergreens.  However, out of a large number that I have tested here, a dozen or so have shown themselves to be hardy and extremely vigorous performers here.  Usually the earliest of these are Bluebird Sky (Stamile 2003) and Applique (Stamile, 2003; evergreen).  BLUEBIRD SKY is a refreshingly cool bluish lavender with a large green throat.  It has proven itself totally hardy and extremely vigorous here.  Its strong upright scapes and nicely displayed blooms make a very attractive clump.  LAVENDER ARROWHEAD (Stamile 2001; Ev), a parent of BLUEBIRD SKY, is similarly hardy here, but it blooms a little later.  APPLIQUE, a purple crispate unusual form, is notable for its interesting yellow appliquéd throat pattern.

Two dormant early-blooming tet spiders are Christmas Ribbon (Stamile 1994) and MOVING ALL OVER (Stamile 2001).  CHRISTMAS RIBBON is an exceptionally vigorous clear bright red unusual form (spatulate), while MOVING ALL OVER is a wine red spider variant (4.1:1 ratio). 

Octopus Hugs (Stamile 2001) is a reddish orange bitone evergreen with light red sepals; it is a cascade unusual form.  Skinny Dipping (Stamile 2002) is a claret purple classic spider (5:1) with a huge grass green throat and interesting petal tips that twist and curl; it is also a very early bloomer that first blooms a few days later than BLUEBIRD SKY. VELVET RIBBONS (Stamile 2004) is a huge velvety near-black spider (4.7:1 ratio) with a 14” wingspan; at its best, it can only be described as spectacular when it is growing well.  Unfortunately, it has a tendency to be slightly tender; some years it is simply breath-taking, but other years it seems to struggle.  Other very early tet spiders include WINGS ON HIGH (Stamile 2001), a spidery orchid evergreen which seems completely hardy; WAITING IN THE WINGS (Stamile 2002), a clear purple crispate unusual form; and WEB BROWSER (Stamile 2002), a bright red semievergreen classic spider (5.6:1).  WEB BROWSER, like VELVET RIBBONS, is an uneven performer; at its best, it is quite striking, but some years it is only ordinary.

Lee Gates has provided us with a group of red tetraploids which are very reliable early-bloomers; these include Scarlet Orbit (1985), a round scarlet red; Jovial (1987), a bright wine-red; seductor (1984; apple red); CHARLES JOHNSTON (1981; cherry red); and Happy Rebel (1989)..  All of these, along with NOTORIOUS (Munson 1984), seem interchangeable in my mind; all are inexpensive, and all provide welcome splashes of bright red early in the season, but to me, none stands out compared to the others, and I probably wouldn’t keep them in the garden if they bloomed in midseason.  A smaller early red is HOLIDAY STAR (Albers 1993), a 4” brick red  with cream midribs and  a gold throat; it is very floriferous and a rapid increaser.  BETTY FORD (Kirchhoff 2003) is a superb early clear red with outstanding branching and bud count; although registered as EE, it blooms here at least a week later than these other reds, more toward early midseason.

The first large-flowered yellow to bloom in my garden is always Lemon Dewdrop (Kehl 1993).  This is a pretty clear lemon yellow with a nice green throat, without the familiar tinge of gold seen in Stella de Ora and its early cousins.  It has heavy substance and good branching and bud count, resulting in a long bloom period.  Other very early large-flowered yellows are Summertime Splendor, SMUGGLER’S BOUNTY (Branch 1995), Cheddar Cheese, Speculator (Benz 1992), and my own SUNNY MOUNTAIN (Stoll 2005).  SUMMERTIME SPLENDOR (Salter ’97) is an outstanding cultivar which for several years was one of the main foundations of Jeff Salter’s hybridizing program.  It has a nicely formed flower with good branching and bud count, a long period of bloom, and outstanding vigor.  For hybridizers, it’s exceptionally pod-fertile.  CHEDDAR CHEESE (Benz 1985) is a very brassy “loud” golden yellow-orange; it’s impossible to mistake it for anything else in the early garden.  SMUGGLER’S BOUNTY is a lemon yellow self which is similar to the more familiar SMUGGLER’S GOLD, but without the bronze overlay of the latter; it is also exceptionally vigorous.  At 44” in height and one of the first daylilies of any color to bloom, SUNNY MOUNTAIN rapidly forms an impressive clump that simply can’t be missed.  The flower is a sunny clear yellow with a deeper gold rim; it has excellent branching and bud count, and it reblooms when established.

The earliest pink to bloom in my garden is Moldovan’s Arigatou (2000), a light rose-pink blend with exceptional vigor.  This is followed within a few days by ROSE FRILLY DILLY (Gleber 1986), a very ruffled salmon pink with a rose eye.  Other very early pinks include Heaven and Earth (Billingslea 1987), a rose pink with a deep rose eye and green throat, and Heavenly Harmony (Harris-Benz 1988), a round and ruffled apple-blossom pink.

One of my special favorite early bloomers is Pure and Simple (J. Salter 1994) .  PURE AND SIMPLE is a remarkably vigorous tangerine orange sherbet shade with a heavily ruffled gold edge.  Importantly for the early season, it opens well after cold nights.  It is immediately recognizable and very consistent, almost never having a bad flower.  For hybridizers, PURE AND SIMPLE is very pod-fertile.  Spalding’s JOLLY LAD (1980) is a charming, very round light yellow with a red eye.  Although it’s an evergreen, I’ve grown it for over 15 years and it’s never shown any sign of being less than perfectly hardy and vigorous.  It’s always one of the first few to bloom, but it would be distinctive even among the hundreds in bloom at midseason.  My only reservation is its low bud count.

There are only a handful of early-blooming purples.  Two that I often recommend are ALASKAN MIDNIGHT (Porter 1991), a vigorous dark purple, and Curt Hanson’s very popular BELA LUGOSI (1995), a rich burgundy purple self with a velvety finish.  However, neither of these is extremely early, and in fact BELA LUGOSI is registered as a midseason bloomer.  Most years the first purple to bloom for me is my own BING CHERRY BINGE (Stoll 2005).  This daylily first caught my attention in the seedling bed because, unlike so many purples, it consistently opened well, even on the cool mornings often encountered in June.  As the plant matured, I also came to appreciate it for its excellent branching and bud count, its vigorous growth – and finally, its reliable rebloom.

Several Millikan cultivars are reliable very early bloomers.   Marble Faun and Exotic Gown are both round and ruffled pale yellow to cream diploids.  Both are similar to Millikan’s 1989 Stout Medal winner BROCADED GOWN, but these two bloom earlier.  Sadie Lou (Spalding 1978) is a pretty cream pink whose performance in my garden is not reflected in its registration details.  Although it is registered as an evergreen, it consistently grows as a dormant here.  Also, it’s a very early bloomer here (not midseason, as registered), and often reblooms when growing conditions are favorable.  Although it’s more than thirty years old, I still enjoy having it in the garden.  Another early cream-colored older daylily that I still enjoy is SENT FROM HEAVEN (Spalding 1976), a pale pink-tinged near-white.   ICED CHAMPAGNE (Steinborn 1987) is a pretty ruffled champagne pink self; it proliferates heavily and reblooms

Lates

I especially cherish the late bloomers in my garden.  The end of bloom season always seems sad to me – it feels as if I am being forced to say goodby to dear friends, knowing that I won’t see them again for almost a year.  This makes the few daylilies still blooming at the end of the season especially precious to me.

If I had to choose a single favorite among the late-bloomers, it might be Summer Hymns (Trimmer 2001).  Trimmer introduced this daylily while still living on Long Island, and unlike more recent Trimmer introductions, SUMMER HYMNS is a very hardy dormant.  The flower is a round and very ruffled golden apricot with good substance.  Among late-blooming yellows, Curt Hanson’s SUN TEMPLE SPIRIT (1994 ) is a large, fragrant pure lemon yellow tetraploid with nice flower form.  It is registered as Very Late, and has been a very consistent late bloomer here.  ANNA MAE HAGER (Hagerstrom 1986) is a very similar late-blooming yellow which is also fragrant.  ANNA MAE HAGER is less well known, but it is a little larger and in most years it blooms even later than SUN TEMPLE SPIRIT.  My own Harvest Moon Rising (Stoll 2005) continues to give me much pleasure in the late garden.  This is a good but not extraordinary golden yellow which would probably be overlooked in the riot of midsummer color.  What is exceptional about this cultivar is that it is consistently among the last 1% of daylilies blooming in my garden – sometimes into September.  It begins to bloom in late midseason, but its exceptional bud count (30-35+) and branching allow it to keep blooming and blooming, until you suddenly notice that nothing else is still left in bloom.

In addition to season-extenders, another of my special daylily interests is spiders.  STOPLIGHT (Childs 1954) appeals to me for both of these reasons:  it’s a fine, late-blooming, bright red classic spider with a large gold throat.  A mature clump in full bloom is a real attention-getter, particularly when other bloom is getting sparse.  While many of the tet spiders are very early bloomers, the diploid spiders tend to bloom later in the season.  One of the latest and best known is the widely grown NORTH WIND DANCER (Schaben 2001).  This graceful clear cool pink/lavender cascade unusual form was the runner-up for the Stout Medal in both 2009 and 2010.  This is already a classic that should be in every Northern garden.  ORCHID CORSAGE (Saxton 1976) is another very late blooming unusual form; it’s a lavender pink crispate unusual form that creates a striking presence in the late garden.  PURPLE MANY FACES (N. Roberts 1995) is a vigorous rich purple crispate unusual form with a great clump habit.  Other late-blooming diploid spiders are MEMORY JORDAN (Reinke 1997) and PROSAIC ARCHITECTURE (Reed 2005).  MEMORY JORDAN is a nice lavender-pink spider variant, while PROSAIC ARCHITECTURE, registered at 50”, is a spidery light pink blend with a darker rose eye.  The bright orange JERSEY SPIDER (Grovatt 1974) also provides welcome color in the late garden. 

Autumn Minaret (Stout 1961) is a unique tall pale golden orange blend spider.  It is registered at 66”, and sometimes seems taller because of its proportion.  It bears little resemblance to most daylilies in our modern garden, and may be regarded as a historical classic.  It is one of the last daylilies blooming in the late garden.  Even later is the unregistered SEPTEMBER GOLD; the spidery orange-gold flower is nothing special – but it’s the latest daylily in my garden, and it looks quite nice with the yellow and bronze chrysanthemums that bloom at the same time. 

Desiree (Moldovan 1998) is one of the very latest pinks blooming in my garden.  It’s a deep rich rosy pink with an orchid undertone.  It has the exemplary plant habit that one would expect from a Moldovan daylily, and a beautifully ruffled form as well.  HEAVEN CAN WAIT (R. Hansen 1991) is a lovely round silky peach pink with darker ruffles and a green throat.  It is more hardy than most of Ra’s cultivars here, though some winters it suffers.  FINAL TOUCH (Apps 1991) is a pink-lavender bitone, round and ruffled and nicely formed.  With these lovely flowers nicely distributed on six to eight brancdhes and with more than sixty buds per scape, it would be a standout at the height of midseason.  In September, it’s a real treasure.  As a bonus, it’s also fragrant!  AUGUST QUEEN (Jablonski 1979) is a large rose self which is registered as very late.  Unlike FINAL TOUCH, for example, neither the individual flower nor the plant habit, branching, and bud count of AUGUST QUEEN would merit any notice in mid-July.  However, since most late-blooming daylilies seem to be in the yellow/gold/bronze/orange range, AUGUST QUEEN’S rich rose blossoms are particularly welcome so late in the season.  Another good late in this color class is ROYAL JESTER (Kennedy 1991), a pretty pink and cream bicolor. LUSTY LITTLE LULU, from Chicago hybridizer Bob Bearce (1984), is a very dependable late ruffled apricot melon self which I like very much.  Finally, SPARKLING CHAMPAGNE (Moldovan 2002), a gorgeous pink blend with cream and gold ruffling, beading, and crimping, is an outstanding addition to the late-blooming pink class, though it’s not quite as late as the others described here.

There are a number of excellent late-blooming reds.  Two older reds which are still valuable additions to the modern garden are CHICAGO APACHE (Marsh 1982), a clear red, and ILLINI JACKPOT (Varner 1983), an excellent deep red with a light green throat and 40-50 buds when grown well.  Both of these are exceptionally vigorous and reliably late bloomers.  Two fine late-blooming reds from Chicago hybridizer Don Albers are HOLIDAY JOY (1995), rich bright red with a darker eyezone and a green throat, and FIRE CHIEF NICHOLAS (1995), which is similar.  Although both are registered as late midseason, HOLIDAY JOY is usually the last red still blooming at the end of the season here.  At 46”, SCARLET IBIS, a bright red from Wisconsin hybridizer Rod Lysne (1998) makes a dramatic and imposing clump in the late garden.  John Benz is known for his excellent red daylilies, and some of these bloom toward the end of the season. though none is truly late.   Three of the latest are RED POINSETTIA (1992), a round clear red with a nicely contrasting bright green throat; REVELRY IN RED (1990; deep ruby red), and RUBY SENTINEL (1991; ruby red).  Another good late-blooming red is Millikan’s BLOOD SPOT (1986), a round blood red tetraploid with a darker eye.

In contrast to the many good late reds on the market, I can think of only a handful of good late purples.  Of those I’m familiar with, perhaps the best (and the latest) is BRIDGETON BISHOP (Apps 1998), a violet blend with a yellow knobby edge.  Another nice late purple is Jack Carpenter’s MORADO E VERDE (1993), which means “purple and green”; it’s a purple with a deeper eye and a green throat.

Three near-white lates are PRIDE OF MASSACHUSETTS (P. Stamile 1987), JOHN MICHAEL (J. Carpenter 1992), and DEVONSHIRE CREAM (J. Carpenter 1988).  PRIDE OF MASSACHUSETTS is a chartreuse cream blend with a green throat; JOHN MICHAEL is a cream peach self, and DEVONSHIRE CREAM is a ruffled cream blend which is also set off by a nice green throat.  This cultivars opens particularly well after cold nights.  Two other late-blooming whites, although not quite as late as the previous three, are  Stamile’s LAST SNOWFALL (1987), a yellowish ivory self, and SEPTEMBER FROST (Trimmer 1999), a ruffled ivory cream with a yellow green throat.

Many of the daylily introductions of the late Brother Charles Reckamp are season-extenders, and most of these are lates.  TECHNY PEACH LACE (1988) is a pale cream gold with a peach-rose overlay and petal edges.  It has an adequate but not great bud count; however, it’s an exceptionally pretty tetraploid which blooms well after most daylily cultivars are finished, and I think it deserves to be more widely grown.  Another beautiful late-blooming Reckamp cultivar is PSALTER AND HARP (1985), a ruffled creamy peach-apricot polychrome.   MORNING DAWN (1981) is a round and ruffled bright rose to cherry red with a surprisingly modern form.

CARAMEL GLAZE (Munson 1987) is registered as an 18” amber/pink/russet/ivory/yellow blend tetraploid.  If that seems a bit difficult to visualize, the overall garden effect to my eye is that of a light yellow with a heavy overlay of rosy bronze on the outer part of the petals.  Although the flowers are large and the scapes are short, the blossoms are positioned well and don’t give that buried-in-the-foliage effect that I hate.  CARAMEL GLAZE blooms well into September most years.  CINNAMON LACE (Branch) is another good late-blooming daylily in this color class.  It’s taller than CARAMEL GLAZE, the individual blossoms are smaller, and the branching, bud count, and bud placement are outstanding.  A mature clump in full bloom is a beautiful sight.  YUMA (Whatley ’80) is a ruffled caramel/yellow/rose blend with a yellow throat.  YUMA is a very beautiful and a surprisingly “modern” looking flower for a thirty year-old cultivars, but unfortunately it’s a poor opener and a slow increaser.  SCOTCH PLAID (Millikan 1989) is a rust red and cream-orange bicolor which is also a reliably late bloomer.  HARVEST HUE (Millikan ’83), a copper/strawberrr red blend with a rose eye, is another late-bloomer in this color range, as is JOSHUA NATHAN ALLEN (J. Carpenter 1995), an orange with a rust eyezone.  Finally, MARGE AVAUN (Branch 1991) is a vigorous pinkish apricot blend which is the latest of this color group to bloom almost every year.

These late-blooming beauties provide daylily lovers with a good selection of season-extenders for August and September.  In addition, for those who are always out of town during midsummer, they provide an opportunity for a very satisfying and well diversified daylily garden with peak bloom in mid-to-late August, rather than Mid-July.  I hope you’ll consider adding some of them to your own gardens to make the season last a little longer.

Early Bloomers (early June to early July)

Late-Bloomers (August to early September)