I was wondering if anyone is growing Hurricane Swirls in zone 5 and how the plant is doing for them. I try not to buy too many evergreens because I worry about losing them, but I'm seriously considering this one.

If you want to drop me an email my addy is droberts @netins.net Just remove the space in the email. ~I don't know that I'll be able to wait before buying it, but encouragement is always good! *g*

grass lover, I don't grow HURRICANE SWILRLS; in fact, I apparently have only a few Stamiles. Not because I don't like them; more to do with what I've ended up buying. However, I do have a certain number of evergreens and/or southern-hybridizerd plants and/or plants with southern genes, eg, Lambertson's SUBTLE KNIFE, which does very well here and has rebloomed two summers in a row; Mort Morss's BEYOND THE SKY (one of the most consistently beautiful daylilies in my garden and one of my top favs) and BUTTERFLIES ARE FREE; some Carpenter patterned evergreens; Larry Grace's OVER HEATED and HEATHER GRACE. OVER HEATED is right outside the window of this sunroom (ie, near the walls of this house = protected spot/microclimate), looking quite perky and green. As I look outside, I see a surprising number of green clumps; many were registered as sevs, but there must be evergreens out there, too...Oh, yes, almost forgot Stamile's GET JIGGY does very well here and has shown a beautiful pattern on every bloom with the exception of FFO (first flower open). Also in a microclimate bed outside the house are Dan Hansen's BRAIN STEW and LAST SNOWFLAKE (a Stamile!). I am embarrassed to admit that all but one of those was bought on spec as it were....I had no guarantee that they'd do well, nor did I know anyone in my region or area who grew them. The exception is BRAIN STEW, which a fellow club gave to me after raving about its performance.

I seem to have lost the point of my comments. :) I think it's that some evergreens can do just fine up north. But, I recommend that, if you are unsure about one or do not care to be the first person whom you know to grow one, you can do an online search to see whether any northern resellers and/or gardens feature the plant. I like to see northern resellers who actually have it for sale, as opposed to showing it as a display plant. My thinking is that that should mean the plant's overwintered and increased enough to be offered. Finding growers in one's region/area is best, but because I have microclimate areas (in which I inadvertently overwinterd calla lilies last year!), I might order if, say, I find growers in Virginia, Tennessee, etc., even though those people might be in zone 7. You might "cheat" as far as zone 6A, or just zone 6 in general. Or even more, if you're brave. :) And don't forget that a nice, deep snow cover can help you overwinter plants. Don't people talk about how some southern plants do better in zones 4 and 5, for example, than in zone 6?

Another thing to do, and that I've done, is just get on the phone and contact the hybridizer. Obviously, a southern hybridizer might not be able to say very much if anything about the winter hardiness of a brand-new intro but probably could tell you something about older plants. AHS database telle me HURRICANE SWIRLS is a 2005, so there should be info about it.

And another thing you can do, if you are knowledgeable enough or feel like taking the time to do background research, is look at an intro's parentage. The AHS database shows that HURRICANE SWIRLS has MAGIC AMETHYST in it twice, and I'm pretty sure I've seen MA growing in a nearby AHS display garden. (I don't know the other parents off the top of my head, but if I wanted, I could look up each of them in the database and then, if necessary, go back one or more generations.)

One other technique: go to the lily auction and search for your daylily under closed auctions. Click on the auctions to see where the sellers are located.

Oh, I almost forgot! Doing an online search showed that there's a newspaper article about a New Hampshire hobbyist/collector who apparently has HURRICANE SWIRLS. I stopped there, but there could be more online hits.

I realize my lengthy answer doesn't come close to answering your question, but I did want to let you know how I often go about trying to figure out whether a daylily might do well for me.

I'd thought of some of your suggestions, but others I had not. It's good information to have, and your reply is appreciated. :) I've only recently (within the last 2 years) started to learn about daylilies and this is the first year I've decided to get serious about them. I guess you can tell by my user name that I started out in the grass forum. I've got over fifty clumps of grass in the yard ranging from 3 feet to over your head, and thought it was time to add some color!

Nate

1. Dont be suprised if a evergreen doesnt make it.

2. Dont be suprised if a evergreen is a star performer.

At least we can grow both dormants and evergreens here.

I wouldnt dismiss a cultivator outright just becuase its a evergreen, maybe if you live north of me, maybe a Z3 might look at it harder.

I use dormants, evergreens and semievergreens in alot of crosses. Probably over 80% of everything I use is in the evergreen or semi evergreen family. Ive yet to lose a cultivator. However, that doesnt mean they always out perform dormants, what I usually notice is most evergreens here start out with a little spring sickness, ratty looking, by mid summer, I never notice a diffrence in most plants.

Its a crapshoot , pure and simple, unless you know someone with similiar conditions to you, its hard to say , this or that daylily will not work.

Its kind of easier with roses honestly, there are clearly whole strains of classes that wont grow for me, then the borderlines, then the super hardies.

Hope this helps.

Annie

Silverkelt, I know what you mean about spring sickness, I had two this spring that didn't look very good at all, and Siloam Double Classic still looked out of it in June. It didn't die though even though I thought it was a possibility.

Thanks for the info Annie, I'm surprised your plant hasn't given you any swirls yet, but I know it doesn't always have angel wings. It's possible it's still trying to get established and needs a little more time. Hope that's it, because it sounds like you're definitely due for some swirls. :)