I have SOUTH SEAS now because so many people have bragged about it and it is on the list. Anxious to see it bloom this year.

Can the list in the link below really be used to find other great performers?

Lots of questions, I know:), but hoping someone can tell me if I can put much stock into daylilies labeled as "designer".

Thanks.

Vickie

Kim

Always buy what you like, buying from within your zone is usually the best bet for hardiness. Just do a little research into bud count, branching etc. Absolute best way to buy a daylily is in person, on the web they usually look a little different then in person. Kathy

I hadn't even thought of these being tissue cultured. I think I will stick to buying from the local daylily farm.

Learn something new every day:)

Vickie

Novelty aside, you'll certainly enjoy 'South Seas', not the best picture but the best I managed last year...

~Wes

At our company, daylily production is a serious business. There are quite a number of falicies presented in this forum which I feel compelled to address.

About a decade ago, we listened to our customers (who are retail business owners) who told us that they didn't want to have to try out the hundreds of daylily varieties we offer to see which ones are the best. They wanted us to tell them which are the best varieties we offer. Arthur Kroll, who is one of the most respected daylily evaluators in the US, came up with the idea for the Designer Daylily Collection and helped us to introduce it to our customers.

A list of criteria was set up to evaluate and determine which daylilies were the very best. Designer Daylilies must deliver all of the following benefits to be in the collection:

* Create a breathtaking display in the landscape with blossoms of superior form, substance, and sunfast color
* Extend the bloom time with heavily budded varieties
* Perform reliably, even in adverse weather conditions, with blossoms that open consistently
* Display healthy, pest resistant foliage and vigorous growth all season
* Return faithfully year after year, even in northern gardens, as a result of their complete winter hardiness.

If a daylily fails to meet any of the above criteria, it is not eligible for membership in the Designer Daylily Collection. Of the hundreds of daylilies we offer, just 26 meet the criteria and are in the program. They stand head and shoulders above other varieties, and I challenge you to test that for yourself. It is easy to spot a Designer Daylily in the landscape.

ABSOLUTELY NONE OF OUR DAYLILIES--including every single variety of Designer Daylily--ARE PRODUCED FROM TISSUE CULTURE. Every single variety of daylily we offer is produced by field division. As a result, it takes between 6-12 years for a new variety to be introduced because we have to wait for Mother Nature to do her job and multiply the plants. All of the plants we sell are two year old field divisions. Retailers then pot them up and sell them to consumers as 1 gallon plants. So if you buy a daylily at a garden center that originated here, you can be sure that at least 6-12 years of work has gone into that plant. What a bargain for $8!

To summarize:
--Designer Daylilies are the very best varieties of daylilies we offer. The purpose of the brand is to distinguish which are the very best out of the hundreds we offer.

--Designer Daylilies ARE ALL PRODUCED FROM FIELD DIVISION and absolutely none are produced from tissue culture.

--Retailers can charge whatever they like for their plants. If they want to charge more for their Designer Daylilies, they have every right to. South Seas is worth much more than Hyperion or Frans Hals. Grow them side by side and you'll see for yourself. You get what you pay for.

--Designer Daylilies are not necessarily 'new' varieties and nowhere in our advertising do we make such a claim. Since it takes 6-12 years to introduce them to the public (while being evaluated that entire time), they are some of the most trialed plants available in the industry.

--There are over 60,000 varieties of daylilies registered. Thank goodness someone has taken the time to trial many of them and make suggestions as to which are better than others!

To see color correct images and find much more information about the Designer Daylily Collection, please visit our consumer website. If you google Grow Designer Plants it will take you there (I am not allowed to include the address here). You'll see there that we also have a collection of Designer Hostas, created for the very same reason as the Designer Daylily Collection (though there are only 40,000 registered hosta cultivars to choose from!).

Susan

Welcome to the GardenWeb!

Vickie

All perennial catalogs that sell daylilies could "brand" whatever cultivars they decide to sell. I'm certain that the majority (especially in the higher-end catalogs) are selecting what they offer with the same criteria as "Designer" daylilies. Even producers that supply garden centers could "brand" what they sell, and in fact, I've seen this done. Again, they tend to choose to propagate the best performers. It's in their best interest.

Also, Deginer or not, EL DESPERADO rocks.

I must say I love Frans Hals and have it right beside my South Seas.
Kathy

And although EL DESPERADO is a beaut when it blooms, I had it in my northern Illinois garden for 5 years before it bloomed--my mom had a fan of it that grew like gangbusters in her Indiana garden. I finally told it that if it didn't bloom that summer it was "out of here". It bloomed nicely that summer. :) The point is that even these "designer" daylilies won't all perform everywhere for everyone.

BTW---HYPERION was registered in 1924, FRANS HALS in 1955, and SOUTH SEAS in 1993. So I would hope to see some improvement in almost 70 years of hybridizing. All are pretty northern hardy daylilies, but there are some stunning newer daylilies available for the same money (that you would pay at the retail outlet) that are just as hardy. I have many of these daylilies on the "designer" list that I have had for 10-20 years, but one by one most are getting replaced by daylilies that are even better-- bigger, more buds, better color, more vigorous in my garden, etc.

Many have been hybridized to have tons of buds, to be large or small flowered, tall or short and are very northern hardy. You can find whatever you need for your particular garden space. Many are hybridized in your own neck of the woods--check out the AHS website for open garden locations to visit and see the flowers in person and for some of the gardens that sell daylilies. There are so many possiblities out there to choose from, go out there and visit some commercial daylily gardens.

Happy gardening.
Beth

I live in southern Indiana, maybe I should give ED a try.

Vickie

Folks should realize here that they aren't simply in the business of selling daylilies, but supply hundreds and hundreds of retail nurseries like mine with bare root and liner perennials, which are then grown on at the nurseries to be sold to the public. Their competition isn't the mom and pop grower, but others who are in the same business like Darwin Perennials, De Vroomen, Netherland Bulb, and the like. Each has a selection of dayliles just as they do with Astilbe, hosta and phlox, but none are specialists. It simply wouldn't make sense to offer 500 different dayliles, because that isn't their market. They aren't selling direct to the public, but to retail nurseries.

As to the "designer" label, I don't think people should get too worked up. Sure, it has to do with marketing, but the bottom line is whether or not the plants are nice varieties and the stock they send the nurseries is good to begin with. They certainly satisfy me as a nurseryman. Now, if people want to brag to each other that they have a "designer" daylily,folks can always take it with a grain of salt. I know I sure do when somebody waltzes into my nursery announcing that they are a "master" gardener.

You can e-mail me privately at this address:
awards@daylilies.org

I was lucky when I got my first couple of daylilies that I got ones that performed really well for me: Bela Lugosi, Pardon Me, and Stella D'Oro. If they had done really poorly, I might have lost interest all together. Sure, there might be better cultivars out there, but most casual gardeners don't really care if they are the hot new thing...they just want something that grows well and looks pretty. The brand "designer daylilies" is just a cute name that won't fool any serious growers, but it might be enough to entice people that are new to daylilies. Marketing ploy, maybe..but I don't really see what is the matter with that; seems mostly innocent.

All I'm saying is that I think it is a fine starting point. Once they are hooked on daylilies, they can do more research and buy from daylily growers, and find out about all the exciting new varieties out there. There are plenty of beautiful new daylilies out there, but it is interesting that the old standbys are still sometimes the best.

The eye is hot pink and the whole thing just screams across my yard!

Swontgirl, all I can say is ALABAMA JUBILEE is gorgeous! I love it!

Vickie