That could actually be a medium size fan for a daylily that makes small fans to begin with. It is difficult to answer your question without knowing something about the daylily in question. I have several daylilies that make fairly small fans and bloom wonderfully, among them Dove in Flight, Diamond Star Halo, and Cave Creek Canyon, just to name a few. At least it appears to have a good root system. Several daylilies that I lined out last year came back much smaller after a hard winter here, so it might have been medium sized when offered on the LA. If you are unhappy, I am sure the seller would like to hear from you and try to answer your questions and make sure you are satisfied with your purchase.

What is the daylily's name? I don't even think that one has enough size to be viable. I've had to deal with some small fans, but they were double the size of the one you received. Actually, since you have good roots, maybe it will grow! I'd plant it and see, but wouldn't be happy about it.

You've brought up an interesting question as to what some consider to be a medium size fan versus small or large.

To me, and this is just my opinion, it looks small.

It is Stamile's CHARTERED COURSE.

I guess it might not be bothering me as much as it is if the seller had at least sent me some sort of communication on it letting me know that this fan was small due to _____(fill in the blank). I understand small fans following a hard winter (as mentioned by Farmerbell) as we currently grow >200 registered daylilies and some winters the Texas Panhandle are not kind to man, animal or plants.

If I don't send this back to the seller, I'll definitely pot it up and grow it on in the greenhouse until fall.

Mary

Just this past Saturday I began shipping a few orders out. I'm in the mid-Atlantic and even though we had a frost today, the daylilies are big enough to begin shipping. However, it was VERY intimidating to think that all of those eight orders just sent out went to states in the deep South - FL, TX, AL, MS. Their growing season is way ahead of where we are right now I worry that someone might look at the fans I'm sending South and say the same thing you are saying! I do trim foliage back before shipping, but I think ( except for miniatures) the fans are wider at the base than your pictured fan, as best I can tell. However, it truly is a bit disconcerting to have to send daylilies to areas where you KNOW their daylilies are already bigger than what's growing in your garden. I don't worry about areas in comparable or more Northern climates!

I would consider that to be a small fan. The root system looks very healthy so I'd say you are good to go. My bet is that potted up with good, fertilized, well-drained dirt, kept in partial sun spot the daylily's growth will surprise you.

If it were me, I would at least let the seller know I'm going to pot it up, but it being so small, let them know in case it dies would they be willing to replace it? Good luck!

Julie - My location is about the same or maybe even a little colder than yours, so I would guess our daylilies are about the same size as yours at this time. NOTE - WE DON'T SELL DAYLILIES. As a small commercial grower, I understand your concern - believe me I do! I'm sure if you felt your plants were smaller than usual you would notify your customers. Anyone who is the slightest experienced in ordering daylilies should not expect you to send the same size daylilies one would get from FL, TX (except the Panhandle), AL, LA, SC, GA, MS or from CA. If they do, then they need to look closer at the Arbor Zone map (especially for Texas as we have several zones) and then do some research on growing seasons!

The other "medium size" fans I ordered from him were larger, at least double or more the base width (3/8") of this one. I think maybe his lack of communication on the small size of this one is what's bothering me so. After shaking all the Moisture Crystals (ugh!) out of the plants, I looked to see where the break site on each plant was and how fresh it was. None of the plants had just been separated from a parent plant.

I will email him in the morning and give him the opportunity to explain, replace or refund. Negative feedback won't be left (because the plant is healthy) but if he doesn't replace with a larger fan I will definitely state that the plant was extremely small. Enough of worrying over this - let's all say together "It will grow up to be a big plant someday"!

I have something to say about this. First. Let me know where the plant came from. I think the north from the looks of the fan. Where they are still getting real cold. The roots look good and the fan size at the base of the crown looks to be real nice. MID size. That plant does not make monster fans here in my VA garden.

I think that plant will take right off when planted in our garden. Will bloom and do real well.

This is also something i wanted to say. The south wants plants from the north way to early. They have to as it gets hotter there faster then it does up here. If we ion the north get plants from teh south. It's just ok as they have been growing all winter and all spring. They don't get hit at all down there. They do some but not like we do. That fan was mushy and tinder like i bet about 3 weeks ago. It will do better then any fan you will get from FL from the big boys. Poeple have them on baby food and they feed them ever day from down south. You know who and what i mean. Hell some of them even cover there daylilies up if they know it will get cold that night. I think that is worng. For one. You can be sending out things that won't live in the north as you have never teated them with even a little bit of cold. And when you feed a daylily ever day when you water them. The plant wants that and when it gets to our garden. It sas the hell with you and if you can't feed me like a baby. I will just go backwards and even ma die. Look at dan h new utubes on his web page. You will learn alot.

Well i have said all i wanted to and i still say you should plant it and get it some food and watch it grow. Send us a pic of it in about 5 weeks and i will bet you have a nice fan by then and maybe with a nice scape.

Michael

Michael - the plant came from Alabama. As stated above, fan size at the crown is 3/8" - I don't consider that "mid size". Plants were shipped out on 4/15 without my asking for the plants to be shipped then.

This has been put to rest.

That is one small fan! It's below the limit of what should be sent. He should have sent at least two or three of those to make one medium fan. You should ask for something more substantial. I think it is extremely small. CHARTERED COURSE is 2003, I believe, and there is no excuse for this. I too have received chinzy fans like this and I left a neutral in the feedback. As a seller, it makes me a little upset that other sellers are sending stuff like this and still getting great feedback.

tHE ROOTS LOOK REALLY GOOD, AND WE DO FORGET THAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PART. FAN WILL JUST YELLOW AND DIE BACK COMPLETELY OR JUST PARTIALLY ANY WAY.

One more way of judging is that a fan should have at least seven leaves. Usually a plant that has 7 active leaves is larger than this. The roots may look good (compared to the paltry leaf growth), but there are only a couple inches of roots! Just my view.

I would be disappointed to receive that plant. I don't think it should have been shipped.
Ed

I would never sell a plant of that size. I'd wait for it grow more. I would never again buy from someone who sent a fan like that either.

The fan does look small but the roots look awesome. I would rather receive a small fan with lots of roots to support it than a large fan without many roots. Daylilies are much tougher than we can imagine. Did the seller say it was blooming size? I find most don't because they can't guarantee that.
If you are unhappy with the plant let the seller know - maybe it isn't worth the money you paid - we don't know - but there is no reason that plant should not survive. It looks very healthy to me.
Two years ago I received an order of plants that someone was clearing out for $3 a single fan. In the mean time she sold her business and had to dig up all the daylilies that had been ordered. She kept them in plastic bags of all things. When my order finally came the fans had been in plastic bags for several weeks. The leaves were yellowed and curling around the baggies they were in. The outside leaves were rotting. I pulled off the outside leaves and roots that were no good and planted all of them right outside. Every one survived and a couple even bloomed that year. She was out of business so no use contacting her. Live and learn! But it showed me how tough daylilies are.

It does have very nice roots by the looks of it. I think it looks like it would thrive, if I got tiny roots and crown I would be upset something like that would be fine by me.

here are the rules concerning small daylilies , does not mention size of fans just crown

" A very small daylily, smaller than 1/2" in diameter (the size of a dime) at the bottom of the fan just above the crown"

Personally I'd be satisfied to receive a root system that looked like that on a single fan. I'm not particularly concerned with the top growth of a plant. Most of it is going to dry up and fall off after planting anyway. It's the root and crown that makes the plant.

That looks like a plant that was grown in relatively normal soil and not the sandy loam type stuff that has plants making long stringy roots. Just my opinion though. I'd not be upset with a vendor that sent something like that. Plants like that will quite often do better for me than those huge things with roots longer than my arm. Usually I cut those stringy things down to 3-4 inches of root when I plant them anyway.

Janet

I'd be disppointed with the size of the fan itself, however it does have those nice thick tuberous roots which is better than receiving that plant with a few stringy roots.

too me, it also depends on the price paid. $1-3 for something that size, I'd be ok with. It's all subjective I suppose.

I'd tell the grower that I was disappointed.

That is just two early for someone to ship. Even from down there. I don't even get my plants from fl till april 15th and not before. I still say the fan will do good. I would have cleaned the fan up more then they did it that pic. A lot of poeple want things two ealrly any more. I tell ever one for now on. I will not ship till i feel the plants are set to go out. Only way i ship before that is if i ship to the deep south. They need them before they get big up here. As it gets hotter down there before it does up here. I would eamil them and tell them if the plant does not do good that you will send it back for a replacement. And let them know not to ship before hand when you did not want it.

That is why i ask ever one for a ship date. And i also turn down some ship dates. Poeple up in the north where it is still cold. The ask me to early early and i say nope. I won't ship before may up there. I hate when poeple say i will pot it up and then move it out side when it warms up. It sets the plant back even more. Poeple should laern to just wait till the time to plant. And if you don't get scapes the first year. Oh well. It would be better for teh plant in teh long run.

Michael

The OP is hardly "up north"--the OP's in Texas. The fan came from Alabama. The seller had full right to refuse to send this tiny thing, but chose to do so. Don't blame the OP because the seller made a bad decision!

I have received fans this small here in the UK from a grower who was giving up, in one case the fan was as small as a blade of grass----It is disappointing but I took the long term view and the tiny fans almost all grew into good sized plants and have now flowered (even my little, special needs "blade").

Hope it does okay for you. Probably best to grow it in a pot until it is bigger though and can cope with weeds/competition from other plants

I would call that a very tiny fan. However, the roots do look healthy, so it will probably thrive. I grow Chartered Course, and the fans are pretty large here this week. I don't remember what they looked like on April 15.

I bought root stock & planted it in the fall that looked pretty much like that. Some a little better and some a little worse looking. They are all thriving now and I had my first bloom last Friday. I don't think you'll have a problem with it if you set it out with the rest of them. But, if you are concerned, mark it clearly and if it doesn't survive have the grower replace it. Could be this little fella was included by mistake.

Why would you use a fan rather then a plant?