Glad to see you posting Debra, was concerned that you were affected by the flooding. Always appreciate your year end summaries and your amazing photos.
Thanks,
Heidi

Three of the top four winners here were Hansons, with the best bud count going to SELF DETERMINATION with 27 buds:

AS THE WORLD TURNS, CATASTROPHE WAITRESS and CLAUDINE'S CHARM tied for second with 23 buds each. CLAUDINE'S CHARM:

Most impressive newbies were CHATEAU BELAIR with 17 buds and CLOWN PARADE with 18 buds.

Chris

Heidi - A creek which is about three blocks from my house flooded several properties, and at school the hallway where my classroom is was flooded. But unlike other teachers, I did not have to move my students elsewhere. I hope the only effect the rain will have for me will be more rebloom.

Chris - Self Determination seems like a tremendous performer. My Claudine's Charm never put up a scape this year. After seeing how well it performed for you, it will definitely get out of that pot and into the ground.

Debra

This post was edited by shive on Sat, Aug 17, 13 at 14:32

I love this annual thread!! I haven't counted much yet, but am going to.
Best For Last is such a beauty, and I also love Self Determination. Good to know they are bud queens/kings, because I looked both of them up in AHS DB and couldn't find BC info.

wow. El DESPERADO is a beauty. BEST FOR LAST sure is a beauty, too. I never think about counting buds,I am always too busy admireing the blooms. maybe next year will think about it.
SELF DETERMINATION is really pretty, too. and
AS THE WORLD TURNS, looks like a huge bloom. They are so very pretty.

jean

Light of The World had so many bloom spikes, it probably bloomed the most, But El Desperado had 31 blooms on one spike,

and All American Windmill had 33...and re-bloomed twice, but it is leaving here anyway. I just don't love it and I need the room.

My best budded one of all was Ruby Lipstick which had 35 on one bloom scape! amazing. There were only five scapes, but wow!

kay

Ah, thanks for starting this thread! This year my bud counts were lower than last year and they don't stack up against yours. I think a lot of mine are in a little too much shade. It protects them from the hottest part of the summer, but it also reduces their bloom.

Before I start, I have to note that I was reminded how prolific LITTLE MYSTIC MOON is when I saw it at my club's flower show this year, and I took the scape home to use the pollen. The scape in the show had 57 buds!

My #1 according to my notes was FIRE AGATE this year, with 14 buds. It gets the best sun of all my registered cultivars, and it has responded with fast increase and good blooming. It did not double very much at all this year.

Nate

Kay - Ruby Lipstick did so well for you! Mine only had 21 buds this time. It didn't get watered regularly enough during the drought. I can't recall if it rebloomed for you. Mine, so far, has not put up any rebloom scapes. In the past it had instant rebloom.

Tied for second place here were Cool Hand Luke and Seedling "Laughing Hyena" X Back Scratcher with 28 buds each.

COOL HAND LUKE

Seedling "Laughing Hyena" X Back Scratcher

Another seedling, Into the Mystic X Symphony of Praise, was in third place with 26 buds.

Next in fourth place, there were several with 25 buds:

KENTUCKY LUCKY

PRETTY DESIRABLE

TEDDY BEAR'S PICNIC

WILLOW DEAN SMITH

INTEGRATED LOGISTICS

STROLLING IN THE ROSES

Debra

After that, it's a 3-way tie between RED VOLUNTEER, WITCHES WINK, and CITRIX, with 13 buds each.

Honorable mention is BOLD MOVE, which didn't have high bud counts but did put up 3 rounds of scapes with a very consistent 10 - 12 buds each, and it is putting up another scape right now after taking a month off.

The photo is WITCHES WINK.

Nate

Stop the presses -- I just counted a late scape on SKINWALKER that just finished blooming a couple days ago. Bud count was 18, so that is far and away my best of 2013.

In this photo, the bloom on the right looks strange because it has 7 fingers.

Nate

Ruby Lipstick did not rebloom this year. We had a lot of rain (which seems to have stopped at my house, but not all around us) and I'm sure that helped. RL did rebloom last year.
kay

Debra, maybe I'm repeating myself, but are you planning to introduce either of your seedlings? I love them both. How old are they?

Chris - Yes, I will introduce both if they multiply well enough. But it will probably be another three to four years before that happens. Both are 3-year-olds. "Laughing Hyena" X Back Scratcher has six fans now. It usually doubles or triples when we're not in a drought. Into the Mystic X SOP multiplies slower. It's only at three fans.

Debra

The Symphony of Praise seedling is remarkable. Too bad it is not a fast increaser.

Mystic X Symphony of Praise is a gorgeous color and a beautiful bloom.
kay

This post was edited by organic_kitten on Sun, Aug 11, 13 at 22:29

I took a quick look this morning and found three daylilies with 30+ on a scape. They were Yellow Monkey (34), Elegant Candy (32) and Lullaby Baby (30). I will take a more thorough look this afternoon.

Edward

34 for Cherry Cheeks and 28 for Yukon Spring.

Many of my daylilies were good performers this year, but as usual some oldies but goldies took the top three spots in the profuse flush catagory. They will always be with me. The first one was suggested to me many years ago by someone on this forum. I'm sorry I don't remember who it was, but boy were they spot on. This is YESTERDAY'S MEMORY (it is a true daylily pink):

Next comes PANDORA's BOX. This one has maximum landscape effect when in bloom:

Finally comes a not so well known Carpenter named CORAL CORDUROY.
{{gwi:923692}}
Debra: I love that Best For Last. You have some great pinks. And Nate: I agree Witches Wink is a good bloomer. Also no rust last year during my rust attack (fortunately no rust this year so far). That's a big plus for any daylily in rust country.....Maryl

Edward - It sounds like you had some excellent performers this season! I've never seen bud counts higher than 20 on Cherry Cheeks here.

Maryl - I never had that kind of luck with Pandora's Box and gave it to my sister. Coral Corduroy is a beauty!

Debra

Debra, I was wondering if you'd be doing this. I always find it very interesting. In general budcounts are down here this year. Unlike most places it was very dry here in July so that may be why. I do have some that did well though, but I've only counted buds on about 1/3 of my daylilies so far. One I just counted this afternoon because I'm pretty sure it has the highest budcount in the yard by far and I only counted one scape. The star is ALEXIS SUNNY PANTS. The scape I counted has 42 buds! Most I've ever paid for a daylily, but worth it. Second highest is MOONLIGHT MIST with 28 buds. AH YOUTH and EAU LA LA have 26 and VOICES OF SPRING, LOVE ON A WIRE, and AMERICA'S MOST WANTED have 24.
Val

Debra, here is Cherry Cheeks' scape.

It's pouring rain outside so I can't go out and take budcounts but I know which ones have had the best budcounts this year (and it's the same ones each year).
All older cultivars which is why I will never tire of them. These all started in early July and still have blooms going. I rarely if ever get rebloom in my short growing season so I depend on these for extended blooming.

Castle Camelot
Avante Garde
Early Days
Robin's Tuition
Destined to See
South Seas
Ruffled Apricot
Always Afternoon
Custard Candy
Elegant Candy
Addie Branch Smith
Buttered Popcorn
Shelby's Song

Maryott's 'Incendiary' also has had great budcounts every year.

Best foliage award goes to Avante Garde.

Celeste

I wanted to add a P.S. to my previous comment.....
The best budcount on a latebloomer goes to September Blaze. This is one prolific bloomer.
Celeste

And another photo of the clump which has been blooming for 2 weeks.....

For the hands-down winner was Butterscotch Ruffles. I had two small clumps last year, and just about 12 months ago, I ruthlessly divided them into a dozen single or double fans and planted them. Now we have a dozen clumps. They started blooming on March 15th and the scapes are still coming.

I tried to photograph these scapes while they were still green and blooming, but they kept blending into the background. So, when they were finished, I gave them a quick coat of white spray paint and laid them on the ground.

One of these scapes had 43 buds, the other, just under 40

John

Debra, your 2nd-4th places are so beautiful! I especially like Kentucky Lucky, Laughing Hyena seedling, Willow Dean Smith and Strolling in the Roses.
Val, Alexis Sunny Pants is indeed a star, 42 buds, wow!
Celeste, glad to hear that about Incendiary, and September Blaze looks so nice in a clump.
Nice branched scapes of Butterscotch Ruffles! And what a long bloomer. Because I have limited room such increase scares me :)

Next year I plan to make as many crosses on Butterscotch Ruffles as I can. Hopefully, the bud count/prolific increase rate will show up in some of the seedlings.

Here's a picture showing the buds on Alexis Sunny Pants.
Val

I finally counted mine. A lot of my previous years' winners are not even close! Is it drought, or a lot more scapes = less buds, I don't know. And the average bud count in the garden is 15.

So here goes:
1st place - 40 Days and 40 Nights with.. 40 buds :)

It is registered with this BC, but I don't know if it's gonna continue doing this, because the second scape had only 24. Yes, only 2 scapes. Thanks to instant rebloom, there are two more scapes with 15 and 7 buds, so it still has some buds left

2nd place with 32 buds - Lullaby Baby. Couple other scapes had 28 and 26. It was among winners before.

3rd place goes to two - Elegant Candy with 29 buds.

Now this one had a lot of scapes with 24, 21 buds etc, and two either late scapes or IR scapes which are shorter with 10 and 9 buds

And surprisingly to Peace Beyond Understanding. Though the other two scapes had 15 and only 9 buds..

And in the 4th place with 25 buds:
Light of the World (only one scape, the rest, and there were 15 - had 18 and 16 each, plus two shorter instant rebloom scapes with 6 each - lots of blooms)
Party Pinafore (surprise again; it only has 3 scapes, second 22, third is very short and only had 4 buds)
Russian Destiny (7 scapes, other scapes ranging from 10 to 19), and
Again unexpected - Yellow Titan (second scape with 24, I didn't count others, but it has several IR scapes, the latest one with 8 buds)

I did a recount on Yukon Spring and got 30.

Elusive Happiness had 26

Edward - Your Cherry Cheeks has a gorgeous scape! I don't think mine gets enough sun.

Celeste - September Blaze makes a beautiful clump! It must be a fast multiplier.

Val - Alexis Sunny Pants looks like a real winner. I'm thinking that's a Paul Owen intro.

Nat - I love the looks of Forty Days and Forty Nights, and 40 buds is pretty impressive for a northern daylily.

Debra

I counted another scape of ALEXIS SUNNY PANTS. This one had 44 buds. One scape of SPACECOAST TINY PERFECTION had 38 buds.
Val

Wow! Excellent topic.

I trimmed spent scapes early this year to tidy the garden for visitors. Only ones left had pods or were still in bloom. But I did count the good performers! Usually I give a scape award to one of my daylilies after the season finishes, but a seedling has already earned this year's scape award, and another has earned the best clump and performance award, just finishing the LFO yesterday. That is if it doesn't build another bud!

Before these, I must comment on Cherry Cheeks scape. Mine never did that in Oklahoma City. Don't have it anymore, but sure would have kept it if it had performed like that there.

Nat, you might want to look at the bottom of the scape when you cut it to see if it has two open channels. It could have been a fused scape, in which case you would have double the blooms and branching. I know. It's a heartbreak.

Shive, your Mystic x SOP seedling is drop-dead gorgeous! SOP increases slowly for me too. Must have took after its Poppa.

John, Butterscotch Ruffles has won my scape award some years. Lovely branching.

Ahemmm, Marl. Remember now? Well interestingly, my scape award this year goes to a Grandchild of your Yesterday Memories. A terrific improvement over it's Poppa scape which has always laid over the top of nearby daylilies. Scape award this year goes to an Oklahoma Hope's kid from Guidred. Photo not on this computer. (You knew I was going to say that, right?) It is a lovely purple with a blue watermarked eye, 9" twisting UF bloom on 4' straight-even-after-hurricane-winds scape with 41 buds and still building and blooming! A good increaser too.

My clump/performance award goes to a seedling Girly Girl x Evelyn Gates which has bloomed non-stop all of this summer with now the third rebloom scapes. It prolifs too, even though it is a rapid increaser. Double the fun! I don't remember the bud count exactly, but it was in the high teens. There's so much going on all the time with this daylily, bud count didn't seem to matter that much. Taking after its Momma, it is a bud builder, too. It just did not want to quit this year.

Bouquet bloom, you should have seen the clump! For weeks it was a mass of bouquets.

Judy Ann - Girly Girl X Evelyn Gates is such a gorgeous pink! How fabulous that it had both three sets of scapes and bud building. It's a definite winner! Congratulations on creating such a beautiful performer!

Debra

This post was edited by shive on Sat, Aug 24, 13 at 22:41

It is very very pretty, love the bouquet bloom pic!

My goodness Judyann! That seedling is beautiful and I'm not a person who usually likes light colors. You should be very proud....Maryl

Maryl, most of my lovlies are pastel. I would like to push them toward some deeper colors, now that the form and plant habits are set.

Debra, when I walk in the seedling bed, I am just overwhelmed by the beauty! So glad I refocused on diploids. Love the ruffles. I can't imagine any serious gardener not hybridizing. Girly Girl still has buds coming too.

The garden is just another revelation of our Creator.

Here's the photo now that I'm at the other computer. Re:

Scape award this year goes to an Oklahoma Hope's kid from Guidred. Photo not on this computer. (You knew I was going to say that, right?) It is a lovely purple with a blue watermarked eye, 9" twisting UF bloom on 4' straight-even-after-hurricane-winds scape with 41 buds and still building and blooming! A good increaser too.

I can't say that the scapes are all that pretty a month later! But this will give you an idea of the wide branching.

Judyann, you have some amazing seedlings. I love the Girly Girl seedling. Such a pretty pink.
Shive, your Into the Mystic seedling is another beauty. So great to,see beautiful daylilies with great plant habits.
Lots of my registered daylilies had pathetic bud counts this year, but I found another one today that had a high bud count--Clarification had 30 buds on one scape and lots of scapes in the 20's.
Val

Clarification is beautiful in a clump!

Debra

Belle Isle Sentry is generally my best. It has up to 6 branches.

Hi all, first time posting on the daylily forum. I found this thread when looking for info on specific cultivars I'm considering ordering. I'm located about 45 minutes south of Georgian Bay in Midwestern Ont., so by your standards, I'm northern. My new acquisitions get watered for the first couple of weeks after planting, other than that, they're pretty much on their own, unless it is severely dry. I generally do not fertilize. New beds are amended with composted manure from our pile which our stock consistently adds to (funny how that works, isn't it) and wood shavings. In some areas of our yard, the topsoil is only 2-3 inches thick, and then it's like digging in the driveway! Elegant Candy gave an impressive performance here, it's second year. I think it had about a dozen scapes (didn't actually count the scapes, so going from memory on this count) but the scapes averaged over 30 buds per scape. This was counting all buds on all scapes, both first and rebloom. Precious D'Oro (don't think this one is registered) is a bud builder, with blooms measuring about 3" or so, polychromed. I marked it this year as having an average of 37 buds, with 4 way branching. I know last year (in our drought), it had many scapes at 50 or better. Come Out and Play (a Polston intro from '06) has scapes like tree trunks. It starts blooming around the first of August, with instant rebloom, so blooms well into September for me. First bloom scapes average 30-35 buds, with rebloom lower. Branching is 5 and 6 way for me. I don't use photobucket or such, and not sure how to upload photos, but so far, these have been the best. This is the year that I consistently started paying better attention to bud counts, and have many new additions that will take next summer or the following to really hit their stride.

Just before our heavy winter weather arrived, I went out to the garden and removed frozen companion plants that had become unsightly. The last blooming scapes were ready to cut/pull also. Oh and I found one open, forgotten pod on CU>MN, and it looked like all the seed was still in it. I hope.

What surprised me was this orange polychrome diploid seedling. When I pulled the scapes, there were over 30 buds on each one. I don't remember when it started blooming this summer, seems like it was Late, and it just kept pumping out scapes while it continued budbuilding. This photo doesn't really show the flower as the perfect bagel in my notes. It's a keeper. Almost my last bloomer this fall.

What a beautiful late blooming seedling, Judyann!