i'm not sure about zone 10 but I know a lady, Linda Sample, who grows and sells day lilies in zone 9. she would be a good one to talk to for sure. There are a lot of day lilies that will grow in zone 9...I don't know if one zone makes that much difference.
If you grow roses then you have some idea of the kind of care that day lilies require. They like rich soil and don't want to dry out. Lots of mulch and a lot of them require a fungicide spray for best results. It all starts to sound like a lot of work!

Hi
Growing is no problem thay just fail to flower. have this problem with many types of bulbs , Amaryllis, Agapanthus , some types of Iris
though there are some that flower beautifully This particular DL has never failed to flower in over 10 years while with the others I get sporadic or no flowers
Can't think of anything to blame it on ?? Have noted during particular cold winters i do get more flowers and the last 2 years have been exceptionally warm
Thanks gary

Gary,

I wonder if it is the same problem as with the orchids: lack of sun? Daylilies need lots of sun in order to bloom. I had some that started out in sun and bloomed regularly, but as the trees around them matured, the daylilies ended up in mostly shade and stopped blooming completely. Amaryllis and agapanthus are exactly the same - they need a fair amount of direct sun to bloom reliably. Could that be the problem with the daylilies?

Carol in Jacksonville

Years ago I bought a bunch of different types of daylilies. I researched the best types for zone 9, where I live. They bloomed ok in the beginning but in the end I got rid of them because of problems with rust and because they required more care than I was willing to give for daylilies. (I am from Georgia, originally, where you throw a daylily on the ground and it grows and blooms). I kept growing a few varieties in pots but even those were work because they would become pot bound so quickly.

Anyway, variety is important with daylilies. When I bought mine, I couldn't resist ordering a few from up north, spider types recommended for zone 9 but that nobody grows around here. These quickly dwindled. Only the ones sold by local growers and labeled "vigorous" did well for me--and even those needed a good bit of care.

Variety is even more important when you get down into zone 10, where there are fewer types that will do well. Find someone who specializes in daylilies in zone 10 and they should be able to point out the best varieties.

I do remember getting a re-bloomer to have a second flush of blooms when it was in a pot.

Now I grow rainlilies, crinums, and cannas--all a lot easier than day lilies here.

Bill

Hi
I brought the new (plain orange" back from Kansas last May planted beside the yellow while it has grown considerably it is not going to flower The same in Kansas are flowering profusely. Interesting that you can be too kind to a plant ??lol
Amaryllis and agapanthus The butterfly and hippeastrum
types do very well while the florist types will go dormant but just start growing again rather than flower It is interesting that if I dig and move them around I will get flowers lol The dwarf white agapanthus are the problem
The giant blues show no problems !!
Bill thanks for that info guess i should just stick to tropicals . Have been experimenting with several types of gesneriads that will react to cold by going dormant but do return with spring. Interestingly over the last two winters the low has been 39 and they went dormant in the 50;s!!! thanks everybody for the info gary

Gary, I have 80-85 daylilies right now. When I moved down from Atlanta, I brought about a dozen with me and none of them would grow. They were dormant daylilies that really need the cold. That's probably true of what you brought back from Kansas.

I research the parentage of the daylilies I buy because they have to be evergreen to succeed in my garden. I'm beachside in the Daytona area. This fall, if you are interested, I can give you some plants that I'm removing for different reasons. The price would be right (zero) and they would be better suited to your location than Stella or whatever. Yes, they do take work--they like fertilizer (only from Nov. to February. If it's granular fertilizer and it's applied in warm weather, it will burn the plants.) And they like water. Unfortunately rust is a problem usually in the spring and fall when the weather is warm and moist.

I grow a lot of tropicals too, but just can't bear to get rid of my daylilies. I'm retired, and I have time to take care of them! They survived the warm winters just fine, but this winter did a number on them. It's not a season to make harsh judgement on the performance of most of the daylilies!

I agree, daylilies are difficult here. I have tried several, and the only one I deem worth the effort is 'Debary Canary'. It is stunning. Most robust grower I have, and a giant! The bloom spikes require staking, Because they are 3 1/2 to 4' tall!

Here is mine last year. For reference the horizontal cross bar of the screen room is 2' from the ground.

That was its first year blooming and it had one spike. This year it had 7 spikes and has been in bloom for a month! Sorry didn't have a chance to get any pics. But absolutely fantastic! Be warned, it was a spendy purchase, $28.

But it is the only day lily I have that seems to be increasing instead of declining, and I love how huge it is. Glad I took a chance on it!

hi
The one I called "Stella D; Oro " was the name on the tag
got it on a clearance sale at Walmart around 10 years ago.
First two years in a pot few or no flowers . Made a bed under a palm flowered well. Two years ago i moved it to the base of a schizolobium tree Has flowered in two flushes
last year and has 12 spikes this year. To me it does not look like pix of stella a clear bright yellow with apple green throat and green edges when first opened.
All the various types I've tried including the one from Kansas remain evergreen just no flowers lol
My daughter gave the orange growing between two houses in complete shade , they are flowering now while mine are not . They had better be hardy as they had 3 weeks below zero with a low of minus 27 !!!
Anyway thanks for the offer !!! Was looking for some twice flowering lavender, purples or whites??
Thanks very much gary

I grow some of the ditch lilies. They are the only ones that flower for me. The yellow have died back to almost 1/4 the size clump I started with. The orange come back every year and bloom but not as much as I would like. The funny reddish burgandy with orange ones I like the least bloom every year and are the strongest growers. Go figure. I tried stella's and they were very sad in my garden.

The reason stellas look sad in zone 10 is that they are dormant daylilies that require cold to survive and bloom. They aren't good for zone 9 either. Not even this year.

I thought most of the species are also dormant, but what do I know? I've never even seen them.

Most of my daylilies have 3 or 4 rebloom periods. Most individual plants stay in bloom for 3-4 months. Last year the garden bloomed from April 21 to November 4. That's not going to happen this year because of our prolonged period of coolness.

This post was edited by beachlily on Sun, Jun 8, 14 at 17:44

I have several that I bought 3 years ago from a vendor from Tampa, showing here in St Pete at Sunken Gardens.... they are in a good spot lots of sun and water etc... they just bloomed but the blooms drop after one day and that's the end... I realize this is why they are called "day lilies" ..LOL... but it seems there should be more than that?? I love the blooms but not for such a short-season and taking up so much real-estate, I could be growing 2 more roses in that spot! and have flowers year-round!! just my 2-cents worth, sally

Hi
here is a pic of the yellow that has done so well for me.
Pic is a bit washed out there is an apple green throat and green in the outer petals.. Does not look like pix I see of "Stella D Oro. which i understand is a temperate??
Is there a site with pix of various cultivars?? One more ??
To me the leaves look identicle ,tropical or temperate .Is there a way to tell the difference by the leaves?? Thanks gary

Day lilies are evergreen, semi evergreen and deciduous. Only the evergreen ones will do well here. The others will just fade away. :o)

Beachlily, I would love to have some of your castoffs, when you are ready. You can email me and let me know and I will come get them.

Just a couple of tips about amaryllis.

Rain lilies are amaryllis and they reliably rebloom when they are closely packed together. They are terrific as a border grass, can be very tiny like mondo grass and up to almost as big as liriope

The big showy ones like to have their shoulders up out of the dirt. Overtime they will sink too low to bloom. So lift them every couple of years or so. And with any plant get them some fertilizer.

A vendor that sells amaryllis told me a tip, to put an up side down plant sauce or piece of tile under the bulb when you plant it. It forces the roots to go side ways instead of straight down and pulling the bulb with it. So you don't have to lift them that often. :o)

Gary, I have limited plants to share in the colors you want. There will be a lavender spider called LAUGHING SKIES. I have few whites and lavenders because most daylilies in those colors are not evergreen. I will have a number of pinks and reds that should grow well south of here. And others are being removed because they have too much dormancy in them and they will go north.

In the fall I'll come back with details and see what happens. I'll clip this thread.

Hi
Around 4 years ago I finally decided I needed a "landscape " plan have always been a hopeless collector ,one of each lol.. Making a lot of progress toward the goal
the really tough part has been a color scheme. Blue purple and white ,
The more I think about it the more I feel that Daylilies are a bad choice but hard to ignore a plant that does well lol Anyway think I should stick to the tropicals .
Thanks very much for the offer !! gary

Gary, I don't blame you! I wouldn't give up my tropicals for anything. On Saturday the trip to the farmers market was nearly a bust--3 biggest venders weren't there, but there was a guy selling broms. $10 each! Beautiful plants, just had to buy one. Came home, set it down in the shade (so I could figure out where to put it), and heard a PLOP! Saw a little panicked green anole who headed for my green tennies. Ran across them and start up my leg to get away from something. I was giggling but stomped my foot. The anole fell off and continued running. I wasn't going to let it find safety under my burmuda shorts! I'll plant the brom this morning. Nice addition to the collection!

hi
Tropicals are great as long as the weather is ??lol
The "plan" is that everyuthing stay in place all year no matter what ma nature decides with at least a bit of attention to aesthetics lol
At one time i had over 500 pots looking like a badly kept
nursery lol Down to under 200 so making progress
the really tough, to fit into the new plan are orchids,understory palms ,finicky aroids and my fabulous moss garden lol
I finally put in a stone path which looks good ,fits into the scheme but is already covered with pots
I have around 25 Broms and less than 10 are in a location . My canopy was destroyed by the hurricanes but has recovered and I like the trees so it's on to the epiphyte garden of my dreams
Still keeping the water garden , tropical marsh, doing away with large shadehouse ,aviary and outside aquariums
Funny story ,I recently traded off around 30 plants and came home with 20 not one fits into my "PLAN" lol
Good luck with the Broms there's only around 1500 varieties so limited choices lol At least they don't get a hundred feet tall or eat the house and are generally easy to keep?? gary

I grow a good number of daylillies and amaryllis, most do good , some like Ed Brown great, there right they need to be evergreen or semi evergreen.

There is a grower north of Tampa, "Johnson Daylillies" with a nice site that shows them very well also lists if they are evergreen or not.... sally

FYI, I have Stella d'Oro that has been blooming consistently all summer, but for a couple of short breaks. It was put in last year. The plant is dwarf and the bloom color is lemon yellow. I expect even more out of it next year. (East Hillsborough)