Viewing comments posted by LivinEZ

My first red daylily, purchased in 1979. Thought I had taken it with me when I moved, but it was lost. Searched for 43 years, finally saw it listed at Olallie Daylily Gardens last year. Bought it, bloomed today, 44 years wait is over.

This is sunfast in my Bucks County, PA garden, which experiences frequent days of 90 degree heat in July and August. Not many of my reds are proving to be sunfast under these conditions. Of the twenty or so red varieties to bloom in my garden so far this year, only 'Johnny Reb', 'Scarlock', 'Cherry Bright', 'Firestarter' show good color at the end of the day.

One of the all time great daylilies. Wonderful fragrance, cheerful flowers, vigorous plant, loads of blooms.
One of my first when I started growing daylilies in 1972, and still will not be without it.

I'm not sure of the exact genetic relationship between Hyperion, Hyperion Elite, and Hyperion Supreme. With the exception of Hyperion, the parentage is not listed by AHS.
Saw the three together at Teich & McColgan Daylily Farm here in Bucks County PA. They certainly share one trait: fantastic fragrance.

Purchased this from Tranquil Lake Nursery three years ago. This is third season in my garden. Finally coming into its own. I was hesitant to get this as I wasn't sure of the color from their photo. Was looking for a coral pink, tall double. Saw first bloom of the season this morning and the color made me think of H. 'South Seas'. If it makes me think of THAT daylily, I just might get a few more!

In my garden here in Bucks County, PA, Cherry Bright is extremely sunfast. Glowing in the morning, still glowing at dusk. For the early-midseason, my most sunfast red.

I went to Rare Find nursery in NJ looking for the Rhododendron strigillosum hybrids "R. Double Winner" and "R. Harold Amateis". Hank Shannon, founder and owner of Rare Find, took me to an area where additional rhododendrons were located. Among these were several R. Taurus, and its sister R. Grace Seabrook. He selected a heavily budded specimen of Taurus. On that day I came home with a bunch of strig hybrids. Harold and Double Winner are long gone, intolerant of our humid Summers, but Taurus is magnificent. It thrives in sun and heat. I've had it for about 17-18 years. It's 8 x 8 feet. One of the highlights of the gardening season here.

Some of my favorite roses are red and white bicolors. Besides Snowfire, other examples growing in my garden are: Love, Ronald Reagan (RR), Carefree Spirit (Carefree Spirit is a single flowered variety, and therefore somewhat difficult to use for direct comparisons with Snowfire). Comparisons below are from my garden observations:

In my garden, Snowfire demonstrates superior color contrast to the others. The red petals with white reverse are vividly defined. The red is a bright warm red, almost scarlet, with no hint of bluing as the flower ages. I see crimson, not scarlet, in Love and RR.

The unfurling bud is attractive, but not shaped as nicely as Love or RR. It puts on a great show in late May early June rose season, not much after.

The bush grows upright, which is a good thing, because it has nasty thorns. I've let mine grow to about six feet. A good back of the border rose.

In my SE PA garden, disease resistance has been about average. It needs its fair share of spraying in hot, humid weather.

To me, a very slight tea fragrance, but perhaps I'm letting my imagination take over.

For its color and June display, I wouldn't be without it.

Has done very well in my garden. Good vigor and shrub like form. More disease resistant than many of my other roses, but still needs a good spraying now and then. Not as resistant as a Drift or Knockout rose.
This rose is sold in some nurseries here in east PA/NJ as 'Fire and Ice'.
What compounds the potential for a problem is that an internet search for 'Fire and Ice' shows a number of photos of a red white bicolor rose that is much more like 'Snowfire', or 'Love'.
Without conducting a thorough investigation first, some buyers (like me) think they're getting a unique rose.
So, now I have Cherry Parfait in my front yard AND my back yard. It's worth it.

Has done well in my poorly drained soil, and hot, humid summers here in Bucks County, PA, about 15 minutes drive from Trenton, NJ (although, due to my poor drainage, I plant rhododendrons above ground. Not in raised beds, but above ground). Supposed to have heat tolerance due to the the R. hyperythrum parent. Hybridized by John T. Thornton, who has done much work developing heat tolerant rhododendrons (See: https://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejo...). Won a Rhododendron of the Year award South Central USA, 2007. Very good bud set every year. Foliage has been criticized for being somewhat pale. Looks good to me. Good truss, good curb appeal, nice quality pink. If heat is an issue, try this.

One of my favorite doubles. Consistently taller in my Bucks County PA garden than the listed 20 inches. Has reached 30-36 inches every year for four years.