Lola Branham is not one of my favorite day lilies, but thank goodness she exists! I did get a great picture of her yesterday, though.

I am partial to close-up photos that also show other plants (here a tall purple allium) and the rest of the yard in the distance. In this photo of Lola, I wish the wire support wasn't there, but she needs it... tends to flop, her main fault. What's great about Lola? She is a parent of 'North Wind Dancer', one of my very very favorite day lilies.
You can see N.W.D. buds in the background... should be in full bloom soon. In between Lola and North Wind Dancer is Lola's parent, 'Lilting Lavender', also one of my favorites. I think North Wind Dancer resembles its grandparent, Lilting Lavender, much more than its parent, Lola Branham. I am hoping that Lola will bloom long enough that I can get a photo including all three of these beautiful relatives! I need to check out N.W.D.'s parentage and find out who else can get credit for this gorgeous Stout winner, and what the other ancestors look like!

alwaysbehindMN,
I am glad the support wire was in the photo, it shows just how often we can make a positive out of a negative. Now because it was there, you commented that it was needed for support, now others thinking of growing 'Lola Branham' will be aware that it has a tendency to flop. I see a lot of wonderful comments here along with the photos, I just wish somehow we could add them all to the comments section of each plant somehow.

Speaking of flopping does North Wind Dancer have weak scapes? I have heard some say that it did? I love the bloom and see that if has won awards. I had thought I might add it.

Mine doesn't flop but I have heard others say it does. My Lola Branham flops a bit but not enough to stake it. Memories of Oz is a bit floppy too.

My North Wind Dancer does not flop, but the scapes do lean. They tend to wave a bit in a breeze (or "dance"). It has the perfect name and the flower petals also give it a very fluid graceful look. Of course it has won the top award, the Stout medal, which takes years for a cultivar to achieve. If the gardener likes day lilies with stiff scapes and rigid petals, you won't like North Wind Dancer. My clump is located at the NE corner of the house and catches a lot of breeze, wind also.
I hope to have a good picture of it in full bloom before long.

I've found that the longer a plant remains in a good location and isn't disturbed, the less flopping it will do as it gets older. They seem to get stronger with each new season. A lot of it also depends on the water content of the bloom stalk. Consistent and timely watering helps, even here in the flatlands where the winds can be ferocious.

Teresa, this beauty that came from you tended to flop last year, during its first bloom time here, but this year it is so much stronger and Wow the blooms on it! No flopping at all. I love it.

I have noticed that if we have a particularly wet spring with more rain than normal, scapes grow too fast and they tend to flop more.

Probably so, Cindy. It's been a while since we had a really wet spring. That's why I said consistent and timely watering, of course we have not a bit of control over the rain. Something similar happens with my River Birch tree, we get a lot of rain over several days and the limbs drag the ground. Irises, same thing. I use those tall green stakes that have a horizontal loop at the top when I need them for daylilies or any of the floppies.

I need to get me some of those stakes. Where do you get yours Sharon?? I have some oriental lilies that need staking too. They are over 5 feet tall and flopping really bad.

They do work well. I found mine at a local nursery and purchased a couple dozen or more several years ago. I got them originally for peonies, then used them for irises, then tomatoes and rain flattened daylilies or anything else that flops. They come in different heights as well. I don't remember the price, Cindy, but I'll see if I can find them somewhere online. I really like them more than the little bendable fencing. You can hardly see them at all in a garden. I'll also get a picture when I take a deep breath and go back out in this hot and terribly humid day. The stakes are perfect for lilies, several bloom stalks will fit into the horizontal circle of one stake if they are close together. I use them for gloriosas too until they get their sticky tendrils wound around the trellis.

Cindy, this is what they look like, but I didn't check out their individual pricing here, just found it so you could see what I'm talking about:

http://www.kinsmangarden.com/p...

Oh yes, I have seen them in Plow and Hearth before. I don't remember the cost though. Plow and Hearth can be pricey. Maybe ebay or Amazon would have them.

Expensive on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UT...

I got busy and haven't looked farther, but will try to now that it's too danged hot to breathe outside. Whew.

I use circle stakes on the scapes of all my potted daylilies I'm using for hybridizing, because I have to move the pots to my shady back porch (or even indoors sometimes) to make crosses in our Bakersfield heat. I lost a few scapes back when I started because they started waving back and forth and a few snapped when I carried the pots one-handed, and the circle stakes I got at Lowes really solved the problem for me.

It is hot here too. Did some pollen dabbing early but by lpm I was ready to stay indoors.

Oh I think someone mentioned Lowe's for those kind of stakes once before. I will have to look there because I have a bit of money left on a gift card.

Yes, I just checked the link to that website, and those are the same ones I get at Lowe's -- and Home Depot too. I get them in 3 sizes, and they've really saved so many scapes for me -- love 'em!

Great to know Betty, thanks for letting us know about them.

Cheaper here, but I know nothing about this company:

http://www.midlandhardware.com...

Great Betty, thanks. I'd rather purchase them locally so I can test their strength. These that I have are very tough coated with green vinyl. I've had them maybe 5 years and they have weathered a lot of storms. Still perfect.