Background history:

"Paper Butterfly" is a semi-evergreen tetraploid introduced in 1983 by Mort Morss. More information about Mort Morss can be found on his website, "Daylily World" located in Lexington, Kentucky:
http://daylilyworld.net/epages...

This cultivar can be found in the ATP Plant Database:
Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Paper Butterfly')

According to the ATP database, this is an early bloomer with possible rebloom. It shows rust resistance. AHS awards for this cultivar include: Award of Merit: 1990, Honorable Mention: 1987, LAA: 1998, DCS: 1987. It is both pod and pollen fertile. Paper Butterfly has 106 registered children: http://garden.org/plants/paren...







Please join in, if you own this plant! We would love to know more! (I award an acorn for performance information posted on this thread.)

Also, please consider adding a "Local Report" to the ATP Plant Database!!! Thank you!
Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Paper Butterfly')

@Trish obtained this plant last fall and our bloomed this year. It seems to be an instant rebloomer, and its blooms are amazing.

I received Paper Butterfly almost a year ago. It has been in a container and bloomed twice this Spring/early Summer. First bloom was on April 17, 2015. I used it's pollen on a lot of other blooms because I liked it so much! It was also pod fertile. It will be interesting to see what those future seedlings produce.

I recorded the stats on the very first scape. 13 buds on 3 branches. It did show some rust, but not an excessive amount. Maybe a 2.0 - 2.5 rating? I am probably pulling that range out of the air because I am not exactly sure how to rate rust resistance.

Grows well in zone 4B - NE Iowa. One of the earliest bloomers, and it seems to bloom a long time.

I like this one, it is a good performer for me and is photogenic also

It will rebloom here if it is treated well.

Nice daylily! The first of mine to open. I had a huge clump that bloomed its head off. Does very well in zone 5/6 and foliage stayed decent looking all season.

Fantastic photo, Amy!

I used to have it but the only thing I remember is that it used to put up very early scapes indeed that were abnormal. Sometimes it bloomed again properly at a more normal time. I don't still have it but I don't recall why.

This year Paper Butterfly was disappointing. It was transplanted from a large nursery pot into a new raised bed in October 2015. It bloomed on May 22, 2016. One scape only. No re-bloom. It is currently 5 very small fans, but was only 2 larger fans when I initially received it. Despite the size of the fans, it is actually increasing. Perhaps transplant shock or heat dormancy as it is a sev? I did not record any other stats this year.

This is a bloom photo from this year. Blooms have been consistent:


I do love this cultivar and hope it thrives here soon!!

Another one I let go this year due to slow increase. Nice blooms and colors.

I acquired this plant on June 17, 2015 and it had some nice blooms it's first year. This year 2016 it had even more blooms and as you can see from the below photos it bloomed for a long time. 04-27-2016


07-10-2016

Paper Butterfly was not blooming this morning when I went down to the garden. I pulled eleven dead scapes off one clump. It had two way branching and average height of 25 inches per scape with a bud count of 10. This plant is two years old now, I ordered the plant from one vendor and it was a gift plant from a second vendor. Both plants have formed decent clumps, they have bloomed every year, and produce beautiful blooms. Both clumps are planted down in the very wet bog bed, and have managed to do pretty well there.

I transplanted some of the 'Paper Butterfly' plants back in September 2017 to make room for another variety. Those plants did very well in the transfer and bloomed early this year back on April 20th. I also dug up the plants left down in the bog and raised them up and put them back in the same spot. They never missed a beat and bloomed very well again this year.

I've had Paper Butterfly for about nine years. It's done great, always blooms for a long time, usually with multiple blooms appearing. It gets some shade during the day, which doesn't seem to be a problem.

This year (2020) was another great year for 'Paper Butterfly'. Right now it has the only living scape left and it has a few buds, they will probably never bloom, but this plant had a very long and productive bloom season!
The daylily bud finally opened in December, I actually missed the bloom the day it opened and only found it two days later before it fell off, but it did open.

2021 was a bad year for Paper Butterfly. It barely did anything. I did a lot around that area, removing Fula and Kwanso. Maybe I took out some of the Paper Butterfly too, by accident. I only saw six blooms, three on the same day. It bloomed for a short week and a half from July 16 to July 25. Sure this hope this does better next year!

Much better year for Paper Butterfly in 2022. I seem to have it scattered in a few locations on Upper Daylily Hill. It started blooming July 6 - 24, making it a solid Midseason bloomer. I love the distinctive bloom and I don't really have any canoeing issues as has been reported elsewhere about this cultivar. Maybe because it's grown in an area that gets shade all morning?

I bought Paper Butterfly in the spring of 2022 and planted it in a prime spot. I ordered it because of its reputation for rust resistance. In less than a month, the plant sent up scapes, and it bloomed in June.

Unfortunately it showed rust several times after that, so when the plant did not return this spring (2023), I did not cry. I have only one picture of it in bloom, and you can see the characteristic canoeing.

I've had Paper Butterfly since 2009. Thought I got rid of it but some came back, so I put it up closer to the house. It blooms between mid-June and the first week of July. Branching and bud count aren't great, but it does get a fair amount of shade where it sits now. I've not seen rust on it.


It does tend to curl up on the inside of the petals, which is called "canoeing". For some folks, this is an undesirable trait. It doesn't bother me, but it does take away from that beautiful eyezone area.


I usually like taller daylilies, but because this one is near a walkway, I think it fits.


On really good days, it shows off that nice green throat.