I've been opening various reports now and again and have wondered what the bud count means for a daylily - when someone puts down 10, does this mean 10 buds per stalk or 10 buds per plant?

Deb, it means 10 buds per scape (stalk) not for the entire plant. You can find answers here or at the The American Hemerocallis Society if you have any questions.

http://www.daylilies.org/

Thanks I wondered the same thing, I've been looking at daylilies with bud counts of 40+. Do plants realistically get this many or is it just a sells pitch?

Daniel, it would depend on your climate and where the daylily was hybridized. Daylilies that are hybridized in the south and would be hardy here in the north would not likely have the same budcount as they would in a southern climate it would be lower in the north. Also the budcount that is achieved in your garden would depend on soil fertility, weather, amount of sun and amount of water the plant would receive. One other thing to keep in mind is the ability of each flower to open well without hanging up on other blooms, which in MHO ruins the blooms no matter how many there are.

I would recommend that you visit daylily gardens in your climate, it will give you an idea of what will grow well in your area. I personally like to have daylilies that start blooming in different parts of the season (extra early, early, mid, late and extra late) having different daylilies for each bloom period gives you a long bloom season.