I am curious what you will be adding this year and why. I always pour over the Popularity Polls of all the regions posted in the AHS magazine. I know they are not the latest but at least they are more in my budget!
Which ones do you like or are hoping to add this Spring?

Happy Gardening!

Teresa

Hi Teresa,

Sorry it took so long to respond, but I really like this topic and wanted to review the latest Daylily Journal and do a nice job.

I am not by nature a popularity poll kind of guy. I'm disillusioned by how many of my favorite hybridizers don't have even one of their plants mentioned, even in their home zones which you would think would be showing some "home town" pride. So I'm not a fan of the popularity polls.

However, there are things for newer daylily addicts to learn from them. Some cultivars that you see over and over again should be mentioned. Webster's Pink Wonder, to me, seems to be a game changer for big UF flowers. For me, it's performance is much better than the registered performance, and if you go down its list of 118 children, I keep seeing kids that I already liked enough to buy, or are on my wishlist. It's almost like you could take any kind of daylily and cross it with WPW and get some kind of big, cool, UF blooms out of it. Same thing goes for White Eyes Pink Dragon (25 kids, also a WPW child) and Swallow Tail Kite (54 kids). When I see plants that continue to pile up kids, and I recognize a large percentage of the kids from looking at the LA and this site, I feel good about having those plants in my garden.

Rose F Kennedy is a Dip that has 134 kids. It was very popular for a Dip, when a lot of people thought Tets were the current popular ploidy. So popular, it was converted to a Tet and used so heavily by Tet hybridizers that 43% of those kids are Tets. Has there ever been anything like RFK, that has impacted the direction of hybridizers for both ploidies to that extent? I don't know, but I'm impressed and want that one in my garden.

And then All American Chief seems pretty popular for a 1994 introduction, especially in the north. That one is still on my "need to get" list.

Teresa I just saw this also. Of the latest nine plants on the list I have four and tons of seeds in the fridge from one I don't have. You can guess from Tim's fourth paragraph which one it is . I have mentioned numerous times that Roman Cohort is one of several personal favorite. All American Chief has been here three years and is doing fantastic. Others on the list that I grow is Moonlit Masquerade - does extremely well here. Heavenly Angel Ice likewise. Freewheelin is a stand out also. Boundless Beauty will forever be a widely loved evergreen that does outstanding in the north. Little "Bitsy", what can I say about this none stop blooming machine. This was the first daylily to bloom in April for me. Yazooo Elsie Hintson is another BIG beauty. Soft Summer Night is another long blooming machine with a delicate bloom. Can't say enough about Sunshine On Clouds churning out bouquet after bouquet of blooms on a daily basis. Joan Senior, Bermuda Coral, Janet Benz, Marque Moon, Beautiful Edgings, North Wind Dancer, Bela Lugosi, Genesta, Stella's Sparky, Sherwood Gladiator to name a few. Our choices are endless ! Something for all the varying taste out there.
Freewheelin


Genesta


Joan Senior


Moonlit Masquerade


Roman Cohort


Stella's Sparky


Sunshine On Clouds


All American Chief


Bela Lugosi

Thanks, Mike. I just added Moonlit M. Love the pics!

Thanks, Mike. I just added Moonlit M. Love the pics!

Most of Mike's would be on my list too. I suppose that popularity polls inevitably favor plants that have been in commerce for some time. I would think that some of the regional AHS polls would be more inclusive, but it really is hard to come up with a list of, say, half a dozen plants. People tend to follow the latest fashion.The Lenington All-American awards do a good job of picking classic cultivars that perform well almost everywhere. As for Rose F. Kennedy, I so wish she would add a fan now in her fourth year.

MantisOH how many fans did you start with ?

I originally had a double fan of RFK; I now have a double fan.

It is a slow grower for me too. I have had it going on the 3rd bloom season but at least I now have 4 fans. I have babied it with compost and osmocote after the first year with no increase.
I like plants that just grow well without so much attention!

It seem like the offsprings are more vigorous.