Observing rebloom

The double whammy of being entirely a novice at daylilies and unobservant / memory-challenged has made me mostly clueless about expectations for the daylilies that I grow . Throw in my failed attempt at recording names and locations in the garden, and I feel really uninformed about my daylilies . If only ogling gorgeous flowers counted as expertise! That being said, my observations today have shed some light on the subject for me .

What I saw were many new scapes emerging on daylilies that had recently used up all the buds on their early scapes . A little light bulb went on in my brain . It made me wonder, "Is this rebloom?" Even though these plants bloomed last year, I have no memory of a resurgence of blooms . I think too many other things were happening for me to take notice . Plus I was never really clear about the definitions of bloom periods: extra early, early, early mid, mid, mid late, late, very late . I'm not sure if they vary from climate to climate or where the growing season is longer like it is in Florida . Admittedly, I haven't done much reading on this, and perhaps the answers are readily available but I just haven't accessed them . Well, why not do some accessing right now?

Ah-ha, how easy was that! The American Hemerocallis Society has a FAQ that is loaded with information, including what they call blooming sequence . So here it is .

Blooming Sequence

Daylilies bloom from early spring until frost, depending on the coldness of the climate . To indicate when a particular cultivar blooms during the season, daylily growers use the following terms and abbreviations (or symbols):

• Extra Early (EE). These daylilies are the first to bloom, and vary from March or April in the extreme South, to May or June in the North .
• Early (E). These daylilies bloom three to five weeks prior to the mass of bloom at midseason .
• Early Midseason (EM). These daylilies bloom one to three weeks before the height of bloom of most cultivars .
• Midseason (M). These daylilies bloom at the peak of the daylily bloom in your own garden . This ranges from May in the South to July in the North .
• Late Midseason (LM). These daylilies bloom one to three weeks after the height or peak of bloom in your garden .
• Late (L). These daylilies bloom when most others have finished blooming, usually four to six weeks after the peak of the season .
• Very Late (VL). These daylilies are the last to bloom, often late in the summer in the South, fall in the North .
• Rebloomer (Re). These daylilies bloom more than one time during a single season . Some of these bloom early (e.g., May or June) and then repeat in the fall . Others have a succession of bloom periods, one shortly after another for several months .

Hmmm, that did sound a little bit vague, didn't it? Not anything hard-and-fast, mark-it-on-the-calendar reliable, huh? So maybe I'm seeing the "succession of bloom periods" now . That's encouraging . Blooms in succession, one shortly after another, are very good things . Let me show you what I saw today .

The next four photos are of two clumps of "Sherry Lane Carr' - I think . One I'm positive of and the other ( the plant in the first photo ) not so sure . I was desperately trying to get the last ones in the ground last year after they had been sitting in pans of water for four months, and I failed to write them down on my chart . But they look alike, so I'm making an assumption . This one isn't really finished with its early scapes, but it has two brand new ones . The plant in the last photos has definitely used up its original buds and has two new scapes full of buds . She's an early mid rebloomer .

A wonderful surprise was the plant in the next two photos . It's a NOID . No identification! My gues-timation is that it's an early mid bloomer . I have two clumps of this lovely mauve daylily that puts out lots of flowers, but I didn't know it was a rebloomer . I thought it was done for the year . I'm sure it didn't bloom again last year . Now it has two new scapes and even a new open flower . To complicate things the second plant has no new scapes .The buds in the second photo are in the upper right of the first photo . ( My cameras has a problem with reds, so just believe me that this flower is a medium mauve. )

The next two photos are 'Pearl Harbor', a mid-season bloomer - obviously not finished with its first bloom and still putting out new scapes . This observation leads me to conclude that we must be smack-dab in the middle of mid-season . So June in my garden is mid-season . Do you think I'll remember that next year?

These three photos are 'Blueberry Frost', a mid-season rebloomer . Yesterday I removed all of the spent scapes on the three plants . This is the only flower they have, and it's the first one open on a recent scape with another new one coming along . The second plant has two even newer scapes, while the third has none at this point . They also have rust on the older leaves which seems not to damage the plant, just make it unattractive. Maybe someone can enlighten me .

Here's a better shot of the flower of 'Blueberry Frost' .

This is 'Fred Ham', a mid rebloomer, all done with its first scapes and adding three or four new ones . Don't know if this is still the first bloom or the continuous rebloom .

I think this is 'Evelyn Lela Stout', an early mid rebloomer, except that she's just started blooming ...unless I missed / forgot that she already bloomed . So frustrating not to think sharply anymore . I love it that she has all those buds .

This, I believe, is 'Joan Senior', a nearly white early mid rebloomer . She's been blooming for only a few weeks, a little later than my other early-mids . The photo below shows the flower a bit better .

The next two shots are beautiful to me in an unorthodox way . I hope you think so, too .