| DAYLILIES-- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS BY BEGINNERS I must preface this by indicating I am NOT an expert.I have only been seriously into daylilies for a few years.I make mistakes all the time and have no "training" in gardening.I have learned a bit and consider myself only a step above a beginner.I am taking the Ct Master Gardener's class starting Jan. 2008. Why didn't my daylilies bloom the first year I acquired them? Sometimes plants need time to become established. Perennials will "sleep" the first year,"creep" the second year, and "leap" the third year. Why should I grow daylilies instead of annuals or other perennials? You should grow whatever pleases you. We grow a variety of annuals and perennials. We like daylilies in particular for several reasons: 1-They are real hard to kill. 2-They are tolerant of various soil conditions and relatively disease resistant. 3-They not only come back each year but they multiply ! Each year you will have more than the year before. The rate of increase varies . 4-They are beautiful .Check out the images on our price list pages. 5-They are easy to hybridize --to create brand new flowers that never existed before. Why are the new ones so expensive? Like a lot of things --supply and demand drives the cost.As time goes by and more exist due to natural multiplication the cost goes down. Some will remain higher in cost if they increase more slowly or have such features that most growers want them. Most quality hybridizers will introduce only one of 500-1,000 seedlings they create. The time, money, and effort that goes into doing this puts the cost in better perspective. I have a neighbor who is a third generation farmer who also sells insurance on the side. He loves farming but told me he doesn't know how anyone can make a living doing it. My daylilies form seed pods. If I plant the seeds will they grow into new daylilies? Yes-but they may not be what you expect. The flowers were likely pollinated by a bee or other insect. Even if self pollinated there is no way to determine how the chromosomes will align .It will normally take 2 seasons for them to bloom. OK-why should I buy daylilies from you? We have been buying daylilies for about 10 years and have spent a small fortune doing so. The plants we grow are larger than virtually everyone else's we get, with a few exceptions-I mean significantly larger. This coming season I will get some images to illustrate my point. Many prefer to buy from growers in their own zone to ensure the plants will perform well. Check out gardens in your area if you are unsure what types may do well in your growing zone. Our prices are competitive and we will always be reasonable about refunds and/or replacing plants that fail to meet your expectations. Check out our feedback at the Daylily Auction site.I buy from many different growers each year based on price, quality of previous purchases ,and the service I received. Finally,there is a preponderance of evidence that rust does not survive our winters,so plants you get from us,or other Northern gardens, in the spring will be rust free. What is meant by dormant,evergreen and semi-evergreen? This refers to the foliage habit. Dormant varieties are those whose foliage dies back in winter. Evergreen are those which retain their foliage through winter. Semi-evergreen varieties fall in between. There is a lot of variation and interpretation of these classifications in the daylily community. For formal definitions of these and other daylily terms click here. Hardiness is the real indicator of how a daylily performs in your area. While evergreens generally do well in the south, there are many hearty evergreens that do well in the north. Likewise, dormants generally do well in the north. If you are unsure --ask the seller or check what others are growing in your area. |