Some plants do sulk after being divided and sold. I've had a few that didn't bloom for two or three years. But the majority SHOULD bloom well the next year after planting. I wonder if the plants you got are suitable for your northern climate. Some of the Florida hybridized plants don't even bloom well in my Zone 7A climate. It sounds like you had very cool temperatures this summer - cooler than daylilies prefer. That may have been a major factor. I also wonder if perhaps your daylily crowns are planted too deeply. Sometimes the plants sink down into newly prepared soil deeper than they should. Crowns should be planted no deeper than one inch beneath the soil.

Debra

Hi
All I can say is wait until next year to see what happens. I live in Southwestern Ontario and we finally did have a summer this year with lots of heat and moisture at least until August when we had no rain for the whole month.
We had a cold summer last year and it didn't seem to affect the plants too much then. I think our average temp was 18 in July. I had first year seedlngs that tried to bloom in September so they had no trouble growing through the cold. This year some of my first year seedlings bloomed in late August but not how many I expected considering the much better weather compared to last year.
I was surprised that I didn't have more blooms this year with the heat and wonder if last summer had something to do with it. Some were quite pathetic. I had many buds fall off this year like you did there and have read of this happening to others around here this year. We had a very strange spring with heat in March and then cold. It frosted several times in May. I think the plants were certainly confused. Maybe this affected bud counts.
I have found that many plants that bloom their first summer here take the next year off. I guess I should really cut off that scape so the plant can put it's energy into multiplying. I think it's a trade-off - the plant can't do everything until it is more established. Some cultivars are better at this than others.I really like to make sure I received the correct cultivar the first year so I let them bloom. Regarding your blooms not looking like they should have - it really shouldn't take years for them to look right. They might not open all the way if it is cold or the fancy edges might not be there but the colour should be right by the third bloom or so. Make sure you have the right plants. Mistakes do happen. Can you post some pics?
Sometimes it just takes patience. That's what gardening is all about and you are certainly in a more difficult zone. There are lots of daylilies to try. Maybe you just need some different ones. BTW do you keep stats? I do an inventory every spring and fall. I count fans and scapes so I know what multiplied and what bloomed. I keep a page on each cultivar to record when where etc. It is interesting to look at how some of them have done compared to what the plant looked like when it came which I also write down. I like that sort of thing but know others don't! It does give me the facts when I am wondering about a certain plant.
Debbie

But sometimes it does take a couple years for the blooms to look right ... I've had quite a few that I've walked by and not noticed for years .. and then suddenly noticed.

Also, since you are buying daylilies for Zone 3, where are you buying your daylilies from? I'm buying more and more mid-country and northern daylilies than I ever have before, since I would really like them to do well here.

I'm tired of getting some southern daylilies that just don't like my climate. I can't change my climate, but I can change where I get my daylilies from.

Thanks for all your responses. We are going to be moving a few plants next spring and will probably take the opportunity to check crown level as much as we can. I keep detailed records, on the computer as to performance. The ones we are moving perhaps need more light than they are getting at present. We have a couple that turned out to be in more shady areas than we had thought. All of our plants have been purchased from Canadian suppliers, zone 4 or 5. Even from them, I suppose that we could have stretched a plant's zone tolerance beyond what it liked.

Hi,
Shade is something that I have never worried too much about but should probably take into consideration more. This year I made 2 new Daylily beds that are going to get much more shade so I will see how they do. My very first bed is along the end of a building and the middle section of it gets shaded in the morning. I know some cultivars don't open well there but they all seem to multiply okay.
It seems some people can push the zone more than others. I read of some who can get some of these southern plants to perform well in our zone but I can't. I live out in the country and we get huge winds at times. Our farm buildings create large snow drifts in places but all the snow blows off my front yard leaving it bare. I guess even within the same zone people have different microclimates and you just have to figure out what will grow there.
I have gone to more spiders and unusual forms because they always open for me and look how they are supposed to look. Have you tried some of them? I too am trying to increase my purchases from northern hybridizers and sellers. Unfortunately when you first start purchasing daylilies, where the plant was hybridized isn't really important to you. Many of the older ones I have,I still don't know where they come from. They were what was in garden centres so that is what I bought. Some have done well and some have not but that's probably a different issue!
Good luck out there. Maybe you should start a popularity poll of Zone 3 daylily growers. There used to be some on the far North forum but they have disappeared. You could give it a try.
Debbie

Somehow, we all have to deal with the weather. It has been hotter than blue blazes here this summer, and dry to boot.

By not paying attention, I almost lost one of my favorite daylilies. I had finally realized the daylilies needed water, and I continued to water it even after all of the fans died. then bless goodness, I saw a little green and then a fan and another and there are five nice green fans growing.

But I have lost a few including one I have ordered for the third (and last) time. If it doesn't make it this time, I won't buy it again. I am about to plant another one that I have lost. There are three vacant spots that contained new cultivars that were growing beautifully last year, and then they did not come up this year. I may attempt to replace them once more.

Only one of my new ones (and there were a lot) did not survive. I planted in the heat of summer, but this one, even though it had beautiful health appearing roots started to die the day I received it, and nothing I did saved it.

What can you do. They are so beautiful when they do well, I just keep buying them, and most of them do very well, but some just won't grow for me.
kay

I can't help but feel its a combination of your zone being difficult and the fact that you are not buying the right daylilies. No matter were you are buying them from, I would quit looking at southern hybridized daylilies and start looking at more northern hybridized ones.

I don't know of any hybridizers working in a zone 3 but I could be wrong. But there are those in zones 4 and 5 that I am sure would be a better bet for you. Even zone 6 hybridizers. And I would stick to dormants. But my advice is for new plants you buy from now on. Might as well give everything you have now a chance and see if it can shape up.

My Sweetheart Pink took 3 years to bloom. I think it took a little longer to settle in than my other varieties.

The last two springs for me have been very long and wet and cold. I haven't planted tomatoes until July as a result; and even well-established and generally prolific daylilies have bloomed poorly or not at all for the past two years.

I have a huge daylily wish list; but at present, I'm reluctant to spend more money on plants that may not perform very well as "Global Warming" sets in. (We had HAIL on Thursday. Yes, balls of ice at the beginning of September....) I might be more willing to try a few cold-climate hybridizers, though.

This fall, one of my friends told me that their bees stored up unusually huge amounts of honey in the comb that is reserved for the bees, and hardly a drop extra in any of the other combs. And other beekeepers in the area had the same thing happen to them. Sounds like we can expect more cold...