FRANCES OF ASSISI it is my favorite out of the group.

I grow 18 of the candidates, and my vote would go to AMERICA'S MOST WANTED. I haven't seen much talk of AMW on the Robin, so it looks doubtful it will win.

I think I've seen the most discussion about SABINE BAUR, which is one of my least favorite of the group.

I grow 19 out of the group of candidates and as of right now my vote would go to All Fired Up for it's outstanding performance in every way, in my garden.
Jan

Several of these didn't survive this past winter in zone 5 here. They include Wisest of Wizards[3 fans gone].....Black Ambrosia-gone....Etched Eyes knocked back to one fan[this one fades badly but what a beauty until 11am....than it wilts....Always Afternoon in full sun fades but in PM shade is stunning....Pure and Simple, Pearl Harbour, Buttered Popcorn, Pearl Harbour and All FIred Up are the best all around here, bloom, plant habits and vigor. AMerica's Most Wanted is stunning but is taking awhile to get going here....I would love to see Pure and Simple take it as it is a much stronger plant for me than Sabine Baur..cheers lloyd

I have 17 of this list growing in my beds...many are very special, I think...The one that I really like the best would be Spacecoast Starburst...It would get my vote. Hmmmm if I were to predict the winner...I would have to "Guess" ....Lavender Blue Baby

How can you not recognize such a Beauty.............Thanks Mr Kinnebrew.....

Rick

I would have voted for SPACECOAST TINY PERFECTION - because it is. I think S. STARBURST will win.

Brooke

FRANCIS OF ASSISI. Unbelievable deep red color. Parent of many. For front of the border. By far, and still, the best red.

2nd choice PURE AND SIMPLE, orange and very early.

10 from the list are growing in my garden. From my 10, I'd pick Pearl Harbor as the best all around DL...but Mr. Lucky is a close second. If Mr. Lucky was a little bit bigger, it would be my first choice.
Kathy

I grow 10 from the list, and I can easily tell you the worst of the group for me. That would STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER. I've had it for two years and it hasn't bloomed. Telling you the best of the group is much, much harder. They all multiply pretty well, and bloom pretty well. WISEST OF WIZARDS and BUTTERED POPCORN are the only ones on the list that have ever rebloomed for me, and then only one time apiece out of four of more years.

I love All AMERICAN CHIEF for it's dramatic large red bloom.

FRANCIS OF ASSISI is a great one too!

Debra

SPACECOAST STARBURST doesn't open well here. ALL FIRED UP is a doer, STARMANS QUEST and SKINWALKER have a lot going for them. AMERICAS MOST WANTED is probably the best all around plant on the list. TRAHLYTA one of my absolute favorites would probably have already won if it was a TET.

I grow America's Most Wanted, Awesome Blossom, Black Ambrosia, Clothed In Glory, Etched Eyes, Lavender Blue Baby, Mister Lucky, Pure And Simple, Ram, Spacecoast Tiny Perfection, Wisest Of Wizards.
My sentimental vote would go to RAM or TRAHLYTA, but from my experience, the best plants are PURE AND SIMPLE and WISEST OF WIZARDS.
Ed

I only grow 7 of these.

HEY - what's wrong with everybody, the best of the bunch is MARKED BY LYDIA.

This is a darned good plant---in addition to its beautiful flowers that don't fade, it increases rapidly. Flower texture is strong, good clear color. Also, has lots of flowers.

This is my choice.

Kay

Debra, I've also had STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER for two years and have yet to see it bloom.

I would vote for Big kiss, or mystical rainbow.
They may be a bit older, but they seem to be really nice plants and you can always rely on them for lots of beautiful blooms. I think they deserve to be in the hall of fame. I don't have David Kirchhoff, but even though it is an older variety also, I have read lots of great things about it in books and on the web. There are lots of good ones on that list, it is kinda hard to pick just one!

All American Chief - grow now and predict it will win or be runner up.
Brookwood Lee Causey - grow now, fabulous dayliy - in top 10
Etched Eyes - gow now fabulous daylily - in top 10
Mister Lucky - grow now another one I could have voted for in a heartbeat - in top 10
Roswitha - Used to grow, met the namesake, great daylily but poor branching and bud count
Starman's Quest - grew - does poorly in south
All Fired Up - grew - fabulous daylily - in top 15
Buttered Popcorn - has 'cult' following exceptional bud count, too old to place high.
Francis Of Assisi - grew, didn't really impress me.
Moses' Fire - never grew this one
Sabine Baur - a favorite of favorites - poor scape though - in top 15
Strawberry Fields Forever - too pastel for my tastes - in top 15
America's Most Wanted - fabulous daylily still grow it - in top 10
Cherokee Pass - don't know this one
Larry Grace - another great one - in top 10
Mystical Rainbow - don't know it
Schnickel Fritz - don't know it
Trahlyta - stunning with thin scape and poor bud count
Awesome Blossom - I could vote for this one, name says it all - in top 10
Clothed In Glory - another great one
Lavender Blue Baby - needs dormancy does poorly here - in top 10 maybe top 5
Pearl Harbor - I could vote for this one - in top 10
Skinwalker - I did vote for this one - in top 5
Tune The Harp - another worthy of the Stout Medal - will place high
Big Kiss - don't know it
David Kirchhoff - rust magnet
Magic Of Oz - never ever measures as a spider. Should not have won the HOA, will not win the Stout
Pure And Simple - great daylily - a little too old to place high
Spacecoast Starburst - absolutely fabulous, have grown since it was introduced - in top 1o
Wisest Of Wizards - too pastel for my tastes - in top 15
Black Ambrosia - great one
Desperado Love - top branched, flowers open crowded, is falling in position every year
Marked By Lydia - worthy of Stout, will place in top 10
Ram - don't know it
Spacecoast Tiny Perfection - Worthy of Stout, will place in top 10.

Fall Board of Directors meeting is in Orlando FL October 27th, then we all will know the answer.

The winner of the Popularity Poll will be announced also on October 27th.

Only garden judges can vote for the AHS Awards & Honors. There are requirements that must be met for a garden judge to consider and it should be more than it is pretty so I will vote for it. Unfortunately the better distribution a flower has the more votes it will get because of exposure. This means that a daylily that increases rapidly or is from a more popular hybridizer is more likely to get votes than an equally worthy daylily that remains relatively unknown. We had a member here in San Diego that only registered one daylily but Cordon Bleu, a major mail order business in the past, gave EYE YI YI to everone that placed an order for two years. As a result it got enough distribution to receive an 'honorable mention' award. One equally deserving, GRANDIOUSE never got good distribution and is only know by a handful of individuals.

Any member of the AHS can vote in the popularity poll and the requirements are very relaxed. Some will look at the popularity poll as being more viable than the Stout Medal. The process to get on the list for the Stout Medal assures that the cultivar will be, in most cases, ten to twenty years from introduction. The popularity poll will always include more recent introductions than the stout and to some degree those that place high on the popularity poll will also place high on the Stout later on but not necesarily win the Stout as the reqirements for the Stout will pull some of the popularity poll winners off the list. To get on the Stout list a cultivar must have recieved the Award of Merit a minimum of two years previously. To get an Award of Merit a cultivar must receive votes from at least one-half of the AHS regions, and not more than one-third of the total votes credited to the cultivar shall come from any one region. It must have received an Honorable Mention Award a minimum of three years previously. Now here is the rub! It is the hybridizer who nominates their own cultivar for the Honorable Mention Award. Some will nominate their cultivar just to have it on the list to increase sales or for other personal reasons. That does not mean the cultivars there are not deserving because it is the judges who vote but it does determine which cultivars they can vote for. With the Popularity Poll there are no such restrictions.

A word of caution though if you make purchases based on the Popularity Poll you should only consider the results of your own region or at best similar regions. I used to tabulate the popularity poll and when the two largest regions' results were in I knew the national winners without looking at any of the other regions results. This is because the larger regions would have about 140 votes for the top cultivar while the smaller regions might have 1-9 votes for that same cultivar. The smaller regions do not have enough votes to affect the national outcome. If I had my way the National Distribution would not be part of the Popularity Poll published results.

Thanks Jackarias for that information. I find it all fascinating, the requirements needed before consideration for certain awards. I am in one of the smallest regions, member-wise, Region 8, and have to be careful to not get too carried away with the results of polls from other regions. I do rely a lot on our region's pop polls, I just question whether the majority of voters vote for the latest and newest dl that they are smitten with that year. I guess you would get bored voting for the same old reliable dls every year, even if they were the best performers.

I don't grow enough of the Stout candidates to fairly choose one, but I think it would be great to see Pure and Simple win.

I predicted earlier that Skinwalker would win, just from the amount of talk about it, but now I am thinking that maybe Spacecoast Tiny Perfection or Spacecoast Starburst will win, with runner up All American Chief.
It is interesting how divided people seem to be on Sabine Bauer, it is love or hate with that one.

I don't grow enough of them to vote, but here's my experience with those in my Dallas garden:

All FIRED UP -- new this fall.
FRANCES OF ASSISI -- fabulous flower, vigorous plant, reblooms.
MOSES' FIRE -- new this fall.
PURE AND SIMPLE -- Glowing, blended color, perfect form, neat ruffles, good increase.
SPACECOAST STARBURST -- reluctant opener for me, poor increase.
TUNE THE HARP -- love the flower & a reliable rebloomer. Slow to increase.

Looks like FRANCIS is my winner.

I only grow 10 of them, but here is my opinion

ALL AMERICAN CHIEF - Love it, Number 1 or 2 with Moses Fire
All FIRED UP- Not impressed by bloom, but does well
BLACK AMBROSIA - Does Ok Love the color
BUTTERED POPCORN - Explosion of color.
MOSES' FIRE - Love it. Except for lack of rebloom it would be hands down number one on this list.
MYSTICAL RAINBOW - Like the display it puts on
PURE AND SIMPLE - Doesnt do that well for me. Probably need to divide.
TRAHLYTA - Hate the bloom. For me its muddy
TUNE THE HARP - Ok
WISEST OF WIZARDS- Not impressed. By the color or the plant

But this has nothing to do with the award. America's Most Wanted or All American Chief will probaby be the top 2.

Tom