what forms are you looking for?

Not all of his are whoppers, but Jack Carpenter produced a lot in the 7-inch range.

Right now I have no specific forms or characteristics in mind and at this point I'm not too particular except that I'd like to add some larger blooms to my existing collection. Now most of mine are around 4 to 5 inches with some petite blooms. I'll take a look at some of the Carpenter intros. Thanks for helping.

judy davisson
dan bachman
curt hanson
nan wilkerson

I think you may be able to go to The AHS daylily database, click for advanced search, and type in general size you want and daylilies will appear that meet those specifications. I was trying to find a mini a month ago and part of the advanced search let me specify size options.

Note that the largest blooms you'll see, in terms of diameter measurement, will be spider forms. I think this is why Cody asked what forms you'd be interested in. For every 7" broad-petaled daylily you come across, you'll find dozens of spiders and long-petaled varieties...which is great if you like them!

Nate

James Gossard, Jim Murphy, Margo Reed, Brian Mahieu, Webster, along with aforementioned Judy Davisson...good luck!

Here's Jamie's site ... UF's and spiders will be the largest, like some else mentioned.

Here is a link that might be useful: Heavenly Gardens

I agree about doing the advance search in the AHS database. You can specify the minimum and maximum of the bloom size as well as a single, double, spider, UFO, etc. Even further by DOR, SEV, EV, bloom time and it keeps going to narrow down your preferences.
One thing it hasn't done yet is specify by color. I'm sure one day we will see that as well on the search feature.

Good luck.
Julia

Here is a link that might be useful: AHS Database

When I visited Jack Carpenter's daylily farm, his daylilies that were for sale were lined out and growing under large shade-cloth structures. The Carpenter daylilies that I have are planted in "plein air" and do not bloom so fantastically in our outdoor environment.

If you really want very large blooms, before you buy any, you might want to inquire if they are produced in "field conditions" or in a protected environment.

Nancy

The messy part about searching by color is that people describe the same color in different ways. One hybridizer might say "red" while another says "crimson" or "raspberry" or "burgundy."

Nate

Thanks for all the additional information. I realized when I went to Carpenter's website that they don't give the bloom size and I'm going to have to go to a database to look each one of them up.

Yes, I've noticed that a lot of the large blooming dls are spiders and I look closely at the descriptions when I find a 7+inch dl. Spiders are beginning to grow on me (figuratively speaking, that is).

DD

That's cute. I wouldn't have thought anything about the statement "to grow on me" if you hadn't said figuratively. You got a chuckle from me. You know, when we talk to each other in person, you don't think a thing about saying something like that. But, when you type words out for someone to read, typed words can take on many meanings. I always try to go back and read what I write just so, maybe, I can get by without offending anyone.

I grow many Carpenter daylilies and I love them. If you like Red, I recommend "Texas Big Red" it's huge! Another pretty one that I really love "Sunrise Sunset Beautiful". It's a redish orange about 6.5" that blooms and blooms. I don't have any problems. Mine do get morning shade, but then they get about 6 hours of mid-day sun. It was very hot this year, and they still were good for me.I do grow mine in pots,which is good now that I'm getting then all repotted. I did a group of Carpenters this week. I just know they will be very pretty next year. It had been 5 years since they had been potted. They were in desperate need of new soil and to be divided. Even so, all but one bloomed this year. I was sick last summer and I didn't give my plants anything. From June until this year, I didn't ever water. I figured I had lost a lot of my daylilies due to neglect. I didn't see how the could have survived a full summer without anything except rain water. I only lost about 5 total out of 850. Amazing!!! I felt so very blessed when i finally started getting outside this Spring.
Daylilies are just plain tuff!!! Now, back to your question. I also grow a few more biggies:

Judy Farquhar pale pink with gold edge 7.5
Mississippi Memories white with gold edge 7.5"
Song Writer beautiful pink about 6.75"
Boundless Beauty nearly white 7.5"
Grand Floridian lovely Pink 6.5"
Gary Colby dark pink-red with huge gold edge 8"
James Joyce beautiful dark purple 6" (mine are 7")
Natalie Antoinette rose pink gold edge 7"
Inimitable Pastel pink 8"(more white)

Wow! I do love a big daylily!!! Good luck on your hunt.

Blessings, Mona

Mona, thanks for the suggested daylilies. I'm going to print out your list and keep close to my computer so I can do searches. I'm so glad your dls did so well. Mine are in a large bed but they can still get lost in the shuffle and neglect. I nearly died in Jan. & Feb. of 2010 and it took me many months to regain strength and the will to recoup what I could from the weeds, etc. this summer. I'm praying ...literally :-) that I can keep on adding to and maintaining the 200 I have now. Great hobby.

Ted Petit has introduced some big blooms, including Ted's Tribute to Linda.

In the garden, I enjoy these plants by various hybridizers: April laQuinta, Thin Man, Webster's Pink Wonder, Ruby Spider, All American Chief, Wispy Rays, Judy Farquhar, Golden Child and Deliberate Pace.

Ben

Thanks, Ben, for the suggestions. I saw Wispy Rays on someone's website a few days ago and loved the look and color but had no idea it was a large bloom. Guess that gives me reason to get it.

Mona, I forgot to say that I cannot imagine taking care of 850 pots of daylilies. You have to be SUPER WOMAN!

dd

Don't forget about Dan Trimmer. He's got some whopper round rufflies like 'Across The Universe' and 'Big Yellow Taxi'.

I have not posted for awhile here, but here are a fee big ones that come to mind...
Heartbeat Of Heaven
Jay Farquhar
Planet Claire
Ram
Thin Man
I would have to look them up to see how big they are, but I feel to lazy at the moment!
Mercy