I love ROUGE ROYALE because it is a top notch cut flower. As you can see from the images the quartered flower form is utter perfection. Never is a petal out of place. The blooms are also H-U-G-E! I've seen flowers that were the size of my outstretched hand. Amazing. The color is phenomenal: a rich ruby red that doesn't "blue" like so many other dark red Hybrid Teas. Then there is the petal texture: velvety on the top with a satiny reverse. Absolutely, positively gorgeous. Petals are also stiff with substance. Properly conditioned cut flowers will easily last a week in a vase. Loooooooong straight, strong stems. And don't get me started on the fragrance: intense and complex, rivaling such classics as General Jacqueminot and Souvenir du Docteur Jamain. The burgundy turned dark green leathery foliage is a perfect foil for the sumptuous flowers and the bush has a nice shape to boot. Trust me folks, this is THE true red reproduction rose we've all been looking for. If I had the room I'd grow five of these smoldering beauties.

Rouge 21, I haven't been on the daylily forum for some time now, but peaked in today and saw your question. I live in z5b, Grey county, Ontario (45 min s of Georgian Bay). Chicago Apache was one of my first daylilies. It is a stunner in bloom, a much darker red than Endless Heart (aka Early Bird Cardinal).It still had a couple of blooms in early September, and this is the first time in 6 or 7 yrs that it has done this. Endless Heart I have had for 3yrs. It is one of first few to open for me (as is CA), and it is still blooming. Not the heavy show that it was in late June and first half of July, but still a couple or few blooms every few days. It will continue going like this for me for several more weeks yet. Its colouring is not as dramatic as CA, and tends to go more pink red in intense heat and sun, but blooms longer. If you have room, get one of each, and enjoy each for their own unique characteristics. On a side not, I have had Apricot Sparkles for 4 yrs. Last year it had its first blooms for me (about 6). To say I was underimpressed was an understatement. This year, it has been in bloom (sporadically) since late June or first of July, and is still blooming. Still not great, but it has earned a reprieve for now, at least, from being removed from the gardens. One that has really impressed me, however, is Palace Garden Beauty, a Jack Carpenter intro. I acquired this last year as a double fan. It started blooming in June or early July this year, and finally had its last two blooms open about a week or ten days ago. It bloomed for two to two and a half months, and I'm talking bouquet type blooming, almost every day! Performance plus! Also, Shores of Time was purchased as a single fan in May of 2012. It did not bloom that year or last year, either. This year, it started blooming in the first two weeks of June, and finished blooming yesterday, from 8 or 9 scapes. Sure didn't like such a long wait, but it was worth it!

I need more early plants too. I planted a red buckeye but it wasn't big enough to bloom yet this spring. A few plants that are recommended as early bloomers aren't quite early enough for the first arrivers here like native columbine. Perhaps in some parts of the country it would be early enough though. Homerpa - Welcome! I've read that about sap also. I've wondered if it would attact hummingbirds if I pruned some small branches off of my maples in the spring. I don't think we have a lot of sapsuckers around here to make holes in my trees but I could be wrong. I might need to go out with a hammer and nail. lol I haven't seen any hummingbirds using my redbuds yet but they bloom early and some sites say hummingbirds like them. Some cultivars are more red than others. My silene regia isn't blooming yet. I believe it's only the s. virginica that blooms early. Pulmonaria blooms early for me and for about a month. It's not long lived in my garden but seeds around a little bit. I hope someone is working on creating a long flowering varity with red flowers that attracts hummingbirds. : )

Leave it alone. Each time you have moved it you also removed some of the roots it needs to develop so it can grow. Late this winter give it a shot of fertilizer of say 10-10-10 or what ever equal numbers fertilizer you have on hand. By late this winter I mean January or Febuary. Then give it another shot after the regular peonies have bloomed. By shot I mean use a 1 shot shotglass as your measurement. sprinkle arround the plant but no closer that 6 inches from the stem. If you don't have a shot glass most thrift stores have them you might need to check back a couple of times.