wow El Desperado is a beauty. mine did really good too, but, I don't count bud,s I just injoy the flower.my old body is too old and worn out for extra work I can do without.:)Fell in the yard yesterday and I about never got myself up.Today. the legs hurt so bad, its hard to even move them to walk, but, been outside a little while to lool at 4 blooms I have today.

Desperado Love does well here, but we never get anywhere close to that many buds. Big geographic difference.

For a very short time, one can edit the initial post. I added a comment and could still edit the first post; but soon thereafter, the editing option disappeared.

The branching on the seedling is nicely spaced.

Let me know when you register it.

I don't think I've ever really counted buds before. I guess I just casually notice each year which ones have the MOST buds or scapes, but this will be the first I've made note of numbers. (Maybe because in my zone there aren't real big bud counts and I have 'bud envy'....lol.) So with that being said, I have no numbers to compare with from previous years and this is not a good year for daylilies here. One thing I do notice is that things are consistent.....the daylilies that always were well-budded are still so. I actually went out tonight and did some counting and found that most average anywhere from 8 to 13 buds. But these did much better and I can't help but notice they're 'oldies'......Ruffled Apricot 21 buds on the best scape; Alabama Jubilee - 21 buds; Wizard's Heir - 20; South Seas - 18; Abba - 14; Destined to See -16; Smuggler's Fire - 14; Jody Ann - 14; Early Days - 14; Treasure of the Southwest - 18; Shelby's Song - 13; Vesuvian - 13. These are my best this year. I wonder if we should do a thread of the LEAST buds? Now that would be embarrassing!

Celeste - That's interesting that you have consistency. Many of mine that usually do very well did not this year. I had more than 30 that didn't even bloom. So I guess I should appreciate those that had 3-9 buds. They at least made an effort. I enjoyed seeing what did well for you.

Debra

Tied for fourth, I had three red cultivars that all had 21 buds on their best scape, and Ruby Lipstick that had 21 on two scapes and 16-18 on the others.

Insider Trading

Cherokee Star

Blazing Cannons would have had at least 23 but the lateral branch buds died during formation in our two weeks of high 90-degree temps.

Ruby Lipstick

In fifth place with 20 buds were Sweet Prairie Wind and Cool Hand Luke.

Sweet Prairie Wind

Cool Hand Luke

Rounding out my Top 10 were Teddy Bears Picnic and Caridinal Desire with 17 buds on the best scape.

Teddy Bears Picnic

Cardinal Desire

Others that did well with 15 were Betty Warren Woods, Sugar Magnolia, Rosy Rhino, Best for Last, Empire of Desire, and August Cherry.

Debra

I really like your seedling! Looks like red is the prime pick in best budding for you! Mine is usually purple with Belle Isle Sentry and Purple Riot.

My best budded is the same every year and I believe always will be. My Autumn Minaret is a blooming machine but it's not having its best season now. Yesterday I counted 33 well branched scapes with an average of 16 buds per scape, that's over 500 blooms. About two years ago it had over 800 blooms.

Brad - Yes, the reds did lead the way this time, partly because the red bed was the one I watered in May.

Sherry - You must have huge clump of Autumn Minaret. Does it make it to the autumn in your climate?

Debra

Autumn Minaret is usually blooming into September. It usually starts the end of July. It started 2 weeks early this weird season, has been blooming for about a week. Itsbeen in my garden at least 10 years, probably longer. The scapes grow sort of like instant rebloom. Some are blooming now but about a third of the scapes won't be mature enough to bloom for several weeks to a month. It's hard to capture a picture of the whole plant because it is so tall, will see what I can do!

Sherry

Autumn Minaret scapes

I don't count buds. Since I grow mostly in smallish pots, my daylilies may not reach their full potential. When I say a daylily does well it's a high compliment given the conditions of it's growth. I imagine it might do even better given lots of space in ground.. Having said all that, I'm very interested in everyone's list. That Autumn Minaret Sherry is phenomenal, and Debra you know I'm full of oohs and ahs over yours.......Maryl

I have had what I purchased as Autumn Minaret years ago & never questioned its authenticity. last year someone posted their pic of it, & it was so tall! Mine is no where near that tall, nor does it bloom so late. Seeing a close up photo of it, I can see the differences. Ah well. I always thought it seemed early to be a late bloomer, but I have several plants that don't bloom when they are supposed to.

My best budded named plant turned out to be, surprisingly, Westbourne Homestead at 39, lowest scape had 26. Janice Brown topped at 32, with lowest count of 27. I don't think either of those ever bloomed that well before. I'm an Angel had scapes between 22 up to 28. I thought Web of Intrigue would have a lot of buds, but nothing special. Seemed like it bloomed forever, but there were lots of scapes. One of my seedlings had 38 buds on a scape, with the other scape 30 & another seedling had a couple of scapes in low 30s. On the other hand, El Desperado & Desperado Love did poorly. I did divide & move El Desperado last fall. Desperado Love got overshadowed by a monster perennial.

I am really impressed with stella's Ruffled Fingers this year. It has always bloomed well, it didn't have huge numbers of blooms per scape, but lots of scapes i guess. It started to bloom May 19 & finished July 9, with quite a few blooms daily. It usually takes a break before reblooming, usually a couple of times.

Sherry - Those are some tall, tall scapes on Autumn Minaret. It must be nice to have a daylily blooming in September.

Nancy - I'm surprised the Desperados performed poorly for you. They are so hard-working and dependable here. I'm very impressed by those with buds in the 30s, especially your seedling. Can you post a photo of it here on this thread?

Debra

I don't know that I could tell how it will be since this is the first year, but Mountain Bluebird has outdone itself this year

Clown Parade: What else can I say:

Please Say Yes:

I will put up the next four tomorrow. It is time for bed here.

kay

Wow! Emperor's Butterfly never did that well for me, and mine seems to have disappeared. I think giant balloon flower clump swallowed it whole. I really need to add Clown Parade at some point.

I counted 23 buds on one scape of Unbridled Spirit. Several other scapes came close to that.

Dick - Unbridled Spirit sounds like a great performer. Who is the hybridizer on that one?

Debra

I don't count buds but just giving it an eyeball, I'd have to say Tennyson has been my best performer this year with El Desparado a close second.

Tennyson - It's actually a lot peachier than this picture. I love the delicate eye ring.

Unbridled Spirit - John Rice 2007 - I have several of his from the same period - all great bloomers. I especially like Blue Moon of Kentucky (2009)

Catastrophe Waitress is a magnificent plant. I cannot thank Chris enough for sending it to me. It began blooming May 14th, and is still blooming now. Everytime it was almost through blooming, it put up more scapes. I think it has missed three days in all that time without blooms.

Little Light of Mine. Always an excellent bloomer, and I tend to forget it:

kay

Those three are just marvelous, Kay.

I forgot one too. Shelby also had 17 buds on two of the scapes, and has some late scapes emerging now.

Debra

Kay, Whistler's Sister was just slow to get going here. I suspect it will do well now. This is, after all, the hybridizer's home state.

Nancy: I have the true Autumn Minaret. Trade or ???

well, I took a couple of photos today of my seedlings with nice bud counts, but now I don't know what I did with my card. Here is the seedling with 38 & 30 buds on its only 2 scapes. I'm not sure if the 2nd scape is a rebloom or what. It was a great big wide fan in the spring, it looks like it may have divided into 2 fans after the 2nd scape came out. Its only problem is that it doesn't branch much, the blooms are pretty clustered together. Blooms are between 6" to 6 1/2", so they often can't open well being so close together.

This is the other seedling, nothing fancy, but it did rebloom a bit & still has a very few few buds. About a 7" spider.

Nancy - That first seedling is such a beauty! What are the parents? That's too bad about the bud placement. But with that many buds, I wouldn't mind snapping off a flower or two that couldn't open properly.

Debra

Thanks Debra, it has really shaped up over the season, the first couple of blooms looked rough. They got caught up on the fringe & 2 opened at the same time so it was a mess. Each bloom got better though & I am very pleased with it. Keep in mind, my seedlings are in a rough part of the garden, they have to be fighters :) The soil isn't very good there, farthest away from water & never get fertilized. Water hasn't been a problem this year though. The pod parent is August Wedding, but I don't keep up with pollin parents. Seedlings are just for me, but isn't this a nice one. I have a creamier sibling that I like the color better, did pretty well. Not so many buds as this, flower isn't as large but no problem opening.

Nancy - The sibling is just gorgeous!

Debra

I'm here to update my info. Final Touch, with it's amazing bud building feature, ended up overtaking Desperado Love for Best Bud Count. It ended up with 32 buds on its best scape.

Ruby Lipstick either did a bit of bud building or had some small side buds I didn't count originally. Its best scape ended with 25 buds, pushing it to fourth place this year.

Debra