An impossible task for the daylily aficionado, as there is always something new to excite one. But for the person who just wants a good daylily in a garden setting, I would probably recommend Bela Lugosi.

I agree-virtually impossible task. I will have to pick Carmen Renée. Lots and lots of near-perfect large blooms, multiplies quickly, moving it doesn't seen to effect it, somewhat tall, totally reliable, sun fast, great lavender color. [It is a late bloomer, so it would make me impatient to see it!]

So Lovely, first one I ever planted and still look forward to every year. The plant in my yard has made it from coast to coast, every one who sees it wants a piece.

Mantis, thanks for your suggestion . I do grow Bela Lugosi and I love it . I am partial to purples. It is bulletproof .....at least that has been my experience with it .

I did not mean for this to be a difficult question , more, I was hoping for people to post the very first plant that comes to mind when seeing the question . For myself , the one that comes to mind is Webster's Pink Wonder . Tall, robust , lovely bloom and struts it's stuff no matter what Mother Nature throws at her.

Brad , hadnt heard of Carmen Renee and after looking it up, wow! I will be on the lookout for this one . Thanks for your input!

Flowergirl70ks , Thanks for your suggestion .What a pretty flower and sounds very reliable . Two very important attributes. I hear so many people say they bought a plant and it just withered away. I dont personally have money, or the willingness, to spend money for plants that are going to just fizzle out . A beautiful bloom without substance and reliability behind is just a waste of time to my mind. I want one that can come back time and again and become almost like a friend that you see year after year

The first one that came to my mind was Moonlit Masquerade. It's blooms fairly early here, puts up instant re bloom scapes and is a good increaser.

Sherry

Jack Carpenter's "How Beautiful Heaven Must Be". She always makes me smile.

Bela Lugosi and Moonlit Masquerade are certainly in the running for me. But The Ultimate Sacrifice was the first one that popped into my mind. For me, it is the ultimate daylily.

Sherrygirl, I grow Moonlit Masquerade here too, but I dont think she likes it . She has not increased and puts out minimal blooms ( which are lovely by the way!) . I am going to try to move her to a different spot and see if that makes things better .

Flowergirl , I have added So Lovely to my daylily order this morning .Thanks so much for the heads up . I look forward to seeing it in my gardens.

James, I have drooled over How beautiful Heaven must be and would love to add it to my gardens . I just have to find it here in Canada ( and at a reasonable price) Thanks for putting that one up for consideration .

Shive, what a beauty that is ! Thanks for sending along the photo. I will be looking that one up to find out more about it .

That is a hard one. My opinion can change daily. Today I will say Yellow Monkey. I have posted many, many pictures of it over the years. It is always my bud king with bud counts between 30 and 40. If you don't like spiders I can also recommend Yukon Spring. It is the first to bloom in my garden and continues for a very long time. Either way you are stuck with yellow.

Bela Lugosi is a beauty.I have wanted it for a long time, but, so far, dont have it.My favorite is wonder of it all, but it takes a lott of heat for it to open good.I sstill love it anyway.

Hi Edward , Yellow Monkey sounds lovely but I just added 2 yellow Gossard daylilies season before last . I added Heavenly Dancing Fairies and Reach for the Heavens . I do like the form of Yellow Monkey though..so It will certainly go on my possibles list. Thanks for your input .

Jean_ar you should definitely consider Bela Lugosi , it is tough as nails -a really hardy daylily and quite lovely . I dont think you would be disappointed and the price is certainly right .

Edward, Looks Wonderful , thanks for sharing your photo ! looks like it has a huge number of buds . Yowza !

Catastrophe Waitress! Blooms and blooms, beautiful color; so large. I won't be without it...

Organic Kitten . I just added "CW" this past season so very happy to hear your great assessment of this daylily , Hope to see it bloom this summer !!!!! Fingers crossed.

It is a real beauty. Chris sent it to me, and had said it was her favorite right before her move and decline ingrowing day lilies. I am so grateful, because it is a winner and I suspect you will love it.

I was mulling over this question when I realized that the daylily I would choose is one I FORGOT to post when we did the 'R's! Somehow this photo was not in my computer but on a disc so I had to look for it. ROYAL TROPHY meets all the criteria you listed. It has a large flower (7 inches), is healthy and very hardy, has very robust scapes, good bud count and is an amazing deep purple. It also isn't expensive. Mine is planted in one of the long borders by the road and everyone who stops asks about it.

Celeste , thanks for contributing to the post . I love the look of Royal Trophy and it sounds like it would be a fantastic addition to any garden . I have not heard of it before which makes me think that perhaps it isnt available in Canada. I will now be on a quest to find it . Wish me luck ! It is a real beauty

update:

Celeste just went to research it and unfortunately it is only 22 inches tall . I try at this point to only add daylilies 26 inches and taller I am looking at eliminating the shorter ones from my gardens as the shorter ones just get lost in my gardens even when installed at the edge of the gardens . Thanks for suggesting it , I am sure others will be interested in it if they grow shorter plants . I.t sounds like a great daylily

Celeste . Interesting that you say Royal Trophy grows to 25-26 inches tall. There are a number of daylilies registered with heights lower than they actually grow. I wonder why ? based on that info I may just have to try to track it down . Thanks !

Wow these pics look so different from your first pic you posted .....are these two pics really the same plant as the purple pic ?

Yes, same plant of Wispy Rays. The first photo shows the bloom reflexed back, whereas the second photo they aren't. I have an even better photo I'll show when we get to the 'W's. The first shot is probably more representational of how it usually looks. I think the first photo was when it first started blooming (before the drought washed out the colors somewhat) since it is a very vibrant color typically.

Celeste sorry for the confusion I thought those pics were of Royal Trophy . I couldnt figure out why they were so red LOL ! I didnt realize they were of Wispy Rays.

As a matter of fact , I have finally ordered Wispy Rays just recently after admiring it for a number of years.

signet, yes you should have added that a long time ago, lol. Yes, it is a good one here. Check out Black Falcon Ritual, tall, very vigourous, excellent plant, and the older, HUGE Solar Music, a big, round yellow. My favourite pinks are Shores in Time and Dena Marie's Sister, a rosier one. Those are what came to mind first, and are readily available in Canada.

DebbieOn , after collecting spidery varieties and UF's for years , I am only recently adding bagel varieties so am really interested to hear what others have to say about the bagel varieties that they grow .

Wispy Rays and Black Falcon Ritual I think are both considered UF's but price has always been a big factor in my purchases and the price of them was higher than I could afford /was willing to pay at the time . The price is coming down so now I can consider purchasing these ones. I only ever paid big bucks for three daylilies . Two are still here but I cant say I am impressed with the plant performance of either of them . One is Reckamp/Klehms Angel's Smile and the other one is Genesta . The third is or should I say was Mapping Carolina . I absolutely loved the look of that daylily but it has gone the way of the dodo bird. It just withered away . So I have promised myself that I will never pay a high price for a daylily again . It is just too shocking to the pocketbook when a really expensive daylily dies or just barely hangs on . I can wait till the price for a plant is reasonable .

The suggestion of Shores of Time and the fact that it does well is good to know ,I really appreciate that kind of info .

I do grow Whatley's Butter Cream here and Solar Music is a yellow Whatley daylily that is similar. I love the look but I have not added it here ........yet.

Assuming I can find it for a decent price in the future I would love to add it, as, if it does as well as Butter Cream has done here I would be very happy to include it in my gardens , I love the very flat face of Solar Music! For now I am happy with Butter Cream ...... a robust lovely yellow daylily although I like the height that Solar Musc is registered to be even better than the height of Butter Cream .

I will have to do some research on Dena Marie's Sister but good to know it is a robust plant

Carpenter's Pat Soileau is first that comes to mind, but very close are Palace Garden Beauty, Blue Pink Beauty, Pink Aloha and Gone Fishin'.

alameda Havn't heard of Gone Fishing before , will have to check that one and Pat Soileau . I do already grow Palace Garden Beauty ...but have not grown Blue Pink Beauty or Pink Aloha ......will have to check them out as well. Thanks for your suggestions .

I am more into the solid, pastel, big blooms rather than the patterned lilies so popular now. Jack Carpenter was a master breeder of HUGE diploids that had a velvet like texture- I was lucky enough to walk his fields and buy a bunch of them some years ago. Little did I know that would be the last year he would be selling, I treasure these dip seedlings I got that final year. Blue Pink Beauty is an older one, but has the most beautiful clear pink color. Pat Soileau is lavender and a great big bloom for me. I have several of all of these plants - something I rarely do.

Judith

Edward, I'm not really much for yellows but you've sure convinced me how nice Yellow Monkey is!