A Good Baker's Dozen 1999
by Clarence and Beth Crochet

Reprinted with permission of the author and The Arkla Daylily, Spring 1999.

Occasionally we are asked to name our all-time favorite reasonably priced daylilies. This we readily do and our list always includes those that grow well for us, are beautiful, and are distinctive in some way. Re-bloom is considered in all instances, as is a reasonable bud count. Some on our list will be dormant cultivars which grow well in south Louisiana, but most are evergreens and semi-evergreens.

It is always difficult to settle on a few considering the fact that there are so many to choose from. Nevertheless, we have pared our list down to a handful of great cultivars. The following are in no particular order.

1. PIRATES PATCH This fine, distinctive daylily was hybridized in Florida by Jeff Salter. Blooms are ivory white with a shockingly large black-purple eye and a picotee edge of the same dark color. PIRATES PATCH is evergreen, easy to grow, while plants are hearty and easily managed. All of the 6" blooms on this cultivar are standouts. Plants rebloom well. PIRATES PATCH is a good attention getter and a favorite with visitors. This well-named tetraploid was introduced in 1991 and is still in demand from growers who want the very unusual to grow in their gardens. The wild color contrast is the thing with PIRATES PATCH.

2. HOUSE OF ORANGE was hybridized by Judith Weston from North Carolina. This 5½" dark bittersweet orange blend possesses colors which are uncommon in daylilies. The colors are similar to those of Lucille Guidry’s SMOKY MOUNTAIN AUTUMN and SMOKY MOUNTAIN BELL. The difference here is that HOUSE OF ORANGE has a more intense coloration of autumn colors. Introduced in 1991, HOUSE OF ORANGE is dormant and grows well in our climate. It is always the subject of numerous favorable visitor comments when blooming. The well-formed round flowers are the ultimate in distinction and stand out because they are so unique. Blooms are all uniformly well formed.

3. FRANK GLADNEY   No matter where it is grown, this daylily is unusual not only for its large coral pink blooms but also for its huge, robust, good growing plants with their fountain of wide green leaves. FRANK GLADNEY likes to be treated well and it quickly responds to adequate water, fertilizer and good soil. Blooms are registered as being 6½" but are actually larger when well grown. This fine Ken Durio evergreen always leaves folks with the impression that it is hard to beat in any category.  Introduced in 1979, FRANK GLADNEY is easy to grow. It is a tetraploid and would make a fine addition to any daylily collection for growers who want large, distinctive plants and blooms.

4. STRAWBERRY CANDY Not enough can be said of this fine daylily. The 4½" blooms are strawberry pink with a bright rose-red eye. This distinctively colored daylily is the first place choice on many favorite daylily lists because of its great colors and distinctiveness. Flowers are 4½" wide, are indeed beautiful while plants are tough and grow well. Rebloom is consistent with this fine tetraploid. It is a strong contender for the 1998 Stout Silver Medal, the highest award afforded by A.H.S. for any daylily. Hybridized by Pat Stamile in 1993, STRAWBERRY CANDY was the first in a long list of Candies to follow but it still stands out as one of the best of them.

5. ELLEN CHRISTINE (1987) by Beth and Clarence Crochet is a midseason re-blooming diploid double that has done well in many regions. The blooms are a large 6½" wide and scapes are well budded. This semi-evergreen has won three major awards plus a J.C. as a seedling. It has also received the coveted Ida Munson Award for best double-flowered daylilies in 1994. The yellow-pink blended blooms stand on their own as a superior cultivar in a field where there are many great double flowered daylilies. ELLEN CHRISTINE is worthy of being grown for its excellent blooms, good bud count and excellent plant habits. Diploid.

6. SILOAM BO PEEP, introduced by Pauline Henry in 1978, this has always been a standout small flowered daylily, even from the beginning. Blooms are 4½" wide and of a light orchid color with a purple eye. The flower form is triangular and fully formed. SILOAM BO PEEP has a good bud count, is well branched, and its blooms have a dark green throat. It is listed as a dormant but at home it behaves much more like a semi-evergreen. The color combinations of light orchid, purple, and green are in perfect proportions, which make SILOAM BO PEEP an outstanding garden plant. It is diploid, very affordable and makes excellent growing plants. This is definitely an older but good introduction. Diploid.

7. SEDUCTOR, by Lee Gates, is a good flat, round, apple red tetraploid. A green throat contrasts well with the shiny red segment color. The 6" blooms have wide parts and are consistent in size. Plants grow well. This pretty evergreen is very popular and has been much in demand since its date of introduction. Another big plus in its favor is that all blooms are typical and well formed. Rebloom is a regular habit for SEDUCTOR. This distinctive 1993 introduction is a fine addition to the long list of fine Gates introductions in the shades of red.

8. PEACOCK MAIDEN by Kate Carpenter has been a hit since its date of introduction. The blooms are huge (9½"), purple in color, and with a creamy white midrib and eye. Plants are evergreen while scapes are straight and upright on this long, narrow petaled variant. PEACOCK MAIDEN is the perfect attention getter in the garden and the beautifully colored blooms with large flower size make it a sensation. This daylily is definitely not ordinary. It’s diploid, popular, beautifully colored, and always in demand. PEACOCK MAIDEN was introduced in 1983.

9. JEDI BRENDA SPANN, Dan Wedgeworth’s 1990 introduction has always a been favorite here because of the beautiful, wide-petaled clear pink blooms and the plants’ insistence on blooming twice more during the bloom season. Big, "fat" plants produce strong scapes. The first one is rather short with its flowers below some of the foliage. The second and third sets of scapes are taller while blooms appear just above the foliage. Like FRANK GLADNEY, this fine big pink responds well to good care, abundant water and proper fertilization. JEDI BRENDA SPANN is a semi-evergreen and a diploid. It is probably this hybridizer’s best known daylily.

10. GRACEFUL EYE will always be one of our most appreciated daylilies. Blooms are lavender with a wide purple eye above the throat. This diploid by the late Elsie Spalding is a beautifully colored evergreen. Its flowers measure 6½" in diameter. It is an attention getter and a favorite with gardeners because of its pleasing colors and flower size. GRACEFUL EYE does not have the wide segments of the newer daylilies and has been around for years but time has not changed its popularity and general acceptance as a beautiful, distinctive daylily. It’s diploid and well worth growing. It is a 1981 introduction and came on the daylily scene when huge eyes in daylilies had not been seen before.

11. SMOKY MOUNTAIN BELL. We give the edge to this daylily over SMOKY MOUNTAIN AUTUMN because the plants are more robust and grow better here. The flowers are similar, with SMOKY MOUNTAIN BELL being a bit lighter in color and with much improved form. Blooms are 5½" wide with very wide segments. The flower colors are difficult to describe – probably autumn shades plus cinnamon comes closest to being accurate. Plants are diploid and evergreen. Lucille Guidry hybridized SMOKY MOUNTAIN BELL in 1992. This is a beautiful daylily.

12. DRAGONS EYE by Elizabeth Salter from Florida is a never-to-be forgotten entry in hybridizing. The bloom colors are so beautiful and in proportion that one gets the feeling that color improvement in DRAGONS EYE would be impossible. Three-inch plus blooms are a shade of rose-pink with an extra large rose eye. Plants are semi-evergreen and re-bloom well here. This small diploid is among the very best colored of all daylilies that we grow. Elizabeth Salter’s list of fine miniatures and small flowered daylilies is a long one and her entry DRAGONS EYE ranks as one of her very best to date. Diploid and semi-evergreen, DRAGONS EYE was introduced in 1991.

13. We decided to finish writing by mentioning CHARLIE PIERCE MEMORIAL, a beautiful 5½" diploid hybridized by the late Charlie Pierce from Mobile, Alabama. The light lavender seersucker-textured blooms are recurved, exposing a beautifully colored lavender halo followed by a light green watermark and then a dark green throat. Blooms are extremely wide petaled, almost completely covering the sepals. The color combination of this great diploid is excellent and blooms are very beautiful, which is an appropriate tribute to one of our all-time wonderful daylily hybridizers. If sheer beauty counts, CHARLIE PIERCE MEMORIAL will be around for a good long time. Tom Wilson introduced CHARLIE PIERCE MEMORIAL in 1988 after the hybridizer’s untimely death.

Writing about our favorite daylilies is easy. But deciding which ones to write about is not easy. We have many favorites to consider. Nevertheless, we concentrated on those that had the most appeal to us and to garden visitors. We hope that what we have chosen will be just as desirable in the future, when they will have stood the test of time.

We would also like to read about favorites from the other writers in our region. Our newsletter editor would certainly appreciate such contributions. In the past, our newsletters have been fine informative publications, judging from out-of-state subscriptions. Region 13 needs to continue this fine tradition.

Clarence and Beth Crochet
1999