Welcome on board Roger......headed for that never ending train ride to daylily land are you? :)
So, I would think that you would be looking for semievergeen and dormant in your zone. Some other members of this forum that live in your zone can better answer that question...
I always plant my double fans in the same hole, you get more bloom faster that way. No need to divide a clump until they reach 10 to 15 fans.
There are several reputable daylily growers where your 300 bucks will go a long way if you're looking for older cultivars. One that comes to mind that I have always had good service and great plants from is Marietta's. They have 1000's of cultivars to choose from. Including older varieties as well as the newer ones. I've always got large fans, usually more than double and sometimes small clumps. They always send great bonus plants also.
I hope I was able to answer a couple of your questions for you. ;o)
Jan

Here is a link that might be useful: Marietta Gardens

Welcome, Roger. Decisions, decisions... I agree with Jan, but would add the following: Look for sellers that are willing to sell you a "Collection". I'm not talking about new intros - they would be too expensive. But you should be able to find a group of daylilies at a discounted price all for one lump sum. You can save a lot of money this way. I know that Oakes daylilies sell Collections:

http://www.oakesdaylilies.com/supplier/home.php?id=s000

And one of my favorites is Maryott's (link below). He doesn't have all of his prices listed yet, but they should be posted soon.

You're going to have so much fun watching these bloom in your garden! Good luck-
Kathy

Here is a link that might be useful: Maryott's Daylilies

Hi Roger,
Up here in Racine, same zone as you, although you didn't say if you are 5a or 5b. I was told by several northern growers that you will not get rebloom very much here, like they do in the southern zones. (I sure don't). I would just suggest getting a variety that bloom different times throughout the season.

According to the American Hemerocallis Society in their Illustrated Guide to Daylilies, Cold-hardiness is not determined by the foliage habit. Evergreen, dormant, and semi-evergreen categories each include daylilies ranging from extremely cold-hardy to extremely tender.

I've found that if I want to buy an evergreen variety from a warmer zone than 5, I'll first check out its hardiness on Dave's Garden Plant Files database. You're quite safe buying most evergreens, semi-ev's and dormants in zone 5. It's those folks in zones 4 & 3 that need to watch some of those evergreens.

Good luck, have fun and beware the coming addiction!

Julie

Here is a link that might be useful: PlantFiles database

Welcome to the addiction Roger!! I am down near Peoria. We have 600+ varieties of tets. I have to agree with Julie about rebloom. To the best of my knowledge, reliable rebloomers are few and far between this far north. You would be better off to select varieties with different bloom times and select cultivars with good branching and budcounts. Dormants are generally the least trouble in our area. We undoubtedly have more evergreens than semis or dormants. We mulch everything with a thick layer of wheat straw in late fall every year. We rarely lose anything over the winter but many of the southern bred ones are relatively poor performers and increasers for us. There is a large commercial garden in Princeton IL (Hornbakers) where you could view several hundred varieties in bloom. Most of their stock is older varieties.

Hope some of this helps.

Dale

Hi Julie and Roger and all,

I'm in Zion,Il just south of Julie about 20 miles--45 miles north of downtown Chicago--1 1/2 miles west of Lake Michigan.
I try to add more dormants every year, but always get caught up in the pretty faces. I'm adding more and more from northern hybridizers. Trying for hardiness and lots of buds. If I get 6 cultivars that rebloom every summer, I'm lucky. I mulch all the daylily beds with about 6 inches of leaves every fall. I have some older cultivars that do very well with no mulch, but my more expensive ones get mulch--why risk loosing them.
My advice is look for dormant, northern bred, bud count over 20, and ask around to see if someone with a similar climate grows what you are considering. Then try a few that you love even if they don't meet the criteria and give them a little more winter coverage.
I order from Marietta Gardens every year. Lots to choose from and their online catalog has a lot of pictures.
Check out some of the area daylily gardens--if they grow for them, they should grow for you. I like Corburg Planting Fields in Valpo and Brookwood Gardens in Michigan City. They sell out of their gardens when you visit. Another one is in Wisconsin (Song Sparrow)--I believe that you can visit, but they only sell by mail order (keep meaning to get there, but haven't yet).
Hope this helps.

Beth

I'm in southern Michigan and believe I have a climate similar to yours. I get hardly any rebloom here, but I do have many cultivars with an extended bloom season and high bud count.

I also get tempted by the faces of some of the evergreens and, if the price isn't too exhorbitant, I'll buy them. I do, however, avoid evergreen cultivars hybridized by Ra Hansen because they're among the few daylilies I've lost. (I believe Dan Hansen's website warns about the problems some of the cultivars have in northern gardens.)

If you're lucky enough to find a northern hybridizer whose cultivars you enjoy, then buy those plants. One of my favorite hybridizers is Curt Hanson, whose plants should perform very well in your climate. Check Tinker's for Hanson daylilies to see if they appeal to you. You can also check other northern or Midwest growers like Mason, Gossard, Emmerich, Moldovan, Biaglow, Brooker and others.

Welcome the wonderful world of daylilies Roger!

While northern rebloomers aren't the norm, there are northern hybridizers working on that right now. Mike Huben has pretty much devoted his entire effort towards bringing consistent rebloomers to northern growers. His Early and Often is a northern rebloomer in a peach polychrome. Apps has been working on that trait as well I believe.

I agree with maximus on Curt Hanson. Not only does he produce the lacy, frilly, bells and whistle types of 'cutting edge' introductions, he also breeds the unusual, strange, and wonderfully varied types. While giving a nod to the establishment he definately goes his own way in his hybridizing efforts.

Charles

Here is a link that might be useful: Diploids Resurgent - Mike Huben

Roger, here are more places you can check out:
(You can find them all on the internet)

Betty's Country Garden (WI)
Northern Grown Perennials (WI)
Valley of the Daylilies (OH)
Willow Veil Daylily & Hosta garden (IL)
Woodside Nursery (NJ)
A1 Daylilies (OH)
Willow Brook Acres (OH)
Newbury Daylilies (IL)
North Country Daylilies (NY)
Solaris Introductions (WI)
Northern Lights Daylilies (MN)

Also....someone shared the Daylilies On Ice site in a different posting, and I'll pass it along to you.

Julie

Here is a link that might be useful: Daylilies On Ice

Hi fellow newbie,

Daylilies are quickly becoming a new passion for me (been a hosta freak for years). These guys grow in zone 4 or 5 and have a nice website. I've ordered from them and have been very happy. www.daylilygarden.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Olallie Daylilly Gardens

I strongly suggest you visit local daylily farms/gardens and check out daylilies in person.
I did this and found many I loved - but had almost dismissed them simply because the description/name didn't adequately reflect the bloom's beauty. I didn't care for the name Red Volunteer or its description & was surprised at its vivid, rich beautiful bloom. It should be named something like "Royal Red Velvet".
Conversely, many I LOVED the description/photos of were disappointing in person & had paler, muddier and/or different colors than the photos. To me, very few daylilies look exactly as pictured on the web (due to monitors' color, etc.) or in catalogs.
Every pink I've bought is a peach in my soil & temperature.
With your cooler weather they may be pink as advertised.
Don't be overwhelmed by all the cultivars. Daylilies are generally in the large color groups of white/cream, yellow, pink, orange, red, purple. A LOT of cultivars look almost identical you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference. I love to check my selections on Tinker's Daylily Database (link is http://db.tinkersgardens.com/). Just plug in the cultivar's name in the search box, and it will give you ALL the dope on any daylily. If 2 cultivars are virtually the same, I'll chose the one that has
2-fan daylilies don't need a long period to get established, so if it were me I would take my time getting a garden planted. I regret quite a few of my initial purchases, but don't have the heart to pitch them. My new motto is "plant in haste - repent at leisure". Half the fun is learning & adding new cultivars each year as you gain knowledge.

I meant to say if two cultivars are almost the same, I'd chose the cultivar that has features I like, such as:
nocturnal blooming (so they open fresh in the evening when I'm in the garden)
extended bloom
rebloom
double blooms
fragrance, etc.

If you are unfamiliar with Daylily terms as I am, here's a link to a great Daylily Dictionary that's easy to use: http://www.daylilies.org/ahs_dictionary/dictionary.html

Don't let daylilies be so intimidating. Start small, by visiting local daylily gardners. See what does well in your area. Don't be swayed by the pretty blooms like the rest of us. Look at the plant. How heathly, how strong, how tall and how well it multiplies, where are the blooms on the plant. Talk to the grower. Must are wonderful people who will be helpful. We all like to talk about our babies.

Now to correct you on one thing. When I first started lurking on the forum there were an estimated 50,000 named variety. Since then there has been an explosion of registered daylilies. So if you thought it was impossible to decide at 10,000........

Tom

I'm new to the daylily thing too - though my mom had daylilies and they were gorgeous -

I had been thinking along the same line of purchasing from a nursery that was in a similar climate... we get hot dry summers and snow and cold in the winter, with alkaline soil, so I was thinking of ordering from Gilbert H Wild in Missouri, or Woodside in NJ.

The post about pinks turning peach in their soil - that was interesting. I'm trying to choose colors that will contrast well with my adobe-orange-brown color bricks on my house. I really love the persimmon, peach, apricot colors but I think they'll be invisible against my bricks. My second color choices seem to be mostly yellows.

At this point, I don't know enough about DIPS and TETS and the evergreen/semi/dormant to have an opinion. I just assumed I wanted re-bloomers, but maybe I should reconsider that; we do have a full 6 months of warm/hot weather though.

This is all such good information! Thanks for giving us newbies some tips and advice.

Jeri in Texas

Hi, Jeri
Just a thought - If you planted a white (or other light-colored flower) such as summer phlox like 'David' (they grow 3-4 feet high) behind those daylilies you love (make sure they all bloom at the same time) they could help them stand out.
I love those colors you mentioned, too, and this year they are my faves, along with any corals. My Caribbean Double Coral & Caribbean Double Lemon, South Seas, Peach Magnolia, Summa Cum Laude, and Snow Blizzard bloomed for the first time & exceeded my expectations. Even their spent blooms are not ugly (well, from a distance haha) because they're just a deeper shade than the bloom. The semi-shade they're in probably helps the bloom colors stay unfaded.
The pinks I have are older (before 1980) and the peach they turn is not a pretty peach but a drab, ugly, really yucky peach. Newer pinks may be more sunfast.

Roger in IL and Jeri in TX, I received monster-sized daylily fans - some are blooming now - from Homestead Farms in MO and would definitely recommend - great prices, interesting older varieties, nice bonus plants, and a sale page on their website.

Julie in WI is correct that we have to watch the evergreens up here, though I'm learning it is sometimes an individual plant thing and everybody has interesting experiences with different varieties. And it's fun to throw a post out asking if someone is growing a certain variety. It's good to check out the plant hybridizer, though, and see what folks are growing in your area - plus a way to meet nice daylily people.

Best of luck to you both.