Hi Renee -- I'm not sure about the dormancy issue in your climate, but I wouldn't think you'd have to limit yourself to semi-evergreens. There are tons of evergreens grown in California daylily gardens. You might want to look at some of the vendors in your area to see what grows best for them.

As for your selections, I'm a huge fan of Beautiful Edgings. I don't have anything negative to say about that flower.

I also grow All Fired Up, Pandora's Box and Wild Horses. Wild Horses is a terrific performer and always puts on quite a show. Pandora's Box multiplies quickly. All Fired Up performed just adequately for me, so I gave it away.

The only negative comment about a daylily on your list would be for Art Gallery Fringe, which is always blotchy when in bloom. It also found a new home this year.

Good luck -- Chris

Renee,

Being in the PNW, I can't comment on heat tolerance, but I can tell you that Wild Horses is SOOOO worth having in our climate... and if you like that one but people say that it doesn't take the heat, a good alternative to look into would be Egyptian Queen. Again, I don't know about heat tolerance, but the coloring is very similar.

The only other one on your list that I grow is Pandora's Box, and I am going to be dividing it this fall. If you can wait until early October to plant, I am more than happy to send you a double fan for the cost of postage. If you are interested, e-mail me at eclipse7053@msn.com . Always happy to encourage a new addict!

Julie

Big fan of Apple Of My Eye. Beautiful colour, flowers above scapes, High bud count and good branching. Pod and Pollen fertile. Mike.

Beautiful Edgings is on my wish list. I love it every time I see a picture of it. I would take up Julie's offer for Pandora's Box. Also, you can it for $5 or $6 from many daylily companies online. I got mine at Home Depot (or Lowe's) for less than $5. There are soooo many daylily companies to order from. I placed my first order with Sunset Meadows Daylily Farm and now I placed an order from Homestead Farms. Both have good reputations and are cheaper than your prices above most likely.
Good luck!

If you are interested, I'll send you a double fan of Strawberry Candy. They are done blooming for me.

You need Wild Horses and Islesworth both -- Islesworth starts blooming when Wild Horses finishes. If you have to limit yourself to five, scratch Pandora's Box. It's cute and prolific, but blooms itself out too quickly. Beautiful Edgings loses its pink edge when it gets hot, but it reblooms in our 100 degree heat.

I have the following from your list. They were just planted either last fall or this spring.

All Fired Up - is just exactly that. It bloomed its heart out - an amazing daylily and fertile, too.

Islesworth - a pretty flower, fertile, but didn't bloom much for me. Would I buy it again? Definitely.

Pandora's Box - really a lovely little flower, should get better once it is established. Did not bloom long for me this year.

Beautiful Edgings - very pretty, prolific bloomer and very fertile.

Desert Dreams - a lovely smallish blossom. Not a very prolific bloomer this first year. I would buy it again.

Wild Horses - one of my favorites - a long blooming season, and is still reblooming in this 100+ degree heat, with hardly any rain this summer. Difficult to set pods on it, though, at least this year.

Nancy

I'm not disputing what Random Harvest says, but from pulling up Wild Horses on Tinkers it's not very similar to Pandora's Box IMO. Wild Horses for instance is 37 inches tall compared to Pandora's Box's height of 19 inches. And the colors are different too. So it all depends on what you want that daylily for. I choose Pandora's Box many years ago because of it's shorter height, ease of culture and massive bloom display in my hot, west facing border. This is a picture of it this June. It fits the bill for my purposes at least.
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I am stunned at the generosity of this clan.
The information you have given is invaluable, especially about bloom time!

Chris, looking for daylily growers in my area is a great idea. I will do so tonight! Beautiful Edgings is moving up on the list.

Julie, I have been enjoying your posts for a while now, and I will email you about your generous offer. Pandora's Box and Wild Horses stay on the list.

njmomma, thank you for turning me on to those daylily sellers and thanks too for the generous offer! Strawberry Candy is one of the only other plants I can recall from the name alone.

Mike, Apple of My Eye it is.

random harvest, the info on blooming times is much appreciated. I have finally begun to pay attention to this info when it comes to iris, and it is good to start out with daylilies on the right foot. With the other offers, I can get both Islesworth and Wild Horses!

Nancy, we are in the same USDA zone, so your list is particularly useful to me.

Maryl, your garden is eye-popping. I need the shorter daylilies too, since I have roses and irises and would like them in front of the roses. Pandora's Box is stunning. I have not a single artistic bone in my body, so it is essential for me to see how others use plants in their gardens. I do have a spot in the center of a double-sided bed for something tall... maybe Wild Horses will go there.

You are all fabulous!
Renee

Renee,

You have mail! Just wanted to forwarn you that I replied as I often go into the junk bucket.

Remind me as our season ends and your baby will be in the mail!

Happy planting!!

Julie

I love to muddle things so I will add a daylily to the mix. I would suggest Unending Melody over Islesworth. It is $14 at Marietta Gardens.

Pandora's Box does wonderful for me but I am in a MUCH colder area. In your area I would stick to mostly evergreens with some semi-evergreens. In my area I have mostly dormants with some semi-evergreen and evergreens.

Edward

I have Exotic Treasure and I love it, as a bonus it sets seed pods easily. I tried Egyptian Queen but it didn't like my heat here and had to go sadly.

Dot

Exotic Treasure
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Oh, Dot- I love that flower! I will skip Egyptian Queen, since it can't take the heat.

Edward, thank you for confirming my suspicions about the best plant choices. I have tried to limit myself to the evergreens, assuming they do better in heat.

I noticed that many of the plants that caught my eye have a few similarities: a darker eye and rim on white to peach/apricot or pink petals. So here's a new choice from one of the beauties someone recently posted here: "China Bride". Do you all think it will grow in zone 8b/Sunset 19?
Renee

China Bride is registered as an evergreen. I bought my China Bride from a garden in Florida, zip code 32428, which I think is also zone 8b (although different than zone 8b in CA). Here's a link to some reviews of it on GardenWeb - it seems to do well in a lot of places.

Juliet

Here is a picture of Islesworth in my garden. I took the picture when I got home from work. This is my third attempt to post it but the forum is acting up for me. I am not pleased with the colour so far. I hope it improves.

Chris is right about Beautiful Edgings, it is just plain
beautiful and behaves nicely. We have been having heat and
bright sun and BE takes it.

All Fired Up is rather strange acting--I had a mature plant
for 2 years and it was a rather faded thing. Now why did I
buy this?! Well, came the next season, it has brilliant
color, many flowers, many scapes and increases rapidly. I
now like the d--- thing.

I enjoyed Egyptian Queen for 2 or 3 years, but this year it
hasn't bloomed yet, that's odd because it is usually one of
the first. Hope it comes back better next year.

Enjoy starting a new hobby, they are worth it.

Kay

I haven't grown very many on your list, but I will add one comment regarding one that I have grown. At least in my garden, All Fired Up was not "apricot and salmon" as per your note. It was a great performer, but definately orange rather than apricot and the eye and edge were red rather than salmon! Here's a picture from my yard even though it isn't as vivid as the flower itself:

You may want to look up several different pictures of each one to get an idea of the range of what it might look like. Different growning conditions can affect the overall color. All Fired Up did pretty well in the Georgia heat. It is the darker colors (burgundy, red, dark orange, purple, etc.) that are most affected by the heat. You will have to keep the roots system moist to keep your daylilies happy if your temperatures are in the nineties like they are here, so use lots of mulch to help. Just lighten up right at the base of the plants to help prevent disease.
Larry

We seem to have different colors of ALL FIRED UP -- mine doesn't look the same as Larry's. Mine isn't orange at all.

Nancy

Thanks again, everyone, for the input. Juliet, the link is very helpful and I will try it before posting a question next time. China Bride looks like a good choice for my climate! I love the colors of All Fired Up in both photos, and would not mind if it was faded either. Islesworth is very pretty, even though it does not appear to be as dark as it is supposed to be.

One of the many sites I have visited recommended "Dixie Land Band" for Southern California. I'll check out what all of you had to say on the Gardenweb Hortiplex! (As you can see, I have already broken my own rule of five plants, one color scheme. Sigh.)

Renee