Debra,

I know my trend went more toward spiders and ufo's this year. I added PRIMAL SCREAM to my collection this fall. Hopefully it will do well next year.

On the rest of the list I only have MOONLIT MASQUERADE, and I really like it.

Lrae

Lrae - It surprises that a screaming orange spidery is at the top of the popularity poll. PRIMAL SCREAM must be a great one. I don't have it, and I don't have room to add it on my current property. Maybe someday.

While I would have voted for STRAWBERRY CANDY and MOONLIT MASQUERADE in the past, this year they did next to nothing. They are definitely NOT drought tolerant. VICTORIAN LACE and BELA LUGOSI put on a moderate show. Although BELA is a nice one, I would never vote for it because it doesn't multiply for me. BL is still two fans here after four years. SHORES OF TIME is wonderful performer, as long as you don't stress it out setting pods the first year. LOL I look forward to more blooms from it next year.

Debra

Got 7 of the top 11. Most of them new this year, but so far seem to be doing wonderfully here in Northern VA.
Don't have yet the following:
1. Primal Scream
4. Orange Velvet
7. Sabine Baur
9. Shores of Time

Looking to add Shores of Time and Primal Scream, hopefully, by next year. So many good things heard about Shores of Time!

Bj

I only grow 2 of the 11.

Bj - You will like SB it is a bit short in the foliage but the bloom makes up for it.

7. SABINE BAUR

10.VICTORIAN LACE

Hi, I grow all of these in south Alabama except for 3. Orange Velvet would be my pick of overall performance with blooms each year and fast growing. Bela Lugosi is true for holding it's color in the sun. Moonlit Masquerade has repeated blooms for the last 2 years here very late--like that much!! Strawberry Candy is very nice since it got to a clump. Sabine Baur is slow with everything about it after 3 years. The others I will have to wait til next year to speak of.

Arlene

Debra, The "spidery types" seem to do better for me. Generally, they are a little more rust resistant and faster to increase in my garden. I also like big, tall, showy flowers and they fit the bill. I have six from the list:

Primal Scream - looks exactly like all the pictures I've seen online...either you love it or hate it. It has not been a fast increaser, but every bloom is memorable. It's rusty, but it doesn't show too bad because the leaves are skinny (if that makes sense).
Ruby Spider - has done well every year for me. Reblooms here.
Red Volunteer - old reliable, pretty clump and excellent increase.
Orange Velvet - new this year, so I'll wait a year to comment.
Bela Lugosi - not fast increase, but steady...good strong color that can take the heat.
Victorian Lace - rusty here, but beautiful. I'll hang on to it for as long as I can, but the foliage looks worse every year.

Kathy

I have :

Primal Scream - LOVE LOVE LOVE it. Looks better than pics if you ask me. I just wish it would rebloom. maybe it does but not for me.

Ruby Spider. Very nice . but if I had to pick between this one and Rocket booster...I pick Rocket booster...bigger blooms.

Strawberry Candy - actually had it but gave it away this year. I just really don't like it and I'm starting to be picky about what I keep in my garden. I've actually kept Stella over SC.

Sabine Baur -LOVE LOVE the bloom, but I agree it is a bit slow to increase. It's a keeper tho

Bela Lugosi - I actually gave it away also because of it being slow to increase and I kept strutters ball it clumps up nicer and similar blooms. bella is bigger.

Moonlit mascarade. Is very pretty. I actually don't have it but the lady I work for ( at her DL nursery) grows it. I like it but haven't bought it yet...musn't like it enough.

I'm ordering Victorian Lace this fall.
Those are my 2 cents. ;)

As a garden judge and as the person in Region 12 who tabulated the Region 12 Popularity Poll, I think it is most valuable for people in each region. This may be true because I live in FL and many daylilies that grow in zone 8 won't grow in my garden. On the AHS website, nationwide results are published, but so are Regional results--both a top 5 listing and, below that, a link to the full results. Those "full results" are a great resource for people who are looking for new cultivars and want a plant that will grow well in their garden. What is better than a cultivar that considered "one of the best plants I grow" which is exactly what garden judges are saying when they vote in the Popularity Poll.

Yes, Beachlily, the regional poll has been a great resource for me as a newbie ~ I've discovered some great cultivars grown locally that are not widely available.

I grow just 3 on the National Top Ten: Strawberry Candy, which I can live without; Bela Lugosi & Victorian Lace, both of which do beautifully for me here
in the Williamette Valley of Oregon & I cannot live without!
Marea

In the above post, I should have said--The "full results" are a great resource for people who are looking for new garden plants. I wasn't implying that only new cultivars are on Popularity Polls. In fact, the best part is that there are cultivars of all ages on those polls.

I've grown seven of the ten plants listed, and my favorites are definitely PRIMAL SCREAM and VICTORIAN LACE. Once you see these two bloom in person you're hooked.

I gave away Strawberry Candy and Sabine Baur -- they just did nothing for me.

After hours and hours of viewing dls on various websites I was seeing very similar forms,colors and plant habits from so many different sellers (all of which are excellent) I just needed to get that "something different". So have started trending toward Spiders/UF/Crispates.
Also have been looking more at those with watermarks which somehow adds that extra something to the display.
Still will buy the round/ruffled/doubles, etc etc,which will be northern hardy but want to create more variety in the garden for 2009.
I don't grow any of the ones mentioned but who knows what next year will bring :-).

Julia

I wonder if popularity is in direct correlation to availability. Red Volunteer, Moonlit Masquerade, Bela Lugosi are very easy to get in my area at local nurseries. The more common, the more people grow them in which they can actually comment on them? Weird that Primal Scream isn't readily available in my area. I have read that it is a slow increaser & that is why the price stays so high for such an old cultivar. Hardly profitable for the mass growers as other dls would be. The cheapest I found it for online was $28 DF. I did add it this summer & can't wait to see it!

I can find just a few Stamile's in this area but they are really old cultivars. The one's that have proven to be northern hardy I guess. None of the ones on this list though. It seems this list is a happy medium from the south & the north.