The 2006 All American Daylily Winners

 

“BUTTERED POPCORN”

This buttery-gold winner has been called a "large bloomed Stella de Oro" due to its near continuous blooming habit! This kind of reliable flowering is very rare in a chunky sized plant with an abundance of 6" blossoms. The long flower display crowns sturdy, 28-33" scapes from mid-season into Fall, until frost. The lush foliage is 24" tall by 30" wide and quickly becomes self-shading for better weed control in the landscape. Hardy in USDA zones 4-10.

“PERSIAN MARKET”

This 2006 winner in the Exhibition Category is an outstanding performer that produces loads of buds for a long bloom season in several zones. The blooms are 6˝-7" across and are a striking salmon-pink with a deeper rose halo. The blooms are perched atop 25-30" scapes and float about 6" above the foliage for an attractive presentation. Hardy in USDA zones 5-10.

ABOUT AADSC

The soaring popularity of daylilies, combined with the bewildering profusion of varieties and growing characteristics, demanded the development of a standard for daylily excellence. The All-American Daylily Selection Council, organized to address this demand, now coordinates a testing program which evaluates daylilies on over 50 performance characteristics across a nationwide network of test sites. This rigorous testing has produced comprehensive and surprising results. Who would have thought, for example, that a daylily bred in Texas would have been a top bloomer in Wisconsin, or that one from Missouri would perform so well in the heat of Southern California?

There are more than 48,000 daylilies registered, bred in at least 25 states, by hundreds of individual hybridizers. Using its elaborate testing program, the AADSC sorts through the thousands of registered daylilies and awards to only the top performers across five USDA hardiness zones the coveted title of "All American."

Each year's scores are measured against all previous test data in order to ensure that the All-Americans are truly the best performers in their color category. Daylilies are tested for at least two years, with All-American finalists being grown for another three to five years in open field conditions before being announced.

2003 marks another year of new All-American daylily winners offering gardeners throughout the country a steady stream of these tried and tested perennial beauties. Gardeners nationwide can expect to see these proven daylilies at their garden center and grow them successfully in virtually any garden in America. Backed by scientifically proven superior performance nationwide, All-American Daylilies are becoming America's preferred perennial.

For more information, please e-mail The Gardening Guru at gardeningguru@juno.com