Hello everyone
On May 11, a daylily, not planted by me, has commenced blooming in my garden, in three locations. In late April, when I first saw scapes, on one plant, thought it might by H. 'Orangeman', a purchase I made years ago, but thought had long ago lost it, as I never saw it bloom. Then saw scapes on two other plants in different locations. They all bloomed yesterday. All the same. About 2 feet tall, gold to deep yellow, subtle fragrance. They match nothing in my garden database, which lists every daylily I grow. Have had this garden 23 years; didn't plant these.

Does anyone have an idea which it might be. I'm thinking a species came in on one of my orders and is spreading by seed?

Thanks for your help. Here are some photos:

Those pictures remind me of some of the Stout winners from the 50s. I wonder if they were planted before you moved in and were mowed over year after year until they finally got a chance to bloom. Not likely, I know, but similar things have happened.

It definitely looks like an older Daylily from the 40s through early 70s. It reminds me of Child Bride but it doesn't seem to have the same thin , grassy foliage that Child Bride has. Although, looking at my photos, I'm realizing that it's hard to tell that.

Very similar to Child Bride and Orangeman.

Here is a photo of Orangeman posted on Garden.org by Joy:



Purchased Orangeman about ten years ago from Bloomingfield Farms, Lee Bristol's nursery that is now closed. Planted in a temporary area with other recently purchased daylilies, entered into my database; then it never bloomed, and lost track of it. I don't think this is it, with three plants blooming at the same time after a hiatus of ten years. Probably not from mowing, as two of the locations are recently created mixed borders.

Am leaning toward the bees and the birds as the cause. I know very little about how daylilies propagate from seed in nature, but the possibility that makes most sense to me is a daylily in my garden set seed, and the birds moved it around the yard.

Yep, it could be a seedling, created by bees.

Zoia said: Yep, it could be a seedling, created by bees.

But I would find it to be a bit suspicious to have three siblings look that similar to something like Orangeman and be blooming when you would expect Orangeman to bloom, but he has never had Orangeman bloom in order for there to be pods.

@LivinEZ
What other daylilies do you have that are blooming now?
Is there a possibility that Orangeman has been there all along and accidentally gotten split up and this just happened to be the perfect trifecta year for all of them to bloom??

As a side note, I live in the same town as Bloomingfields, but the one time I went there, no one was around and then they closed down.

"What other daylilies do you have that are blooming now?"

None at present. The prior record holder for earliest daylily in my garden had been Earlybird Orangeade, which bloomed May 22 in 2023.

"Is there a possibility that Orangeman has been there all along and accidentally gotten split up and this just happened to be the perfect trifecta year for all of them to bloom??"

It's possible. Thought I was more careful, but if I'm saying that I thought it was lost, it might indeed have been moved. I keep a database of 450 daylilies in my garden, with location, date of bloom, source of purchase, photograph, AHS links. Take some pride in keeping it up to date, but sometimes the trip from the garden to the computer is interrupted. So perhaps it 'fell through the cracks."
Wondering if it was wedged between two other daylilies, which were also moved.

"As a side note, I live in the same town as Bloomingfields, but the one time I went there, no one was around and then they closed down."

When my daylily hobby took off, about ten years ago, very happy to find Bloomingfields website. One of the best websites for heirloom type daylilies I've ever visited. Made many purchases from them, and while ordering, would have pleasant gardening discussions with Diana Bristol, wife of daylily hybridizer Lee Bristol.

These are the daylilies I purchased from Bloomingfields, along with some height ratings:
Autumn Minaret 72 In.
Late Adagio 52 In.
Fall Fancy
Postlude 52 In.
Challenger
Upland Gold
Carol Sing
Flava Major
Princess Irene
Jolly White Giant
Early Evelyn
Orangeman
Dark Star
Firecracker Stars
Upland Canary
Autumn King 72 In.
Late Embers
Olallie Mack
Late Pompeii
Late Cream

Their website was fantastic. Too bad it wasn't maintained as an historical archive.

Parts of the Bloomingfields farm website, at least, are available on the internet archive at archive.org through 2016.

LivinEZ said:
It's possible. Thought I was more careful, but if I'm saying that I thought it was lost, it might indeed have been moved. I keep a database of 450 daylilies in my garden, with location, date of bloom, source of purchase, photograph, AHS links. Take some pride in keeping it up to date, but sometimes the trip from the garden to the computer is interrupted. So perhaps it 'fell through the cracks."
Wondering if it was wedged between two other daylilies, which were also moved.

@LivinEZ
I understand. I too have extensive records of my 500+ daylilies and yes, good intentions and the trip to the computer is often interrupted by life!!
On another note, I have deep deep roots in Bucks County. Most of my dad's family is from just north of Doylestown.