DeweyRooter said: @adnative Dianne might have some good cultivar suggestions for you. She knows all about cold hardiness!
Thanks for the vote of confidence, Nan, not sure I would claim to know 'all'
But I have been growing daylilies here in zone 3 for nearly 30 years now, so I've had a bit of experience with some of them.
Over the years, I have only lost (2) daylilies that I believe were lost due to lack of hardiness for our chilly winters: Barbary Corsair, which did make it thru its first winter but went steadily downhill and disappeared by the 3rd year... and 'Little Mucha Minto' which did not make it the very first winter.
I have planted fall daylily orders from southern growers, with great survival of the daylilies (including a fall order in 2022 from Browns Ferry) ... keeping in mind, just about everyone is 'south' from here. But I mulch everything, plant all daylilies from warmer climates about an inch deeper than usual, and generally get my southern orders (Florida, Tennessee, etc.) no later than spring, they have time to acclimate. Most will not bloom till their 2nd year in the gardens, but patience pays off.
I do not believe foliage classifications have 'any' bearing on cold hardiness (I grow all, from Evergreen to fully dormant, with success); and I consider 'zone' listings as simply a suggestion (at best). Many 'zone 5' plants survive well here, including many daylilies... but again, I mulch everything. (And I do mean 'all' of my perennials, including shrubs.)
At this point (not counting roughly 2000 seedlings), I have over 400 registered daylilies that survive zone 3 very well. For what it's worth... I really don't pay much attention at all to where the plants are grown before arriving here, or where they were hybridized ... or their parents, either (some northern breeders use greenhouses, which negates zone). I pay attention to when, how and where I plant them, and I think that is far more important to their success.
