We are all anxious to see the first daylily blooms of the season yet so often the earliest bloomers are what I refer to as "little yellow varmints" like Stella De Oro and the nameless clones that line street medians and box store parking lots. One of my hybridizing goals has been to produce extra early blooming daylilies that are larger and more colourful than the little yellow varmints.
Hillside First Impressions is a tetraploid, extra early flower that reliably starts to bloom in June in my garden, usually within about a week of Stella De Oro's first blooms. The 5" flowers are pale yellow with a triangular red eye that is bisected with yellow to white midribs above a green throat. The scapes average 27" tall usually with one lateral branch and a top V. Bud count ranges from 12 - 15 buds. The foliage is semi-evergreen.
Parentage is Esperanza Gold x Stenciled Impressions both of which are registered as extra early bloomers. Esperanza Gold is one of my earliest bloomers, sometimes even before Stella. Stenciled Impressions is more of an early bloomer in my garden usually near the beginning of July. The eyezone in Hillside First Impressions clearly comes from Stenciled Impressions and on hot days will show signs of a patterned eyezone. Pod and pollen fertile and producing some nice early blooming seedlings. Registered 2012. $100 (single fan)
