Creating modern hardy hybrid daylillies...
especially for gardens in northern zones!

Daylily: Erudite

This "smart" flower is certainly a total LEADER in the garden here!

An "erudite" is an adjective... that describes a person "having or showing great knowledge or learning". I wrote that down on my "pad of a thousand names" several years ago, but as in all cases with me, the name MUST fit the entire plant in order to bear it. I've really liked it, but wasn't until THIS amazing plant came along... that I could FINALLY use it! WOO HOO!!!

This BEAST of a plant is a dormant, and produces "clean to the tip" foliage from the season's start. From then on, just stand back and WATCH what it does! Broad, and thick green foliage erupts thick scapes with deep branching galore. SUCH a solid plant! As if that alone doesn't make a gardener happy, then no worries... as there's NO trouble in the bloom department!

First blooms are over 10", and a VERY clear garnet red... with large green throats - that aren't so big that they take anything away from the impact the blazing deep red has. In spite of its ever-changing playfulness as an unusual form (crispate), this balance of color NEVER loses its command of presence.

Combining all the things I love is a massive challenge, because it's not been easy to identify just how many aspects of anything near a "perfect daylily" there really are... and the accumulation of the experience truly takes time. It's been over 25 years since I registered the nursery, and it's amazing how much I'm still learning. Even at the level of this plant, which checks every one of over 20 boxes that I have (and only sign off on after a min of 6 full years of growing/evaluating every introduction)... I'm still happy when plants like this are so pod fertile, as I can't wait to see the future IT will bring!