Two New Stellar Performers Awarded "All-American"

Daylily Title for 2004

GRAIN VALLEY, MISSOURI August 2003 ...The All-American Daylily Selection Council (AADSC) recently announced two new additions to its growing family of All-American daylily winners. 'Lady Lucille,' a fiery red-orange beauty, won in the Landscape Category while 'Chorus Line,' a beautifully formed pink, won in the Exhibition Catetgory. These two 2004 winners join a select group of just eight cultivars that have been awarded the honored All-American title since the AADSC test program began in 1985.

The All-American title is granted only to those rare daylily varieties that have shown superior performance across at least five USDA hardiness zones. The AADSC All-American daylily award differs from others in that its results are based on rigorous scientific methodology. The 2004 All-American varieties are tried and true cultivars whose test scores earned them the AADSC's top honor. Both of the 2004 winners offer a uniquely individual blend of beauty, performance and abundant garden applications.

'Lady Lucille,' a large, showy bloom demands attention in any setting. Starting off just as most other daylilies are winding down, Lady Lucille displays a cluster of flashy five to six-inch diameter blooms from summer into autumn. On graceful, well-branched bloomstalks, framed by shiny, tall, dark green foliage, these brilliant blooms remain lush even on sweltering summer days. Pest and disease resistant, Lady Lucille is eye-catching when planted singly and breathtaking in a mass display.

'Chorus Line,' the 2004 winner in the Exhibition Category, offers a mass of blooms that provide a splendid display of color. These fragrant, well-formed, round flowers with wide ruffled petals, offer three to four-inch blooms of medium pink with a darker rose band around a small chartreuse throat, atop well-branched 18 to 22-inch tall scapes. These hearty beauties bloom early in the season and rebloom up to two times in certain USDA Zones. Their tidy 15 to 20-inch tall foliage and delicate bouquets of blooms provide a cheerful greeting along a garden path, in a pot, or at the front of the perennial bed.

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.

2004 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.

'Black Eyed Stella,' the first to receive the All-American title in 1994, is best known for its landscape performance as a nearly continuous bloomer. The two 1998 winners, 'Lullaby Baby' and 'Starstruck,' were honored for exquisite beauty and balance in the Exhibition Category. 'Bitsy,' one of three 2002 winners, combined a petite personality with powerful performance and is one of the longest blooming varieties the AADSC has encountered in 12 years of testing. 'Leebea Orange Crush' is one of the rare daylilies exhibiting such balanced performance that it won in both the Landscape and Exhibition Categories and commands attention in any setting. 'Judith,' a large vigorous variety, with its profusion of glowing pink blossoms, won in the Exhibition Category and is a trophy in anyone’s garden.

Two top performers were named 'All-American' in 2003 – 'Frankly Scarlet,' a vibrant red that represents a breakthrough in red daylily breeding due to its ability not only to sustain but to build color intensity in the heat – and 'Plum Perfect,' a clear, vibrant bloom with a striking symmetry of foliage that offers purity of color, vigorous growth, multiple bloom periods and wide adaptability.

The new 2004 All-American daylilies will be widely available, along with the other eight All-Americans, in Spring 2004 at garden centers nationwide. They will be easily located by the colorful banners, posters, and bench cards, and will be displayed in an attractive blue pot featuring a large, informative booklet style plant tag. The entire collection of All-American winners offers the shopper ten premium choices for creating their own All-American Daylily garden.

Garden centers can order 'Lady Lucille' and 'Chorus Line' plus all the previous winners grown in the distinctive blue pot from: El Modeno Gardens (CA), McCorkle Nurseries (GA), Pride’s Corner Farms (CT), Zelenka Nursery (MI), and MerryGro Farms (FL). Bare root plants will be available from American Daylily & Perennials (MO), Greenwood Daylily (CA), Oakes Daylilies (TN), and the Plant X Change (TX).

For more information about the 2004 All-American daylilies, 'Lady Lucille' and 'Chorus Line,' or to download high-resolution photos of them, please visit the AADSC website www.daylilyresearch.org. You may also contact Mary McLoughlin at (616) 698-0748.