Daylily Surprisingly Late
Darrow. Olallie’s Daylilies, Newfane, VT. Not registered. In 2000, and the last day that Olallie’s was open that year, I traveled down to Newfane and ordered 25 daylilies. I chose daylilies that were budded and had not started to bloom there (southeastern Vermont) or daylilies that were already blooming but still had buds. I placed my order and then waited for it to be my turn to have the plants dug from the garden, tagged, and wrapped in newspaper. They were all single fans and I was assured they would grow well. Now twenty years later, the Olallie website does not have some of the plants I purchased including Surprisingly Late which is a beauty. It does not grow quickly here and that presents a problem because it is a beautiful plant, much in demand, is a large bloomed, late bloomer that is that special mauve-pink that works so well with about any fall color including the blues and purples of monkshood’s and asters, Dark Towers penstemon and even the Chelone Hot Lips, a much brighter pink. Available garden dug and always in short supply. I gave away plants in late summer 2021 to friends Mary from Isle La Motte and Claire from Alburgh, Vt to see how it grows on the Canadian border where the temperatures are influenced by Lake Champlain. Surprisingly Late is a Dormant, Diploid, with 5.5″ blooms on 36″ scapes over time. The scapes are thin as expected so after a hard rain they may bend a bit. No mail order sales on this daylily this year.