It is safe to say that the daylily, inspite of intensive breeding progammes in very mild climatic areas, is still generally a hardy plant. Perhaps 15 - to 20 years ago when the very short, very round and heavily ruffled forms with mostly evergreen growth habits were the fad the story was a bit different for us in Europe. Many private trial gardens were set up and carried out faithfully in the UK, in Germany, Holland, Switzerland, Italy and France in which the performance of the mostly American cultivars was tested for our diverse climates.   One very important factor influencin the differences in daylily performance in America or in Europe is the climate. While winter temperatures on both continents are often comparable in a ggeneral sense, the summer day- and night temperatures in most regions of the U.S. are significantly higher than in most parts of Europe due to the continental climate they have. Also the total amount of sun radiation per year (the scientific term is Global Radiation) in the U.S. can be up to 1.5 times higher than in Europe.   This has consequences for daylily flower performance. Please note: New York Cityis on the geographical latitude of Naples (southern Italy) while Paris is on the latitude of New Foundland, Canada. Many darker colours suffer in the American sunshine where many of the same plants have fabulous colouring for European gardens. Subtle colours selected in the South (USA) are often much more strongly pigmented for the average European garden. Hence the need for our own trials. Though it is well known that most daylilies can acclimate, especially regarding their winter hardiness, there are daylilies that bloom much better in the much warmer American climate than in Europe. This observation together with the fascination of breeding beautiful plants and flowers has motivated a number of European daylily enthusiasts to start their own breeding programmes. These breeding programmes are as different as the personalities behind them, but they have one thing in common: These seedlings and introductions are evaluated and selected under European climate conditions and are therefore perfectly adapted to the European climatic growing conditions. Please visit the links above and view what European breeders are producing! ENJOY!