Van Bourgondien

Carefree Daylilies

Daylily (Hemerocallis)
'Cool It' Daylily
'Jean Swann' Daylily (Hemerocallis)
'Edge of Darkness' Hemerocallis
'Destined to See' Daylily (Hemerocallis)
'Startle' Daylily (Hemerocallis)
'Big Smile' Daylily
'Silver Trumpet' Daylily (Hemerocallis)
'Canadian Border Patrol' Daylily
'Thundering Ovation' Daylily (Hemerocallis)
'Twilight Secrets' Daylily (Hemerocallis)
'Strawberry Candy' Daylily (Hemerocallis)
'Little Business' Daylily (Hemorcallis)
'Pandora's Box' Daylily (Hemerocallis)
'Little Grapette' Daylily (Hemerocallis)
'Stella d'Oro' Daylily
'You-Angel-You' Daylily Purple Daylily
'Happy Returns'

One of my friends is a daylily collector. He has hundreds of them growing in his small, urban garden and each one is different. If he had more property, he'd have thousands of different ones, and that would still be just a drop in the daylily "bucket". As of now, there are more than 50,000 named daylilies in cultivation.

True, there are some that look a lot like other ones, but each one has at least one distinct characteristic that is not shared by any other daylily. That's amazing.

I asked my friend about his collection, and he began to describe why he loves daylilies so, and pretty soon, I was beginning to understand and share his affection. Daylilies are almost carefree; in fact they are just about the perfect perennial. They can survive without bother in many climates, look "right" in any style landscape, are remarkably drought tolerant once established, and are prey to almost no pests or diseases. Even better, daylilies come in every color except true blue and pure white, and you can choose several different flower shapes and sizes.

The genus name, Hemerocallis, is Greek for "day" and "beauty", a reference to the fact that each flower lasts one day. Mature daylilies can produce many flower buds on each stalk during their bloom cycle - typically from mid-to-late summer - and there can be many stalks in each clump. Therefore, the fact that individual flowers last so short a time does absolutely nothing to detract from a daylily plant's value. In addition, daylilies are divided into early- mid- and late-season bloomers (including variations such as extra early and very late), with many cultivars re-blooming after the first bloom period has ended. If you choose wisely, you can have daylilies in constant bloom for several months.

Even if you are not familiar with the gorgeous hybrid daylilies available today, you have probably seen the common yellow or orange daylilies growing "wild" along roadways. Daylilies are native to the temperate areas of Japan, Siberia, Korea, China and Eurasia. Explorers to those areas brought plants back to Europe and later, colonists brought them to North America where they eventually "escaped" from their early gardens. Since the early 1930s, hybridizers in the U.S. and Britain have been working to improve the common daylily. According to information on the American Hemerocallis Society's web site, the original colors were yellow, orange, and fulvous red. Now, the colors range from "near-whites, pastels, yellows, oranges, pinks, vivid reds, crimson, purple, nearly true-blue, and fabulous blends". Fabulous indeed!

Daylilies have four important parts. Starting at the bottom and working up, they are: roots (usually fibrous but often with enlarged portions, like tubers), crown (the part from which the roots grow below ground, and the leaves and scapes grow above), leaves (long and grass-like, with a prominent mid-rib on the underside) and scapes (leafless stalks that produce flowers). Flower shapes vary markedly and include circular, triangular, star-shaped, informal (no distinct shape when viewed from the front), ruffled, flat (except for the throat), recurved (the ends of the petals curve back under), trumpet, spider and double. Color in daylilies has its own language: "self" means the entire flower is of the same color, except perhaps the stamens and/or throat. A "blend" is of two or more colors; a "polychrome" is of three or more. There are also bitones, bicolors, eyed or banded, edged or picoteed, tipped, dotted or dusted, diamond dusted and even flowers in which the midrib of each petal is of a different color. Texture and substance are also important. Daylily blooms can be smooth-textured, creped or ribbed and their appearance (substance) can range from delicate (fragile looking, but durable) to heavy and leathery.

Size is just as carefully measured. A miniature daylily flower is less than 3 inches in diameter, small flowers measure from 3 up to 4-1/2 inches wide, and large flowers are 4-1/2 inches and over. Flower scape heights are grouped into low at 6-24 inches tall, medium at 24-36 inches, and tall at over 36 inches. As you can see, daylilies are strictly categorized, but this helps to describe all those named cultivars and allows for more uniform judging in daylily flower shows.

Foliage can be dormant (leaves die back in winter), evergreen (leaves stay all year, and may remain green in mild climates or freeze in colder areas while the crown stays alive if well mulched), or semi-evergreen (any foliage habit that is not easily described as dormant or evergreen). Interestingly, foliage habit does not correspond to cold-hardiness. Some are extremely hardy while others may be quite tender. For best results try to grow daylily cultivars that are known to do well in your area.

Daylilies are outstanding perennials that enhance every garden style: formal or cottage, modern or classical European, Asian and even desert gardens. Except for the miniature daylilies, which are shorter, most are 20-30 inches tall. They can be used as focal points, planted in containers or blended into a perennial bed. Daylilies, especially the fragrant ones, are also outstanding as edging along paths, walls or open fences. With their grassy foliage, they look quite at home alongside a pond and miniature daylilies can be planted in a rock garden. One of the best uses I ever saw was in a public garden on Long Island, NY. They were planted in a long, narrow ribbon, edging a curving shrub border. In the spring and early summer, their grass-like foliage set off the shrubs as they went in and out of flower. Then in a more than two-month burst of glory, they came into their own while the shrubs were quiet. As late summer turned to fall, many of the daylilies in the long border re-bloomed and then slowly went out of flower, while the shrubs put on their autumn colors. It was a season-long triumph.

Most daylilies are hardy in zones 3-9 and a few will do well even in zone 10. Naturally, bloom times will vary in the cooler and warmer parts of their range, but expect them to do well just about everywhere within it. Some daylilies are "naturals" for naturalizing - meaning that they will send up more new scapes full of blossoms each year, their colors blending and contrasting without your having to do anything besides enjoy them.

Four exquisitely lovely fragrant daylilies are Hemerocallis 'Cool It', H. 'Jean Swann', H. 'Edge of Darkness', and H. 'Destined to See'. 'Cool It' has fresh, creamy white flowers with a green throat. The big, 6 inches wide blossoms appear in June-July and will repeat in August-September. It is semi-evergreen. 'Jean Swann' is a semi-evergreen, mid- to late-season bloomer with huge 6 inches wide double flowers of yellow self. 'Edge of Darkness' has 4 inch wide flowers in mid-season that are a soft lavender with a bright yellow throat surrounded by a purple eye-zone, all edged with a slim, ruffled band of purple. It is also semi-evergreen. 'Destined to See' has 4-5 inches wide flowers in early mid-season. Its blooms are creamy white with a blue-violet eye-zone and ruffled edges in rich purple. It is an evergreen variety.

Dormant varieties include H. 'Startle', a mid-season bloomer with bright, hot pink flowers with a chartreuse eye and edged in yellow ruffles. Blooming at mid-season, H. 'Big Smile' has 4 inches wide bright yellow flowers with a greenish eye-zone and salmon pink ruffled edges. H. 'Silver Trumpet' is new this year. Its 5 inches wide flowers are magenta-rose with a golden eye-zone, gold-green throat and silver edges. It blooms at mid-season.

An outstanding evergreen daylily is H. 'Canadian Border Patrol', with large, 5 inches wide creamy white flowers with a deep purple eye-zone and the same color ruffled edges. It is a mid-season bloomer.

Re-blooming daylilies have made these flowers more popular than ever. New this year is H. 'Thundering Ovation', which lives up to its name with large, 5 inches wide flowers in deep purple with a golden yellow throat and more gold on its ruffled edges. It blooms in mid-season to rave reviews and again several weeks later. It is an evergreen variety. Also new this year is H. 'Twilight Secrets', a mid-season bloomer that repeats in late summer. It has large 6 inches wide lavender-purple flowers with a green throat and a ruffled gold edge. It's a semi-evergreen variety. H. 'Strawberry Candy' won the American Hemerocallis Society's prestigious Stout Medal in 1998. It's not hard to see why: the luscious strawberry pink flowers have a rose-red eye and a golden throat - exquisite. But the best parts are: a) the flowers bloom for up to 16-1/2 hours a day and b) their first flush of bloom is in June-July and they re-bloom in August-September. They are semi-evergreen. H. 'Little Business' is aptly named, as it only grows up to 15 inches tall. It has dainty 3-1/2 inches wide rose raspberry flowers with darker veining and a chartreuse throat in June-August with later re-bloom. It is semi-evergreen. H. 'Pandora's Box' is a long-time favorite with a sweet fragrance. It has creamy white 4 inches wide flowers with a purple eye in June-July with excellent re-bloom later. It grows 15-20 inches tall and is an evergreen variety. H. 'Little Grapette' can only be described as cute! Its small, 3 inches wide flowers are light grape with a contrasting yellow-green throat. It blooms in early mid-season and again later, growing 20-25 inches tall. It is semi-evergreen.

For long blooming, probably nothing outperforms the miniature repeat bloomer H. 'Stella d'Oro', one of the most popular daylilies of all time. The cheerfully ruffled golden-yellow blossoms begin early in the season, seem unstoppable, and then, after a short period of rest, they come again. Another American Hemerocallis Society Stout Medal winner, 'Stella' is perfect for containers because of its shorter stature - 12-18 inches tall, but of course, it looks just right wherever you plant it. It is a dormant variety. H. 'You-Angel-You' is another miniature repeat bloomer. It has very dainty double flowers in a delectable blend of creamy peach with a delightful red center. An evergreen variety that will bloom first in mid-season and repeat in late summer, it will grow to 18 inches tall.

There are many people who simply can't pass up a purple daylily. Named simply, daylily 'Purple', this charmer is definitely one to treasure. It will enchant everyone who sees it with its royal purple flowers with a golden yellow eye-zone and bright green throat. It will grow 24-48 inches tall and bloom in early mid-season.

Last, but very much not least, I have to mention H. 'Happy Returns'. Its slightly fragrant flowers in bright yellow self measure 3 to 4-1/2 inches wide and each bloom will last well beyond those of most other daylilies. In addition, it begins to bloom extra early and seems to go almost non-stop until October. It will grow 12-18 inches tall, making it another excellent choice for containers. It is a semi-evergreen variety.

Taking care of daylilies is a cinch. Plant them in full sun to partial shade, as long as they will receive a minimum of six hours of sunlight daily. They will do best in well-drained neutral soil, but will adapt readily to soils that are slightly acidic or alkaline. If your soil is heavy clay, add compost, humus, peat moss and sand to help provide better drainage. In sandy soil, adding compost, humus and peat moss to help slow down rapid drainage.

Dig a hole that is wider than the root mass of your daylily and make a mound in the bottom of the hole. Set the daylily on top of the mound and spread its roots on all sides. Make sure that the crown of the plant will be at the same depth as it was growing, and no deeper than one inch below the soil surface. Pack the soil gently but firmly around the roots and water well. After all the water has soaked in, finish filing in soil and make a small hollow all around the plant to catch rainwater. Daylilies are relatively drought-tolerant after they are acclimated to your garden's conditions. It is most important that they receive ample water in the spring, when they are developing scapes and flower buds. Fertilization may not be needed at all; if in doubt, have your soil tested to discover what nutrient(s) is lacking. Do deadhead spent flowers every day for a neater appearance and clear away dead foliage, especially in early spring. Remove any damaged flowers or foliage during the growing season. Mulching is not necessary in every area, but it may help to keep down weeds and retain moisture.

Daylilies are just about perfect. With so many choices, don't you think it's time to get started, or to add to your collection? Carefree daylilies, you've got to have them.