The daylilies are blooming! They make their greatest impact in June and July. There are thousands of varieties. Most are not available at big box stores but they will carry some of the most popular varieties. If you are looking for a collection of different daylilies surf the internet for daylily nurseries. Some of these nurseries will have special days in June when you can see their growing fields in bloom.
Most of the daylilies at the nursery today are hardy perennials. While they will grow in light shade, they do best in full sun and soil that has been amended with compost, leaf mulch, or sphagnum moss. Although many will survive plain old dirt, they grow best in a prepared planting bed.
Modern daylilies are quite different from the roadside orange daylilies of yesteryears. The new varieties on the market are bred for high bud counts. Because each bud opens for a day, a high bud count means the bloom time is stretched out over many days. There are also rebloomers. One line of rebloomers are called Happy Everappsters (hybridized by Darrell Apps). These produce flowers throughout the growing season.
These two rebloomers grow about 12 inches tall. The cream/purple one is 'Pandora's Box'. The red one is 'Pardon Me'.
Daylilies come in many shades and mixes of colors as cream, yellow, gold, pink, red, and purple. I've noticed the red and purple daylilies do not keep their color in rainy weather. The color seems to run. When you deadhead these wear gloves or you will end up with red fingers.
There are short daylilies for the front of the border that are 12 to 18 inches tall and usually sport 3 to 4 inch flowers. There are taller daylilies for the mid or back of the border up to 4 feet tall with 6 inch flowers.
These daylilies stand 2 feet tall with 6 inch blooms. The red one is 'Charles Johnston
and the yellow is 'Glorious is the Morning'
Visiting a daylily nursery when they are in bloom is a real eye opener to what is available today.
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