From the Garden: Daylilies in Bloom!

Now that our res­i­dent wood­chuck fam­i­ly has – hope­ful­ly – relo­cat­ed, we antic­i­pate the return of daylilies in bloom!

Not actu­al­ly a true lily, a daylily is a flow­er­ing peren­ni­al in the genus Heme­ro­cal­lis. It is a hardy and col­or­ful plant that is often hybridized by grow­ers. When giv­en ade­quate sun, water, and the right care, the daylily can put on quite a show. 

The daylilies at Lan­dis are a boun­ti­ful part of the Van Love­land Peren­ni­al Gar­den and can be found bloom­ing from ear­ly June through late July. We have old tried and true vari­eties, ​“spi­der” daylilies, mod­ern hybrids, and sev­er­al uniden­ti­fied spec­i­mens. It would not be fair to name a favorite, so here is a list of some of the plants you will find while strolling in the garden: 

Heme­ro­cal­lis ​‘Chica­go Brave’ and Heme­ro­cal­lis ​‘King of Hearts’. Both of these plants pro­duce 5 – 5 1÷2” red blooms on 24−28” tall scapes (stems). They can be found bloom­ing mid-sea­son and are ​“diur­nal”, denot­ing more than a sin­gle cycle of flowering. 

Heme­ro­cal­lis ​‘Russ­ian Rhap­sody’ and Heme­ro­cal­lis ​‘Moun­tain Vio­let’. Both of these plants pro­duce lus­cious 5−6” pur­ple blooms on 28−30” scapes, though ​‘Russ­ian Rhap­sody’ takes its col­or a bit fur­ther. Grow­ing ​‘Russ­ian Rhap­sody’ in shade it will give it a dark­er hue; more sun will pro­duce mauve blooms. Both vari­eties are diur­nal. Both have received numer­ous awards.

Heme­ro­cal­lis ​‘Cart­wheels’, Heme­ro­cal­lis ​‘Lit­tle Cherub’, and Heme­ro­cal­lis ​‘Beloved Coun­try’. Each of these plants is a shade of yel­low, rang­ing from a pas­tel peach to a sat­u­rat­ed yel­low that makes one won­der how flow­ers get their col­or! All three are diur­nal, old­er vari­eties. ​‘Cart­wheels’ and ​‘Beloved Coun­try’ bloom on tall 30−32” scapes mid- to late sea­son, while ​‘Lit­tle Cherub’ is much small­er, bloom­ing on 19” scapes, very ear­ly in the sea­son. ​‘Cart­wheels’ has 58 doc­u­ment­ed ​“child plants” — a cross between ​‘Cart­wheels’ and anoth­er plant. It has received a mul­ti­tude of awards since the 1950s.

You can also find a few nov­el ​“spi­der” daylily plants grow­ing in our peren­ni­al gar­den. A spi­der daylily is one hav­ing a flower whose petal length is four or more times the width of the petals. These plants pos­sess yel­low, red, or orange blos­soms , as well as flow­ers in blends of all three col­ors. These plants bloom on tall scapes and rebloom through­out the season.

Daylilies pro­vide col­or, tex­ture, and shape to any gar­den. They love water and sun but can tol­er­ate some shade and drought. Mulch and com­post will help to keep their roots moist and aer­at­ed and a ​“Plant-Tone” slow-release fer­til­iz­er will keep them hap­pi­ly fed. Being very low main­te­nance, the daylily is a true joy to have in the garden!

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