Plant Image Data Base
Hemerocallis
Daylily
- Form
- herbaceous perennial
- generally about 3' tall by 2' wide when in flower
(but some dwarf and many taller forms abound)
- growth habit consists of arching clumps of
foliage with stiff vertical flowering stalks
- Culture
- full sun to partial shade
- grows and flowers best in organic, well-drained
soils that are not especially rich
(nutrient-laden soils promote lush foliage growth
with relatively little flowering)
- however, Daylily is a very urban tolerant
perennial, being very adaptable to heat, drought,
poor soils, compacted soils, soils of various
pHs, and especially to Winter salt spray
- Lily Family, with virtually no disease or pest
problems
- Daylilies may be interplanted with Daffodils (Narcissus),
and as the latter's persistent foliage is dying
back in June, the former is in new foliage and
just about ready to bloom
- Flowers
- solid white, yellow, pink, purple, orange, and
red shades are commonly available, with bicolored
flowers (usually with a different colored throat)
also common
- each inflorescence is on a stalk, with
five to nine flowers per inflorescence and
several scapes per clump
- flowers on a single inflorescence open
consecutively about every other day, with several
flowers in bloom at one time in the clump, with
each flower persisting for one or two days (hence
the common name)
- many cultivars bloom consistently for one to two
months, and sometimes sporadically thereafter; a
few are ever blooming
- total flowering time for all cultivars combined
is from late May until frost
- Function
- group or mass plantings, beds, borders,
entranceways, foundations, wide edgings,
planters, fence rows, roadsides, or naturalized
areas
- focal point perennial when in bloom (due to
upright stiff flowering stalks and large showy
flowers)
- Assets
- urban tolerant perennial
- if several cultivars are used together, a long
Summer bloom period can occur
- Winter salt spray tolerant
- hundreds of cultivars are theoretically available
- basal mound of arching bright green foliage
- easily propagated in large quantities by clump
division
- Purpose
- Daylily is one of the top-selling perennials,
noted for its outstanding Summer floral display
on stiff flowering stalks held above the solid
green basal foliage.
- Summary
- Hemerocallis is a popular, urban-tolerant
perennial effectively used along borders, wide
edgings, or in mass plantings, commonly planted
in sunny sites but also used in partially shaded
areas, noted for its showy Summer-blooming
trumpet-shaped flowers available in an array of
many warm and cool colors.
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