What are Daylilies?
Daylilies are so named because each blossom blooms for just one day. But they are about the busiest flower plants ever. They produce multiple blooming stalks each with up to twenty buds, which come to bloom in succession, giving each mature plant up to a month of blossoming, with many varieties having re-blooming qualities. Daylilies are in bloom in the North from June through September, with each variety adhering to its own predictable blooming schedule. Although the season may be a little earlier or later depending on weather and location, the daylilies have an order in which they bloom. This makes it easy for the gardener to design a daylily garden that will be in continuous bloom for the entire summer.
What makes them so popular?
Some interesting facts
There are thousands of varieties of daylilies registered with the American Hemerocalis society, and countless thousands of strains that are unregistered. Registered daylilies are hybridized, and are clones. This means that they are propagated by dividing plants as they grow. Daylilies can be grown from seed, but the seeds that come from hybridized plants will not produce a plant with the same characteristics that the hybridizer worked so meticulously to achieve. The more unusual and striking the flower, the less likely it will be to ever produce offspring that look as good. This means that to preserve your collection of excellent hybrids, you must not let them drop their seeds to the ground or you will have mongrols.
Daylilies have edible blossoms. They are beautiful and delicious in salads, as garnishes, and can be included in stir fries. Those who never eat them are insects, especially those nasty red lily bugs that can decimate Oriental and Asiatic lilies. Daylilies are not bothered by any bugs at all, and are practically disease free.
Daylilies are the most forgiving of plants. Although like most flowering plants they would prefer to be divided or transplanted after they bloom, or in the Spring when they first come up, They will do well even when transplanted in the most adverse conditions. Many people like to buy daylilies when they're blooming so they can see what they're getting. While daylilies don't prefer that, they are very accommodating.