Daylily

Description:

The daylily is often called "the perfect perennial," due to its dazzlings colors, ability to tolerate drought, capability to thrive in many zones, and requiring very little care. Daylilies thrive in full sun, although certain daylilies require partial shade, depending on color. Lighter shades, such as yellow, pink, and pastels require the sun to bring out all of their color. Darker daylilies, such as some red and purple flowers, need shade because their darker colors absorb heat. Today, daylilies come in an assortment of shades, whereas they formerly were only available in yellow, pink, fulvous, and rosy-fulvous. Now the flowers can be found in many shades of yellow, pink, red, purple, and melon. The only shades daylilies are not available in are pure blue and pure white, which hybridizers are working on. Daylilies have a relatively short blooming period, depending on the type of daylily. There are a variety of different dayliles; some of which will bloom in early spring, while other wait until the summer or even fall. Most dayliles bloom for one to five weeks, although there is a type of daylily known as a rebloomer, which will bloom twice in one season.

Habitat:

The genus Hemerocallis is native to Asia. Since the early 1930s, hybridizers in the United States and England have made great improvements in daylilies. Originally, the only colors were yellow, orange, and fulvous red. Today, we have colors ranging from near-whites, pastels, yellows, oranges, pinks, vivid reds, crimson, purple, nearly true-blue, and fabulous blends. Many people are familiar with only the common yellow or orange daylilies which are often seen along roadsides. These daylilies are cultivated forms of the wild types of daylilies which have "escaped" and are growing as if they are wild. All the modern daylilies have been developed through a complicated history of hybridization among these and other wild types.