Still More Choices

Here are some more daylilies that I'm considering.  I do lean toward the reds and red/orange hues.  But there will be lots of variety in color and shape in my daylily patch!

Beyond Thunderdome

Cranberry Cove

Lucifer's Fire

Molten Maiden

Believe it or not, there is a daylily I don't like.  It's "Stella de Oro."  As one person commented on a web site I visited, "This daylily is seen everywhere... but that's not the daylily's fault!"  This is a favorite plant material for those who landscape commercial venues.  It's so heavily overused that I call it "The Shopping Mall Plant." It grows almost everywhere — from Vermont to California, and from Oregon to Florida — in every USDA zone from 3a (near-Arctic) to 9b (near-tropical rain forest).  I'm sure you've seen it.  Everybody's seen it!

Stella de Oro

"Stella de Oro" has won the Stout Medal, the highest award in Daylilydom.  And it has its virtues.  It forms nice clumps to create mass plantings.  It starts early and reblooms, so you'll likely find it flowering from early summer to frost.  Some folks have found this plant very helpful in problem areas of their yards, e.g., semi-shady spots that get little rain.  My complaint, other than "Stella's" overuse, is its color — a yellow-orange shade which reminds me of the standard school bus color.

My bottom line: with more than 30,000 daylily cultivars to choose from, why grow this plant? •••