More Daylilies

Two more daylilies have bloomed.  My daylily patch is starting to show its stuff!  Several others appear ready to make their debut in the next week or so.

The daylily patch, one year after planting.

The two new blooms are Molten Maiden and Wild One.  I have a particular affection for bright orange daylilies.  That's a characteristic inherited from the "roadside" (or tawny) daylily, which has served as pollen parent for many subsequent daylily cultivars.

Who imported the first tawny daylily?  I suppose we will never know.  But by doing so that person midwifed the tens of thousands of beautiful plants we have today.

Molten Maiden.  Blooms mid-season.  Bright orange
with red overtones; 5-inch flowers on 24-inch scapes.

Wild One.  Blooms mid-season.  Yellow-orange mix,
ruffled, showy; 6-inch flowers on 22-inch scapes (stems).

If you are not currently growing daylilies, I commend this perennial to you.  They are easy to plant, require little care, and reward your benign neglect with an abundance of bloom at mid-summer.  It takes about three seasons after initial planting for daylilies to hit their stride.  Colors include just about everything except blue.  Pests and disease are rare.  Watering is necessary only during extended dry periods.  Feeding is usually not necessary or recommended. 

Standard practice is to divide a daylily clump every 3-4 years, especially if the clump blooms less vigorously.  Dig up the clump, run a spade through it, and replant the two halves.  The plant(s) will love it.  Best of all for those, like me, with a black thumb, daylilies are all but impossible to kill.  

I bought my daylilies last year from Solaris Farms in northern Minnesota.  Click here to check out their online catalog.  They also provide instructions for planting and care. •••