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Daylilies: A Burst of Color and Easy Care for Your Garden
Daylilies are perennial flowers that come in a wide variety of colors, shapes, and sizes. They are relatively easy to care for and can thrive in a variety of climates. Daylilies are a great choice for gardeners of all levels of experience.
Benefits of Modern Daylily Hybrids:
- A wider range of colors: Modern daylilies come in a much wider range of colors than older varieties. This includes colors like lavender, purple, and even near-white and true blue.
- Larger flowers: Modern daylilies tend to have larger flowers than older varieties. This makes them more showy and impressive in the garden.
- Longer bloom times: Many modern daylilies rebloom throughout the summer, extending the color show.
- More disease resistance: Modern daylilies are more resistant to diseases than older varieties.
- Easier to care for: Modern daylilies are generally easier to care for than older varieties. They require less watering and fertilizer, and they are more tolerant of neglect.
Our Picks for Premium Daylilies:
We have selected a number of premium daylilies that offer exceptional benefits. These varieties are all eye-catching, reliable, and easy to care for.
- 'Fooled Me' - This daylily is a true knockout! It has large, red flowers with a yellow eye.
- 'Apricot Sparkles' PP13223 - This daylily reblooms continuously from summer to fall. It has apricot-colored flowers with a red edge.
- 'Alabama Jubilee' - This daylily has huge, fragrant, red-orange flowers.
- 'South Seas' - This daylily has a unique coral-tangerine blend with a reddish coral band.
- 'El Desperado' - This daylily is a showstopper with a captivating eyezone! It has red flowers with a yellow eye.
- Best Rebloomer: 'Stella de Oro'
Daylilies are a great choice for any gardener. They are easy to care for, come in a wide variety of colors, and bloom for a long time. With so many varieties to choose from, you're sure to find the perfect daylily for your garden.
Diversity and Blooming Habits:
The genus Hemerocallis comprises about 20 species, most of which can be grown outdoors in temperate climates. While the flowers of most species are short-lived, lasting only a day, the plants produce a succession of flowers over a period of a month or more, ensuring a continuous display of color in the garden.
Cultivation and Care:
Daylilies are relatively easy to grow and require minimal maintenance. They thrive in full sun to partial shade and prefer well-drained soil. While they are drought tolerant once established, regular watering during dry periods will promote optimal growth and flowering. Daylilies benefit from fertilization in the spring and can be divided every few years to maintain their vigor and prevent overcrowding.
A World of Variety:
Today, there are thousands of daylily cultivars available, thanks to the dedication of plant breeders who have hybridized and selected for a wide range of colors, forms, and bloom habits. This incredible diversity ensures that there is a daylily to suit every taste and garden style. Whether you prefer classic trumpet-shaped blooms, flamboyant doubles, or delicate miniatures, there is a daylily waiting to grace your garden with its ephemeral beauty.
Hemerocallis Hybridization
Hemerocallis hybridization is a fascinating world where the artistry of plant breeding meets the natural beauty of daylilies. It is a process that has led to the incredible diversity of colors, forms, and bloom habits we see in modern daylilies, transforming them from simple wildflowers into horticultural masterpieces.
At its core, daylily hybridization involves cross-pollinating two different daylily plants to create offspring with a combination of traits from both parents. This is typically done by hand, carefully transferring pollen from the anthers (male part) of one flower to the stigma (female part) of another.
The process begins with selecting two parent plants with desirable characteristics, such as flower color, form, size, fragrance, or bloom time. The hybridizer then carefully removes the anthers from the flower of the plant that will serve as the "pod parent" (the one that will produce the seeds). This prevents self-pollination and ensures that the desired cross is achieved.
Next, pollen from the selected "pollen parent" is collected and gently applied to the stigma of the pod parent's flower. If the cross is successful, fertilization will occur, and the flower will develop into a seed pod containing seeds that carry the genetic information from both parents.
These seeds are then collected, planted, and nurtured until they grow into mature plants. The resulting seedlings will exhibit a combination of traits inherited from both parents, potentially displaying new and exciting characteristics.
Daylily hybridizers have several goals in mind when creating new varieties:
- Expanding the Color Palette: Hybridization has led to daylilies in a rainbow of colors beyond the traditional yellow and orange hues of the wild species. Modern daylilies come in a breathtaking array of colors, including vibrant reds, pinks, purples, and even near-whites. Hybridizers are constantly striving to create new and unique color combinations, including bi-colors, blends, and patterns.
- Creating New Flower Forms: Hybridization has also led to the development of daylilies with a wide variety of flower forms, including doubles, spiders, unusual forms (UFOs), and sculpted forms. These unique shapes add interest and diversity to the garden.
- Extending Bloom Time: Hybridizers are always seeking to extend the bloom time of daylilies, creating varieties that bloom earlier, later, or even rebloom throughout the season. This ensures a continuous display of color in the garden.
- Improving Plant Habit: Hybridization can also improve the overall plant habit of daylilies, creating varieties with stronger stems, better branching, and increased disease resistance.
- Enhancing Fragrance: While many modern daylilies have lost the fragrance of their wild ancestors, hybridizers are working to reintroduce fragrance into new cultivars.
Daylily hybridization has had a profound impact on the world of gardening:
- Increased Diversity: The efforts of hybridizers have led to an explosion of daylily varieties, offering gardeners an incredible range of choices to suit their individual preferences and garden styles.
- Improved Garden Performance: Hybridization has resulted in daylilies that are more vigorous, disease-resistant, and better adapted to various growing conditions.
- New and Exciting Characteristics: Hybridizers continue to push the boundaries of daylily breeding, creating varieties with unique colors, forms, and bloom habits that were never before imagined.
While daylily hybridization has brought many benefits, there are also some challenges and considerations:
- Maintaining Genetic Diversity: The widespread use of hybrid daylilies can sometimes lead to a decrease in the genetic diversity of wild daylily populations.
- Loss of Fragrance: Many modern daylilies have lost the fragrance of their wild ancestors.
- Patent and Trademark Issues: The development of new daylily cultivars can be expensive and time-consuming. To protect their investments, hybridizers often patent or trademark their new varieties, which can sometimes limit their availability and increase their cost.
Despite these challenges, daylily hybridization continues to be a vibrant and exciting field, with new and improved varieties being developed all the time. By understanding the process and its implications, gardeners can appreciate the incredible diversity that hybridization has brought to these beloved flowers.