By Beverley Boorer
We’ve heard that saying: “A rose by any other name is just as sweet”. The same can be said of the daylily, which is not a true lilium. It is called a lily because the flowers resemble those of the lilium genus. A native of Asia, the botanical name of this herbaceous perennial is Hemerocallis. The beautiful blooms only last one day, but because each plant bears so many flowers, that is hardly noticed. Each clump of daylilies has many flower stalks and each stalk can bear up to fifty flowers. Not only that, but the flowering period of the daylily is over six months.
Daylilies are the ideal flower to grow in anyone’s garden. They are flood, drought and frost hardy and those that become dormant in winter even survive snow. They are not susceptible to disease, don’t mind seaside conditions and are not fussy about soil type. While they grow happily in shade, they will flower better in full sun. What more could one ask of a plant? A good colour range? Daylilies have that, too.
These days, daylilies come in not just yellow and orange, but a huge variety of colours. Some are even bi-coloured. There are big round ones, triangular, ruffled and laced white ones, some have watermarks, others have fancy eyes. What a variety!
And they have as diverse a range of size as they do colour and shape. The smallest flowers are 1in (3cm) across, while the largest get to a huge 1in (20cm). Foliage can range from under 1in (30cm) to over 4ft (1.5m). The smaller varieties with grass-like foliage are quite suitable for borders, and all should be planted about 30in (60 cm) apart with the crown at ground level. Fertilise and mulch well for the best performance.
Potted daylilies can be planted into the garden at any time of year, but if you buy bare-rooted ones from the nursery, then late winter/early spring is a good time to plant them, and again in late summer through autumn. This avoids the absolute hottest and coldest parts of the Aussie year.
Many of the modern daylilies have been developed in the USA and so will be found in specialist nurseries in other countries. The cost can be rather high, due to the thousands of plants that must be grown each year to produce genuine advances. But it will be a worthwhile investment in your garden for such a hardy and long-flowering plant is surely hard to beat. They are the perfect low-maintenance plant.
Article Source: www.ArticlesBase.com
Beverley Boorer is a freeelance writer and gardener whose articles continue to be published both online and off. Her gardening website can be found at http://www.top-garden-tips.com
