Daylilies Short Lived Beauty

Greeting the rising sun daylilies flowers spend the day sharing their beauty with all who passes by. Then as the sun sets these lovely blossoms wither and die. Never fear though. Another bloom will take it's place with the rising sun tomorrow.

Passing admirers often don't realize one bloom has replaced another. Each stem can have several buds on it that bloom in turn. These plants are hardy and bloom for weeks at a time.

They have been a garden favorite since as early as the 1920's. And now thanks to gardening enthusiasts and professional horticulturalists there are thousands of daylily varieties to choose from. And how do they do that, you ask.

Daylilies are perennial plants that are hybrid or cultivars.

Hybrid - an animal or plant resulting from a cross between genetically unlike individuals. The term hybrid originally represented animals of mixed breeds known as mongrals. The term has grown to include plants and even cars.

Cultivars - are a cultivated variety of a plant that has been deliberately selected for its desirable characteristics such as color, yield of crop, resistance to disease.

There are thousands of registered cultivars. And each one seems more beautiful and enchanting than the one before it. You might say that the potential of daylilies is limitless.

Daylilies Are Spreading Perennials

These beautiful pink lilies bloom along the Riverwalk in Naperville, IL

My experience has been when these plants spread in your garden they do best when they are separated regularly. You don't always have to do this every year but if your lilies start to seem like they aren't blooming as fully or often as before, this is one indication you can separate.

They grow in clumps with a white crown. From this crown you'll see long linear leaves that fan out in opposite directions around the stems that hold multiple flowers. Each crown may have multiple stems. This is why you see the flowers blooming in groups.

You can separate your lilies in early spring or early fall. Some say early fall gives your plants more time to rest and recooperate again before blooming season. The roots will be fully established come next flowering season.

And thus you'll have a full blooming garden next spring. Separation in early spring may not give the new plants time to establish. This could reduce the number of blooms that year.

But this is why these plants are so popular. They will bloom and they are very hardy. Care is quite simple and most of the time you will just get to enjoy them.

How often do you separate? This really depends on your growing conditions. All plants vary in how fast and full they grow. Just as the seasons vary, so will your growing lilies.

Rain Drops on this bright red daylily seem to show off its beauty

I read also that water acts like a fertilizer with these perrenials. You want to water your plants regularly. Of course, in rainy seasons nature takes care of this task for you.

You might say these plants are a gardener's delight. They look beautiful growing alone or as a backdrop for your other favorite flowers.

Using Daylilies as Cut Flowers

Cutting flower stems with buds gives several days of blooms

Daylilies are not normally used in flower arrangements you get from the florist. But this doesn't mean you can't cut them and have them as part of your own cut flower arrangements. Cut stems that have multiple buds on them and you can have beautiful flowers for several days.

Some varieties are rebloomers

Some of the varieties of daylilies rebloom. The secret to this is to remove their seed capsules. One of my favorite suppliers of these plants is Smokey's Daylily Gardens. Each daylily has a chart that tells more about each daylily's growing characteristics. One of those is whether that one is a reblooming flower or not.

This is good to know when you are picking the best plants for your garden. You want to pick all of the aspects that will give your garden design the perfect look and feel that works for you.

Some flowers are even fragrant like the Bonanza

Another aspect you might want to look for is fragrance. Hundreds of the flowers are fragrant. When you think about it, though that is a small number of fragrant flowers compared to at least 60,000 registered species to choose from.

Daylilies Are Classified as Members of The Hemerocallis Genus

Genus is the scientific grouping of plants, organisms and such with similar characteristics. You might say that the daylily is a member of the Hemerocallis family.

They used to be part of the Lilicaceae genus which includes Lilium, or True Lilies. These plants are now members of the Hemerocallidaceae family. When it comes to genus, order, family and all of the other scientific and botanical means of classifying plants, you might begin to feel overwhelmed.

But for the brave at heart check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemerocallis for a more detailed article. If you feel really adventurous explore the Lilicaceae genus. Lilicaceae used to be a catch all for the Lily Family. Around 2009 a major reclassification took place and so it is now easier to recognize and find orders, families and such of your favorite plants.

Some Daylilies Are Edible

Edible flower pedals are called golden noodles

These flowers are native to Eurasia including China, Korea and Japan. Some of them are actually edible.

The golden noodles are commonly sold in Asian Markets. They are available either fresh or dried flowers. Some common recipes you will find daylily flowers in are:

Hot and Sour Soup
Daylilies Soup
Buddhas Delight and
Moo Shu Pork

A word of warning though. Don't go into your garden and pick flowers for eating. Some lilies are toxic and cause illness if eaten. Leave the picking to those who know. If you're curious visit your local Asian Market. You'll often find recipes there for cooking a surprise addition to your family meals.

Dried golden noodles available in Asian Markets Come From a Specific Daylily

Please note that the pictures I have taken and published on this page were taken at parks and neighbor's gardens. I have no idea what typle of lily they may be. The pictures are meant to represent the beauty and appeal of these flowers.

Hybridazation Has Also Produced Double Daylilies

Double Dayliliies are fairly knew to the hybrid family

The first time I saw a double daylily was at Riverwalk in Naperville, IL. I was surprised and thought that some of the wild fulvous daylilies had simply gone through an odd change. My recent research revealed that they are actually man made wonders.

Smokeys Daylily Gardens
Exotic flowers without the
exotic price and maintenance.
SmokeysDaylilyGardens.com

I did an advanced search at Smokey's Daylily Gardens for the term double. In the results this flower looks like it might be item Double Dragon. If you're in the market for daylilies, I highly recommend you give Smokey's a chance.

Wild Daylilies Are The Fulvous Daylily

Wild Daylilies growing in forest at Herrick Lake in Illinois

Fulvous daylily are those lovely wild lilies you see growing along roadsides and in fields. They are beautiful and quite tempting to try and transplant to your garden. One thing you want to keep in mind. They are a weed.

One year my mom decided to plant a few in her garden. They literally took over making it hard to plant some of the less aggressive plants and flowers. They may be beautiful but they send roots underground sprouting up in various places. They crowd out surrounding plants. Perhaps these beauties of nature are better admired from a distance.

Visit Free Photo Gallery to See More Daylilies Pictures

Your Lily Story

Do you have a favorite lily growing in your garden? Click here to show and tell. Share your stories with the world

As you may have guessed I love taking pictures of lilies. I love taking nature and flower pictures of every subject I see when I walk and play. If you would like to see even more daylily pictures, be sure and visit my free photo gallery where you will find thousands of free images.

I hope you enjoy these daylilies pictures. If you have some you would like to share with us be sure and fill out the comment form at the bottom of this page.

Guest Daylilies Pictures

Now we have a new feature where you can submit your own photo and story. I will then create a page just for you. I only ask that you tell me a little about your photo.

This is also a good place to ask questions about that mysterious flower you have growing in your back yard. I will do all I can to give you an answer. And if I can't, I am sure some of our readers will know the answer.