DAYLILIES GADENER'S HERO YEAR AFTER YEAR

Daylilies are the top perennial for summertime bloom. Their simplicity and steadfast beauty make them the gardener's heroes year after year.

Daylilies are almost too good to be true. They are tolerant of virtually anything that nature and humans can dish out--heat, cold, drought, billows of dust or any other freak weather condition. They establish themselves quickly, then multiply year after year.

The name "daylily" is itself the source of some confusion. Daylilies are not directly related to lilies of any sort, although their flowers do bear a similar resemblance. Hemerocallis, the botanical name for daylilies, means "beautiful for a day" in Greek, and, as an individual blossom, lasts only one day.

Today's varieties (35,000 of them) are practically disease free and free of pest problems, and need a minimum amount of care. Like their wild cousins that flourished by the side of the nation's highways, their needs and desires are very few, and they continue to be rewarding as they multiply.

The story of daylilies is one of "rags to riches". There is no specie of daylily native to America. Original species can still be found from the Ukraine to Japan and from tropical Nepal to the frozen Siberian plains.

From about 16 original species, all native to Eurasia, all our registered varieties have been created by the labor of thousands of daylily enthusiasts. There are over 12,000 registered ones on the market today. It is not uncommon for new introductions to cost $150 to $200 each. In a few years they slip into well deserved obscurity and may be purchased for as little as $5.

Daylilies may win the race for longevity. While peonies are 9-day wonders and tall bearded iris last only one week, daylilies often bloom for over a four-week period.

Their funnel-like flowers will appear at the end of a long slender stalk, and each bud opens for just one day (Hence, the name). However new varieties bloom with such profusion that the plants are constantly in bloom, covered with colorful flowers for weeks in mid to late summer.

Give them full or partial sun and any kind of soil (except standing water) and they won't complain. Bloom displays are not ruined by sun, wind or beating rain, for each morning a new set of blossoms open, fresh and unspoiled.

Foliage of the daylily is ornamental all through the growing season, being slender and rising from the ground in a graceful fountain form. Each flower opens only one day, then withers and drops (doesn't have to be snipped off, which is another plus). Every scape (flowering stem) carries buds of various sizes that open in sequence of two to three weeks. Some plants even send up a second set of scapes, providing rebloom. Stella De Oro, a favorite miniature, will bloom several times. This is one of the reasons for the popularity of this variety.

Heights of daylilies vary from dwarfs, which are only 12 inches, in height, to the six feet giants that are often used in the back of borders.

Daylilies may be planted anytime until a few weeks before frost. It is not necessary to divide and transplant old clumps unless they are failing to bloom or you wish to share. One can lift and separate into fans for replanting. Newly divided plants will often bloom within a few months.

Flowers are large and lily-like in shades of red, orange, yellow, pink and some with dashing eye zones in contrasting colors. Flowers have various forms. Recurved flowers have the ends of the segments tucked under. A double flowered daylily is formed when the sexual parts are manifest as an extra set of petals. A triangular flower is formed when the petals extend fully but the sepals curve under. When both petals and sepals show no tendency to curl, the flower is called "flat". A spider flower resembles the insect in that the tips may be curled slightly under. Pinched flowers appear to have the ends of the segments pinched together.

Hungry anyone? Have you considered eating daylilies? Many people have found that the first young leaves of daylilies that appear in the early spring are tasty when simmered or stir-fried in oil or butter, and they say that they compare the taste to creamed onions. Flower buds and blossoms are considered the most delectable part of the plant. Gourmet Gardening by Anne Moyer Halpin has a recipe for Tempura-Style Daylily Fritters and Tomato Ketchup Dip for Fritters.

Daylilies are an amazing flower. They are beautiful and aristocratic, have an extensive range of colors, and their ease of cultivation, and outstanding garden performance have combined to make daylilies the most popular perennial of our age.