More About Day Lilies

More About Day Lilies

Originally native from Europe, China, Korea, and Japan, their large showy flowers have made Day Lillies popular worldwide. There are over 60,000 registered cultivars and only a few Day Lillies are scented. They will grow in a multitude of soil conditions ranging from extremely wet to dry and prefer full sun.  Some rebloom later in the season, particularly if their developing seedpods are removed.  Day lillies (hemerocallis) occur as a clump including leaves, the crown, and the roots (which are tuberous). The long, often linear leaves are grouped into opposite flat fans with leaves arching out to both sides.  Some leaves are wide while others are more narrow.  Day Lillies can be divided after several years and planted elsewhere to make an outstanding show in your garden and can be grown in USDA plant hardiness zones 1 through 11, making them some of the most adaptable landscape plants.

The Day Lily is one of the most hybridized of all garden plants, with registrations of new hybrids being made in the thousands each year in the search for new traits. Hybridizers have extended the Day Lillies color range from the yellow, orange, and pale pink, to vibrant reds, purples, lavenders, greenish tones, near-black, near-white, and more. However, a blue day lily is a milestone yet to be reached.