Evolution of the Daylily

This is not a botanical thesis nor a detailed story of how daylilies evolved over the past century from a handful of cultivars to more than 70,000. That information is well-discussed on the web.

What I want to point out is how the common orange daylily from Asia evolved through the work of the late Arlo Stout and other pioneers of daylily hybridizing in the early decades of the last century.

On the left is Hemerocallis fulva, the common orange daylily that our mothers and grandmothers had in the yard 60 years ago with few 'modern' hybrids seen.
On the right is Salmon Sheen, registered by Ophelia Taylor in 1950. In 1959 Salmon Sheen won the Stout Award and the AHS Popularity Poll.

The following daylily I take to be one from the 1970s or early 80s. It was mislabeled, I moved it a couple of times and then I found this bloom:

It certainly looks as if it could be a descendant of 

Salmon Sheen, acquiring ruffles along the way

This is my unregistered seedling grown from seed

gathered in someone's yard. I did not see the parent plants 

as seed was already ripe and the daylilies were out of bloom.

On the left, Inner View, registered 1982, a Munson daylily.

On the right, Silver Veil registered 1977, also a Munson.

Silver Veil and Zinfandel are the parents of Inner View.

All pictures shown are from my garden in late May.

Favorites as We Move toward a Summer Garden



Sammy Russell daylily

I'm always glad when I can show more than one blossom.

The groundcover is dichondra. I let it grow or pull it

depending on my notion for a particular spot.

Salmon Sheen contrasts with Blue

Hydrangea against the white of H. Quercifolia.

Brugs remind me of Ballet Dancers

I've given them companions including

'Halcyon' Hosta just emerging.

'Siloam Ury Winniford' with Echinacea

A single white-throated Corn Poppy

among the dark centered ones. Papaver

rhoeas is scarcer than usual this year. Blame

the scarcity of poppies on a mild winter. I know

some P. somniferum died from hot sun as

very small winter seedlings.

 The first Black-eyed Susan blooms in front

of Calfornia poppies and Larkspur.

White California Poppy -- seed for this came

from Carolyn in California.

The cudweed in front could be a host for

a butterfly, or I could pull it.

Ratibida and Lantana montevidensis.

Ratibida can get weedy. Weedy flowers get haircuts when

they're out of control -- that works for me, too.

A good haircut always encourages me to behave.

When I went to the mailbox, I noticed how well yellow

Lantana is starting to bloom. As the yellow picks up,

lavender may cut back a little in the heat.

Larkspur, California Poppies and Ratibida.

Soon there will be Tithonia and Melampodium here as

seedlings are coming on quickly from last year's Tithonia seed pods

left on the ground where they were to grow. Melampodium are

self-cleaning, self sowing, heat and drought resistant. The only

thing about Melampodium is, butterflies find no nectar on it.

Butterflies are still infrequent visitors. Those who do visit find plenty of nectar and hosts.

Pipevine is plentiful in the far back yard. Asimina awaits Zebras. Many of the host plants here are self-planted. I contributed Parsley scattered throughout nectar plants for Black Swallowtails.

The Search for a Daylily to Match a Knockout Rose

This is as close as I've come for daylilies to edge Knockout Roses.

Most of my red daylilies look too scarlet or lean toward brown when I place a Knockout beside them. 'Little Business' is short enough to act as an edger and rosy enough to blend with the roses.

There is Knockout, pink Knockout, and Belinda's Dream in the bed. The pinker roses are fine with Little Biz.

Little Business

This red seedling will be fine when the pink Brugmansia behind it blooms.

It took on a brown tone when I held Knockout next to it.

This one looked sallow beside Knockout.

'Olive Bailey Langdon' -- officially a purple.

\

Here's a curiosity: when I watered overhead the bed where this Brug

grows, the buds were not open. Later in the evening, they opened WHITE.

This morning they're back to their lovely pink selves.

I'm pacing the transplanting of the rest of my cuttings and seedlings and potted delights.

Today I managed to plant 2 Gerbera Daisies and four pale pink Pentas, after I dug enough liriope from the bed to edge the front of the bed where the red Pentas grow. No wonder progress is slow!

After I cooled a bit, I went back to transplant echinacea seedlings from one of the paths after I dug out grass behind the daylilies where they were to go. I managed to get one moved, went to water where two Purple Datura seedlings are to go and never got back to my first task.

A man in a camper broke down in front of the house. After it cooled down and he added water to the radiator they journeyed on, his significant other following behind in a little car. They had 10 miles to go to get home. She and I talked flowers and I gave her rosemary cuttings, oregano sprouts, and some gardenia cuttings to try to root.

A Last Look in April, the Journal

April was a busy month. We had a few cool nights but most days were warm.

Rose de Rescht

Roses bloomed. My favorites are fragrant.

We saw snakes, from a Spreading adder to a Rattlesnake, the only one we dispatched and only because he was heading toward the house. Yesterday I saw a mockingbird scolding and chasing a big black Rat Snake. Seeing a non-poisonous snake is a good reminder to watch out for the bad kind.

 I'm planting out flowers from the greenhouse.

When I planted out the two pots  (top of pic) of

agapanthus from the greenhouse,

I realized that one in the ground has a bud.

Daylilies are blooming everywhere, every color.

Red, pink, yellow, orange, purple.

The eyed one above is Siloam Ury Winniford.

I gave it the garden name of 'Miss Winnie'

for my dear friend.

First blossom on a brugmansia

-- Angel's Trumpet.

Reminds me of a ballerina's dress.

We were discussing the area next the carport ledge.

He-who-mows said, "We can't cut these down.

Your Mama planted them." (She planted the original

petunias in 1978.) They return faithfully. She

called them 'Washpot petunias,' a true

passalong plant. 

I wonder if anybody will be as sentimental about anything I've planted here.

Will anybody treasure the seedling camellias, the rooted gardenias; the Pride of Barbados and Tecoma stans from seed from Texas; the daylilies from seed from another garden, the flowering Pomegranate and Lilacina crape myrtles I rescued from elsewhere on the property?  

Join the fun and Flaunt Your Flowers with Tootsie.

Daylily Explosion or Is this a Normal Year?

This year's first Daylily bloomed here April 6. We are in the midst of a virtual Daylily Explosion.

Brocaded Gown

The peculiar thing about the early blooms is that they are not blooming in the usual sequence. Or, maybe this is the usual sequence and previous years were out of sync.

One of the early bloomers was 'Olive Baily Langdon' a purple that failed to bloom at all last year until August. Some of the usually early daylilies are slow to set buds this year.

Kent's Favorite II

Last year's first bloom was April 26, almost three weeks later than this year. 2010 was a poor year for Daylilies altogether according to what I wrote.

You can see the past two years' Daylilies here:

Daylilies in 2011 and 2010

'Salmon Sheen' put out a tentative first blossom yesterday, none today but many buds. An inch of rain yesterday gave them a much-needed boost.

Vintage red Daylily blooming here today, here since the 1950s.

Catch us all on Tootsie's Flaunt Your Flowers.

True lilies are also starting early. Looks like a glorious spring all the way.

Daylily Crazy

The first flush of daylilies is pretty much over here. Some daylilies are starting to rebloom. I went back through my pics since the end of April until the present and assembled collages of the various colors.

 Garden name "Old Red"

Brocaded Gown, my favorite yellow.

I like to use daylilies with daffodils alongside. When the daffodils are dying back

daylily foliage grows up to hide the maturing foliage.

 

Byzantine Emperor tends to 'melt' in hot sunshine. Note petal edges bottom right.

Some daylilies with thin, darker petals do not hold up well in heat. 

Sammy Russell, frequently used as landscape daylily.  Happy in the sunshine.

Bride Elect

Reds in my garden include Superlative, Kents Favorite Two and a seedling red.

Two yellows: the round one Could be Stella and the heirloom 'Lemon Lily'

Salmon Sheen

Pineapple Crush with yellow and purple companions

The daylily in the center and at bottom left has no ID, mislabeled at purchase.

Upper left is Siloam Ury Winniford.

Dr. William Hunt in his book recommends using Vitex with violet toned daylilies for a 'French effect.'

Close up pics of some of my daylilies are HERE.

Flowers and text are from the garden of Nell Jean blogged on Dotty Plants Journal in hot, humid Southwest Georgia.

Those Eyes! Those Ears!

I have a permanent residence in the past. Today I reminisced about the history of this daylily, gifted to my MIL some 45 years ago by a cousin who had begun collecting daylilies, even hybridizing some of her own. This particular daylily was precious to MIL who thought the name, Bride Elect just so sophisticated. Katie Lou's crosses are long ago lost. Bride Elect turned up again when I saw daylily foliage where the old bed used to be and wondered if it could be....

Bride Elect, hybridized by Frank Childs, 1955 

I am particularly fond of daylilies with an eye.

Still feeling reminiscent, I went out to the corn field where Farmer Danny said I might find corn to eat.

My FIL used to go to the field with instructions to bring 12 dozen ears. He always brought 250 in case some were too hard. Usually they weren't. The shucks went to the cows. 

I picked not quite 3 dozen ears. By the time the kernels were off the cob, I could hardly believe I used to cut 20 dozen. There were more of us to eat corn back then.

Deer nibble at the ends.

Danny said raccoons also help themselves and

sometimes break the cornstalks over.

It's a long way to the other end.

Did I mention we had rain yesterday? Total for the week is 0.45 inches. We had wind and thunder and lightning, too.



Flowers, veggies and text are from the garden of Nell Jean blogged on Dotty Plants Journal in hot, humid Southwest Georgia.

Daylilies are not Lilies but they Hang Out Together

  Little Grapette miniature daylily. Wants a new companion behind, maybe a full-size daylily in pink.

Silver Veil, waiting for perennial companions to grow, Persian Shield and pink Pentas.

Seedling Daylily from seed I gathered in somebody's pretty bed.

Lilium. Algarve or Elodie, I forget.

Little Business daylily fronts this bed.

Old red hemerocallis at the end of the day.

Dazzle lily and friends

Longiflorum/Asiatic Lily Hybrid.

These are among the longest-lasting lilies in my garden.

Some more spectacular hybrids died out or were eaten by voles. 

Next fall I plan to plant daffodils around each lily bulb I plant

to see if that discourages voles. I plant daylilies in front of

some daffodils to help hide dying daffodil foliage.

Flowers and text are from the garden of Nell Jean blogged on Dotty Plants Journal in hot, humid Southwest Georgia.