The daylily parade in my midwestern garden began late last year.
Spring had been very cold and wet, and Jack Frost had nipped a few precocious buds before the season began. But like many other parades that are slow to start, this one was worth waiting for.
Early Blossoms
In the May vanguard were the cheery flowers of semi-dwarf HEMEROCALLIS DUMORTIERI, bright yellow with brown on the reverse side. Following closely were multitudes of H. FLAVA, the old lemon lily that has graced American gardens for many years.
Its fragrant yellow flowers have endeared it to all. GRACILIS and H. MINOR came in quick succession.
Both are light yellows that are good for the front of the border or rock garden. Accompanying them was FLAVINA, in the same color but with daintier bloom.
The first hybrid of which there is a definite record, APRICOT, came next with complete, widely open flowers of great charm and beauty. The deeper-toned DR. REGEL followed this.
The taller blossoms of EARLIANA and WINSOME appeared soon after. EARLIANA’S yellow flowers were larger and deeper in tone than those of WINSOME, but this won a place in line because of its long blooming season – May 26 to July 1. Although this resembles the lemon lily to some extent, it blooms later.
June Flowers
The BRUNETTE was the first dark-colored flower of the year, and it started the June procession, although some of the May paraders were still marching along. Next was WAUBUN, whose long, twisted, light yellow petals were faintly tinged red.
QUEEN MARY had flowers of deeper yellow on tall, well-branched scopes. Upon her heels followed light yellow MODESTY, which looked very charming with a planting of lavender Hesperis blooming nearby.
Sprightly as dram majorettes, blossoms of BUCKEYE, clear orange with a mahogany red eye, lent variety for quite an extended period.
As the iris, peonies, and oriental poppies, which had joined the parade, finished blooming, the daylilies shone forth in all their true glory.
SUPREME, a fragrant light yellow, orange-yellow CROWN of GoLD, and starlike AUREOLE made a lovely group. AUREOLE’s flowers remain open for the second day after the new blossoms have unfolded.
On cool days they last about 48 hours. GEORGE KELSO, whose large orange flowers were lightly suffused with bronze, and ZOUVAE, a sharply contrasted red-bicolor, contributed new color notes.
The first clear red in the procession was furnished by a daylily named to commemorate the British VICTORY MONTEVIDEO.
It has recurred flowers on tall selves and is a variety much used by hybridists in their efforts to get good early reds.
Tall, light yellow GAIETY, orange GLORIANA, and GOLDEN DAWN appeared near mid-June; for contrast, there was PURPLE EMPEROR, hardly purple, yet as near to it as any daylily I know of has come.
A white line extends down each petal, distinguishing it from PURPLE WATERS, a close rival.
The Late June Display
What had been a parade developed into a carnival as the pace quickened in the warmer weather of late June.
The daylilies had enjoyed the rains earlier in the month and had grown lustily. So many new faces greeted me each day.
There was colorful orange-throated BAGDAD, with outer petals coppery red over orange veins and a madder brown mid-zone.
Alongside tripped pale yellow CIRCE, the pastel bicolor SYMPHONY, and tall SERENADE, Whose pink and yellow flowers are perfect with delphinium. Finally, there was VULCAN, velvety dark red with an orange throat for deeper color.
These escorted Mits. JOHN J. TIGERT, Brazil red with deeper eye-zone, and WELAKA, a large, rosy fulvous flower of crepelike texture, BERTRAND FARR and DOLLY VARDEN were much alike in color.
Still, the hitter had many branches, usually with three blossoms on each scape, all open at once.
BERTRAND FARR’s flowers were more extensive and of a pleasing buff underground with deep pink veinings, which gave a peach-colored effect. Both were fine daylilies and bloomed over a long period.
Daylilies In July
Included in the July kaleidoscope were daylilies of near pink—HELEN WHEELER, CLEO, CRYSTAL PINK, SWEETBRIAR, and PINK CHARM.
Each was different from the others, yet all were lovely. Blooming on tall, well-branched stapes, they made delicate color harmony with the yellows and darker shades of red.
PINK CHARM came the nearest to true pink of any I have seen and had a smooth texture and good substance. CRYSTAL PINK was the lightest of the group, with a pert flare in the lowest petal.
Both CRYSTAL PINK and CLEO are distinguished with red eye zones. None of these is as pink as their ancestor, H. VULVA ROSEA, although each has broader petals.
Among the midsummer yellows were REVOLUTE, light yellow with recurred segments; STARLIGHT, large and quite pale; GORGIO, light yellow with a nearly white stripe in each broad petal. Golden-flowered OPHIR is a perfect garden subject.
GOLDEN FLEECE has open flowers of wax-like substance, and PRINCESS is fragrant, transparent lemon yellow, erect, and much branded.
PATRICIA, with broad recurring, lily-like petals and greenish yellow throat, enjoyed her position in the sun, wafting fragrance until late in the evening.
One could wish such a lovely flower were more generous with bloom. GOLDEN GLOW and broadly-petaled golden flowers and MISSION BELLS, a large medium yellow, was beautiful and floriferous.
Among The Yellows
GOLDEN WEST bore large, trumpet-shaped flowers of firm substance on solid and well-branched stalks, 4’ feet in height.
With HESPERUS following closely on even taller stapes, they dominated the yellow group. The flowers of HESPERUS were lighter in color, and the petals had an exciting twist. Both bloomed daily for about a month.
Two delicate yellows with points of similarity were DAUNTLESS and DUCHESS of WINDSOR. Each had broad, full petals with a slight flush, but their tunes of color were different.
DAUNTLESS grew taller but was a poor seed bearer, while DUCHESS of WINDSOR was very prolific. It has been used in the production of some fine hybrids that are being introduced.
Of those having unusual characteristics was the one named for DR. STOUT, a pioneer among American daylily hybridists. It was brilliantly colored, deep orange-fulvous. E. W. YANDRE hiked a short distance behind, flaunting large wide-open flowers with creped edges.
These had a yellow color overlaid with velvety bronze. THEODORE MEAD had a large, intense yellow flower of excellent substance with long broad petals which—were curled and twisted.
The full-ruffled flowers of deep yellow CHLOE were flecked and powdered golden brown with sepals of burnt orange. CARNIVAL had recurved flowers of morocco red. The color of the throat extended into the petals in a broad hand, giving a starlike effect.
Afterglow was unusual and appealing. The rosy tint in the throat- was carried upward and blended into the peachy huff of the petals.
Shades Of Red
With the warmer weather of July, many red day-lilies came into bloom with much variety in form and color.
RED BIRD displayed the true cardinal color, and FIRE RED, true to name, attracted much attention. Morocco RED, dark and velvety, carried wide petals with no midrib to break the rich color that extended well into the flower’s heart.
Recurved blossoms were flaunted by MRS. HUGH JOHNSON and WARPATH, the latter somewhat lighter in color tone. CHEROKEE MAID, of similar size and form, had a rich bronzy-red color and was very floriferous.
The first black-red day lily to be produced, THERON bore velvety, twisted petals. Bright red flowers with wide shallow cups were RED HUSSAR’S banners, while DOMINION had large whole blossoms of a three-toned red pattern.
Sachem produced medium-sized, almost carmine flowers. In my garden, AUTUMN RED has always bloomed during midsummer and finished by early August, so I find its name misleading.
And still, the parade came on? DAWN PLAY, blooming for the first time, was tomato red on tall stapes but is said to be rose red when fully established. Few daylilies give the characteristic performance the first year they bloom.
When HONEY REDHEAD made its debut in my garden, it failed to show the creamy band around the segments, but it was pretty standard last year. Both this and WEKIWA, which has a flaring form and depth of color, brought much favorable comment from visitors.
CRAEMORE RUBY had sepals of a lighter tone than that of the petals, and so produced a bi-tone effect. HIGHLAND CHIEFTAIN was a rose wine, a tubular flower blooming until freezing weather on tall, sturdy stalks. On hot summer days, I appreciated the shady location I hail given it.
ROSE GEM made its maiden appearance briefly and promised to be an excellent addition to the rose-colored group. The PERSIAN process was very dark, with a gold line around the border of each petal.
Two ruby reds, BERWYN and ROYAL RUBY, attracted much attention at their first blooming, and WoLoP, maroon with full widespread flowers, was the last of this color group to bloom.
Semi-dwarfs
Four semi-dwarf reds began to bloom about July 1. They were similar, small-flowered, and looked bright in front of the border. MINNIE was the tallest and least intense in color.
DEMON had broader foliage and increased rapidly. TEJAS and SPITFIRE were equally brilliant… The latter sometimes blooms again but being an evergreen variety, it may suffer some winter injury unless protected.
Bicolors
Among the bicolors, the first to bloom was SYMPHONY, a pastel with rose and yellow sepals, and ZOUAVE, sharply contrasting fulvous-red petals with dark eye zone anti-lighter sepals.
MILDRED ORPET had peachy and yellow sepals, resembling the smaller and later blooming BOUTON NIERE.
ATHLONE displayed rosy tan petals with a dash of the same color on the sepals. The lowest petal had a saucy air which was most intriguing. Similar to this in form but with vermillion petal color was CABALLERO.
A very bold fellow, indeed, was BOLD COURTIER! The broad, rosy red petals had a creamy line down the center, and the strongly recurved sepals carried a touch of rose.
The serape was tall, sturdy, and well-branched, bearing blossoms for quite an extended period. SU-LIN was another pastel bicolor, having pale Mauve petals and creamy sepals.
It was loveliest in the morning, and I liked the shade for its delicate coloring. REGAL LADY appeared tall and stately in shades of rose and yellow. This not only bloomed in midsummer but again front early September until freezing weather.
Evening Blossoms
Several varieties made the garden lovely in the evening and were suitable for flower arrangements for evening use. Some, such as CALYPSO, MOONBEAM, SUNNY WEST, SYMPHONY, and THEODORE MEAD, opened late afternoon.
Others, which opened earlier in the day but remained in bloom until late evening, were AFTERGLOW, ANNA BETSCHER, BERTRAND FARR, BOUNTIFUL, BOLD COURTIER, and BRUN ME.
The list was surprisingly long and included life CHENGTU, DAUNTLESS, DR. STOUT, E. YANDRE, DOMINION, GOLD IMPERIAL, MOONRAY, PATRICIA, SHARON, REVOLUTE, VESTA, and WAU-BUN.
Late Summer Varieties
In mid-August, the carnival began to return to a parade, GAY DAY, a medium yellow, HYPERION, light yellow, and MRS. W. WYMAN filled in the gaps. A delicate upstanding light. Yellow, DOROTHY MCDADE, was the best of the group.
Two tall pinks, CORALINE, and TOKAY, joined the ranks, followed by rose-colored TARA.
Two wild species, CHENGTU, brilliant orange-red with a velvety carmine eye zone, and HANKOW, a large orange-flowered type with a bold scarlet eye zone, added color to the late group.
In their wake came three small-flowered varieties with a wealth of bloom on well-established clumps. These furnished glowing colors for the rest of the season. BOUTONNIERE was a wide-open bicolor whose petals were light rosy peach and pure yellow sepals.
It was beautiful with Aster frikarti and Scabiosa fischeri nearby. AUGUST PIONEER bore larger orange flowers with a slight flush on the petals. It was tall and looked well against the shrubbery with AUTUMN PRINCE, whose light yellow, fragrant flowers were borne in profusion until the end of the season.
A new addition to the late group was COLONEL BESLEY which was velvety orange-brown with a darker eye zone. It blended well with the other late varieties and looks promising for the future.
The phrase “daylilies may be had in bloom into September” is no longer accurate. They will bloom through October and even into November, depending on the arrival of freezing weather. Hybridizers are working to give us more varieties for late bloom, so the parade may be even longer in future years.
44659 by Na