If your community does not have a daylily show, why not start the ball rolling for one this summer? Your gardening friends are probably waiting for someone to propose the idea.
Because daylilies do not reach their peak until after the spring flower shows are over, daylily growers often miss the chance to display their specimen blooms.
An all-day lily show, with flowers in tones of orange, yellow, red, purple, pink, lavender, and blends and bicolors, is a brilliant occasion, one that will surely inspire many people to plant daylilies in their gardens.
As part of your show, you might present visitors with mimeographed cultural information, outlining the methods I’ve noted here for attaining not only garden-perfect but also show-perfect blooms.
Plant Properly
If the soil is only average, specimen daylilies can be grown by working in manure, compost, and mineral supplements before planting. Equal in importance to soil preparation is shallow planting.
The crown of the plant should never be more than 1” to 1 ½” inches below the surface. Work the soil carefully around the roots and water well to be sure no air pockets exist underground.
Water and feed regularly each week while the flowers are developing. I use a soluble fertilizer at half the strength noted in the package directions.
When daylilies are not producing flowers, rain is generally sufficient to supply their moisture needs, except, of course, in the weeks just after planting when extra water helps the plants to become established.
Spray For Insects And Disease
Many gardeners shrug their shoulders at mentioning insect and disease control because daylilies are seldom seriously disfigured by them. To show flowers, I play it safe.
However, they are easily controlled by spraying with malathion. I add two tablespoonfuls of a detergent (any brand) and one tablespoonful of granulated sugar to the spray to ensure thorough coverage.
I make the first application when the leaves appear in spring and continue spraying at two-week intervals through the flowering season.
Slugs and snails, which eat the flowers, are bothersome in some areas of the country, particularly where the humidity is high and when leaf mulches are used. Any popular slug or snail eradicator brands control them.
With all insecticides, follow package directions carefully to avoid possible harmful effects on human beings.
How To Select A Winner
I like to select and pick my entry blooms early on the morning of the show so I can enter them before too many other exhibitors arrive and when there is less chance of a bloom being damaged in the crowd.
Cut daylilies are rather brittle, and I am not being an alarmist by emphasizing the need for extreme care in handling them. If bad weather threatens for show day,
I pick the largest buds the night before the show and place them on the refrigerator’s lowest shelf in a water container. Taken out early in the morning, they open perfectly by entry time.
Large flowers seem to sweep up ribbons at all flower shows, which also holds for daylily shows.
Select the largest flowers for each variety you plan to enter, but remember that while the size is important, flowers must also show no evidence of insect or wind damage. Their texture and color clarity must be as near perfection as possible.
It all adds up to choosing the most beautiful flowers you have. Who knows, your small bloom may be a giant compared to those shown by other exhibitors.
Exhibiting
As I said, take care in handling your entries and try to set them up as early as possible. Avoid the last-minute rush if you can.
Identify entries properly and place them in containers suggested on your show schedule or provided by the show committee.
Show schedules should be followed explicitly. Your entry will be disqualified if it does not comply with the rules—all of them.
Winning Varieties
The following daylilies, selected from all sections of the country, are noted for capturing prizes and for making gardens beautiful.
There are, of course, many thousands of varieties not listed that will also win. You may be sure, however, to encounter some of these beauties as competition.
Yellow
- Southern Pride
- Nobility
- Lucille Clark
- Sincerity
- Fairy Wings
- Bonnie Doon
- Full Swing
- Chattahoochee
- Autauga
- September Morn
- Miami
- Lexington
- Moon
- Lemon Peel
- Lime Painted Lady
- Star Dream
- Jack Frost
- Colonel Joe
- Flying Saucer
- Green Valley
- Atlas
- Capital Dome
- Sweetheart
- Supreme
- Villisca
Blends
- Great Scott
- Golden Galleon
- Louis XIV
- Grand Canyon
- Melody Lane
- Reflection
- Soleil d’Or
- Wheatland
- Madge Vaughn
- Haden Mango
- Shoshone
- Painted Lady
- Spellbound
Melons
- Delectable
- Betty Rice
- Frances Fay
- Ruth Lehman
- Multnomah
- George Cunningham
- King’s Ransom
- Garden Sprite
- Temple Bells
- Bailey Walker
- Show Stopper
- Clackamas
Golds
- Autumn Gold
- Golden Masterpiece
- Noontide
- Whitfield Palmer
- Coeur de Lion
- Artistic Gold
- Gold Strike
Eyed
- Anel Unger
- Tallahassee
- Dazzling Eye
- Nashville
- Nantahala
- Quincy
- Flat Top
- Wild Orchid
- Spectacular
- Tropical Isle
- Green Eyes
- Eyed Madge
- Beloved
- Wide Eyed
Red
- Bess Ross
- Rosie Meye
- Sparkling Burgundy
- Bright Dancer
- Juana Maria
- Crimson Glory
- Unkie
- Alan
- Hearts Afire
- George Russell
- Dynasty
- Applause
- Premier
- War Eagle
- Summer Interlude
- Ben Hager
- Queen of Hearts
- Dignity
- America
- Heat Wave
- Gala Bonfire
- Colonel Fry
- Marion Red
- Mamie Mann.
Pink
- Pink Bowknot
- Salmon Sheen
- Theme Song
- Dorca
- Bridesmaid
- Betty Coed
- Marie Wood
- Pink Orchid
- Pink Imperial
- Trousseau
- Louise Russell
- Marianne Russell
- Lyric
- Lovable
- Dale Rockett
- Devotion
- June Rhapsody
- Pink Reflection
Bicolors
- Parfait
- Caballero
- Molly Glory
- Gene Wild
- Spring Fantasy
- Captain Russell
- Jane Cowl
- June Nelson
44659 by Jim Saddler