Reimagining Daylilies

Daylilies are as common as lawn turf these days, and their displays are often about as interesting. They blanket medial strips at the mall, brighten business parks, dot roadsides and figure in nearly everyone’s landscaping plan at some point.

And no wonder. Daylilies are fantastic problem-solvers. They routinely survive harsh conditions, need virtually no care and provide oodles of color when it’s needed most, midsummer.

Even so, waves of Stella d’Oros and Happy Returns have lost much of their mojo for many of us. Let’s explore how else we can utilize daylilies, primarily through color, form, and companion plantings.

The True Lilies

By “true” lily, I mean the big, showy types that arise from bulbs in the Lilium family, having either trumpet-shaped blooms or recurved petals like the Turks-cap lily. Many are very fragrant as well.

Distinguishing true lilies from masquerading look-alikes can be confusing. Dozens of plants have “lily” in their common name, but aren’t really lilies at all. They’re so-named because their flowers and foliage resemble that of true lilies. Misnomers include daylilies, water lilies, toad lilies, lily of the valley, foxtail lily, calla lily, peace lily, and on and on. None of these are true lilies!

So what exactly are true lilies?

The Summer Garden At Dusk

Most of us go into our gardens in the mornings, after the sun is up and the dew has dried.  Or we’re out on the patio for lunch or weeding on an overcast afternoon. We might give our beds a passing glance during a cookout. 

Seldom do we think about appreciating the garden after sundown.

The front garden at dusk

That’s usually when we’re busy with dinner, TV, meetings. But dusk is precisely when many flowers release their strongest fragrance, and the palest colors glow with an intensity not possible in daylight. If you want to get more out of your garden, consider an evening stroll. Some people plant “moon gardens” or all-white cultivars for admiring at dusk, but that’s not necessary.