Daylily Garden

The great virtue of the daylily is represented in our collection.  Flower colors, sizes, and forms are enough to suit every taste from June through September.

The daylily (Hemerocallis) has been part of the Far Eastern cultures of China, Japan and Korea for thousands of years.  Plants were used in China before development of the written Chinese language.  References to daylilies appeared in European herbals in the 15th century.  By the 1890's, daylilies had been introduced to American gardens.

The great virtue of the daylily is its ease of cultivation.  Plants are tough, reliable and with few disease and pest problems.  They will grow almost anywhere but do best in full sun or partial shade in well drained soils supplied with organic matter.  Clumps of strap-like leaves give rise to branching flower stalks in summer, each flower lasting a single day.  New flower beuds develop continuously to extend the flowering season.  Flower colors, sizes, and forms are enough to suit every taste.

About 38,000 cultivars of daylilies are registered with the American Hemerocallis Society.  There is little doubt that breeders have done tremendous service to horticulture by developing wonderful flower colors and excellent garden performers.  Tetraploid daylilies were developed in the 1930's and introduced in the 1950's.  They are currently a large proportion of important cultivars.  Our planting of daylilies represents an array of cultivars.

Daylily collection plant listing at Allen Centennial Gardens