A New Bloom Every Day

by Lydia Holley May 9, 2022

Before I became a gardener, all I knew about daylilies was that the blooms only lasted for a day. I wondered why anyone would have such a plant. No one explained to me that daylilies send up numerous scapes and so, even though each bloom may only last a day, the entire plant has multiple blooms over a long period of time.

Now, I would not be without daylilies in my garden. In fact, over the past several years, I have added more daylilies to my garden than any other type of plant.

Daylilies have been called the “perfect perennial.” They have a stellar reputation because daylilies are easy to grow, are drought resistant, can handle heat, return each year, and come in a variety of sizes and colors. Even if you only have a moon garden, there are now daylilies which bloom at night.

Want the most flowers from your daylilies? Deadhead (remove old blooms) quickly so they do not form seed. Fertilize as needed, keep the soil moist, and mulch to reduce weeds, which compete for light, water, and nutrients.

Daylilies make great companions to many other plantings. I love seeing bright daylilies mixed with purple companions such as Mexican heather, liatris, purple coneflower, purple salvias, stokes asters, and others. I also enjoy pastel-colored daylilies with roses, lantana, red salvias, and other colorful companions. If you don’t want another color to compete with your daylilies, consider using Mexican feather grass as a companion.

Not only do daylilies come in a variety of colors, they also come in various sizes, flowering on scapes as tall as four feet or as low as one foot. Plant miniature daylilies near the front of a border and taller ones in the back. You can even choose evergreen varieties for winter interest.

Daylilies attract hummingbirds and butterflies but are not considered deer resistant. There are several dayliliy farms in the East Texas area. Each one has its own personality, so visit several. And if you find a daylily you like, get it. With over 35,000 cultivars to choose from, you may not see it offered elsewhere.

Something I did not know but learned, according to the North Carolina Extension Service, daylily blooms taste like asparagus and can be fried, boiled, or dried. Be sure to follow the rules of foraging should you decide to introduce daylily blooms into your diet—put the bloom to your tongue and check for numbness or tingling, take one tiny bite and wait up to 24 hours to see if you have any reactions, eat a bit more and wait again. If you have no reaction, the plant should be safe for you to eat, but testing on every person you serve is important, as each person will have different allergies and tolerances.

For more information, call 903-675-6130, email [email protected].