The Wonderful, Changing World of Daylilies
October 26, 2024
By Brenda Heinold/Victoria County Master Gardener
Daylilies provide a riot of color from late March and into July and beyond. Victoria Master Gardeners will be selling these wonderful plants on Nov. 2. (Photos by Victoria County Master Gardeners)
‘Time Window’ blooming at Victoria Educational Gardens in May. (Photo by Brenda Heinold)
‘Wild and Wonderful’, an award winning daylily, can produce 46 blooms during several weeks.
‘Sings the Blues’ is just one of many beautiful cultivars that will be available.
‘My Kingdom’, another prolific bloomer is just one of the many daylilies being offered for sale by Victoria County Master Gardeners.
Bareroot daylilies, ready for planting!
■ When: Saturday, Nov. 2
■ Time: 9:00 a.m. – noon
■ Where: Master Gardener Pavilion 283 Bachelor Dr. Victoria
See list of cultivars at the end of this article.
Earlier this year, the American Daylily Society, previously known as the American Hemerocallis Society, announced the registration of the 100,000th daylily hybrid. This milestone is truly astounding, particularly considering that hybridizing daylilies to create unique, interesting flowers began little more than 100 years ago.
Daylilies, a native of Southeast Asia, first appeared in Europe in the 16th century and were brought to North America by early settlers. Because daylilies were hardy and easy to share, they became extremely popular, spreading westward across the United States. But the early daylilies were all shades of yellow and orange, with petals that were rather long and narrow.
It was not until 1934, when Dr. Arlow Stout published his book “Daylilies,” that gardening enthusiasts everywhere began to try their hand at hybridizing daylilies, creating new flower forms, colors, sizes and blooming characteristics that make modern daylilies so exciting.
In 1957, the American Hemerocallis Society listed just 7,000 daylily hybrids, each registered hybrid receiving a unique name to add to stability in the horticultural world. By 1996 that number had grown to over 38,000. Fewer than thirty years later, we are at 100,000! The exponential growth in the number of unique cultivars refects advancements in the flower genetics.
In the early 19th century, growers longed for a red daylily. The first red daylily soon led to flowers in pink, then lavender, and then near blues and whites.
In the 1960’s, hybridizers began working to create larger flowers, with a heavier substance. Others worked on ruffled edges or interesting color patterns. Consumers demanded shorter varieties, taller varieties, varying flower shapes, and fragrance. The list of desirable traits and the breeders’ work go on.
The Victoria County Master Gardeners dedicated the daylily garden at Victoria Educational Gardens (VEG) in 2007, showcasing a wide assortment of daylilies to inspire Victoria gardeners. The first daylily featured was the beautiful cultivar ‘Bridey Greeson’, registered in 2003 and named after a Victoria daylily enthusiast. Each spring, the VEG daylilies delight visitors with a breathtaking display of color.
One of the wonderful things about daylilies is that they multiply, allowing the gardener to divide them and pass them along. Over the next few weeks, Victoria master gardeners will be doing just that.
Fall is the perfect time to divide and replant. And fall is the perfect time for us to make over our daylily garden, planting new culitvars to showcase the advancements in daylilies over the last twenty years.
In order to make room for new varieties and to raise funds to purchase them, we will host a sale of bareroot daylilies on Saturday, November 2, from 9 a.m. to noon. Daylilies are difficult to find in nurseries. This sale is the perfect chance to get some of the ones that you have seen and loved in VEG.
Bare-root divisions will be sold at great prices. If you are new to daylilies, don’t worry. We will provide you with a planting and care guide to get you started.
Please follow us on Victoria County Master Gardeners Facebook page and on our website at txmg. We will be listing the specific cultivars that will be included in the sale. (See list at the end of this article online.)
As we plan our new daylily area, we will keep as many of our old daylilies as possible, particularly since many of them are historical. But we want to keep our eye on the future of daylilies. Please give us your suggestions on which cultivars to add to our collection.
If you enjoy daylilies but don’t have room to grow them, consider donating toward the purchase of new award-winning cultivars that you and others can enjoy when you visit the VEG. As always, we love our visitors and look forward to seeing you in the gardens.
Gardeners’ Dirt appears in The Victoria Advocate each weekend.
List of Daylilies for Sale. Come grab some great bargains on November 2, 2024 from 9 until noon.
Best Kept Secret
Bittersweet Holiday
Butterpat
Cimarron Knight
Delta Blues
Double Image
Emerald Splendor
Empire Strikes Back
Eye-yi-yi
Fires of Fuji
Frosted Crème
Full Moon Magic
Homer Howard Glidden
Jean Wooten
Jedi Dot Pierce
Jester’s Robe
Jolyene Nichole
Joy Joy Joy
Kassidy Thorne
Lee Smith
Leebea Orange Crush
Little Orange Tex
Lovely Lady Bug
Lovely Lady Bug seedling
Mayan Poppy
My Kingdom
Nacogdoches Pansy
Night Beacon
Oceans Eleven
Olive Bailey Langdon
One Step Beyond
Pink Cluster Spider
Prairie Blue Eyes
Rhapsody in Time
Satan’s Curls
Sings the Blues
Spell Fire
Spider Man
Stoplight
Texas Ranger
Time in a Bottle
Time Window
Unknown Unusual Form (NOID)
Web of Intrigue
Whooperee
Witches Wink
Yasmin
If you would like to search for any of these daylilies online you can find them at American Daylily Society database.