Types of Daylilies – What Makes New Daylilies Better?

Modern 'Tiger Swirl' daylilies

Think you know daylilies? Think again! Let’s explore this diverse group of perennial flowers that now numbers over 100,000 unique registered cultivars. If orange “ditch lilies” or hand me down daylilies are how you’ve come to know the group of perennials known as Hemerocallis, you are really missing out on some fabulous plants.

For nearly 100 years, breeders have been working to develop and improve upon daylilies and have made tremendous strides. Even those introduced 30 years ago (a blink of an eye in the world of horticulture), have now been improved upon with modern daylily cultivars.

Ditch lilies, or Hemerocallis fulva, have been greatly improved upon in a century of breeding.

Let’s take a look at how old v. new daylilies compare.

Flower Quality

While older daylilies had flowers with thin petals that shredded in summer rains, newer cultivars have very thick, sturdy petals that keep the flowers looking great from the time they open until the time the flower is spent. The petals can also have ruffled or “shark’s tooth” edges, and those with diamond dusted petals sparkle in the summer sun. While older daylilies had five inch or smaller flowers, modern daylilies can bear flowers that measure up to nine inches – nearly double the size!

Modern daylily 'Lake of Fire'
Flower Colors and Patterns

Early daylilies had a very limited color range that included orange, yellow and a muted red. Thanks to a century of breeding by talented hybridizers around the world, daylilies now come in every color except the elusive blue. It also used to be common for the pigments in the petals to progressively fade from morning until night, but newer cultivars retain their color all day. While most daylilies were solid colored in the past, many modern daylilies have an interesting contrasting-colored eye or edging on the petals.

Bloom Performance

Daylilies remain “day lilies” today, meaning that the individual flowers last for 24 hours. However, some have developed a trait called “nocturnal”, which means their flowers open in late afternoon and remain open through all or part of the following day. Many modern daylilies bloom more than once per season, and nearly all are heavily budded so they stay in bloom for months instead of weeks like older daylilies. While daylilies once had weak stems that carried less than ten flower buds apiece, newer daylilies have much thicker, sturdier stems that can carry as many as three times the flowers without flopping over from their weight.  

Modern cultivar 'Sound of My Heart' daylily
Foliage Quality

You might be buying a daylily for its flowers, but foliage quality is just as important since the plant’s leaves carry the visual interest when the plant is not in bloom. With older daylilies and ditch lilies (Hemerocallis fulva), the foliage tends to turn yellow soon after or even while the plant is in bloom. Today, daylily breeders select specifically for varieties that retain their healthy green foliage much longer, even until frost. You won’t feel the need to cut modern daylilies down partway through the season like you may have with older cultivars, so they won’t leave a hole in your garden by August.

Modern daylily 'Blood, Sweat and Tears'
Our Favorite Daylilies

At Garden Crossings, we offer around 20 unique daylily cultivars – you can explore them all right here. It’s tough to choose favorites, but we are huge fans of those that come from breeder Karol Emmerich. After leaving a career in corporate life, Karol began hybridizing daylilies at her Minnesota home twenty years ago. Her goal was to breed hardy “fancy face” daylilies – meaning those with intricate patterns and details that are typically not cold hardy – to last through her Minnesota winters. She’s done exactly that, and we are proud to carry these introductions from Karol:

The Stout Silver Medal is bestowed on one daylily each year by the American Hemerocallis Society, and it is the highest honor any cultivar can receive. ‘Primal Scream’ was the proud recipient of this award in the early 2000s, so you know you can count on this outstanding cultivar to shine in your landscape. Its sparkling tangerine orange flowers can measure up to nine inches across, standing on three foot tall scapes in summer.

'Red Hot Returns' reblooming daylily

If reblooming daylilies are what you seek, check out the reblooming varieties we offer including:

Note that all of the daylilies we offer are hardy in zones 3-9 and grow best in full sun to light shade with average moisture. They are not deer resistant, so if deer are an issue in your garden, you’ll need to use animal repellent to protect them. Fortunately, rabbits typically do not bother daylilies, but pollinators enjoy the blooms.

Images courtesy of Walters Gardens, Inc.

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