Field of Daylilies

  Grenville posted earlier about our day trip to a local daylily farm, Sterrett Gardens, which is almost in our back yard, well maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but here on the eastern shore, everything is “just down the road.” And, it is very close (under 20 miles). This was our first visit. You know how it goes about not getting to places right in your neighborhood. But, it’s not our last visit. We’re going back in August to pick up the daylily varieties we bought today – 10 different colorations of yellow and purple. Now, all we have to do is ready the spot in the front yard. This place is a photographer’s delight – so many colors and varieties.
          
As pretty as these blooms are to see, their beauty is so brief. Most bloom at sunrise and wither at sunset – but the good news is that a replacement bloom on the same stem will bloom tomorrow and the next day and so on. Only a few are scented. Some newer varieties have flowers that open in the evening and remain open until the evening of the following day. Many night blooming plants are very fragrant.
 
Curious to learn more about this perennial plant, I did some online research and learned that daylily is the common name of the species, hybrids and cultivars of the genus Hemerocallis. This name derives comes from the Greek words hemera for day and kallos for beautiful. Originally native from Europe to China, Korea, and Japan, these large showy flowers are popular worldwide and are among the most hybridized of all garden plants with over 60,000 registered varieties. Hybridizers have extended the plant's color range from the yellow, orange, and pale pink of the species, to vibrant reds, purples, lavenders, greenish tones, near-black, near-white, and more – with one exception – there is not yet a blue daylily.
  Our yard has lots of these common orange daylilies. Many consider this Asian native invasive plant. Once established in the yard, you practically have to blast them out or maybe it just seems that way since the tubers make control difficult. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources classifies it as a noxious weed.