Daylilies for Maximum Color
 (Read 50+ times)
By Glory Lennon
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If you go to the trouble of creating a perennial bed and you rightfully want it to be a spectacular show, you should pick plants which will give you maximum color for minimum effort. The Daylily can do this and therefore should be the first plant on your list.
The Daylily once planted is virtually carefree. It is hardy in both extremes, living through the coldest winters and the hottest summers. It takes well to both drought conditions and ample water verging on swampland and is rarely, if ever, bothered by pests. A Daylily can be found in every color of the rainbow with some amazing color combinations. They range from miniatures barely a foot high to a stately 5 foot tall. They may have wide, ruffled, smooth or narrow petals with flower sizes ranging from 3-9 inches in diameter Knowing all this, surely there is one, two or even twenty Daylily varieties to please any gardener.
But with over 20 thousand cultivars (yes, 20 thousand and still counting) from which to choose, you’ve got a big job on your hand deciphering which would create the most POP in your garden. Here is a list of the most colorful and readily available Daylily cultivars to do this for you.
Ed Murray is such a dark burgundy it is almost a velvety black. Its throat is chartreuse with yellow stripes running down each petal. This grows to 30 inches high with the flowers being 4 inches wide and is sun-fast which means it won’t fade in the sun. An eye-popper to be sure.
Double Passion gets to 25 inches tall with 6 inch double blooms in a bright pinkish-lavender with a golden throat.
Christmas Time, a 32 inch tall bright red beauty with greenish-yellow throat has huge 7 inch flowers which can be spotted from a mile away.
Honestly Great is a profuse bloomer 13 inches high and with flowers 5 ½ inches wide. The petals are wide and heavily veined in a velvety fire engine red with a bright yellow center.
Bertie Ferris grows 20 inches in height and usually is the first Daylily to bloom. Though the flowers are only 2 ½ inches in diameter the bright peachy-orange color more than makes up for it. The petals are wide and ruffled and face towards the sky. Lovely planted in groups.
Nanuq is a startling white with a deep green throat which splashes onto the slightly ruffled petals. It gets to 27 inches tall and the flowers 5 inches wide.
Lori Goldston is a wide, deeply veined and ruffle-petaled beauty growing 14 inches tall with 6 inch blooms in a rosy-pink with a apricot tinting on the throat and at the edges. It literally glows in the garden.
Siloam Double Classic has 5 inch flowers in a bright pink with green and yellow at the throat. The petals are wide and ruffled with slight veining and a fluttery center.
Spider Miracle grows to 32 inches tall and has a whopping 8 ½ inch wide flower in a greenish yellow hue. The petals are long, a bit ruffled and slender giving it its name.
Woodside Ruby is aptly named. Flowers 4 ½ inches wide come in a bright ruby red with a lemony center. This one grows to 34 inches high with slightly ruffled, roundish petals which sport a thin pink stripe down the center of each.
Whimsical is 27 inches tall with 5 inch blossoms in a mauve pink with a creamy white stripe down the center of each petal and a greenish yellow throat. The petals are widely spaced in two groups of three giving it a double-decker effect.
Stella De Oro is the most widely planted of all hybrid Daylilies for its long blooming time. It comes in a pale yellow and grows to 12 inches high with the flower being 2 3/4 inches wide. The petals are wide and contrast nicely against its dark green leaves.
All these cultivars may be easily found at Gilbert H. Wild’s website or you can have them send you one of their colorful brochures. If you would rather be surprised and have no problem with getting unnamed, vibrantly colored varieties you might want to look into getting their surplus daylilies at bargain prices as little as a dollar per plant. Can’t lose with that and the colors will knock your socks off.
With these Daylilies in your garden the entire neighborhood will be flocking to stare at your yard. Therefore you better make certain you don’t mind all the attention before you plant any of these.
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Author Bio Box: Glory Lennon
 visit http://www.helium.com/user/32782 for more amazing garden info, entertaining short stories and intriguing Novel excerpts.
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