Our plant obsessions manifest themselves in the Eagleson home landscape. Besides dwarf evergreens, hosta, and Japanese maples, we’re also in love with the dashing daylily—over 100 different varieties blossom in our yard every year.
Daylilies come in an incredible range of colors and flower shapes. These hardy perennials do have a relatively short blooming period, about 3-4 weeks, but different varieties will bloom at different times between spring and fall. We’ve collected our daylilies with a time-table in mind, and between June and Labor Day some batch or other will be blooming at any given point in our yard.
What’s in a Name?
Bill Eagleson especially likes to collect varieties based on name alone as well. It’s hard to resist daylilies with names like “Primal Scream” and “Spacecoast Cranberry Kid”.
Including Daylilies In Your Landscape
Because they come in so many colors and blooming periods, daylilies offer a lot of versatility for gardeners. At first glance their petals are big and bold, making it the perfect accent plant. On the other hand, their leaves are very plain and numerous, acting as a useful space filler and background foliage for other bloom stars. Fortunately, it is easy to take advantage of both of these aspects. We mix our daylilies with other perennials so once they are bloomed out, the plain pointed leaves provide a nice filler backdrop for other flowers. Elizabeth is particularly good at layering plants so there is always something blooming.
However, it isn’t a bad idea to place daylilies in a solo role. In empty spots, planting daylilies can give you a surprise burst of color during a period of summer, then fade right back into obscurity until next year.
Daylilies are sun-lovers, so plant them in full sun. Water regularly as this will extend blooming periods. You will know they need water when the petals start to look shriveled and brown. Once the daylilies have stopped blooming, dead head the spent flowers and in late fall or early spring, cut them back so new growth can flourish.
There are so many varieties to choose from when starting or adding to your daylily collection. Here are just a handful of ones we cherish.
Eagleson Landscape Company provides landscape and hardscape services in the Greater Indianapolis area, including Carmel, Zionsville, Westfield, Fishers and Geist.
