Yellow Daylily

I love daylilies!  They have got to be one of the easiest flowers to grow in Texas.  The daylily (Hemerocallis) is a tuberous root perennial.  The leaves look sort of like grass and the flowers bloom from late spring until fall.  Daylilies are incredibly disease resistant and they are drought tolerant, but they will multiply more with regular water and fertilizer.  DON’T overwater in the heat of the summer, though, or you will just cook them.

Lil Business Daylily

The yellow ones here were given to me by a friend, Rita.  They are the first ones to start blooming and stand about a foot tall.

I have some orange daylilies that are taller – about 3 feet, but they don’t start blooming until later.  I can’t remember where they came from, but I know I didn’t buy them.

John’s mother sent us some of Mamo Goode’s daylilies (John’s great-grandmother) that have been in the family now for at least 5 generations!  A true heirloom plant!  I wish I had  a picture of them to post.  As soon as they start blooming, I will put one up.

I also have a red daylily that I got from another friend, Michelle.  It is called “L’il Business.”  It’s not blooming yet this year either, but here is a picture from a previous year.

A little known fact… daylily flowers are edible.  Remove the stamens from the flowers and add to salads, soups or stir-fry or fill them with cream cheese.  They taste a little bit like green beans.  (Eat ONLY from plants that you are positive have not been sprayed with insecticides!)

The daylily comes in almost every color imaginable (except true blue). If you would like to find specific varieties of daylily that do well in our area, you can contact the The Daylily Growers of Dallas (I think they used to be called the Dallas Hemerocallis Society).