In Maine June, July, and daylilies go hand in hand!
Hemerocallis is the Latin name for daylily. It means, in Greek, “beautiful for a day”.
And that is just what daylilies are- beautiful for a day, as each flower lasts for only one day.
Our earliest daylily to flower is Hemerocallis flava major. This is not the earliest daylily to be had, just the earliest one we have.
It has large yellow flowers, and blooms for over a month! A lovely lemon color, it adds a lovely accent to the spring garden. It ends around the middle of July here, in the mid-coast.
HEMEROCALLIS FLAVA MAJOR
with Hesperis and other spring flowers.
THE LAST SPENT FLOWER OF
HEMEROCALLIS FLAVA MAJOR
Flowering next, and for not as long a time, is the so called Lemon Lily. One sees this all over Maine- in old cementaries, around old farm houses.
It looks very similar to H. flava major, but is more delicate, and has finer foliage. The scent is delicious! Large round seed pods form after the flowers have finished.
LEMON LILY SEED PODS
The common roadside daylily, the orange one- you know the one I mean, is Hemerocallis fulva. It starts blooming around the second week of July. An interesting plant, it is seen virtually across the country!
Quite a few years ago I found a source for Hemerocallis rosea.
It turns out to actually be Hemerocallis fulva rosea- a sub-specie of Hemerocallis fulva. This is the flower from which all of the pink and lavender daylilies are derived… really quite something! There are about twenty species of daylilies.. and who knows how many cultivars? But this is the one that really changed things for hybridizers!
While having the same general flower pattern it is much more delicate, with willowy stems, and a more delicate appearance over-all. The color is a definite reddish pink, with markings.
HEMEROCALLIS FULVA ROSEA
HEMEROCALLIS ROSEA
The daylily from which all pink cultivers are derived.
Not only more delicate in appearance, it is also less floriferous.
If interested in Hemerocallis species a good place to start is at
Olallie Daylily Gardens.
http://www.daylilygarden.com/index.html
They have a wonderful website, with wonderful plants! Enjoy!