All daylilies need is reasonable soil and at least half a day of sunshine and they bring impressive rewards for relatively little work. They are tough and easy to grow. Here are 10 recipients of the RHS Recommended: Award of Garden Merit, which are good ones to choose for your own garden.
Each year, RHS Plant Trials are undertaken across different plant groups to identify the best plants for homes and gardens, with exceptional performers receiving the RHS Recommended: Award of Garden Merit.
The trials are assessed by a judging panel made up of experts in that group of plants, who use the trial results to inform their decision to grant plants the RHS Recommended: Award of Garden Merit status. Each assessment is then ratified by the relevant RHS Expert Group.
A common pink daylily
One of the most frequently seen pink daylilies is Hemerocallis ‘Pink Damask’. A distinctive coral shade with a white midrib running along the three inner petals; the blue anthers are another telling feature. Very productive and also very vigorous. The 10cm (4in) flowers open for a long season during mid-July. Some modern pink daylilies may be a better colour, but are less prolific and less vigorous. Deciduous; height: 90cm (36in). Hardiness rating: H6.
Vivid orange
Hemerocallis ‘Burning Daylight’ is unbeatable for its vivid and intense orange colouring. Often with flashes of scarlet to create an extra spark, the three inner petals are broader and with a noticeable ripple along the edges, compared with the narrower outer petals. The fragrant blooms open from mid-July and are lovely with fiery dahlias, cannas or a tall dark coleus such as ‘Palisandra’. Deciduous; height: 70cm (28in). Hardiness rating: H6.
Taller than others
Hemerocallis ‘Berlin Tallboy’ is a deciduous, herbaceous perennial, taller than other varieties, that reaches approximately 180cm in height when in flower. It forms a clump of arching, strap-like green leaves and orange-yellow flowers with a dusting of cinnamon-yellow and an orange throat in summer. Hardiness rating: H6.
Pink and scarlet flowers
Hemerocallis ‘Dan Mahony’ is an herbaceous Perennials are plants that live for multiple years. They come in all shapes and sizes and fill our gardens with colourful flowers and ornamental foliage. Many are hardy and can survive outdoors all year round, while less hardy types need protection over winter. The term herbaceous perennial is used to describe long-lived plants without a permanent woody structure (they die back to ground level each autumn), distinguishing them from trees, shrubs and sub-shrubs.
Mustard-yellow flowers
Hemerocallis ‘El Desperado’ is an herbaceous perennial that reaches approximately 71cm in height when in flower. It forms clumps of arching, strap-like, green leaves and large, mustard-yellow flowers that have a wine-purple eye zone above a green throat to 13cm across in summer. Hardiness rating: H6.
Grassy foliage
A compact perennial making a clump to 70cm in height, Hemerocallis ‘Corky’ has grassy foliage and open trumpet-shaped lemon yellow flowers, 6cm in width, with mahogany stalks. Grow in full sun. Flowering is likely to be poor in shadier situations. Hardiness rating: H6.
A golden delight
Hemerocallis ‘Golden Prize’ is an herbaceous perennial that reaches approximately 66cm in height when in flower. It forms clumps of arching, strap-like, green leaves and very large, golden-yellow flowers to 18cm across in summer. Hardiness rating: H6.
A semi-evergreen perennial
A compact semi-evergreen perennial and one of the greenest-flowered Hemerocallis is Hemerocallis ‘Green Flutter’. It has narrow, upright leaves and canary yellow flowers with a green throat, growing to 9cm in width, the segments having slightly frilled margins. Hardiness rating: H6.
Deep magenta tones
Hemerocallis ‘Sasseness’ is a semi-evergreen herbaceous perennial that reaches approximately 91cm in height when in flower. It forms a clump of arching, strap-like green leaves and magenta-purple flowers with darker eye-zone above a greenish-yellow throat to 19cm across in summer. Hardiness rating: H6.
Fragrant flowers
‘Marion Vaughn’ is a clump-forming evergreen perennial, to 1m in height, with narrow evergreen leaves and fragrant, pale lemon-yellow flowers with white midribs, to 10cm across. Grows in fertile, moist but well-drained soil preferably in full sun. Flowering is likely to be poor in shadier situations. Hardiness rating: H6.
