Types of Daylilies

Daylilies are popular in home landscaping because of their attractive, strap-like foliage and wide variety of flower colors. They are easy to grow in many different soil and climate conditions, making them a winner for gardens everywhere. Each flower lasts for only one day, but during the blooming season plants produce new flowers every day. Some varieties bloom at night and have fragrant flowers. Especially effective in flower borders, each daylily can produce up to 400 flowers each summer.

History
Daylilies are native to Asia and have been widely hybridized in the United States and England since the 1930s. Although they are called lilies, daylilies fall into the genus called Hemerocallis, which comes from Greek and means "day" and "beauty." In their native habitat, daylilies have flowers that are yellow, orange or red. Today, over 35,000 daylilies exist, with flowers that are white, pastel, pink, purple, nearly true-blue and multi-colored blends. Some are considered rare and sell for over $100 each.

Cultivars
Check your nursery for varieties that do well in your part of the country. The following list represents some varieties that are appropriate for Minnesota.
Apricot and peach colored daylilies include Bertie Ferris, Calumet, Doll House, Dress Circle, Little Rainbow and Ruffled Apricot.
Bicolor daylilies include Becky Lynn, Bold One, Close Up, Karen Sue, Painted Lady, Sea Warrior, Shady Lady, and Toma.
Gold flowers occur on Golden Chimes, Golden Gift, Golden Milestone, Golden Prize, Golden Trinkets, Ringlets and Stella de Oro.
If you prefer lavender to purple flowers, choose Chicago Knobby, Little Grapette, Little Lassie, Mountain Violet, Russian Rhapsody, Sebastian, Summer Wine, Velvet Shadows or Weathermaster
This is just a sampling: daylilies also come in red, pink, orange, white and yellow.

Diploid and Tetraploid Day Lilies
Diploid plants contain two identical sets of chromosomes in each cell, while polyploids have more than two sets. Within this category, triploids have three sets of chromosomes and tetraploids have four. Diploid daylilies outnumber the tetraploids, although tetraploid flowers are usually larger and their flowers are more intensely colored. Many people consider tetraploids to be more vigorous growers than the diploids. Also, they have greater possibilities for breeding because of the larger number of chromosomes.

Blooming Times of Different Types
Expect your daylilies to bloom from early spring through fall, depending on the type you grow and your climate. Although one type of daylily might bloom most abundantly from May until July, you can enjoy constant color in your garden by planting different varieties that bloom at different times. For example, "extra early" plants bloom in spring, while "midseason" lilies bloom from May to July. If you want fall flowers, grow a "very late" type.

Hints and Tips
Daylilies have specific preferences about where they grow. Some do well in one region of the country while others do not. Local nurseries carry cultivars that are adapted to their areas, so for the best success, check with them and rely on their choices instead of ordering from a catalog. Plant daylilies in an area that receives at least 6 hours of sun daily. Soil should be slightly acidic and moist. Dig in compost before you plant.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/about_6169899_types-daylilies.html

Information on Daylilies

The daylily is a perennial plant that comes in a huge assortment of cultivars. The daylily is the "perfect perennial," according to the American Hemerocallis Society, because it can grow in many climates, requires little care, comes in so many varieties, resists drought and blooms for a long time each year. The plant takes it name from the fact that the flowers last for one day; the plant producing multiple buds and possessing more than one flowering period per year offsets this.

Identification
Daylilies grow in clumps and feature leaves that resemble those of grass. The leaves can be as long as 40 inches on some daylilies, and they emerge from the bottom of the plant, growing on opposite sides of the stem. The scape, a stalk with no leaves, towers over the leaves and is the portion of a daylily upon which the flowers appear. The scapes will typically have more than one branch and the buds develop on them. The flowers consist of three petals and three sepals--parts of the flower which resemble petals.

Types
The Floridata website says that as many as 30,000 different hybrids of daylilies now exist, coming in all colors with the exception of blue and pure white. In the wild, daylilies are a dull red-yellow, orange or yellow, but crossbreeding has produced colors ranging from pale lemon and bright gold to creamy pink and deep grape. When a gardener refers to a color of a daylily, she is talking about the outer portion of the flower. Inside the flower, known as its throat, daylilies are often different from the outer hues, with many being some shade of gold, yellow, green or apricot.

Geography
The daylilies are from the genus known as Hemerocallis, which includes about 15 different kinds of daylilies. These plants originated in Asian nations such as China, Japan and Korea. The daylily came to other countries as an ornamental, where hybridizers worked to create flowers of different colors, shapes and sizes. Daylilies often will escape cultivation, growing wild in many parts of the United States. You will frequently spot daylilies existing on the sides of the road in areas between the highway and woodlands.

Growing Conditions
Although daylilies will grow in a partial shade environment, the plant does best when getting a full modicum of sunshine. Most types will need no less than six hours of direct sunlight each day to do well. Daylilies prefer soil that is neutral or with a slight acidity and need well-drained ground to prosper. A raised flowerbed keeps the daylilies from becoming waterlogged.

Daylily Pests
Some of the pests that will cause minor damage to the daylily include aphids, thrips. snails, slugs and spider mites. Aphids are a threat in cooler weather, and daylilies are vulnerable to a certain species that feed on them. Hot weather can bring out the spider mites, while thrips can occur in numbers large enough to infest daylilies. The damage caused by slugs and snails will be on the young tissue of a daylily, with these creatures chewing holes in the foliage.

Source: http://www.ehow.com/about_6133505_information-daylilies.html