Daylily Seedlings

This one is my favorite, from purchased seed

Probably one of my own with No Where to Hide in its ancestry

I really like the bicolor effect, though this particular flower didn't open well

Almost pure white

A spider type

In the heat sometimes the flowers get damaged, or maybe its thrips, which is unfortunate b/c this one has a nice frilled edge and good color

I think this is the kind they call a bagel type flower, it is really pretty

Another favorite, nice deep color

This one has warm colors with a nice pattern

Daylilies are easy to grow, especially in the North where so far we need not contend with that plague called rust that can crop up down south.  I made some crosses among my daylilies at the old house, and got some seeds from a couple of folks selling seeds, and grew them out and planted them in the school garden.  There is the danger of deer, and sometimes they get nipped, but it seems all the lavender, buddleia and other things that deer hate that surround or are among the daylilies do offer a degree of protection (though if I remember I will spray them with repellent soon, just in case).  There are many, too many, actually, cultivars of daylilies, some of which are really nice plants, others just have a name for no particular reason.  But nice plants can be grown from seed, and even the dogs are not what I would call hideous.  Dull is about the worst you can get.  And who doesn't like a mystery, the growing of a seed, waiting about three years for flowers, and then finding you might have a winner like the first one pictured. 

In my new house there are wild daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) that the previous owners planted, and I really don't need them as they are aggressive spreaders and the garden space could accommodate choicer plants that are deer resistant.  However I am transferring some of the daylilies from the old house to this one, but they are going into protected (fenced) locations to keep deer away.  I already moved Fooled Me and Lullaby Baby, two great old daylilies, and the special tiny one called Pennysworth, and they are blooming in the flower/vegetable garden.  The rest I will move after bloom in most cases, probably to a new bed that will open up when some bushes are and a large (and dangerous) spruce are removed from that area later this month.  

Daylily seeds are easy to harvest, and can be purchased online as well.  For more hardcore folks than myself, there is also the "Lily Auction" for both plants and seed.  They should be refrigerated until planting, as they lose viability if stored dry and warm for very long.  They germinate readily, sometimes coolness helps, so I have started them in ziplocks with moist paper towels that are refrigerated for a few weeks till I see some sign of germination or I pull them out after a time and they germinate.  Growing on is simplicity itself, and it is quite easy to run out of room, hence all the seedlings went to the school garden, not my old home garden that was already crowded.