Question: We love daylilies with their bright colors, but my husband really wants to put in some of the dark varieties and I’m not sure how the colors could best be mixed or used. Any suggestions? Allison, Greenville, NC
Answer: Allison, how should one use the dark daylilies, the dusky sirens of the daylily family? Yellow and orange day-lilies are supreme for landscaping large areas. But in the small home garden a dark accent is invaluable.
Many daylily enthusiast feel that one dark daylily to six light ones is a good proportion. Who am I to say that I would prefer to accent six dark daylilies with one light one? Surely this is a matter. to be decided by individual taste.
Suffice it to say that when gardeners are making their first daylily purchases, most women pick the yellow varieties, while men buy the red ones. After a few years of living with daylilies, the women start buying the red ones, and men’ seek the darkest varieties they can find! Now what about the dark daylilies – the purples, browns and near-blacks.
Finding The Dark Daylillies
What is the best way to find the darkest daylily?
Start by spending some time looking through catalogs – online or print – for named varieties which began with word “black” and for those registered with the name “purple”. Remember, even darkest flower may fade to a rich purple in hot sun, but still hold its color and substance quite well under the most severe conditions which is truly a great achievement.
Years ago, many of the pink daylily flowers were temperamental in regard to depth of color and resistance to fading. The same must be said of the dark daylilies. While some dark red daylilies turn brown in the hot sun, there are a few good varieties which open and remain a true rich brown.
Regional Performance Goes Beyond Climate
Not only does climate dictate regional performance, but such factors as soil, sun, humidity, temperature, known and unknown food elements are important in producing and holding depth of color in the dark daylilies. Some are more dependable than others. but it is important to realize that there are now good dark daylilies available for garden landscape.
by P Corless
