Daylilies, those tough plants that wandered from old farmsteads and had the audacity to naturalize themselves, give the countryside a vibrant splash of color. You can do the same thing in your garden or yard. Add the versatile daylily to your landscaping design and plans.
When you’re ready to landscape with daylilies first answer a few questions:
- What do you wish to accomplish with your landscape?
- Will daylilies be the focus of your landscape design?
- Are you planning a perennial border or a bed with mixed flowers that include daylilies?
- How much time do you have to maintain your yard or garden?
- Do you have a color palette in mind?
- Are you looking for vistas of color from a distance or just close-up splashes?
- Do you have structures all ready in place that can act as a back drop like fences, a terrace, pond or pool?
- Finally, are you planning to renovate an existing landscaping scheme or start fresh?
Once you’ve answered these questions you’ll be ready to move on to designing the plan. Daylilies can be used in a variety of ways in landscapes. Because they come in so many colors and sizes finding the right plant to fit a particular need is easy. As hearty plants with a vigorous growth habit daylilies can act as a ground cover smothering weeds and grass while adding color and textures. Mass plantings of daylilies create an expanse of color and form that can be seen from a distance. Plant them in long serpentines to get a feeling of motion. Create geometric pattern using daylilies of various heights and colors to delineate the forms. Taller daylilies make a backdrop for shorter flowers and look wonderful against a picket fence or stone wall.
You’ll find daylilies in mixed perennial borders most often. They blend in well and with so many color selections can become part of a specific color scheme. If an all white border or bed or a monochromatic scheme is in the plans you’ll have no problems finding the right color of daylily to fit your needs. Whether your color palette is complementary or contrasting depends on your tastes. Be assured that that you’ll find a daylily in the color you desire.
Smaller daylilies work wonderfully well as edgings along walkways or driveways. If you’re driveway is long and winding imagine how gorgeous a heavy planting of daylilies would look from a distance. Plant daylilies along the foundation of your home to soften the look of your home for curb appeal. The foliage drapes gracefully over itself and the flowers present a colorful show.
If you have a pool or pond use daylilies for added interest, color, pattern, and texture. The rugged nature of the plant makes it a perfect selection for areas that receive a lot of traffic during the hot days of summer. Daylilies can withstand the rigors of both the sun and people.
The daylily is being used more and more in non-residential landscape designs. You’ll see them used in front of zoos, office complexes, and planted along highways. The beauty of daylilies in the landscape comes with the ease of growing and maintaining as well as their prolific growth habit. Daylilies, the escapees of old farms and homes, found their way back.
