Oh joy, they are back again:
A few years ago I wrote about my frustration with the daylily and now I can safely say, without hesitation, that “frustration” has officially evolved into “repulsion”. While I only own 3-4 different cultivars, I think I can comfortably say I don’t like any of them.
While there is some value in the fact that they reliably return year after year, could grow on my gravel driveway or on the sidewalk without issue and provide a shot of color in the summer, I throw up a little in my mouth each time I see them in bloom at McDonalds or Dunkin Donuts or at each and every one of my local gas stations.
Life is too short to be lazy and grow ugly plants. It is time for a proper divorce.
To prove just how serious I am, here are 5 things I would rather do than be forced to live amongst these garish creations while in bloom:
1)Listen to this song on a loop for 24 hours straight
2)Eat a tomato sandwich with extra mayo.
3)Go on a cross country road trip with this guy
4)Get a New York Yankees tattoo on my forehead
5)Grow an entire bed of only Yuccas and Hostas
Carry on.
I grow them in grass so get a burst of color, then they fade into nothingness. But I hate those little monstrosities they grow at the fast food places, the ones with the rounded edges on the flowers. They remind me of condoms. Try some of the larger ones in oranges and reds. I used to hate daylilies too, but no longer. They work if you hide them.
Lol ~ they’ll grow on you 🙂
If you want to get rid of them, I can come dig them up – need to fill in a big bed and the daylily foliage would work. I’m in Raritan. dragynphyre at gmail dot com
Wow! You better get digging. I know from experience they’re not always easy to remove. I’ve learned to accept some of the dormant variety I inherited with the house and have developed affection for the evergreen varieties I’ve chosen.
harsh much? but that’s why I read your blog…for entries like this & move the friggin’ plant already! I have a love/hate relationship with daylilies. Love: their green noses are one of the first signs of spring & I got my daylilies from people I love so there’s the sentimental value. Hate: their foliage is booorrrrinnng & they make a poor cut flower. Don’t hate on the shopping centers…at least they have real plants and not grass.
Dare you to go out there and dig them all out right now.
I’m with you – I’m over daylilies. I do love seeing them along the roadsides while driving through the South (the orange ones that survive long after the gardener who planted them is gone and there is no other sign of the garden that used to be there – we called these ditch lilies). But up here in New England, in my tiny yard they just don’t give enough bang for the buck. I don’t have the space for any plant that isn’t spectacular in some way.
I’m not much of a fan either. I do have a few. What is cool is the tall late ones. I have a couple that tower over 5 feet. That creates an interesting effect with the shorter late summer perennials.
I love my tall late varieties. They’re gorgeous prurple. Last for weeks, and the deer don’t eat them until the bloom is over, becAuse they’re full up on grass by then,.
I do not agree with you. I have about 12 different cultivars in my garden in Poland and they are all very nice. Wonderful colorful flowers for almost the entire summer, beautiful and lush foliage – is it not enough? If you are bored of popular varieties in yellow or orange, look for more original with pink or purple flowers. Best regards from Poland
I used to love my Daylily’s. Then they got the better of me. I started with a few good specimen’s which over the years spread into 30+ all over my beds. They are hearty and near impossible to get rid of. Dug most of them up last season, gave a bunch a way, retained a couple here and there, and guess what… this year, I ended up with them everywhere again… ugh. It’s truly a love/hate relationship! Cheers to all from Portland, OR.
Discovered you when I googled “do David phlox decline?” Thank you, thank you for the permission I needed to hate them. They used to be so beautiful, but I moved them with me 10 years ago and they haven’t been lovely since then. Tired of fooling with them. They are right next to day lillies, which are also looking terrible after some nice, but brief, color. Must find something colorful, cottagey and pretty (repugnant to deer) and easy to put in front of laurels, holly and boxwood for front walk. Full morning and noon sun, shaded by house in the afternoon. Zone 7 in middle Tennessee and I really have to quit pretending to be 45 because I am much older and my gardening must evolve along with me. Love your writing.