It appears to be a good year for daylilies in Missouri, with numerous flower buds developing on the prominent scapes (stems). Though the many cultivars flower from March through September across the U.S., the most common daylily species peak in June at our latitude.
Native to Eurasia, daylilies are hardy perennials, named for the fact that each flower blooms for just a day before withering; nevertheless, with numerous flowers on each scape and multiple stems in each clump, these showy, low-maintenance plants are prized components of most suburban landscapes. Not a true lily, the daylily flower is nonfragrant though, among more than 60,000 worldwide cultivars, there are a few exceptions. All parts of the daylily are edible and, in some areas of the eastern Asia, these plants are cultivated for that reason.
In North America, the naturalized daylily, having arisen from escaped hybrids, does not produce fertile seed; rather, it spreads by its tuberous root system and may be difficult to contain. Able to withstand drought, severe winters and a variety of soil conditions, these plants are often encountered in forest or grassland ecosystems, the final remnants of long abandoned homesteads.
