Daylilies - My Kind of Perennial Daylilies are hardy and can be a nice addition to your perennials. They are easily grow too! You too will be able to produce long-blooming daylily clumps in a matter of a few years with a minimum of watering and fertilizing. The only annual maintenance required is pruning off the stems after the flowers have faded. They only need to be divided every five to seven years. It took me a long time to be convinced that the daylily was the plant for me. I had this perception for a long time that all daylilies were invasive and grew to be 90 cm (3 ft.) tall. This was because those types of daylilies came with the yard when I purchased it. The quality of the newer varieties of daylilies developed in recent years is remarkable and one can now choose from a wide selection of plant heights, flower colours and bloom times. The choice now includes plants that range upward from 30 cm (1 ft.) in height with small 56 cm (3 in.) blooms - a very dynamic plant, starting as a small tuft of green in the spring, and becoming a full foliage plant in the fall. The choice of larger sizes, varied colours and forms multiplies with each year. Even though the blossom stays open for only a short period of time before fading, the prolific production of blossoms makes the daylily a source of inspiration each day in the summer. Courtesy: The 1999 Prairie Garden Book - The Prairie Garden Committee, Winnipeg Horticultural Society. "A typical nurseryman's garden," stated a friend's wife after her first visit to my yard. She was referring to the creative confusion I had fashioned. It is really hard to keep an orderly look in my garden when I also use it as a test plot for the new plants I'm evaluating. With my busy schedule during the summer, I have also attempted to design my yard to suit my life-style. This summer marked the fourteenth year of experimentation at my present address. In my attempt to substantially reduce as much lawn and annuals as possible, I have planted many trees, shrubs, roses, vines and perennials. I have grown a wide variety of perennials including a front yard of wildflowers. As a result, I have concluded that the more different perennials you have in your garden the greater the number of hours of care and maintenance required. Therefore the ideal perennial garden for me includes larger plots of a few types of perennials. One of the plants that best fits my criteria is the daylily. (Genus Hemerocallis). Daylilies are perhaps, the most versatile perennials in the garden. They grow as well in full sun as in light shade and they require much less care and maintenance than do most other perennials.