How about stella de Oro. I'm doing this also. John :)

I had my first daylilies planted around a tree.It looked real nice,but the tree took water and nutrients from them.I just thought it was too much shade and cut down the tree after winter broke branches.I found that the tall trees still around the property still shaded the daylilies just as much as they had been before,but with the tree no longer competing for food the plants exploded!Trees do 3 things that daylilies don't like.Shade them,take their water,and take their nutrients.If you have enough sun around the base of the tree,feed and water more often to keep them happy.

Betsy

I would not plant daylilies around the base of a tree. Not only will the tree give too much shade and rob the daylilies of water and nutrients, The roots of the daylilies are unable to grow deeply because of the tree roots. The daylilies i have planted beneath walnut trees - 7 to 8 feet away from the trunk eventually stopped blooming. Find a sunnier spot for your daylilies.

Debra

I did under a pair tree and maples about 300 plants there doing good thay get sun and shade and it seems that it takes some stress off plants when it gets to hot.

Thanks for the comments. Wow, I hadnt thought about the trees and DLs fighting for water, etc..
Can you recommend any short DLs??

--Stella D'ora -------- 18" tall yellow/orange

I have DLs planted fairly close to a large maple tree, but not closer than 10-15' of its trunk. The DLs do need extra TLC. The only way I would plant real close to a tree if I didn't want to be taking care of them every day would be to plant a raised bed. They would still need extra care, and I do not know how the tree would fair.

The shorter DLs that I grow that are good bloomers:
Cranberry Baby (12" - mine is more like 18")
Stella De Oro
Carpenter Shavings (21" - mine is shorter)
A lot of the Siloam DLs are shorter
Painted Rose (24" - mine is shorter)
Baby Betsy (18" )
Codyted (24" - mine is shorter)
Brookwood Ojo Poco (19" )
Lowcountry Lady (25" - mine is shorter)

Most of these DLs I have posted on the forum recently so you can probably do a search and see if they show up.
Good luck. Jane

My next door neighbor planted some Stella d'oros around a weeping cherry a few years ago and they are doing very well. I had an extra Stella so planted it under a maple last year and so far it's looking good. When I split up a group of Stellas this past week, I planted the rest of them around the maple. I think they might grow in a bit shorter but that's alright. I'll know for certain next year when they all come up.

Stella D'Oro does better in shaded areas than most daylilies. It would probably would be a good choice. Another that grows well in part shade is Hyperion, but it's a tall one.

Debra

At my last home, the previous owner had planted ditch lilies around the two trees in the front yard. The lilies bloomed beautifully, and the trees seemed none the worse for it, but of course, these were ditch lilies. You can't kill them.

If you're going to try it, I would recommend Stella de Oro. It's pretty short, and seems to be almost as resilient as the ditch lilies.

Hi its me again most of the plants in that area are seedlings also about 50 named daylilies the rest in that area are seedlings about 250 or so from the age of 8 to 10 years to last year. I do have a stella which does good but Boothbay hbr gold does better and a couple of my seedlings has them beat my season has just started within the last week.It is going to be an interesting year as my gardens a few weeks late .