Daylily or Lily.... How do I choose?

14 years ago

I had decided on placing Lilies in the narrow bed behind my boxwoods along my front porch (about 20 ft. long.) Thought I'd do both Asiatic (Bright Diamond) and Oriental (Casa Blanca) so that I get blooms throughout the summer.

Now I'm reading about how easy daylilies are. I had originally shyed away from them because I thought "They only bloom for a day--I'll be deadheading all summer and how long could they really last?" Now I'm reading they bloom all summer... true? Are they easier to grow than Lilies? I plan on putting them in a place that gets East morning sun and shade in the afternoon. I'm clearly a newbie (if you've been reading my posts on the forum, it's pretty clear) ;) so I'd like something that I can't mess up too badly.

Also, I have a question about the foliage on both plants. I'm not a fan of the spikey foliage that some lilies seem to have... the stem with leaves coming out horizontally all the way down the plant. Are ALL varieties of lilies like this? It's hard to tell from online pictures because so many just feature the actual flower. Daylilies seem to have more of a daffodil or iris type leaf right?

Thanks for you help! :)

Joanne

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Comments (7)

njmomma
14 years ago
It doesn't sound like you have enough sun for either in my opinion.
Most daylilies have their season and will bloom for a month or so and then sometimes rebloom later. You will need to deadhead if you want it to look nice and to avoid the plant growing seed pods which could inhibit blooms.
There is different foliage too depending on what daylily you buy.
I'm not going to go on because I feel that just getting morning sun will not give you a good blooming daylily no matter which one you buy. You'll get blooms, but not the amount it normally would produce if it got more sun.
My true lilies (of which I only have 2 asiatic ones)... the one that bloomed in mostly shade did better than the full sun one. I don't know much about them so I'm not sure if it was just that particular one or if they all like some shade and not full sun. If this is the case then I would go with asiatic and oriental lilies instead of daylilies.
suel41452
14 years ago
My daylilies definitely don't bloom all summer, and I'm in a much warmer climate than you are and I have many rebloomers. The extra-early ones start blooming sometime in June and the rest bloom later, peaking around July 4 and are mostly done by the end of July. If yours wouldn't get sun all day, that will reduce the amount of bloom.
All my daylilie's foliage is grass-like. Like you, I'm not a fan of lily foliage. But if the plants are behind boxwoods, I suppose any foliage is mostly not visible anyway?
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random_harvest
14 years ago
For Pete's sake, go ahead and try some daylilies. They won't bloom all summer (not much does except annuals) but you will fall in love with them and won't care. I have LULLABY BABY, DALLAS STAR, and SHADY LADY in my shadiest spot and they bloom beautifully and look great together. All are cheap and widely available via mail order.
daylily_dreamer
14 years ago
I haven't had any lilies or daylilies bloom forever for me. My asiatics are first, then by the time they are done the orientals are getting started and then the daylilies. I'm hoping my sister-in-law will get on here and show you her pictures. She has a wonderful MIX of all. She is continually striving to get color from the first spring bulbs to the last mum. So I guess what I'm saying is why choose? Mix it up and get lasting color! About the sun - when we visited Cottage Gardens this year, Brent Ross had some of his "high dollar" daylilies planted in pure shade. It was before peak season but they had tons of buds.
buyorsell888
14 years ago
True lilies are the ones with tall stems and horizontal leaves all the way up, both Asiatic and Orientals bloom about two weeks, maybe three once a year. Asiatics earlier than Orientals. True lilies are bulbs.

Daylilies are perennials, not lilies at all. They look like grassy mounds and each flower does only bloom one day. Some have a lot more buds than others, some rebloom. Some are a foot and a half tall and some three feet tall when they bloom. Flower sizes range from a couple inches to as big as your hand with fingers extended.
organicgardenlover
14 years ago
Why not try a couple of each and decide which you like better? I have several roadside daylillies and their blooming in part shade to almost full. I have a few of the hybrids and more cultivated varieties also in part shade, and they probably don't do as well as they would in full sun, but their still georgious and I love them. Orangeman is supposed to do better in shade than most other daylillies, but I have no experience with them. I agree about not liking some lily's horizontal foliage. Depending upon where you live, the Red Lily Beetle might be a deciding factor. Hope that helped.
newyorkrita
14 years ago
Lilies really don't take up too much room, its really easy to find a spot to plant afew bulbs. Get some of each, lilies and daylilies and plant the lily bulbs between the daylily clumps. If you get both the asiatic and oriental lilies as you were planning then your bloom season would be longer.

True lilies do better in more shade than daylilies do but both need at least some sun. And all varieties of lilies are a one stem central stalk with the leaves coming out all along the stem. Daylily leaves don't look like iris or daff leaves but you can see the folliage in the picture above.

Daylily or Lily.... How do I choose?

Comments (7)

njmomma

suel41452

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