I find that daylilies have a very high return, contrary to those who warn people away. I have blooms all summer into fall. On the other hand, other perennials like roses have so many pests they look terrible, or Iris which have such a short season.

At my father in law's house in W PA, there is a bank next to the house and driveway he always kept grass and mowed. But he is too old to do this now. A number of years ago my brother in law asked me to help him put down landscape cover and mulch it. It looked ok one year and the weeds took over, growing on top of or thru the cover. Several years back I tore it all up, split a number of daylilies I'd planted as a yard border many years before, and put them all over the bank, no mulch, no cover. No one really takes care of it as I live 8 hours away. But they sent me pictures this year and wow, the daylilies took over, crowded out most of the weeds, and even not being dead-headed and no care, looked so much better. Close-up I suspect the lack of dead heading would not look the greatest. With a little care it could look great. I did pull out the scapes when I was there in Oct. They did look bad.

Since these are older varieties, they do well without dividing, as the yard row has attested. It is zone 6a.

This has been my experience with the area I planted 2-3 years ago, so I am tempted to go on. I hear you suggesting I stick to older varieties as they won't decline over time. Does this mean just oranges? Any suggestions for creating the best display - e.g., by color blocking vs. mixing all the colors? And is this necessary to prevent them from all reverting to orange? Does anyone interplant their DL's with ferns or rudbeckia, and if so does the blending last or does one take over?

Kitasel, I meant by old ones what Nancy said--older varieties that will still give you many colors. Hyperion is another old one that is excellent. If you go to the official daylily site, you can do an advanced search to find older ones. https://www.daylilies.org/DaylilyDB/search.php?advanced

Some of mine that are older and do well are So Lovely, Cherry Cheeks, Past Forgetting, Vintage Wine, Purple Riot [a late one]. Here's some links:

https://www.houzz.com/discussions/what-is-the-oldest-cultivar-you-still-grow-dsvw-vd~5491373?n=15

https://garden.org/thread/view/13587/What-are-the-oldest-daylilies-you-grow/

https://juliecovingtonat.blogspot.com/2012/08/some-great-older-daylilies.html

https://garden.org/thread/view/69098/Your-favorite-must-keep-oldies/

You will get more "Bang For Your Buck" from daylilies than just about anything...if you want ultimate...you have to deadhead...roses, lilies, even cone flowers...or you get a bunch of seed

kay

Gonna try and post this . Maybe something has changed since I was last here and had so much trouble posting .

I personally do not color block . I plunk and I love the natural look of the mix of colors . I try to intersperse early , mid and late blooming daylilies so that there is a constant show of blooms for a very long blooming season , but dead heading here is impossible , if I spent my time dead heading I would spend my life deadheading . I find if you have a good mix bloom season wise you barely notice the dead heads anyway .

Nancy and all are correct , a daylily cannot revert to orange. Most of the plants out there are hybrids ( that is a cross between 2 daylilies which results in a completely new plant genetically different from the parent plants........just like human children) . Colors run the gamut from white to red to orange to yellow to purple and everything in between . Different shapes ( bagels, spiders , unusual forms) , heights and season of bloom all provide a different garden view daily unlike other perennials that show the same face day after day . . The gardens are in a constant state of change , each day offering a new exciting vision.

It is possible as Nancy said that a seed can drop in the middle of a clump and a different colored plant can grow up in the clump , it will be an entirely different plant than the parent plant .

Also most of the species daylilies are yellow or orange and some are stoloniferous. That is to say they grow/spread by underground roots as opposed to growing seeds (i.e. fulva europa aka ditchlily ) , so if a small piece of root is left in the ground or comes in with the soil along with a new plant it is possible to have an orange daylily rear it's head in a garden where it wasn't intentionally planted.

I have no idea why daylilies get such a bad rap ......they have been such a joy to grow here . I got into daylilies about 10 years ago because I lost so many perennials to extended extremes of weather here.I got tired of having to replace different perennials sometimes as often as every year . I still grow many many different perennials but I get the most joy from my daylilies . I don't have to worry about drought with daylilies . They have managed to survive some really severe weather here and come back and increase each year where many other perennials just would not .

Give daylilies a try , you may suddenly discover a love affair with them.

OMG it actually posted !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How do Stella de oros fit into schemes like these? I inherited yellows and bought some purples (which are rather poor bloomers) I’m inclined to jettison them all but if you tell me they’ll add yo the sweep I’ll move them all in. I’m wary of creating a terrible mess!

I never keep poor bloomers. If you like Stellas keep them. Personally I don't, and actually I've noticed that while the first set of blooms of the season do well, after that they put out lightly scattered amounts of blooms. I do better having daylilies of different seasons. I call the m McDaylilies.

I actually dis away with Stella six years ago..and ppor bloomers always leave UNLESS it is a bloom I really love and can't bear to part with.. rare, but it has happened and even the it eventually leaves...I started with inexpensive oldies,,,and grew to want specific plants I had seen people grow on the forum. and as time went on, one of the joys was to re-work my ever -growing garden...I now refrain from getting larger unless at the same time I eliminate another area. I have around 300, fewer tan many, but I don't hybridize mush at all, and I don't sell plants although I give a fair number away. It is something I truly enjoy. Have fun with it.

kay

I grow Stella here . I don't mind it other than it is too short for my liking . I like tall plants , the taller the better . The Stellas I grow here are Stella D'oro, Blackeyed Stella , and Ruby Stella . Nice hardy plants and they do rebloom sporadically but then I don't fertilize so maybe if I did they would bloom more but I have others that I am paying more attention to than my Stellas.

Kitasei , you don't mention where you are or what zone you are growing in . You also don't mention what your preferences are in relation to daylilies . If you spend some time ( even on Pinterest ) looking at daylily images , you will perhaps be able to nail down the "look" you would like to achieve . Not all plants are hardy everywhere . For example I try to avoid daylilies hybridized in Florida. They do not seem to like where I live and either do poorly or die out completely. Not all but most from that location seem to do that to me . So I dont waste my money on them anymore . There are more than 80,000 registered cultivars from all kinds of zones so you should be able to find something that will grow well where ever you are located.