First, please note that the registered height of a daylily is determined by the hybridizer who may have different growing conditions then other people. Use the height numbers they give with a grain of salt. The height btw is just the scape itself, not the total plant including leaves......When I first started growing daylilies, people thought 26 to 36 inches was fine for most purposes. As time has progressed many people are seeking out really tall daylilies, some 5 feet tall or more. Those tall ones need to have corresponding stout scapes to hold up the blooms, or the wind may well snap them off, or they will splay outwards. You would have to check that issue out with those who grow the tall ones to be sure.........Some people enjoy the shorter ones as well. The term small flowered daylilies does not necessarily mean short however. It refers to the size of the blooms...........As for putting them in with roses, it would depend on your soil. I've grown both and they do have different moisture requirements. To grow them well in anything but well drained soil you need to know that Roses like more moisture and can take more clay in the soil. Daylilies, with their thicker water retentive roots, don't like sitting in wet soil and can rot. You can put them together if your soil is at a happy medium for both of them...........Welcome to our little group. We were all newbies at one time. I'm sure others will chime in later.............Maryl

Maryl is right about daylilies not living up to their expectation of height, so be prepared. I often have to move mine around because of that. I got rid of my roses because of Japanese beetles, but I am prone to planting too close together. I am sure you know that roses need breathing room, so watch your spacing. some daylilies can grow really fast. You can list your taller ones here and probably someone will know if they might flop over your roses.

How should I do them? In a bed by themselves?

I agree with the other posters. Heights giver by hybridizers may be the height in their gardens, but that may not be the height in your garden. As Brad said, the height may vary from place to place in your garden too. My beds are planted all in daylilys, and I do try to put them shorter in front and taller in back, but it is a bit of luck. and you will likely not be able to put them in steadily increasing heights, but it will be beautiful regardless. You might want to consider the bloom time; Early medium or late.

kay

I was wondering how I should do the bloom times, different beds? How do you do yours? Sorry for all the questions, just trying to get it right the first time. TThank you.

Thank you everyone who has answered. I have appreciated all of these comments. Others had me ask more questions though.

I have extra-lates that I keep separate from the others, one end of one bed since nothing else is blooming at that time and it would be dull to see one here or there instead of a nice group show. I have a couple of spots with lates, but many are just spread throughout. Early and mids are all mixed as there is a lot of overlap.

We grow lots of lates and keep most of them in the same bed. Our beds are exclusively daylily for the most part. We like seeing that large block of lates blooming at once when the others have died down. We also hybridize and it's convenient to have the ones we want to cross in close proximity. However, if I were to mix the beds with other plants, I would want to spread my late bloomer around.

Nancy

You mentioned growing daylilies in pots. I grow most of my daylilies in pots. I do have to be careful about over wintering them in my zone 7A, but you are in a really good zone (8) to grow even more types then I do in containers. I initially got the idea about growing in pots when I was a member of the Rose society. There was an article about a rose lover in Dallas who grew many of his roses in pots which gave me the idea about doing the same with daylilies. It has worked out well for me........If you grow in pots initially you will at least get to see if you like the bloom before you go to the effort of digging a hole and planting it (only to have to go through the reverse if you don't like it). Although growth habit may be different then growing in ground due to the constraints of the pot, bloom times are not affected as well as how the bloom looks. Want to see how late one blooms and looks before you plant it? Grow it for a year or two in a pot first. It's a good way to look before you leap so to speak..................Maryl

Thank you all! Much appreciated.

Maryl how big is your pots you grow them in after maturity?

I have to keep my pots small because I have to be able to physically move them around myself. Most are between 8 inches to 12 inch pots. I integrate many of my daylilies into a rotating mixed plant border during the growing season, so that when a daylily is out of bloom I can move another into it's place. I also need to move them to a warmer spot over winter (I call it the great migration), so again, they need to be on the small side. Every spring (as in now), I will root prune/divide re-fertilize each pot, which is the price I pay for using small containers (along with more watering in summer).

Another daylily grower in Texas uses much bigger pots (16 inch and up) for her daylilies but doesn't/can't move hers around. Again, it's up to the individual what they wish to accomplish. If you simply want to trial a plant for a year or two, you can easily transfer them into the ground when you are ready. If one doesn't work out, it's a simple chore to take it out of the pot and put it in the garbage. Generally speaking an 8 inch to 10 inch pot should last you for a season or two before you have to decide (depending on the vigor of the daylily)...........Maryl