Flowers have been a source of adornment for ages. They have always been admired and loved by people. We are blessed to have enormous types of flowers around us. Blue Daylily is a one-of-a-kind beautiful and resilient flowering cultivar of the Daylily.
Blue Daylily
The splendid and fragrant flowers have lavender purple petals, a lavender blue eye, and a chartreuse-green throat. These flowers have a very short life span of about 24 hours. Blue Daylily was first introduced by the Hybridizer Jack Carpenter in 1996. Moreover, this unique lavender beauty has won many popular botanical awards.
In this article, we will share important information regarding the Blue daylily plant, its genus, and varieties.
Blue Daylily Classification:
The classification of the Blue Daylily plant is mentioned below:
Family: Asphodelaceae
Genus: Hemerocallis
Species: Daylily
Cultivar: Lavender Blue Baby
History of Hemerocallis Daylily
Currently, there are more than 80,000 cultivars of the daylily. They have been used in cuisines, cosmetics, and gardening for ages. The Asian native daylilies were brought to North America by European immigrants. By the early years of the 18th century, people starting admiring them. In no time, they became a part of every beautiful domestic lawn and garden.
Due to the popularity of the species, botanists and growers started hybridization in the 19th century. Experts of the USA have been fond of creating the cultivars of daylilies. It is interesting to share that many of these cultivars were pretty expensive and were sold for thousands of dollars.
Hemerocallis is native to Eurasia and is the most extensively hybridized genus. The number of registered cultivars exceeds 60,000. Moreover, almost 100 new cultivars are registered every year. The common traits focused on hybridization include the size and resistance of plants.
In addition, the color, scent, combination, and structure of the flowers have also been a focus. Importantly, those botanists have now developed triploid and tetraploid daylily cultivars as well. These cultivars have extensive ranges of colors and other features like resilience and hardiness adaptability.
Daylilies are called ‘True perennials’. Gardeners adore the daylilies for their beauty, resilience, and low maintenance. The majority of the daylilies are reblooming. This means that they will produce flowers in multiple seasons. Some varieties even bloom throughout the spring until the fall.
Difference Between True Lilies and Daylilies
One important feature is that despite their name, Daylilies are not true lilies. Until 2009, the botanist used to include them in the family ‘Liliaceae’. This was because of their shape and other features resembling the lilies. The basic differences between true lilies and Daylilies are as under:
- The lilies develop from bulbs and are toxic on ingestion.
- On the other hand, Daylilies have a fibrous root system and are non-toxic for humans. So, many traditional cultures use flowers in their cuisine. However, the species of Hemerocallis are toxic for cats and ingestion may result in kidney issues.
Popular species of Daylily which are commonly used as the parent of the majority of hybrids include; - Tawny Orange Daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) which is native to Asia, and
- Lemon lily (Hemerocallis flava).
Blue Daylily Other Names
- ‘Hemerocallis lavender-blue baby’ is the name obtained by combining the name of the genus and the cultivar. This name is given due to the lavender-blue color of its petals. However, there is no pure blue cultivar in the hemerocallis collection.
- Lavender blue baby daylily.
Blue Daylily Growth Habit
- The Hemerocallis lavender-blue baby is diploid. Diploids are plants that have two sets of chromosomes, one from each parent.
- Their life cycle is perennial.
- These grow in the form of herb or for. Foliage is dormant in nature and green in color.
- These are not true to their seeds. This means that their seeds may not produce the exact parent plant.
- The height of mature Lavender blue baby daylily is 1 to 2 feet. While the spread is around 18 to 25 inches.
- The growth frequency is moderate to fast.
- In gardens, they are commonly used in patio containers, border plants, cottages, or in combination with other plants.
Blue Daylily Flower
Important features related to the beautiful flower of Blue daylily are mentioned below;
- The bloom habit of the Lavender blue baby daylily is diurnal.
- Bloom form is single.
- They are rebloomers. And the season of bloom is midsummer and late summer.
- Beautiful 5.5 inched recurved lavender petals with a prominent lavender-blue center.
- The flower lives a short life of 24 hours, just like other daylilies. Once the flower dies, a new flower blooms at the old place.
- The scape height is 28 inches.
- Fertility is through the pod and the pollen.
- Moreover, the flowers attract hummingbirds, butterflies, and honey bees in the garden.
Blue Daylily Varieties
The Blue daylily plant has numerous varieties. According to an estimate, it is used as a parent plant to propagate more than 320 child plants. These baby cultivars include diploids, triploids, and tetraploids. Cultivators have used pretty interesting names for them. Here, we are naming a few of the Blue daylily varieties:
- Hemerocallis ‘A Bridge to Nowhere. This is a cross between Flamboyant Dancer Daylily and Blue Daylily.
- Hemerocallis ‘Adena Imposter’. This is a cross between Blue Daylily and Frequent Flyer.
- Hemerocallis ‘Always Treasure’. This is a cross of Blue daylily with some unknown.
- Hemerocallis ‘Angel in the Morning’. This is a cross between Artisan’s Touch Daylily and Blue Daylily.
- Hemerocallis ‘A Gathering of Angels’. This is a tetraploid. (Regal Eye x Bengal Bay x Blue Daylily) x Celebration of Angels)
- Other child plants of Blue Daylily plant include ‘Angel on a Cloud’, ‘Answered Prayer’, Artison’s Touch, ‘Aspens Blues’, ‘Born to Tango’and ‘ Buddy’s Angel Baby’.
Blue Daylily Care
Lavender blue baby daylily is a low maintenance plant. Just like other daylilies, it is adaptive to a wide range and severity of conditions. Important features regarding the Blue daylily care are highlighted below;
Water Requirement:
The blue baby day lily needs an average amount of water. Experts advise to let the soil dry between watering intervals. Additionally, it has tolerance towards short duration water shortage.
Sunlight Requirement:
The primitive daylilies preferred shady areas. Alternatively, modern cultivars, like the Blue baby need a combination of bright direct and low sun exposure.
Soil Requirement:
The Blue daylily, just like other daylilies is adaptive towards a range of soil types and soil PHs. From poor to dry soil and from moist to fertile soil, these beauties do great.
Humidity Requirement:
The daylilies are resilient in a wide range of humidity levels.
Temperature Requirement:
Botanists kept on cultivating the daylilies to create temperature resistance in the plants. Thus, the Lavender blue baby daylily can withstand a wide range of temperatures in the Asian and European regions. However, gardeners advise covering the plants with protective frost covering in the garden during frost. Additionally, it is important to provide water and ventilation at a temperature above 40 degrees Fahrenheit.
Fertilizer Requirement:
Daylilies are active growers and moderate feeders. Experts recommend a controlled-release fertilizer at a suitable rate. Moreover, 1 lb of nitrogen/yard of growing area is a suitable quantity. A constant liquid fertilizer delivering 50 to 100 ppm of nitrate is suitable as well.
Grooming Requirement:
As the flowers die quickly after 24hours, the plant needs a ‘clean up’. To enhance growth and flowering, it is recommended to remove the dead flowers. You may add the chopped mixture to the soil and it will act as a fertilizer.
Growth Zone:
The Blue daylilies are adaptive to a large number of zones from 3 to 9.
Blue Daylily Critter Resistance
The Hemerocallis lavender-blue baby plants are rabbit resistant.
Blue Daylily Propagation
The plant is usually propagated through seeds and the division of clumps.
Season:
Propagation time starts from the middle of the spring up to the end of summer. However, plants propagated by the end of summer are healthy, with big leaves and more flowers. So, if you are planning to propagate a blue day lily plant, we recommend waiting for the end of the summer.
It is always better to propagate the plant at least 3 months before the frost. This is necessary to give the rooting time to the new plant which is around 8 weeks.
Method of Propagation by Division:
- Take a healthy plant out from the soil carefully, using a shovel.
- Now cut the clumps of roots apart. You can also soak them in a bucket of water to remove most of the soil. Now gently pull the clumps apart without damaging the plant.
- Find the crown (the place where roots and leaves of the plant meet). Start from the outer edge and divide into larger clumps. Clump division should be lesser than 4 in quantity.
- Now cut the leaves to almost one-third of their length.
- You need to plant the crowns 1 inch deep in the soil.
- Now provide suitable temperature, light, and moist soil.
- Shoots will develop in three to four weeks. This will be showing that the propagation of the beautiful blue daylily has been successful.
Conditions for Propagation
A temperature of 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit and full sun are ideal during propagation. Mulching and keeping the soil moist by mild watering is required. Many experts don’t recommend adding fertilizers at the early stage. However, using a phosphorus-based diluted fertilizer may enhance the growth.
Blue Daylily Pest Attack and Diseases
- The plants have threats from spider mites, thrips, and aphids.
- Overwatering may lead to issues like crown rot, Rhizoctonia, and some leaf diseases.
- On the other hand, Puccinia hemerocallidis, common rust of daylilies may attack.
Blue Daylily Awards
The vivid Blue Daylily has won many awards due to its beautiful appearance and resilient nature. In 2007, it won one of the most prestigious botanical awards of botany in the USA. This is known as the Stout Silver Award. Secondly, it won the Award of Merit in 2004. Thirdly, the Honorable Mention in 2001. Moreover, it won other awards like DCS in 2007 and LEP in 2003.
Blue Desire Daylily
This is a tetraploid cultivar of daylily. The flowers are beautiful flesh pink color with blue in the region of the eye. The borders of the eye are maroon and the throat is green to charcoal in color. The flower is around 4.75 inches in length and an early morning opener. The scape height is around 28 inches. Foliage is evergreen and perennial. Blue Desire Daylily is cultivated by seeds or by division, just like other daylilies. It was introduced by the hybridizer Gossard in 2007.
Its parentage is a cross between ‘Delta Blues’ and ‘Crystal Blue Persuasion.
Furthermore, it is used as a parent for the propagation of other cultivars. There are around 6 recorded varieties of the Blue Desire Daylily. Other basic features and requirements are pretty similar to the Blue Daylily.
Summary
Blue daylilies are an enchanting cultivar in daylilies. Just like other daylilies, these are not true lilies. Blue daylilies are low maintenance and adaptive towards a wide range of environmental conditions. Hemerocallis lavender-blue baby plant is used as a parent to create more than 320 varieties.
It has won many prestigious awards in the field of botany. To conclude, the beautifully scented flowers with complementing shades of blue and lavender are all enough to make you go gaga over the Blue daylily plant.
