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Daylilies – ACK

July 16th, 2011

I have a confession – I do not like daylilies – at all. I don’t know why, they just really bring out a strong reaction of dislike when I see them. The funny thing is that I have tons of them in my gardens. They were all here when I moved in. I gave a bunch to my mom, but the ones that stayed have been multiplying and I have even more now than we had in the beginning.

Perhaps it’s the lines of the plants, that they have a tendency to look kind of messy. Maybe it’s the strong bold colors, I’m not a big fan of bright primary colors in the garden. Maybe it’s the shape of the flowers. I really don’t know why it is that I don’t like them. There are a few varieties however, that I don’t mind as much as others. I have a wine colored one that’s not bad and a light buttery yellow one.

I especially do not like the ‘Stella de Oro’ lilies for some reason and there’s a huge patch of them in the garden. They are filling a space and will be replaced with other plants when I have propagated or purchased new plants. Oddly enough I don’t mind the wild tiger lilies, I kind of like them. We have a few in the garden and I want to plant a large patch of them in the ditch in front of the hedge on the new lot.

It’s kind of interesting how flower and plant tastes are varied. We have certain colors, shapes, and textures that we’re drawn to when it comes to our garden. I find that I like white, purple and light yellow flowers in my garden and pretty much anything that provides something delicious for my plate.

Do you have any kind of plant/flower that you have a strong dislike for?

33 Comments to “Daylilies – ACK”
  1. Sue on July 16, 2011 at 5:04 am

    At least your daylilies are pretty colors. I am have a terrible time ridding my garden of those orange “ditch” lilies. My latest fiasco involved burying them under 8″ of manure and thick layers of cardboard. AND THEY STILL CAME BACK. No matter how carefully I dig, there they are.Yes. I hate them!

    Reply to Sue's comment

  2. Diane on July 16, 2011 at 5:53 am

    I like them, especially the ditch lilies, because they are so tenacious, so quick to grow under even the worst conditions. The constant display of spent blooms is a little off-putting, though.

    Reply to Diane's comment

  3. K.B. on July 16, 2011 at 6:52 am

    Portulaca and petunias. Can’t stand either of them! And I’m with you – I’m not a big fan of day lilies, especially Stella D’oro, which you see EVERYWHERE here. Love tiger lilies though – go figure! And one of our local garden club members breeds day lilies – some of the ones in his yard are absolutely fantastic!

    Reply to K.B.'s comment

    • Debbie on July 19, 2011 at 9:04 pm

      Ah…I love both portulaca and petunias. They make me happy. :)

      Reply to Debbie's comment

  4. tj on July 16, 2011 at 7:28 am

    …I can’t think of one flower that I wouldn’t have in my gardens. Quite honestly, I love ’em all! Even the Stella’s, which I have… :o)

    …I did regret however, planting Chinese Bittersweet years ago thinking ‘bittersweet’ is just ‘bittersweet’ not knowing that there was the true American and then the invasive Chinese type. Sheesh, I fought that for y-e-a-r-s! Now I have just American Bittersweet growing along the edge of our meadow. :o)

    …Lovely photos as always!

    …Blessings :o)

    Reply to tj's comment

  5. Jaye Whitney on July 16, 2011 at 9:09 am

    I’m totally with you on Daylilies for the same reasons you dislike them and I dislike Begonias.

    But I must admit, yours are the prettiest I have EVER seen!

    Reply to Jaye Whitney's comment

  6. Allison on July 16, 2011 at 9:45 am

    I feel the same way about pansies. I have a ton of day lilies, but they were here when we bought the house. All orange…

    Reply to Allison's comment

  7. Daedre Craig on July 16, 2011 at 10:05 am

    I don’t have a particular species that I don’t like, but I’m not a fan of anything with red flowers. I have completely excluded red from all of my flower beds. I used to also not like orange flowers, but they are growing on me. I think I might actually design and all orange and green garden the next time I move. I saw it done in a book and it was gorgeous.

    Reply to Daedre Craig's comment

  8. Annie on July 16, 2011 at 10:10 am

    Oh, I love the daylilies but to me, you have to have a large group before they are attractive. They do look scraggly if there are only a few. I have a Mexican tarragon bush that I hate! It stinks like licorice. I know some people like that but I really don’t like the smell. It blooms pretty but I have moved it as far as I can to the outskirts of my lawn!!

    Reply to Annie's comment

  9. Lynda on July 16, 2011 at 10:21 am

    I don’t like day lilies or begonias. My mother-in-law grew both and was forever bringing me cuttings/rizomes…ick. I planted them in the back of the property, behind the barn.

    Reply to Lynda's comment

  10. Donna B. on July 16, 2011 at 10:28 am

    I’m with you~ Although the only daylilies I like are spider ones. They have a far more unique form for a daylily… sadly mine have been snipped off by the local fauna [/grumble]. I don’t *mind* the regular, tolerate is more like it, I tend to pluck em’ off in the morning and bring the blooms with me to work so at least I can enjoy them! Moreso – they’re lacklustre piles of foliage for me. I need to move em’ to a side yard so I can just collect the flowers as I need them… hehe. They’re a soft mauve with a bright chartreuse neck… at least they’re non-offensive! Hehe.
    I can’t say that there is a flower I really honestly *dislike*, except there are some that I just won’t grow – either for invasiveness or I just don’t like the bloom. Roses! Roses… cuz’ I can’t grow them very well, haha!

    Reply to Donna B.'s comment

  11. Lisa on July 16, 2011 at 10:56 am

    I do not like azaleas. Once they bloom, the shrubs look like someone covered then in stain toilet paper. YUCK! I also don’t like periwinkles. I love day lilies, though. All varieties. Send then all to me!

    Reply to Lisa's comment

  12. Mrs. Mac on July 16, 2011 at 11:33 am

    I don’t care for spurge. We planted three beauties several years ago .. and they reseed so heavily. Luckily we have not found them beyond the rock garden or I’d bring out the propane torch to get rid of them.

    Reply to Mrs. Mac's comment

  13. Mrs. Mac on July 16, 2011 at 11:37 am

    P.S. I do like my fragrant yellow daylilies. They are a compact (as in small) growing variety that compliments our pink spirea and purple larkspur and clematis vine.

    Reply to Mrs. Mac's comment

  14. Seren Dippity on July 16, 2011 at 11:39 am

    I like the day lilies but have never had huge numbers…. just one or two tucked in here and there. I for some reason HATE the easter lilies the ones that grow on one tall long stem. They just look wrong.

    My biggest, deepest hate though goes to a ‘ground cover’ that we call the Devil Vine from Hell. The people who owned our house before us filled all the flower beds with this ground cover vine and ugly lumpy hedges. It is supposed to be an easy no maintenance landscaping. All you have to do is water it and you have a nice green something around your house. But this stuff needs to be cut down to the ground every few years in order to look good and it never has. So there is about 4-6 inches of dead vines at ground level and the new growth on top. The roots are thick and deep and you have to dig about 2 ft down to get them all. I think i could put them in a slurry in my blender and they would still grow. I kept a pile on our concrete drive way covered with a black tarp all summer (100F + tepees) with no water and it still put out shoots as soon as it got wet. Without constant vigilance the vines grow into our weeping tiles and into our window screens. Last January when putting Christmas decorations in the attic we found it in the ATTIC!!
    Slowly, one bed at a time we are digging it out and replacing it with other things.

    Reply to Seren Dippity's comment

  15. KimH on July 16, 2011 at 11:57 am

    The only plant I have a really strong dislike for is Bindweed, or Wild Morning Glory. I didnt start ripping it out when it first showed up because it was so pretty when it bloomed its soft pink bloom… but that was a HUGE mistake. Now bindweed is EVERYWHERE and Im constantly ripping out huge handfuls,

    Im kind of on the fence about the daylilies. I brought in one or two rhizomes about 8 or 10 years ago & I’ve had to divide that bed so many times.. I’ve given away bags full and left them on the side of our road with “free to a good home” on them. I put them in the next door neighbors flower bed next to the mints I put there And she has divided them over & over as well They’re awfully invasive.. but I take armfuls to a friend whos mom has a huge area that needs plants on it & is damp by a creek… so they’re enjoying most of my castoffs these days.

    Reply to KimH's comment

  16. Tee on July 16, 2011 at 12:04 pm

    Would you like them a little more if you could eat them? Google it and you will see there are many day Lilly recipes **Surprise**!!!
    On the other hand I had the same problem when I moved here.. I had the most garish color of daylillies. So wherever I planned to put a new bed I would use the daylillies as filler till the next year….now most of the awful color live on the bank of our property…what we dub the plant graveyard.
    T

    Reply to Tee's comment

    • Susy on July 17, 2011 at 1:22 am

      I’ve always read you could eat them. I love eating squash blossoms, but for some reason I have never picked a daylily to eat it. I should try!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  17. Jenny on July 16, 2011 at 12:37 pm

    I don’t care for daylilies either, or petunias, even the wave ones. Not fond of marigolds (it’s the smell) but I do plant some to help keep pests away from other plants.

    Reply to Jenny's comment

    • Susy on July 17, 2011 at 1:23 am

      Yes, I’m not a fan on marigolds either but I do keep some in the garden!

      Reply to Susy's comment

  18. Lona on July 16, 2011 at 1:02 pm

    Not like lilies! LOL! Everyone has their favorites in the garden. Now I love them myself.Where did you say you lived again, have shovel will travel. LOL! I hope you have been enjoying your summer.

    Reply to Lona's comment

  19. kristin @ going country on July 16, 2011 at 1:35 pm

    I think marigolds are hideous. But day lilies? I personally like the way they look, but if you don’t like them? Eat ’em. The whole plant is edible, so you can dig them up and use it all and then have at least one less in your garden. So far I’ve only had the buds, sauteed in butter. Yum. They’re good for stir-fry too. The flowers are usually coated in a batter and fried, like squash blossoms. Not sure how the roots and stems are prepared, but they’re apparently good, too.

    Reply to kristin @ going country's comment

  20. Rhonda on July 16, 2011 at 3:04 pm

    Yucca. I can’t stand yucca. I try and try to chop it down, pull it up, poison it with soap and it STILL comes back.

    Reply to Rhonda's comment

  21. Chrisi on July 16, 2011 at 3:33 pm

    I agree with every word. literally :)

    Reply to Chrisi's comment

  22. Meighan on July 16, 2011 at 7:15 pm

    I love daylilies! I find them beautiful and they are edible – I love the flowers in salads.

    Plants I don’t like…… heather, I hate it. I have a ton of it in the front of my yard. It looks ok when it’s blooming, the rest of the year it looks gross. At least the bees like it :/

    Reply to Meighan's comment

  23. Michael on July 16, 2011 at 7:56 pm

    I have to confess that I love the orange daylilies. For years, we’ve been saving them from local bulldozed gardens. It’s amazing how they can survive anything. Our goal is to fill most of our front garden with them and get rid of the grass. I love the green drooping leaves and orange is my favorite colour in the garden.

    Reply to Michael's comment

  24. Michelle @ give a girl a fig on July 16, 2011 at 9:10 pm

    As far as daylilies go…you seem to have some of the prettier varieties. I didn’t like calla lilies at all for the longest time. Then I was given a handful of them…brought them home and realized they are VERY photogenic. Now I really like them!

    Reply to Michelle @ give a girl a fig's comment

  25. Susanne on July 17, 2011 at 6:29 am

    I’m sorry, but – I love them :-)

    What I don’t like is hydragenas…

    Reply to Susanne's comment

  26. Grace on July 18, 2011 at 1:19 pm

    Irises! I hate them! Also yucca. I love daylilies, though.

    Reply to Grace's comment

  27. Debbie on July 19, 2011 at 9:50 pm

    Can’t stand lilies. Any of them, really. Like you I find them really messy and the birds poop all over them and they look gross. We spent tons of time digging them out when we moved it. Now we have a strawberry patch where some used to be and some beautiful japanese blood grass in the other spot. MUCH better. :)

    Reply to Debbie's comment

  28. Sarah Jane on July 20, 2011 at 6:32 pm

    I have a question, maybe you know the answer to. I garden out front where I rent, and yesterday painters came and their workboots compacted my soil. I always take care not to walk on it, especially because the in place irrigation leaves one the main bed pretty wet and mud is easier to compact. I have a path not planted next to the house in the very event of people needing to walk around to do repairs, but maybe they didn’t realize the damage they were doing. Also broke off a big arm of my tomatoes but I guess that could be worse. Anything I can do to undo the compact soil?

    Reply to Sarah Jane's comment

    • Susy on July 20, 2011 at 7:07 pm

      If you have a pitch fork or some other tool that’s similar I’d use it and stick it into the soil at various points and then lift slightly. There’s a tool made specifically for this called the broadfork, but it’s expensive. Here’s a video that shows how to use a broadfork, you could do something similar with a pitch fork. http://www.5min.com/Video/How-to-Aerate-Soil-using-a-Broadfork-210871091

      Reply to Susy's comment

  29. Carolyn on June 17, 2015 at 1:41 pm

    I planted stella de oro’s in front & don’t mind if they multiply but I have shoots like 2 lg blades of grass coming up everywhere. Just 2 blades together. What am I to do with these? They won’t have flowers right? Are they just to be pulled? It looks so messy!

    Reply to Carolyn's comment

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This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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