July 8, 2020 – Washington Co., WI – The orange daylilies, or ‘Ditch Lilies,’ are blooming like wildfire this year across Washington County and the rest of the Midwest.
Barbara Robertson with the Labyrinth Garden in West Bend said the heavy rains this year led to strong growth for a lot of plants.
“It’s crazy and it’s because of all the rain,” she said.
“I look at plants that are not usually very tall and this year it’s like these things are 10 inches taller than normal and healthy as a horse.”
Robertson said the daylilies are a “very aggressive plant.”
Others that have seen a growth spurt include bee balm and even the coneflowers are taller than normal.
A couple of nuggets about orange daylilies:
-They are not fussy about soil types.
-The bulls-eye pattern on some daylilies acts as a visual cue to attract pollinators. Other daylilies offer olfactory cues through their fragrance.
-Their extensive root systems offer erosion control by anchoring soil in place.