We know that we’ve reached High Summer when the Daylilies crowd each other at the roadsides to wave at us as we drive by. Although trumpet-shaped and widespread, these groupies are neither lilies nor natives. They’re colonial-era Asian immigrants and, unlike true lilies, grow from hearty roots instead of delicate bulbs. Daylily flowers also are edible, unlike those of true lilies.
Wild Daylilies come only in tawny orange and yellow. Thanks to industrious cultivators, however, domestic versions can be purchased in colors that border on the outrageous. Wild or domestic, Daylilies, seem to us to be sultry as they open slowly to the sun and shy as they bathe in gentle rain; their rustling leaves seem to whisper: “Ssssummer, Ssssummer, Ssssummer.”
(Brooklin, Maine)