Tawney-hued wild daylilies (Hemerocallis fulva) are starting to congregate along our roadsides and elsewhere. They soon will become cheering crowds that will wave at passing vehicles.
These emblems of high summer are called daylilies because most of them, when they reach the flowering stage, will be opened by the touch of the sun and wither overnight. However, if it is a dark, cloudy day, many day lilies will remain closed. (By the way, they also are commonly called ditch lilies due to their ability to live in roadside ditches and other sloping surfaces.)
Unlike true lilies that grow from delicate bulbs, these wild daylilies grow perennially from tough roots and runners. That means that they can be invasive. They’re native to Asia, but came here with our earliest European colonists. Since then, they have been cultivated by horticulturists into many colorful domestic varieties, such as this yellow variety:
(Brooklin, Maine; images taken July 5 and 7)