 | Cliff Garland
Where was Cliff Garland at 10:30 a.m. July 6, 2007? Digging in compost and planting daylilies in Close Memorial Park in Springfield, Missouri. Cliff, the vice president of the Ozark Daylily Society, has donated--and planted--literally hundreds of daylilies in this garden.
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 | The Garden and Gazebo
Talk about a job. Cliff in the midst of hauling compost and mulch said the garden will contain some 1700 daylilies in hundreds of varieties. This is only a small part of the garden. There are seven beds altogether.
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 | Another View
A better view of the Daylily Garden, showing the remaining beds reaching into the distance. According to Friends of the Garden, hundreds more daylilies have been donated by Duane Cookson of the St. Louis Daylily Society and hundreds by Pat Kost of Republic, Missouri.
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 | What Is a Daylily?
Daylilies are so called because their blossoms last only a day, as with this bloom just opening. Gardeners love daylilies for many reasons, foremost among them their literally astonishing range of colors and color combinations--at last word there were over 54,000 different hybrid daylilies on the market. They're also remarkably easy to grow. For beginners--and that includes us--the best place to learn the simple basics of these wonderful plants is the FAQ of the American Hemerocallis Society website, here.
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 | 'Pardon Me'
'Pardon Me' is a much-loved daylily variety for its very fragrant strawberry-wine
colored flowers from May through July. In full sun it grows to 18 inches tall and 23-29 inches wide. It bears profusely and is ideal for borders, mass plantings, edgings, and mixed containers. The only trick is obtaining the plant--it tends to sell out very early in the season.
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 | 'Big Bird'
Bet you can guess where the 'Big Bird' daylily got its name. It features huge, 7-inch-wide, brilliant yellow flowers with a green throat and ruffles. The flowers are fragrant, too. The plant grows to 34 inches tall. Easily one of the showiest daylilies.
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 | 'Orange Vol'
Cliff tells us that the gorgeous 'Orange Vol' daylily was developed in Tennessee and gets its name from the University of Tennessee's football team, the Vols. The plant grows to 2 feet tall with blooms 6 inches wide.
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 | 'Dark Red'
Our notes say this is the variety 'Dark Red', but we're not certain that's right. If you can correct us, please do. In any event, we do know that 'Dark Red' grows to 30 inches tall and 24 inches wide and blooms profusely.
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 | 'Open Hearth'
'Open Hearth' is a glorious "Spider" daylily--a daylily with long thin petals, the petals having a high length-to-width ratio. It grows to 24-36 inches tall with flowers in red, orange, and gold hues that may be as large as 9 inches wide. A reblooming daylily, it flowers from midseason into fall.
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 | 'Night Beacon'
Its dark purple leaves and striking chartreuse throat make 'Night Beacon' one of the most popular daylilies. Considered especially easy to grow, the plant reaches 34 inches tall and bears a profusion of 4-inch wide flowers early to mid-season.
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 | Mystery Daylily
We're unsure of the varietal name of this beauty. We thought from a tag that it was 'Ramblin Rose', but however hard we look we can't find any info on that name. We had to include it though, for obvious reasons.
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