Big Time Happy Daylily

It’s hard to imagine summer in the garden without daylilies – which have come a long, long way since those tall orange ones in grandma’s garden. Today we have a profusion of varieties in colors from all across the spectrum, in different heights, and all with big, flamboyant flowers in profusion. Daylily season doesn’t have to stop in mid-summer, though, because today we also have access to an ever-growing range of reblooming varieties that do their thing and then come bouncing back to do it all again in late summer and early fall. You can have daylilies in bloom for months, not just weeks – and that must make all gardeners happy, big-time. Speaking of which, if you are looking for those months of bloom, look no further than the Big Time Happy Daylily. An abundance of lemon-yellow blossoms awaits, big, fluted blossoms on compact stems, in summer and in early fall. You will also be happy with the 16 hours this variety stays in bloom, so they open in the morning, and are still fresh and radiant well into the night – great for summer evenings outdoors.

Growing Big Time Happy Daylily

Size and Appearance

The Big Time Happy Daylily is a vigorous perennial plant that produces each spring a cluster of long, narrow leaves that are light to mid-green in color. They rise up and arch over in an attractive way, to stand about 12 inches tall, filling spaces and covering the ground. It blooms very early, just as summer is starting, and ahead of many other daylily varieties. The buds grow on a sturdy green stem, standing around 18 inches tall, and plants produce many stems, all carrying many buds. The sweetly-fragrant 4-inch flowers open flat and have the broad petals and fluted edges we see in all the best modern varieties. The color is a marvelous fresh, light, pure lemon-yellow, darkening in the throat, with touches of green at the base – a truly lovely blossom that is a full 4-inches across. Like all daylilies, this is an ‘extended bloom habit’ variety – the flowers open in the early morning, so they are up and great when you first step outdoors, and they stay open for 16 hours, so they are still great in the evening, not floppy and sad like older varieties. Perfect if you go to work in the morning and enjoy your garden mainly in the evening.

Once that early blooming is over, the plant takes a brief rest, and then by late summer and into the early days of fall, new flower stems grow up, and a whole second cycle of blooming brings glorious color back into your garden – double the pleasure we normally get from a daylily.

Using Big Time Happy Daylily in Your Garden

The shorter height of the Big Time Happy Daylily, just 18 inches tall in bloom, makes it perfect for edging beds or creating groups among other low-growing perennials. The color blends with just about everything except for hot pinks and purple-reds, and it looks ravishing growing with catmint, for example. Plant it on slopes, daylilies have tough roots that hold the soil and prevent erosion. For mass planting space 15 to 18 inches apart to produce a solid cover. Grow it too in containers and planters, which can be left outdoors all winter from zone 5 or 6.

Hardiness

Daylilies are very cold-resistant, and thrive in zones 3 and 4. Yet they grow well in warmer areas too, all the way into zone 9.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

The Big Time Happy Daylily will perform at its best in full sun – this is especially important with reblooming plants, to maximize the chances it will rebloom. Grow it in any ordinary garden soil that is well-drained – richer soils are fine, and give the best results, but the great thing about these plants is how tolerant they are of poor conditions, growing well in low-grade soils, and tolerating drought conditions and heat amazingly well.

Maintenance and Pruning

Deer don’t bother daylilies, and problems with pests or diseases are rare. Remove the flower stems low down once the last bud has bloomed. This daylily doesn’t produce any winter foliage, so simply cut it back to an inch or two in late fall and you are done for the year.

History and Origin of Big Time Happy Daylily

Daylilies, or Hemerocallis, are a small group of plants, just 16 species, growing in China, Japan, and Korea. The earliest species grown in America was Hemerocallis fulva, the orange daylily, seen today in ditches and abandoned gardens in many areas. In the second half of last century there was an explosion of interest in these plants, mainly fueled by amateur enthusiasts, who created thousands of varieties. Only a few are distinctive enough to find their way into most gardens. Reblooming varieties are a more recent trend, starting around 1975. The variety called ‘Big Time Happy’ was developed by Dr. Darrel Apps and Robert Blew, from Bridgeton, New Jersey and released in 1993. It is a seedling of a cross between another rebloomer, ‘Happy Returns’, and a fragrant yellow plant called ‘Canary Late’.

Buying Big Time Happy Daylily at the Tree Center

If you want daylilies in your garden, it makes lots of sense to grow rebloomers, for double the pleasure from every plant. You will love the beauty of the Big Time Happy Daylily, and its gorgeous fragrant blooms that are open for so many hours of the day. Order now, because the sooner you plant it, the sooner you can begin to enjoy it.