Pardon Me Daylily

The Pardon Me Daylily really needs no excuses for being different. How, you ask? Well, you know how you head out in a big rush in the morning, and see all your daylilies in gorgeous bloom, but don’t have time to admire them? And then how, when you arrive home in the early evening, they are all shriveled? If this sounds like your daylily experience, then this daylily is for you. It’s a nocturnal variety, which means it’s a late-riser, not opening until afternoon, but then staying up all night and still looking great the next morning too. For working people these are the perfect daylilies – they still look great when heading out, and are in their full glory when you get home, and while you enjoy the cooler evening out in your garden. The beauty doesn’t stop there, though, because this fabulous plant is not your usually yellow or orange, but a stunning true-red, with each flower a fabulous burgundy red with a glowing greenish-yellow throat. But wait, there is more – this is also a reblooming variety, meaning that after the summer flowers it does it all over again, with a full crop of fresh new stems in late summer or early fall. That has to be more than enough to make the Pardon Me Daylily a top garden choice for even the most discerning among us.

Growing Pardon Me Daylily

Size and Appearance

The Pardon Me Daylily is a reliable and hardy perennial plant that will live for many, many years in your garden, resprouting every spring, stronger and better. It forms a clump of narrow, mid-green leaves about a foot tall that are dense and arching, forming a weed-resistant mound up to 2 feet across. These die completely to the ground in fall. Between May and July, depending on where you live, many strong stems rise above the leaves, carrying many buds on each branching stem. The stems typically stand about 18 inches tall, but they can be as much as 2 feet tall in good conditions. The flowers open in mid-afternoon, and bloom through the night, fading late the next morning. Almost 3 inches across, the blooms have broad petals, forming a beautiful trumpet, and they are a unique cranberry or burgundy red – a fabulous and rare color in daylilies. The throat is bright lime-green, separated from the red by a line of bright yellow. To top it all off, the blooms have a soft, attractive fragrance, and often dry butterflies and even hummingbirds into your garden. The first blooming is in July in cold zones, but as early as May in hot ones. After that first display, the plant takes a brief rest, but by late summer or early fall a whole new crop of stems appears as if by magic, and off we go again – no apology needed for this kind of fabulous blooming.

Using Pardon Me Daylily in Your Garden

The medium size of this plant makes it perfect in all gardens, from small urban beds to big country gardens, and everything in between. Plant it as a single plant, in a cluster of three, or spaced 18 inches apart for edging and groundcover. Grow it among other perennials, in front of spring shrubs, or on banks, slopes and rocky places. It is equally at home in a casual cottage garden or in the most formal setting.

Hardiness

The Pardon Me Daylily is completely hardy even in zone 3 and 4, although less likely to rebloom in such cold areas, with a short growing season. It is also reliable all across the country, growing well in hot zones into zone 9.

Sun Exposure and Soil Conditions

Place your Pardon Me Daylily plants in a position where they have full sun all day long. This will give you the strongest plants, maximum blooms, and abundant reblooming. Grow them in richer, well-drained soils of any kind, but even poor soils and dry locations will give good results. Established plants are very drought-resistant, but they will benefit from some watering, and grow best with periodic watering.

Maintenance and Pruning

You won’t have any problems with deer eating the Pardon Me Daylily, and it usually stays free of pests or diseases, growing well almost everywhere. Remove flower stems once they have stopped blooming, especially the summer ones. Cut the plant back to the ground in late fall, once the leaves yellow, and mulching around them at the same time with compost or other rich organic material will be very beneficial.

History and Origin of Pardon Me Daylily

Developed from a handful of wild species native to China, Korea and Japan, modern daylily varieties are complex hybrid plants, mostly created by smaller specialist nurseries and amateur breeders since WWII. The variety called Pardon Me was first registered in 1982, a creation of the prolific breeder Darrel Apps. Dr. Apps is a horticulturist at the University of Kentucky, and he began breeding daylilies in 1969, attracted to red varieties, which were especially rare in those early years. He also became interested in reblooming varieties, and plants able to grow in the full sun of hot states. Pardon Me is the result of crossing an unnamed seedling he created with the purple dwarf variety called ‘Little Grapette’.

Buying Pardon Me Daylily at the Tree Center

The Pardon Me Daylily has won multiple awards from the American Daylily Society since it was introduced in 1982. It began with an Honorable Mention in 1984, then the prestigious DFM for best miniature daylily in 1985, and the Award of Merit in 1987. With prizes like that you can see just how good it is. We only carry the best plants, selected from the thousands of registered varieties – order now, the best always goes first.