Daylilies

In my quest for the 'ideal' perennial, I've made a list of the attributes it must have. See what you think.
First, the rainbow of colors and variety of shapes and sizes must be so large as to put me in the 'I want them all' mode. Next, I'm much too lazy to pamper anything so it better thrive with little to no extra work from me. I want to admire my plants, not constantly stake or protect or spray or fret over them.
My gardens are constantly changing so the perfect perennial must be at ease in any type of setting, from woodland garden to cottage garden to formal garden.
Back to my laziness, it better be drought resistant, almost disease and insect free (I concede that nothing alive is 100% free of potential problems.) and able to adapt to varying soil and light conditions. It must be easy to dig, divide and transplant when I'm in the mood no matter what time of year it is. And, finally, I demand flowers from late spring to late summer. Did I miss anything?

Daylilies may be the easiest, hardiest, most pest-free, perennial you will grow in any well-drained soil in full sun to ¾ bright shade.

Cousin to the Onion
Enter the Daylily, a member of the lily family, Liliaceae, that includes onions, tulips, and daffodils.
The daylily genus, or subfamily, is Hemerocallis, two Greek words meaning 'beauty' and 'day', a reference to the fact that each flower lasts only one day. However there are so many flower buds on each stalk and lots of stalks in each clump that the actual flowering period of a mature plant is several weeks long.
Native to the temperate parts of Asia: Japan, Siberia, Korea, China and Eurasia, the original daylilies were either washed-out yellow, a bland orange (the ubiquitous Railroad Lily) or a dingy red. Beginning in the early 1930's, hybridizers in the US and England started improving on Mother Nature and we now have colors ranging from near-white, to pastels, all shades of yellow and orange, pink, vivid reds, crimson, purple, nearly blue and a huge array of blends.
Color is not the only consideration when selecting daylilies though. As you look through the lists you'll notice an asterisk next to many varieties and a column for the season of bloom.
Here's what that all means.
Tets & Dips
The asterisk in my lists indicates the variety is a tetraploid; all the others are diploids. So what's a tetraploid?
All plants all have a basic complement of chromosomes. Most plants are diploid, they have two identical sets of chromosomes in each cell. Polyploids are plants with more than two sets of chromosomes. A tetraploid is only one of a whole series of polyploids. Triploids have three sets of chromosomes, tetraploids have four sets of chromosomes.
In TETs the flowers tend to be larger and the color(s) more intense. Overall the entire plant is sturdier and stronger, the substance of both flower and foliage heavier and they are vigorous in leaf, stem and flower production. The hybridizers love them because breeding possibilities are greater due to the increased number of chromosomes.
But don't neglect the diploids with their charming flower form, grace, and color. Also pink varieties are more prevalent in the diploid ranks as are spider and double cultivars.

So When Is Early? And How Late Is Late?
We classify plants, including daylilies, in lots of ways, not the least is their season of bloom. Here are what those terms mean:
Early: These selections flower three to five weeks before the mass of bloom at midseason.
Mid: Midseason cultivars bloom at the peak of the daylily season, usually late June to mid July in our area.
Late: This means four to six weeks after the peak of the season.
Remember that every year is different and because plants usually pay no attention to our attempts at categorization there is always a great deal of overlap. But even a casual selection of varieties can provide easy-care color from around Memorial Day almost to Labor Day.