Double Pardon Me Daylily

• Partial Sun to Full Sun (At Least 5 Hours of Direct Sunlight)
• Height 1.5 Feet
• Width 1.5 - 2 Feet
• Growing Zones 3-9

We have come a long way from the ubiquitous ‘ditch lily’ found naturalized all across the country. Although not a native of the United States, H. fulva, the original parent of most hybrid daylilies, grows in every climate except the hottest regions and can be found ‘in the ditches’ most anywhere you go. Double Pardon Me Daylily is a fully double version of the Pardon Me Daylily, sporting a whopping 18 petals rather than the standard 6 petals. Its bright red color with the glowing yellow centers creates quite a display in your informal cottage garden or landscape border. Bees, butterflies and hummingbirds are attracted to daylilies for their nectar.

Native to Asia, or more specifically China and Korea, Hemerocallis is hardy to Zones 3-9 and grows best where it has a period of cold to reinvigorate the plant to bloom again in the spring. Thriving in full sun with some afternoon shade in the hottest summer regions, Double Pardon Me Daylily will bloom in midsummer when most other perennials have taken a break due to the heat. It is tolerant to a wide variety of habitat conditions, and once established, will become an easy care perennial for your garden year after year.

Double Pardon Me Daylily Care

While it blooms best when given full sun for at least 6 hours a day, Double Pardon Me Daylily will grow in partial shade. It may flower a little less as the sun provides the energy for the plant to produce the flower. Tolerating a wide range of soil types from poor to fertile, and soil pH from acidic to alkaline, it prefers a well draining fertile soil with a pH range of 6.0 to 6.5 for best performance. Coastal gardeners will appreciate its tolerance for salty soils, and all gardeners will appreciate its tolerance for drought once established. Water during extreme drought periods for best results. Fertilizer is generally not needed, especially when the daylily is planted in the proper pH range in the soil. Divide roots every 3 to 6 years to avoid the decline that happens when they get too big. Do not bury the crown of the root in more than 1 inch of soil to avoid crown rot.

Deadheading can be done when the flower is spent. Just snip off the flower from the stem. Once the plant has ceased flowering for the summer, cut the stems, or scapes, down to the ground, leaving the foliage to gather energy from the sun for the next bloom season. Daylilies bloom for one day only for each flower, hence the name “day lilly”, although they are not a part of the Lillium family.

Double Pardon Me Daylily Spacing

Space daylilies about 18 to 24 inches apart to allow room to grow. At maturity you can expect Double Pardon Me Daylily to be 18 inches tall and 24 inches wide. They do not self-sow so root division is the only way to get more plants from your original one. Daylilies look beautiful when planted in mass plantings, creating huge drifts of colors. They also look lovely in landscape borders and cottage gardens.