Hemerocallis 'Always Afternoon'

Hemerocallis 'Always Afternoon': Medal-Winning Mauve With a Dark Eye

'Always Afternoon' lives for that lazy hour when the chores are done and the lawn chair is calling. Big mauve-purple flowers with a deeper purple eye, new ones opening every day. NAP TIME IS SACRED.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Hemerocallis hybrid
• Common Name: Daylily
• Height: 50–55 cm (20–22 in)
• Spread: 45–60 cm (18–24 in)
• Flowers: Large, mauve-purple with a purple eye zone and green throat, about 14 cm (5.5 in) across. Each flower lasts one day, with many buds per stem. Flowers are edible.
• Bloom Time: Early to midsummer, often with rebloom (June to August)
• Foliage: Arching, strap-shaped green leaves forming a tidy clump
• Features: Reblooming

Where to Plant: Use it in the front or middle of a sunny border, massed along a walkway, or as a tough, tidy edge along a driveway, since it copes with clay, heat and roadside conditions. Deer do eat the buds, so protect it where they are regular visitors.

Companion Plants: Plant 'Always Afternoon' in a sunny or part-shade bed with a shocking pink peony, wine spiderwort and crocosmia. Paeonia 'Paula Fay' opens shocking pink semi-double peonies at 90 cm in May and June. Tradescantia 'Red Grape' adds wine-red spiderwort at 35 to 45 cm from June to August. Crocosmia 'Harlequin' brings yellow and orange tubular flowers at 60 to 90 cm from July to September. Miscanthus 'Zebrinus' rises behind at 180 to 210 cm with gold-banded blades.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun to part sun, in average, well-drained soil. More sun means more flowers, at least six hours is best. Water regularly through the first season; once established, it handles dry spells well. Snap off spent flowers to keep it tidy, and cut the flower stems down once all their buds have opened. Clear away old foliage in late fall or early spring. Divide crowded clumps every few years in spring or late summer to keep it blooming well.

History: 'Always Afternoon' was hybridized by Morss and won the Stout Silver Medal in 1997, the highest award the American Daylily Society gives to a cultivar. The genus name Hemerocallis comes from the Greek for beauty and day, because each flower lasts only a single day.

Final Thoughts: Plant it near the deck and let it rebloom while you put your feet up. The flowers are even edible. SNACK AND A SHOW.