Hemerocallis 'Summer Wine'

Hemerocallis 'Summer Wine': Big Wine-Rose Blooms to Cool Summer Down

'Summer Wine' comes ruffled, rosy and ready for the patio. Big wine-rose flowers with a greenish yellow throat, served right in the middle of a heat wave. NOTES OF SUNSHINE AND BAD DECISIONS.

Plant Characteristics:

• Botanical Name: Hemerocallis 'Summer Wine'
• Common Name: Daylily
• Height: 60 cm (24 in)
• Spread: 60–75 cm (24–30 in)
• Flowers: Ruffled, wine-rose to burgundy-pink with a greenish yellow throat, about 13–14 cm (5–5.5 in) across
• Bloom Time: Midsummer (July to August), with occasional rebloom
• Foliage: Arching, strap-like green leaves
• Features: Large flowers

Where to Plant: Give it a spot in the middle of a sunny border, where the big flowers can be seen up close. It suits cottage gardens, foundation beds and mass plantings, and it handles clay soil well. Plan for some protection where deer and rabbits visit, since they nibble the buds.

Companion Plants: Rose daylilies pair well with Anemone 'September Charm', whose pink flowers bloom from August to October on 80 to 90 cm stems. Aquilegia Earlybird™ Blue White adds blue and white columbine flowers from May to July, before the daylily begins. Tuck Sanguisorba 'Little Angel' at the front for burgundy pincushion flowers from June to September. Grow them all in full sun or part sun.

Plant Care: Plant in full sun for the best flowering. It also grows in part sun, where the colour can hold a little better on very hot afternoons, though you'll get fewer buds. Average, well-drained soil is all it needs. Water through the first season, then only in long droughts. Pick off spent flowers to keep things neat, and cut finished stems to the base. Remove old leaves in late fall or early spring. Divide every few years in spring or late summer, once the clump becomes crowded.

History: 'Summer Wine' is a diploid daylily registered in 1973 and credited to the hybridizer Wild, and it has stayed a garden centre regular for decades. Hemerocallis takes its name from Greek words for beauty and day, a nod to flowers that last only one day each.

Final Thoughts: Plant it near the deck and pour yourself a glass to match. Drought tolerant once established. CHEERS, NO CORKSCREW NEEDED.