Daylily Hemerocallis 'Genesta'

Daylily hemerocallis 'Genesta' from the collector's corner

by Andrea Sprott

In the time of the year when bloom is needed most, and the garden looks bedraggled and wilted, welcome stellar daylily dynamo ‘Genesta’ to the rescue! Eventually blooming up to an unbelievable 120 buds per scape (or flower stem), this Hemerocallis cultivar will provide some major “HOLY $#%!!” action to your garden in late summer and fall. Registered in 2007 with the American Hemerocallis Society (AHS), ‘Genesta’ is officially described by its “birth-parents” and local daylily hybridizing legends Betty Earl and Bob Marshall as follows:

This bright yellow gold flower curls and twists on extremely well- branched scapes . . . starts blooming in July and depending on weather will bloom into November. The side branches will fork and re-fork and can reach 24 inches’ long as they continuously bud build. The original clump contained . . . 16 scapes . . . [each with] 6-12 way branching with a bud count of 60 to 127 and a total of 1,287 buds. We feel that this daylily has much to offer as an outstanding garden performer and for the hybridizer.

Outstanding variety daylily 'Genesta'.

I’ll say it has a lot to offer! Four and one-half inch star-shaped flowers dance on scapes up to five feet high, and although described as bright yellow, to my eye, they have a very slight apricot overlay with white midribs. Petals and sepals recurve at the tips, creating a very delicate show in the garden.

As a budding hybridizer (HA!), I have become interested in working some tall, late-season heavy bloomers’ DNA into my seedlings, and ‘Genesta’ fits the bill better than any other daylily I know. Who wouldn’t want to extend the daylily blooming season by a month or two . . . or three or four?! My plant, acquired in 2009, starts blooming in late July, and continues on through September, sometimes even into October. I have it planted at the edge of the canopy of a weeping corkscrew willow; I imagine if I gave it better growing conditions, it would most likely continue dazzling me with blossoms on into November.

Give daylilies rich loamy soil, full to part sun, a dose of balanced time-release fertilizer in early spring, plenty of moisture during the growing season, and you’ll be rewarded with beautiful blooms and healthy plants. For cultivars that re-bloom, just a few simple steps can ensure a second flush of flowers. Wait for the initial bloom stalks to completely die (they’ll turn tan). Remove those at the ground, as well as any dead or unsightly foliage, and fertilize at half-rate with any balanced time-release formula; I prefer Espoma’s organic Plant-Tone®. Within a month, you should have new bloom stalks emerging through fresh foliage.

Create a September (and October and November) to remember in your garden by falling in love with a tall blonde: Hemerocallis ‘Genesta’!

Andrea Sprott is an Extension Master Gardener Volunteer with Mecklenburg County, NC. She also works as Elizabeth Lawrence Garden Associate in the Elizabeth Lawrence Garden of Wing Haven Gardens & Bird Sanctuary, Charlotte, NC (www.winghavengardens.com).

Got GARDEN questions? Get answers!

The more you know, the more you can grow.

growing & gardening in the Southeast

Mecklenburg Extension Master Gardener Volunteers

mastergardenersmecklenburg.org