Small-Flowered & Miniature Daylilies

Miniature, small-flowered and dwarf are official classifications of the American Hemerocallis Society, the first two referring to the flower size, the third the stature of the plant. Miniature flowers are less than 7.5cm (3in) in diameter; small-flowers are between 7.5 and 11cm (3-41/2in) in diameter. The latter are often referred to as Pony.

A dwarf must be less than 30cm (12in) tall. Generally dwarf daylilies are beautifully proportioned: 'Penny's Worth' and 'Penny Earned', the tiniest, have 4cm (1 1/2in) flowers and grass-like foliage. Their pale yellow and orange bells are borne on 25cm (10in) scapes. Just as low-growing but larger-flowered is sunny-yellow 'Eenie Weenie'.

Miniature daylilies are somewhat taller than dwarfs and flower at 30-75cm (12-30in), looking their best in natural plantings in woodland clearings or informal sunny borders. The charming 'Cherries are Ripe' has cherry-red, green- throated flowers, reminiscent of ripe berries, on wiry scapes about 70cm (28in) high, above the foliage.

Small-flowered daylilies are also generally 30-75cm (12-30in) tall, the average scape height working out at around 45cm (18in). The shape of the flowers can vary from diminutive bells through small, round buttons to the more unusual-form and triangular, such as 'Siloam David Kirchhoff', a soft orchid-lavender, with a thin carmine penciled line surrounding a washed mauve eye. Even Spiders are represented in the small-flowered category, notably the curly-segmented yellow 'Rococo'. Nowadays, tetraploid small-flowered and tetraploid miniatures (mini tets) have wide, overlapping segments, but are fashioned in precise proportion to their height, perfectly in scale with their diploid kin.

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