You know it’s high summer when the common, tawney day lilies (Hemerocallis fulva) line the roadsides and waive to passing cars. Theirs is a poignant task: The dramatically beautiful individual flowers live only a day. Yet, each plant produces many stems (“scapes”) that contain many buds that open in succession.
Thus, these nonnative plants are known as daylilies. They also are known as “ditch lilies” because they thrive in neglected areas, especially damp roadside ditches. Speaking of neglected areas, at one time they also were known as “outhouse lilies” (often pronounced “s**t house lilies”) because they were a preferred plant to prettify outdoor “facilities.” We have some around here that might be called “patriotic lilies”:
(Images taken in Brooklin, Maine, on July 6 and 11, 2026.)