Do Daylilies Go with Roses?

Once-Blooming Roses

• Many roses, especially old varieties such as the white-flowered centifolia "Madame Hardy" (Rosa "Madame Hardy"), hardy in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) plant hardiness zones 4b through 9b, bloom only once, usually in spring or summer. Pairing such once-blooming roses with repeat-blooming daylilies, such as "Rosy Returns" (Hemerocallis "Rosy Returns"), hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9, ensures a succession of blooms throughout the season because the lily puts out several flushes of flowers over the course of summer and fall. If once-blooming roses are not deadheaded -- their spent, faded flowers removed, they produce showy hips.

Once-Blooming Daylilies

• Once-blooming daylilies, including the fragrant, yellow-flowered "Hyperion" (Hemerocallis "Hyperion"), hardy in USDA zones 3 through 8, are effective foils for repeat-blooming roses, such as the white-flowered "Iceberg" (Rosa "Iceberg"), hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9. "Iceberg," like many repeat-flowering roses, has its first flush of blooms in mid-spring to late spring. "Hyperion" blooms in early summer, often during or immediately after the second rose bloom period. Repeat-blooming roses continue producing flowers until brought to a halt by frost and, if planted with once-blooming daylilies, they can help disguise the dying daylily foliage.

Container Pairs

• Miniature roses and small daylilies can be combined in large containers, such as one-half whiskey barrels, as long as those containers receive full-sun exposure. A miniature rose such as 8-inch-tall "Snowball" (Rosa "Snowball"), hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9, can coexist nicely in a container with one or two small daylilies, such as the dwarf yellow daylily (Hemerocallis minor), hardy in USDA zones 3 through 9. The white rose petals harmonize well with the yellow of the daylily blooms.

Maintenance

• Both roses and daylilies require regular maintenance to succeed. Reblooming roses should be cut back by one-third after flowering to stimulate new flower formation. Trim spent stalks of reblooming daylilies to encourage the next flush of bloom. Remove spent stalks of once-blooming daylilies, but allow their foliage to begin turning brown before clipping it off. Once-blooming roses form decorative hips, which can enhance the planting scheme. Do not cut back the flower stalks of the once-blooming roses after their flowers die because that action prevents hip formation. Wait until late winter or early spring to prune those roses.