A Request for Spiders

Not the eight legged sort, but, instead, spider daylily photos were requested by Carol of May Dreams Gardens and Mary Ann of Idaho Gardener.  On Plurk the other night, we were all discussing my article on Examiner.com on how to choose a good daylily.  They seemed to enjoy it, but both of them wanted to see some spiders.  So, I promised to provide them.  Carol requested purple and green blooms, and Mary Ann wanted something in the apricot range if I remember correctly.

First, before I get myself in trouble with true, spider, daylily enthusiasts, I want to make something clear.  The daylilies photographed in this post are not actually spiders.  A daylily cannot be classified as a spider unless its petals have at least a 4.0:1 ratio.  From the American Hemerocallis Society’s website:

“On a Spider, the petals and sepals are much longer in proportion to their width than a normal flower. A SPIDER is a daylily whose petal length to width ratio is at least 4.0:1. A box is provided for you to indicate if the cultivar is a SPIDER with space to record petal width and length in inches.

“Measuring a Spider daylily: For width, measure the longest petal at its widest point as naturally standing (without uncurling, unfolding, or flattening any portion of the petal). For length, stretch out the petal to its fullest and measure the length of the longest petal from its tip to the v-shaped notch formed where the adjacent sepals separate at the neck of the flower. The result of dividing the length by the width is expressed in the form of a ratio (e.g., 5.6:1 which is read “five point six to one”).”

I’m not a mathematician.  I became a writer for good reason, so this always stumps me a bit, which is why I quoted the AHS website.  I once was a member of the online spider robin (an email list).  Huge fights have been started because a daylily was registered as a spider and then later discovered to be an Unusual Form.  Those of your who think this is all a tempest in a teapot, Google “”Magic of Oz’ daylily spider or UF,” and you’ll see what I mean.  ‘Magic of Oz’ won the coveted Harris Olson Spider Award in 2005, and although it is registered as a spider, it is actually a UF.  The term spider only refers to the form of the bloom.  Further, a daylily may have the word “spider” within its name and still not be a spider.  Confused yet?

Any daylilies, which resemble spiders, but are not the correct ratio, are called Unusual Form.  Again from the AHS:

“The latest registration class, designated as Unusual Form, includes crispate (pinched, twisted, or quilled floral segments); cascading (narrow curling or cascading segments); and spatulate (segments markedly wider at the end like a kitchen spatula). The Unusual Form class is based exclusively on form not on color or color patterns. An Unusual Form must display Unusual Form characteristics on at least 3 petals or 3 sepals.”

For me, the more pinched, twirly, whirly and long the petals are, the more I like it.  Most of my daylilies fall into the UF category.  For some reason, UF always makes me think of flying saucers, and then I laugh.  Don’t these beautiful flowers at least make you smile?

When choosing either a Spider or UF, make sure you see the daylily growing.  In my opinion, a fault of these forms is their propensity to have weak scapes.  You can’t have a seven inch bloom on a scape which falls over.  It is bad form (to use a pun).  Of the ones I’ve shown here, H. ‘Karen’s Curls’ is the most floppy in my climate.  In cooler weather, it might flop less.  However, also note that the heat has a direct effect on whether a daylily curls, cascades, or crispates.  It takes the hot weather to achieve some of this.  Even with her faults, I love this daylily which blooms for a full month due to her impressive bud count.

By now, you may have noticed that none of these flowers is a spider.  Surprised?  I was a little.  However, some of my daylilies haven’t started blooming yet.  If I have time tomorrow, I will post some more of the spider-like daylilies blooming in red dirtland.