Last year I had the opportunity to trial a new daylily and I can tell you it went out in a blaze of glory. This happened for a couple of reasons. The first and foremost is that its name is Blazing Glory and it is making its debut this year as part of the Proven Winners Rainbow Rhythm collection.

This group now consists of 16 varieties and if you’ve never tried daylilies, then this collection is the place to start. You will definitely find some to suit your color palette.

You’ve probably heard that each flower only lasts a day, hence the name "day" lily. But each stalk, called a scape in daylily lingo, has several buds. Each plant will have multiple scapes, even more so, as the clump enlarges with age. But when I say I went out in a blaze of glory I’m not exaggerating.

I have been used to the daylily season being from the end of May to sometime in July, especially for fancy daylilies, those that make you want to flirt with the idea of joining a local daylily society and enter a competition. The Rainbow Rhythm Blazing Glory will do that, but it will doggone beautify the landscape too!

Blazing Glory is a large stout daylily reaching 32-inches in height with a spread of up to 24-inches. It is recommended for zones 3-9. And did I say it was drop dead gorgeous? It is. It is adorned with 6-inch golden yellow blooms with a bold burgundy eye and matching picotee edge. It catches the eye of bees, butterflies and hummingbirds.

The foliage immediately tells you this plant is a winner. At The Garden Guy’s secret garden, the first bloom appeared in early May. I’m thinking early to show, first to go. But that wasn’t the way the story ended. Blazing Glory kept going in the most miserable summer any of us could remember.

I’ve never had a daylily like this bloom into August but it did. I noticed those scapes had a lot of blossoms and I started thinking of that old song "Will I See You in September." Good Golly Miss Molly, I did, there was a bloom on September 2 and another on September 4. Scapes with blooms are forming now as I write this May 5.

I’m sun challenged with deer and armadillo threats and I wish my soil was a little better, but I am finding myself deliriously happy with this secret garden. I am a combination guy from the get-go and I apply the concept to daylilies too. I have Blazing Glory in close proximity to perennials like Rockin' Deep Purple and Rockin' Blue Suede Shoes salvias, Blue Boa agastache and Luminary tall garden phlox.

It’s the shrubs however, that stand to take my breath away as they get just a little larger. The main players are Fluffy western arborvitae that looks like golden Christmas trees and three Let’s Dance Arriba hydrangeas that last year produced a blue beyond description.

So, whether it is Blazing Glory, Sound of My Heart or Persian Ruby, the Rainbow Rhythm group will have dazzling partners. As a horticulturist that started his career in the 70’s, I am still amazed to see these types of lilies mass produce. Lucky you, the gardener.

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(Norman Winter, horticulturist, garden speaker and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.)

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Norman Winter receives complimentary plants to review from the companies he covers.)

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