Purple
Purple and lavender shades in daylilies represent some of the most dramatic colors, spanning cool violet-lavender to rich, deep purple with varying red or blue undertones. These hues are driven by anthocyanin pigments, particularly delphinidin (bluish-purple) combined with cyanidin for depth—far more intense and varied than anything seen in wild Hemerocallis species.
For a long time, breeders pursued purple tones in hopes of eventually achieving true blue (a long-standing ”holy grail” in daylily hybridization), with only slow but steady recent progress toward bluer expressions. In daylily nomenclature, ”purple” generally refers to violet with a more or less significant red component, while lavender is a lighter, more dilute form. Achieving uniform saturation without fading to grayish or brownish shifts remains challenging.
More details on featured cultivars
Individual pages for all featured cultivars will be added in the future. For complete registration info, parentage, hybridizer details, and more on any daylily, visit the official American Hemerocallis Society Daylily Database: search by cultivar name or hybridizer here.
