Hi. I'm relatively new to daylilies. What is the nearest-to-black one that you know of?

The "blackest" one I grow is 'Sir Modred'. Other dark ones are 'Salieri' and 'Jamaican Midnight'

I would second JAMAICAN MIDNIGHT, NIGHT WINGS, SMITH BROTHERS, EARL PORTER (Wish I owned).

David

Smith brothers wasn't as dark for me as some of the database photos but I don't have enough blacks to recommend the darkest one out. There is likely a true black out there but it's probably $200 or more for 1 plant.

The problem with most of my "darks" is that they are dark some days but not others. Night Wings, is pretty consistent but some days not nearly as dark. Bela Lugosi is often the darkest in my garden, but other days not so dark. Purple Raindance is dark some days but much redder looking on most days.
I also like Nosferatu a whole lot. I tried to do a lot of crosses with it this year, but it was a hard plant to set pods on, and I only managed to get half a dozen or so pods set on it.

It is often very dark in my garden, but for some reason I had no photos of it showing to be dark. This is what most of my photos of it look like.

The darkest one I've ever grown, and I've grown most of those already listed at one point, is Benz's Night Flyer. It is black. As a plant it wasn't happy here and blooms had terrible failure to open issues. Composted last year. This is the only decent image I have from 5 years growing it. This image doesn't show the color right, to much red base showing through. I do have some seedlings from it that open much better and have been looking for a black with a blue base to use with them. Not much luck, but I did add a few new darks to the garden to try this spring.


One I'd like to see is JD Stadler's Black Fury. His Back in Black also looks nice.


Tom Rood's Chimney Sweep was one I wanted after seeing him do a program, might have been the year before he registered it.

My most black one is Black Ice. Second is Imperial degree
BLACK ICE

Some of my darkest. Caribbean Frank League, Spc.Black Sensation, Paint it Black, Dakar, Midnight Magic, Caribbean Dark Victory, Buddy's Black Lady, Kathryn's Black, Victorian Garden Star Bright, Black Panther, Rolling Raven, Alaskan midnight, Derrick Cane, Ashwood's Dark Side, and a lot of dark seedlings.

Thanks to everyone who gave me suggestions about black daylilies. I'm just getting back to this thread after a 10 day hiatus! I so appreciated the photos
that you so kindly included. Thanks again. I'm checking out your suggestions

Someone mentioned Earl Porter. I'd seen a spectacular photo that i've been admiring. Can I afford it?

I scored some seeds that included Earl Porter as a pollen parent.

(all five seeds have germinated )

My blackest Daylily is Velvet Thunder


Black Arrowhead is also dark when it blooms in July

Wow, loving your photos of Velvet
Thunder and Black Arrowhead, Zoia!

Beautiful, Zoia!

SunriseSide said:The "blackest" one I grow is 'Sir Modred'. Other dark ones are 'Salieri' and 'Jamaican Midnight'

You beat me to it, Dave! (Note: I'm so sorry I originally called you Mike.)

Sir Modred:

Holy Moses is usually black-er:

So is Caviar:

It's just that photo thing. Black looks darker to your eye than it does to your camera unless it's in the shade.

I have Night Wings on order. I have Nosferatu, but I planted it last fall and haven't seen it bloom. Am looking forward to seeing how these do for me!

Jungle Beauty is my newest dark. There are darker ones but it's a solid plant with a nice bloom. I'm excited to see it once it's better established.

Newer Dark blooms include

Watusi Warrior ( much blacker in real life)


Siloam Sambo



Sir Modred ( already mentioned)




Round Midnight




I've got some coming and some that haven't bloomed yet that will probably fit this category.

I have had Buddy's I Am Tired for years, and it is evergreen, so it has barely increased at all, but it is quite dark. It is always
dependable here, and sets pods easily.

Blackberry Dragon has always been a favorite, but Jamie also has Black Panther, which is supposed to be even darker.
All three plants listed here are very nicely branched.

This thread has made the rounds several times. Two more recent near blacks growing here are:
FINER THAN WINE ( N. Jones 19)
Dip, Dor, 36" 4"
This was hybridized by a club member, Nancy B. Jones, so it isn't very well distributed. It had increased enough that I sold a couple of divisions last fall.
It is a fine plant here in SW VA.


BLACKBERRY CUPCAKE ( T. Herrington 08) Tet, Evr, EMRE, Sm, Dbl 26" 4"
This pic was taken in full sun, it obviously looks darker when not in full sun.


Some of the older near blacks that I really liked and grew for years were:
BLACK ICE, NIGHT WINGS, DAKAR, VELVET RIBBONS, and BRER RABBITS BABY. All of those should be pictured in earlier threads.

WILD AND FREE still grows here and it's pretty dark looking too!