One word apart, and both are deadly to a cat; every other difference is in the table.
Shot to one scale: bloom beside bloom, from our own library.
The verdicts, line by line
Every line below is a field of the open table, not an opinion.
In the vase
Only lily carries published vase trials (9 to 14 days); for daylily no postharvest record exists, and we do not guess.
In the garden
In the garden the table calls it even: pick by the vase verdict above.
The full card
A line is marked only where one flower clearly leads. Equal or too-close values are left plain.
| Field | Daylily | Lily |
|---|---|---|
| Vase life, days | no trials published | 9 to 14 |
| Wholesale, per stem | no price on record | $1.75 to $3.25 |
| Fragrance | Fragrant by cultivar, some strongly so | None to strong, by type |
| Light | Full sun to part shade | Full sun to part shade |
| Water | Medium; performs best with consistent moisture | Medium |
| Hardiness zones | 3 to 9 | 3 to 8 |
| Bloom months | 5 months | 3 months |
| Deer (Rutgers) | Occasionally severely damaged (Rutgers C) | Occasionally severely damaged (Rutgers C) |
| Cats (ASPCA) | Toxic | Toxic |
| Out of water | not recorded | Poor |
We keep one table of 85 flowers, with 25 documented facts each, drawn from university and extension sources. Every ranking is a published formula worth 100 points; tap any score and it unfolds into the lines that made it. A flower that does not fit the question is not scored lower: it is excluded, and the reason is shown. When the table changes, every score and stamp updates itself. The full method ↗
Read the full profile
Everything the table holds on each of them, in plain prose.
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