These buds produce a distinctive spear-like appearance when the emerge in the spring. Evergreen Evergreen daylilies retain their leaves throughout the year and continue to grow new leaves all year long. Such habits make them popular with growers in the southern United States. Evergreens form no resting buds. In the North, evergreens will die back from the cold, but if hardy or well mulched will resume growth in the spring.
New growth is gradual, without the distinctive spear-like appearance of the dormants.
Many of the species used for early hybridizing did not fall neatly into either category, and the resulting hybrids varied even more. Today, the term is often used to refer to plants that lose their leaves in the north and retain them in the south. Since foliage habit varies depending upon climate conditions under which it is grown, this habit may vary from the description under which it was registered in your location. The tolerance of daylilies to cold is quite varied. Some are dependably winter hardy in the North, others only do well in the mild climates of the deep South.