Orange daylily

Orange daylily: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Dense, arching clump 90 cm tall and as wide, spreading by underground rhizomes.

Leaves

Long, narrow and strap-shaped, 60–90 cm long and 1–2.5 cm wide, fresh green and arching; they die back in autumn.

Flower

Trumpet-shaped, about 10 cm across, with several buds per branched stem; each flower lasts one day.

Colour

Warm orange with a darker reddish-brown ring at the centre and a pale midrib on each petal.

Roots

Fleshy, slightly tuberous roots and creeping rhizomes with which it spreads.

Flowering: June–August · Harvest and fruit: June–August · Plants: March–May and August–October · Pruning: March and November

Why grow it?

• Almost indestructible: grows in any soil and survives drought, cold and neglect.
• Produces fresh flowers every day from June to August.
• Quickly forms a dense clump that smothers weeds, ideal for banks and awkward corners.
• The buds and flowers are edible and add colour to a salad or stir-fry.
• Rarely troubled by disease and needs hardly any care.

Orange daylily: where does it grow best?

• Full sun gives the most flowers; it also grows in partial shade but flowers less.
• Any garden soil will do: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky.
• Tolerates drought once established; it dislikes standing water in winter.
• Plant 45–60 cm apart. It spreads, so give it room or use a root barrier in a small border.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Dry or normal

Size

0.9 m tall, 0.9 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -35 °C)

Goes well with

• Catmint: Blue flowers that contrast nicely with the orange and also tolerate drought.
• Woodland sage: Violet-blue spikes at the front of the border, in the same sun.
• Ornamental grasses: Airy plumes as a counterpoint to the dense clumps of leaves.
• Yarrow: Flat heads in yellow or terracotta for a warm colour scheme.
• Lady’s mantle: A soft, low edging that hides the bare base of the flower stems.

Orange daylily: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–May and August–October.

1. Plant from March to May or from August to October, when the soil is not frozen or waterlogged.
2. Dig a hole twice as wide as the root ball and loosen the bottom.
3. Set the plant so that the crown, where leaves and roots meet, sits 2–3 cm below the surface.
4. Leave 45–60 cm between plants; in a small border, sink a root barrier 30 cm deep.
5. Firm in and water well straight away.
6. A thin mulch of compost keeps weeds down until the clump has filled out.

Care

Water

Only in dry spells during the first year. After that it copes on its own; in long droughts an occasional thorough soak improves flowering.

Feeding

A spadeful of compost in spring is enough. Too much fertiliser gives lots of leaves and fewer flowers.

Spent flowers

Pick off faded flowers daily for a tidy plant and cut finished flower stems at the base.

Dividing

Every 4–5 years, when the centre of the clump goes bare or flowering declines.

Dead leaves

Cut off yellowed leaves in autumn: this reduces slugs and disease.

Tip: Do not plant it too deep: the crown belongs 2–3 cm below the surface. To keep it in check, slice off the edge of the clump with a spade every spring.

Orange daylily: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March and November.

When: Hardly any pruning is needed. Cut away dead leaves in November or, if you leave them as a winter mulch, in March.

How:

• Cut yellow and brown leaves back to 5–10 cm above the ground.
• After flowering, cut the bare flower stems as low as possible.
• Remove faded flowers if you want a neat plant; it is not essential.

Caution: If you have cats, clear up prunings and fallen flowers at once: all parts are highly toxic to them.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Division

In March–April or August–September, lift the clump and split it with a spade or two forks back to back, each piece with a few fans of leaves and roots. Cut the leaves back to 15 cm and replant straight away.

Offsets

Slice off young plants at the edge of the clump with a piece of rhizome and replant them elsewhere.

Orange daylily: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −35 °C.

• Fully hardy, to about −35 °C: no protection is needed in Belgium.
• The leaves die back in autumn; the plant overwinters underground and shoots again in March.
• In a pot: stand it sheltered against a wall so the root ball does not stay frozen for long or sit in water.

Diseases and pests

• Hemerocallis gall midge: Swollen, misshapen buds that fail to open, mainly in June. Pick them off at once and put them in the household waste, not on the compost heap.
• Slugs: They eat holes in young leaves in spring. Pick them off in the evening or set a beer trap.
• Few flowers: Too much shade, too much fertiliser or an old, congested clump. Move it to a sunnier spot or divide it.
• Spreading: Its rhizomes spread vigorously and crowd out smaller plants. Cut back the edge each year or plant it with a root barrier.

Through the year

• March: Cut away dead leaves. Divide and plant.
• April: Plant. Add compost.
• May: Plant. Watch for slugs on young shoots.
• June: First flowers. Pick off swollen buds.
• July: Full bloom. Harvest buds and flowers for the kitchen.
• August: Last flowers. Cut finished stems. Divide and plant.
• September: Divide and plant. Trim the edge of the clump.
• October: Plant. The leaves start to turn yellow.
• November: Cut back and clear dead leaves.

Edible and useful

Flowers (June–August)

From June to August, pick the plump, still-closed buds the day before they open, or the open flowers (each flower lasts only one day). The buds taste like green beans with a sweet note and are lovely stir-fried or briefly steamed; the flowers can be stuffed or shredded into a salad. In China the wilted flowers are dried as ‘golden needles’ for soup.

Storing

Buds and flowers keep for a day or two in a box in the fridge. Wilted flowers can be dried on a rack somewhere airy and kept in a closed jar; soak them in warm water for half an hour before use.

Caution: Daylilies (Hemerocallis) are edible for people but highly poisonous to cats: even a little pollen or a scrap of leaf can destroy a cat’s kidneys. Keep cats away. The first time, eat only a little: some people get stomach ache or diarrhoea. Only eat daylilies, never true lilies (Lilium) or other bulbs. Preferably cook the buds briefly; do not eat large amounts raw.

Eating and using is at your own risk: see the terms of use.

Recipes

• Stir-fried daylily buds with garlic (Dish · 2 people · 15 min)
• Daylilies stuffed with goat’s cheese (Dish · 4 people (as a nibble) · 20 min)

Did you know?

• The name Hemerocallis comes from the Greek words for ‘day’ and ‘beauty’: each flower opens for just one day.
• The form most widely grown in Europe has three sets of chromosomes (triploid) and sets no viable seed: it spreads only by its rhizomes.
• In North America it has naturalised so widely along roadsides that it is nicknamed ‘ditch lily’.