Daylily

Daylily: how do you recognise it?

Habit

Dense clump of arching leaf fans, about 70 cm tall in flower and 60 cm wide.

Leaves

Long, narrow and strap-shaped, arching; deciduous in winter in most varieties.

Flowers

Trumpet-shaped with six tepals, often 10–15 cm across; each flower lasts one day, June to August.

Colour

Yellow, orange, red, pink, purple or cream, often with a darker eye or a ruffled edge.

Roots

Fleshy roots, sometimes swollen like tubers, in a sturdy clump.

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

Why grow it?

• Flowers from June to August, with new blooms every day.
• Thousands of varieties in almost every colour except true blue.
• Easy and long-lived: a clump can stay in the same place for years without fuss.
• Grows on sand, loam and clay, in sun and partial shade.
• The graceful, arching leaves look good from April to autumn.

Daylily: where does it grow best?

• Full sun for the most flowers; partial shade is fine, but it flowers less.
• Ordinary garden soil: sand, loam or clay, acid to chalky.
• Moist soil; it tolerates short dry spells but flowers better with water while the buds are forming.
• Space 45–60 cm apart, depending on the variety.

Light

Sun and partial shade

Soil type

Sand, loam or clay

Acidity

Not fussy

Moisture

Normal

Size

0.7 m tall, 0.6 m wide

Hardiness

Hardy (to -30 °C)

Goes well with

• Ornamental grasses: Airy plumes beside the sturdy leaf fans and bright flowers.
• Catmint: Lavender-blue mounds as a cool foil for yellow and orange.
• Lady’s mantle: A soft, lime-green edging at the front.
• Purple coneflower: Flowers in the same summer months and likes the same sun.
• Balkan clary: Purple spikes that stand out against yellow and orange flowers.

Daylily: when and how to plant it?

Plant in March–May and August–September.

1. Plant in March–May or August–September.
2. Dig a generous hole and mix in a few spadefuls of compost.
3. Set the crown, where leaves and roots meet, 2–3 cm below the soil surface.
4. Spread out the fleshy roots and space plants 45–60 cm apart.
5. Firm the soil and water in thoroughly.
6. Spread a little compost or mulch around the plant and water in dry spells for the first few weeks.

Care

Watering

During prolonged drought, especially while the buds form in June–July.

Feeding

In March–April, compost or a little organic fertiliser. Too much nitrogen gives lots of leaves and few flowers.

Deadheading

Pick off faded flowers every few days: it looks tidier and prevents seed setting.

Flower stems

Cut bare flower stems off at the base once all the buds have opened.

Dividing

Divide congested clumps every four to five years, when flowering declines.

Tip: Plant it in full sun and pick off faded flowers every few days. Divide congested clumps every four to five years and it will keep flowering freely.

Daylily: when to prune it?

Pruning months: March and September.

When: After flowering, in late August–September, cut off the bare flower stems. In March, clear the dead leaves.

How:

• During flowering, pick off faded blooms without damaging the buds next to them.
• Cut flower stems off at the base once they have finished.
• Let the leaves die down in autumn and remove them in March, before the new leaves appear.
• Brown leaf tips in summer can simply be trimmed off.

Caution: Do not put buds infested by hemerocallis gall midge on the compost heap; put them in the household waste.

Pruning: when and how · Pruning calendar and basic rules

Propagation

Division

Every four to five years, in March–April or after flowering in August–September. Lift the clump and cut or pull it into pieces, each with two or three leaf fans and roots. Cut the leaves back by half.

Seed

Possible, but seedlings do not resemble the parent and take two to three years to flower. Fun if you want to breed your own varieties.

Daylily: how does it get through the winter?

Hardy to −30 °C.

• Very hardy, to about −30 °C: no protection is needed in Belgium.
• Most varieties die back and regrow in March.
• Evergreen varieties are sometimes a little more tender: a layer of mulch helps in hard winters.
• In a pot: stand it against a sheltered wall so the root ball does not freeze solid.

Diseases and pests

• Hemerocallis gall midge: Swollen, misshapen buds that fail to open, mainly on early varieties. Pick them off and put them in the household waste.
• Slugs: They eat the young leaves in spring. Pick them off in the evening.
• Aphids and thrips: On buds and young leaves; the flowers may become blotchy. Hose them off; natural predators do the rest.
• Few flowers: Too much shade, a congested clump or too much fertiliser. Move it into sun, divide the clump and feed less.

Through the year

• March: Clear dead leaves. Give compost. Plant or divide.
• April: Plant or divide. Pick slugs off the young leaves.
• May: Plant. Watch for buds swollen by gall midge.
• June: Flowering begins. Water while the buds are forming.
• July: Full bloom. Pick off faded flowers.
• August: Flowering. Plant or divide after flowering.
• September: Cut off bare flower stems. Plant or divide.
• November: The leaves die back. Rest.

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 is beautiful for just one day.
• Dried flower buds of some daylilies are used in Chinese cooking, for example in soups.
• Despite its name, the daylily is not a true lily: it belongs to a different plant family.