Flower of the Week: Orange Daylily

Like the beautiful garden plant, orange daylily is often called a lily, but it is not the common lily. The orange flowers simply bear a similar resemblance. Orange daylily is native to Asia. Because of its beautiful flowers, easy maintenance, and strong vitality, orange daylily is often called “the perfect perennial plant” by gardeners. Some may wonder why such beautiful flowers fail to appear in the fresh-cut flower market alongside lilies. The answer is that daylily, as its name suggests, only blooms for one day.

Brief Cultivation History of Orange Daylily

In summer, warm and bright orange daylily flowers bloom in many gardens, making them very attractive. Every year, many new beautiful varieties of orange daylily are selectively bred in Holland by dedicated gardeners who love them. Orange daylily is one of the most highly hybridized plants, with more than 80,000 varieties, and the number is still rising. Hybridization experts have greatly enriched the color range of orange daylily, from the original yellow and orange to vibrant red and purple, and even some colors close to green, black, and white.

In addition to this variety of colors, orange daylily has also been cultivated into a number of gorgeous polyploid varieties with double petals. Many orange daylilies have also won the highest award of Stout Silver Medal and the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.

The double-leaf variety of orange daylily

Orange Daylily Is Not Native to North America

You may think a common orange daylily is a native wildflower in North America, but sadly, it is not. Most orange daylilies come from Asia. The ancient Asian orange variety is called Hemerocallis fulva. They are very popular and found nearly everywhere on the continent. In most of the United States and parts of Canada, orange daylily has escaped the walls of the garden and become an invasive species. It spreads rapidly through vegetative growth to trees, fields, roadsides, and ditches. As a result, it has actually acquired another name: ditch lily.

Orange daylily in the wild

Dangerous Delicacy

Interestingly, in the Chinese and South Korean hometowns of orange daylily, it is more than just a beautiful flower. For centuries, orange daylily has been picked and steam-cooked as part of the Asian diet. By comparison, Hemerocallis citrina, a relative of orange daylily, is only eaten occasionally by East Asians. Yet, it is actually Hemerocallis citrina that is planted and used as an ingredient in various flower vegetable dishes. It has a special flavor of citron and has been cultivated and eaten for more than 2,000 years in China. Hemerocallis are generally toxic, so East Asians don’t eat the fresh flowers. Instead, they pick the buds that are not open in the morning, boil them, dry them in the sun, and then use them to make soup.

Hemerocallis citrina

The toxicity of orange daylily and Hemerocallis citrina both come from colchicine, a deadly chemical carried by many Liliaceae plants. If you eat 0.1-0.2 mg of colchicine (equivalent to 100 grams of fresh cauliflower), you will be poisoned. Colchicine can stimulate our digestive tract, affect our central nervous system (especially the respiratory system), and cause nausea, vomiting, and hypothermia. If you eat too much, it may be fatal! Additionally, colchicine can also affect the function of the liver and kidneys, resulting in irreversible damage. Obviously, you shouldn’t eat fresh orange daylily.

Boiled, dried, and then used to make daylily stew

Orange Daylily in East Asian Culture

In addition to eating, orange daylily is often seen in the literature and paintings of East Asia. In China’s traditional culture, orange daylily is thought to make people forget about their worries. Before a man left home for future endeavors, he would plant orange daylily in front of his mother’s window, hoping that his mother would forget about her worries. For this reason, orange daylily has become a symbol of motherhood in China.

The Difference Between Daylily and Lily

Although Lilium is the true lily, many people also call daylily a lily. In casual conversation, this isn’t a problem. However, planting, cutting, and potting daylilies and lilies require very different methods. Mistake one plant for the other and your daylily will wilt overnight. It is important for this reason to be able to distinguish between daylily and lily. Fortunately, it is pretty simple to do so.

First of all, a single flower of orange daylily can only bloom for one day, while a single flower of lily can last for several days. Additionally, orange daylily has scalloped clumps of leaves from which many flower stems grow. By contrast, lily leaves grow around the whole stem in whorls or spirals, and there is only one stem.

Orange daylily is featured with scalloped leaves, from which many flower stems are drawn

Lily leaves grow around the whole stem, in whorls or spirals, with only one stem.

Finally, we can also look at their roots – although they are all perennial plants, orange daylilies have a fat root, while the lily has a bulb with overlapping scales. This is quite noticeable when you purchase the plants.

Can I Grow a Decent Orange Daylily?

Everyone likes orange daylily, because there is no perennial plant that is as easy to maintain, and the flowers are so gorgeous and lively! They are low-maintenance and can grow in almost any place with sunlight or shade. They always bloom, and the luxurious branches and leaves block any weeds trying to emerge nearby. The only required task is to divide the plants every five years so that they can blossom better. It is important to note that the orange daylily is toxic. Wear gloves to prevent allergic reactions when planting and dividing plants.

Size: 1 to 4 feet tall

Hardiness: Zones 3 through 10

Sunlight: Full Sun to Partial Shade

Soil: Loose and well-drained

Bloom Time: Summer and fall