Orange Daylily is a bold, no-nonsense perennial that has naturalized across North America, thriving in conditions where most ornamentals would struggle. Named for its striking tawny orange flowers that open for just a single day, this species daylily produces five-inch blooms on tall flower scapes rising from dense clumps of bright green, arching foliage. Hardy from zones 3 to 9, it reaches 24 to 30 inches tall and wide, blooming reliably from July through August. It's a tough colonizer that tolerates poor soil, summer heat, and drought with equal grace, making it one of the easiest perennials to establish in the garden.
Partial Sun
Moderate
3-9
30in H x 30in W
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Moderate
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Tawny orange flowers five inches across open reliably each day from July through August, their warm color glowing against the plant's bright green, arching leaves. This species daylily is virtually indestructible in the garden: it tolerates clay soil, drought, erosion, and even urban conditions without complaint. Individual flowers last only a day, but the plant produces them in succession over weeks, and the thick, healthy foliage remains handsome long after bloom ends. It naturalizes freely, which is why you'll spot it thriving along roadsides and in abandoned gardens where fancier ornamentals have long since failed.
Orange Daylily is grown primarily for naturalization, where it spreads into established landscape areas and persists with no ongoing care. The showy tawny orange flowers attract butterflies throughout the bloom season. The flowers themselves are edible, offering a mild, slightly sweet flavor and tender texture when used in cooking.
No timeline data available yet for this variety.
Set out divisions or nursery plants in spring or fall, spacing them 24 to 30 inches apart to allow room for mature spread. Water well after planting to settle the soil.
Harvest individual flowers in the morning on the day they open, cutting them at the base of the stem. The blooms will remain fresh for several hours if placed in water. They are at their peak when fully open and still supple to the touch.
Deadhead spent flowers daily during the bloom season for a neat appearance. Cut back the flower scapes to the base once all blooms have opened and faded. Leave the foliage intact through fall and early winter, cutting it down only after frost has killed it back or in early spring as new growth emerges.
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“Orange Daylily is the tawny daylily, Hemerocallis fulva, a large species that has escaped cultivation so thoroughly across North America that many gardeners encounter it as a wild plant rather than a garden specimen. Once commonly sold in the nursery trade, it's rarely offered commercially today because it has become so established in the landscape on its own terms. The plant has become a fixture in old gardens and along rural byways, evidence of its resilience and the way gardeners of previous generations recognized a plant too tough and too generous to require fussing. Its naturalization story is one of a plant that found the American landscape so hospitable that it needed no further human intervention to thrive.”