Hemerocallis fulvaOrange Daylily

Hemerocallis fulva is the daylily that has escaped from more gardens than any other, and the reason is the same reason it is useful: it is close to impossible to kill. Thick fleshy roots, arching strap foliage and a long succession of orange trumpets, each open for a single day, make it a mass-planting workhorse.

It earns its place where the ground is difficult, holding banks, verges and dry slopes that are hard to irrigate and harder still to mow.

Specifications

• Height0.6 to 1.2 metres in flower
• Width0.6 to 0.9 metres, spreading by rhizome
• Native toEastern Asia, in China, Japan and Korea
• FoliageArching, strap-shaped leaves in dense clumps; deciduous to semi-evergreen depending on climate
• Growth rateFast

Conditions

• SoilTolerates almost any soil from sand to heavy clay, wet or dry
• LightFull sun to partial shade
• WaterLow to moderate; drought-tolerant once established
• ClimateThrives in warm temperate, Mediterranean and subtropical regions

Additional Features

• FlowersOrange trumpet flowers in succession through summer, each open for a single day
• UsesBank and verge stabilisation, large-scale mass planting, roadside beds and low-input borders
• SpacingPlant 4 to 6 per square metre for closed cover within two seasons
• Low MaintenanceCut back once a year; needs no staking, feeding or deadheading
• Pest ResistanceGenerally trouble-free, though slugs graze new growth in wet seasons
• Drought ToleranceFleshy roots carry the clump through extended dry periods
• Erosion ControlA dense rhizomatous root mass binds slopes and cut batters effectively

The Orange Daylily is the plant to specify when a difficult slope has to be covered, held and forgotten about.