Orange day-lily

The Orange day-lily is a perennial flowering plant but now naturalized in many parts of the world including Europe and North America where it often grows along roadsides ditches gardens and meadows it is commonly referred to as ditch lily tawny daylily or tiger daylily because of its bright orange color and its tendency to grow abundantly in wild unmanaged places the plant produces striking trumpet-shaped flowers that are usually six-petaled and measure around 10 to 15 centimeters across with a vivid orange hue often accented with reddish or darker streaks the flowers are ephemeral each lasting only a single day but the plant produces numerous buds on tall stems.

So blooming continues for several weeks during summer the long arching strap-like leaves grow in dense clumps emerging from the base and reaching lengths of 50 to 90 centimeters creating a lush fountain-like foliage that remains attractive throughout the growing season the Orange day-lily is highly adaptable thriving in various soil types from moist and loamy to dry and sandy and it tolerates full sun to partial shade which makes it popular for ornamental gardening it spreads both by rhizomes and stolons often forming large colonies over time sometimes becoming invasive in certain regions.

Where it displaces native vegetation beyond its beauty the plant has a long history of culinary and medicinal uses in East Asia the flower buds are eaten fresh dried or stir-fried and are valued as a delicacy in Chinese cuisine particularly in hot and sour soup the roots and shoots have also been used in traditional remedies although care must be taken because some parts of the plant can be mildly toxic if consumed raw or in excess in herbal medicine Orange day-lily has been used for diuretic and detoxifying properties the plant plays an ecological role too by attracting pollinators such as bees butterflies and hummingbirds contributing to biodiversity in gardens.