When to plant daylilies?
- Botanical name
- Hemerocallis
- Family
- Asphodelaceae
Daylilies are planted from September to October. They flower from June to August.
Daylilies are perennial plants. The edible parts are the flowers.
A single daylily flower lasts one day. The plant opens them one after another, so this goes unnoticed on a clump.
The flower is eaten fresh, fried or dried, and the taste is close to asparagus or courgette. It can act as a diuretic, so it is eaten in moderation.
The daylily grows from thickened fleshy roots, and shallow setting keeps its neck in line with the surface. A clump put in during autumn is established by spring and gives a full display in its first summer. An old clump is lifted every few years and split into several plants. Seed is not used for this, because a seedling does not keep the qualities of the variety.
Daylilies through the year
- planting
- flowering
In short
Growing conditions
The flowers are listed as edible and as toxic at once. The toxicity is to cats and dogs, not to people.
Are daylilies toxic to cats and dogs?
Yes. Toxic to cats and dogs, toxic parts: roots, stems, leaves, flowers and seeds.
Pests and diseases
Listed here is every problem for which the sources name this plant as a host. The problems are not listed in order of how common they are.
- Signs
- Colonies of small aphids sit on the shoot tips and the underside of the leaves. The leaf curls and puckers, and sticky honeydew is left on everything below. The viruses they carry are more dangerous than the feeding itself.
- Prevention
- Go easy on nitrogen, because soft sappy growth is what aphids are looking for. Encourage the predators (ladybirds, lacewings, parasitic wasps). Use a reflective mulch, which puts them off settling, and a strong jet of water to knock the colony off the tips.
- What to do
- Potassium soap works on contact and only while it is wet, so it has to reach the underside of the leaf. On drought-loving plants and in heat it can scorch, so apply it in the evening.
- Signs
- Holes appear in the middle of the leaf rather than along the edge, young plants are eaten down to the ground, and there are slimy trails in the morning. On low-growing fruit there are gnawed pits.
- Prevention
- Remove the hiding places beside the bed: boards, stones, dense weeds. Water in the morning and not in the evening, so that the night is dry. Spread a band of coarse sand or gravel around the bed. Cover young plants with fleece. Pick them off at night, which is still the most effective measure.
- What to do
- Baits with iron phosphate are held to carry less risk for pets and children. Put them out in bands beside the bed, not scattered over the whole surface.
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Related plants
The plant below is in the same botanical family (Asphodelaceae).
Sources about the plant: ASPCA Toxic and Non-Toxic Plants, CliniTox Pflanzengifte, GBIF Backbone Taxonomy, NC State Extension Plant Toolbox, Royal Horticultural Society, Wikidata. Checked between 14 and 28 August 2026. The problem descriptions also draw on: Clemson Cooperative Extension, University of Maryland Extension, University of Wisconsin-Madison Division of Extension, Utah State University Extension.