Daylily

[ottawagardener]

Ceara: You don't live so far away from me.

Those are amazing pictures and flowers - that last one positively glows. Imagine the salad they'd make!

[wolfcub]

Wow what wonderful photos, Daylilies can become very addictive I have over 400 the last pic looks like cinnamon roll. Ottawa gardender if you would like some roots come spring I can send you some assoted colors . Cheers Marj

[plantsnobin]

[ottawagardener]

Marg, I won't turn you down.

Karen: Nice! My kids like pink petalled daylilies but mine are much lighter. Do you know what those beauties taste like?

[plantsnobin]

Telsing, you will be welcome to plenty of starts at the get together. I don't remember if I tasted any of the daylilies last year.

[Penny]

Oh wow, that one is so pretty too.

[ceara]

Jan 30, 2010 8:47:38 GMT -5 ottawagardener said:

Ceara: You don't live so far away from me.

We're at least a 10 hour drive from Montreal, on a good day. They don't call this area "Land's End" for nothing.

[ottawagardener]

Cool! but heck is 10 hours really far when talking Canada?

Two years ago, I drove cross Canada from Ottawa to Gabriola Island on the west coast with my 4 and 2 year old at the time. Fun. Actually it was really fun! And loooooooong. It took us 8 days but we weren't driving hell bent the entire way. I had friend who can do it in 4 but he goes though the US and has a leaden foot.

[ceara]

Oh I can only imagine crossing the great plains of Canada and being bored out of my mind with not much scenery to admire.

I guess the good side of it all is if you fall asleep at the wheel, you'll end up in some poor farmer's field. hehehehe

[Penny]

Just reading about all the driving in Canada/Ontario....we had a new guy last summer in our town, decide to open a same day delivery service to anywhere in Ontario, needless to say it didnt work, especially when you can drive from where i live on Georgian Bay, and it takes 18 hours to drive to Thunder Bay...LOL

[ottawagardener]

Yeah Ontario is a surpringly HUGE provience.

[dirtsunrain]

Wolfcub just sent me some seeds from her collection. The parents look absolutely stunning. I've just sent the babies into the crisper. Google Elderberry Candy and drool.

They aren't that hard to start from seed, espececially if they seed is fresh. When I gather in the fall, I put a wet paper towel in the seeds and store them cool. If they sprout, they go right into a babybed in my garden. If not, they are stored in the fridge all winter.

I took Wolfcubs seeds and put them in a ziplock. I added enough water that the seeds are swimming. They will nap for a few weeks in the fridge and then I'll pot them up and grow them out cool and never let them dry out.
Daylily seeds need to be moist at all times. Other than that, there is no trick to them.

I collect mostly the tiger lily forms. I like the rare colours and doubles. The local ditch lilies are the fulva (orange) and the hyperion (yellow). There is also an upward facing yellowspotted that I see sometimes along the roadside. They are also naturalized after escaping from hoemstead gardens. Lilies are fun.

[ceara]

I love the true tiger lily forms also. The ones that make the black stem bulbils.

Someone mailed me some bulbils last fall. When I opened the package I heard a strange noise. Inside one of the peat/bulbil plastic bags was a live adult Red Lily Beetle! I squashed it in the bag to silence it. hehe It was the first one I ever saw and wow can they ever make noise.

The bulbil bags have been sitting in the fridge all winter and sprouted roots. I'm terrified to plant these bulbils. Anything I can do to "save" them from possible beetle eggs? I probably have a few hundred Lilium bulbs in my gardens, with around 20 different colors and types of Oriental and Asiatic and LA Hybrid (Longiflorum x Asiatic done via embryo rescue) lilies. I do not want to be responsible for spreading the Red Lily Beetle into a new area.

Anyhow I found the name of the big frilly yellow daylily I posted - "Big Smile." And it is big! The bloom must be almost dinner plate size in diameter from petal end to petal end.

[extremegardener]

Eating daylilies -
This fall I made several batches of kimchee (lacto-fermented veg & fruit) and on a whim added some day lily tubers to one of the batches. THEY ARE REALLY GOOD - they stay remarkably crunchy, while most of the other roots (winter radishes, beets and turnips) have a softer texture. The day lily tubers also blend with and absorb the other flavors well. We are eating this batch of kimchee now, and I'll definitely use them again. I had eaten them before, but never found them all that interesting.
I'm totally lousy about dividing and cleaning up ornamental perennials in the fall, so the excellent side benefit of this is that by harvesting some tubers in the fall to eat, I'm helping out all my badly overgrown daylily plantings...
As far as varieties for eating go, I've found that Ice Carnival (palest yellow to white) is a very vigorous grower and produces lots of roots. It flowers abundantly over an extended period, too.

[ottawagardener]

My husband loves Kimchee. I don't suppose I could ask you to send your recipe.

PS. Just added Ice Carnival Daylily to my want list.