Daylilies for permacultural uses

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Daylilies can make excellent permacultural plants, with uses for both culinary purposes and erosion control. Please be aware that when using hemerocallis flowers for culinary purposes, you should test sample a small portion to make sure that you don't have any allergic reaction. Some people can feel mild nausea or develop diarrhea when consuming large amounts if they are not used to eating the flowers. While flowers can be eaten raw in salads, cooked seems to have less impact on sensitive people, and dried buds (marketed as 'golden needles') cooked in various dishes is the most common way the flowers are consumed. The flowers are a part of traditional food sources throughout Asia and many other parts of the world. For more information on using the daylily for permacultural purposes, including culinary purposes, please read my series of articles, History of Daylilies and Daylilies for Permaculture, linked below. Most westerners will be familiar with daylily flowers used in such Asian dishes as Hot and Sour Soup and Mu Shu Pork, where the dried flowers are known as 'golden needles'. The dried flower buds (golden needles) are commonly available in Asian markets throughout the US. The most commonly consumed species throughout Asia are H. citrina clones and H. fulva clones. I have based my breeding for permacultural uses in these two species, working to create plants with increased vigor, performance and resistance to pathogens such as rust and thrips. Daylilies that are rhizomatous can make excellent erosion control, while clumping forms will not spread as profusely, but can still be used, planted at regular intervals, as erosions control. Not all daylilies are suitable for this use, but I have selected for large roots in my giant tetraploid breeding, and these plants have excellent performance for erosion and weed control. 

To listen to my recent interview with Dr. Shane Simonsen at the Zero Input Agriculture podcast about my daylily breeding for permaculture using zero input methods, click here.

To understand more about the natural history of the genus Hemerocallis, go my series of articles 'History Of Daylilies' found by clicking the title to the left.

To understand more about using daylilies in permacultural settings, see my series of articles at my blog titled 'Daylilies for Permaculture'. Click the title to go to the main page for the series, where you will find an introduction and links to the three articles in the series.

I have introduced a number of cultivars that have excellent permacultural applications. These cultivars are for permacultural uses, but also represent breeding stock for the continued development of permacultural lines. While I have made major improvements through judicious crossing and selection, there is always room for continued improvement. For instance, thrips resistance has been very hard to locate in the Hemerocallis, and while all of these have improved resistance to thrips in comparison to the mean average, only my introductions Sun Dragon, Samwise The Brave and Misty Mountains Cold (see below) shows exceptional thrips resistance with breeding value for the trait, while Eos At Dawn and Far Above The World show above average resistance, though not as strong as Sun Dragon, and both show excellent breeding value. (For more on breeding for thrips resistance, click here). The majority of my work with daylilies for permacultural purposes has been at the tetraploid/polyploid level, but I have also produced two diploids with excellent permacultural applications for breeding at the diploid level due to their exceptionally high rust and thrips resistance, which high breeding value for both. They are 'Samwise The Brave' and 'Misty Mountains Cold' and are found at the bottom of the list below.

Cultivar listing (click the name to go to the full description page with images):

Sun Dragon (Exceptional thrips and rust resistance, highly fertile both ways, important breeding plant for increasing thrips resistance. Excellent permacultural applications and breeding value.)

Korean Queen (excellent for permacultural uses, excellent rust resistance/moderate thrips resistance, mildly rhizomatous)

Spice Addiction (large plant with high breeding value, moderately high thrips resistance and very high rust resistance)

The Spice Must Flow (a huge plant with excellent growth, an excellent breeder for producing permacultural plants, moderate rust and thrips resistance)

Eos At Dawn (early flowering large plant with excellent applications for primary use and for breeding, excellent rust resistance and above average thrips resistance)

Far Above The World (a tall giant, mid to mid-late season, with excellent permacultural attribute and breeding potential, high rust and thrips resistance)

Elven Sunburst (profuse bud production with extremely high rust resistance and moderate thrips resistance)

Ancient Solar Flare (profuse flowering mid-late season, excellent rust resistance and moderate thrips resistance)

Misty Mountains Cold (small diploid, early-early season, with exceptional thrips and rust resistance and breeding value for both)

Samwise The Brave (small diploid, early-early season, with exceptional thrips and rust resistance and breeding value for both)

Evening Substance (very tall diploid, mid-late season, with strong multiple branching and lots of buds, first generation seedling from H. vespertina with good thrips resistance, high rust resistance and excellent breeding value. First known introduction from H. vespertina, which opens many avenues for breeding exploration)

Hemerocallis fulva 'Korean clone' Apps 1984 accession (exceptional fertile triploid species clone with high breeding value that can cross with both diploids and tetraploids, midseason. My favorite fulva clone and the one I have used most in breeding. It was only imported in 1984 and so its genes are not represented in the traditional domestic daylily gene pool. I introduced the first cultivars from this clone ('Korean Queen', etc.). Like all fulva clones it is rhizomatous, which is excellent for erosion control, but should be contained in some manner with a garden setting)

Hemerocallis vespertina (thought by some to be a variation of H. citrina, but gene-typing and cladistics suggest it is much older than the citrina clade. A very tall, very late flowering yellow diploid species with tons of branches and buds. Highly fertile, showing high thrips and rust resistance, and with high breeding value for its many desirable traits. Clump forming)

Hemerocallis fulva 'Switzerland' (imported from Europe by Gil Stelter, a very robust midseason fulva clone with tall scapes and dormant foliage that is a strong performing triploid, fertile with both diploids and tetraploids. Strongly rhizomatous)

Hemerocallis fulva 'Hankow' (a very late flowering fulva clone with many branches and buds. Strong grower, good resistance to thrips and strong resistance to rust. Triploid and fertile with both diploids and tetraploids. Rhizomatous)

I regularly write blog posts about my daylily breeding program, and daylilies in general. You can read my latest posts on my blog by clicking here.

to contact me about availability email me at sundragondaylilies@gmail.com