What Is An Orange Tiger Lily
Whether Lilium lancifolium or Ditch Lily it is a Tough Garden Plant
Mar 24, 2008
The orange daylily technically known as Hemerocallis fulva and the tiger lily known as Lilium lancifolium are found in full sun to part shade gardens. The orange daylily, affectionately known as ditch lily, is a robust daylily easily transplanted and hardened in.
Common Orange Daylily
The common orange daylily is a clump forming perennial plant with a trumpet like flower and long strap-like leaves. The green leaves are lancolate, longer than wider. The orange daylily prefers full sun in a moist well-draining soil. Like most daylilies it tolerates climates to zone 3.
Though the name, ditch lily, hardly describes its graceful appearance, in many Midwest gardens of the United States that is exactly where it is found. While it is not considered invasive, it is a tough plant able to withstand situations hybridized plants may tolerate less. This daylily fills in fast and requires little maintenance, making it an economical choice for difficult garden spots.
The tiger lily plant has green lancolate leaves, longer than wider. The common names, tiger or orange tiger, refers to the orange colored recurved petals dotted with black spots. This lily plant is hardy to zone 5 and tolerates moist soils and part shade. The tiger lily is a bulb plant and quickly multiples.
Asiatic and Oriental Lilies and Hemerocallis
The argument for understanding flower classification is easily made with the orange daylily, tiger lily and plants with similar names. The daylily, Hemerocallis, does not include the tiger lily. Today, the daylily gardener has a sizeable number of hybridized cultivars to choose from. None of these, so far, have been described as a tiger because of its spotted petals.
The Asiatic and oriental lily, while in the Lilium family, also have many hybridized cultivars prized for extraordinary beauty. Some of these have dotted petals, orange petals or both.
In books like Grandmother’s Garden by May Brawley Hill, orange tiger lilies are referenced with other traditional perennial plants in garden beds of 1865-1915. Although it might be tempting, it is not recommended to mix the Hemerocallis fulva with other Lilium or Hemerocallis plants in the same garden bed.
How to use Hemerocallis Fulva
The Hemerocallis fulva is a native of Asia. These days they are found in the north and northeastern parts of North America. Strict native plant gardeners may avoid this plant for their gardens. But orange dayilies would fit in rain gardens, in full sun on the rim of pond gardens or where water accumulates in narrow low ground, like a ditch. Daylily and tiger lily plants are a welcome addition to hummingbird gardens for their trumpet shaped flowers.
Whether you call it Hemerocallis fulva, orange or, with affection, ditch lily this plant is a sound consideration for tough garden places.
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