Daylilies (Hemerocallis spp.) are not lilies at all, but members of the Asphodel family. The daylily in the painting is Hemerocallis fulva var. fulva, some common names are:
- Orange day-lily
- Tawny daylily
- Corn lily
- Tiger daylily
- Fulvous daylily
- Ditch lily
- Fourth of July lily
- Railroad daylily
- Roadside daylily
- Outhouse lily
- Wash-house lily
Edible daylilies
Apparently, it has become an invasive weed in large parts of the United States and Canada. It is also edible. Wikipedia tells us:
The flowers, leaves, and tubers of the orange daylily are edible. Leaves and shoots can be eaten raw or cooked when very young (or they become too fibrous). The flowers and young tubers can also be eaten raw or cooked. The flowers can be dried and used as a thickener in soup. The cooked flower buds, served with butter, taste like green beans or wax beans. The tubers are a good potato substitute.
This suggests that Americans are not making the most of the plant’s invasive tendencies.
What the daylilies mean to me
I saw these in a municipal flower bed. In late summer there are probably daylilies in most municipal plantings and back gardens in England. I liked the fibrous swords of the variegated New Zealand flax, the entirely welcome bindweed and sow thistle, the movement and the late sun.
I always try to find the soul of the things I paint or some personal meaning. These daylilies offered a meditation on birth and death, the transience of beauty, and the tenacity of life. I’m really happy with this painting, and I don’t often say that.
You might also like these paintings of cistus or these hosta leaves.