PlantFiles: Daylily
Hemerocallis 'Kwanso'

I have what I have been told is a Kwanso. The blooms last 4 to 5 days and it grows young plants after the blooms die from the flower stalk. Does this sound right.

Many of the daylilies list on this page are H. fulva 'Flore Pleno' and not H. fulva 'Kwanzo',

H. fulva 'Flore Pleno'
[HYPERLINK@www.hemerocallis-species.com]
H. fulva 'Kwanzo'
[HYPERLINK@www.hemerocallis-species.com]

Here are the photographs of both forms and a variegated Kwanzo.
H. fulva 'Kwanzo'
[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]
H. fulva 'Flore Pleno'
[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]
H. fulva 'Kwanzo Variegata'
[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]

There are many variations in the H. fulva 'Flore Pleno' and H. fulva 'Kwanzo' some of which are very pretty and others less so. Has anyone collected either form in the wild and do you have GPS coordinates? I recently posted this picture with the location where the H. fulva 'Flore Pleno’ was collected. The area has been abandoned for over 75 yeas for a dam project. The County mows the roadside several times a year and these daylilies keep coming back each year.

[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]

Is anyone interested in documenting in Google Earth where wild specimens of H. fulva with interesting color and form morphs can be collected?

Mike
Nutley, NJ

I have had this plant growing in my garden for over three years now. I don't like it and I will tell you why. It does not produce uniform blossums. Often times the blooms are so twisted that they are almost painful to look at. Every now and then you may get the almost perfect blossum but having the plant take up precious space in my garden is not worth it to me. One positive thing I can say about it is it is a very robust grower. Too bad it falls short on every other aspect in my opinion.

This is indeed a unique looking daylily. A plant that has
'roots' which literally go back in time.

A true original cultivar that deserves the respect
it seldom receives. I have many growing at our home.

I was given this plant a few years ago and was told it was not a daylily. It survived flooding from Katrina and subsequent neglect for a year and multiplies like crazy. Had a little aphid problem this spring when new leaves emerged. Otherwise pest free.

We don't get much sun, so I planted these in large pots so I can move them around. Doing very well.

I have some that were started by my great grandparents 50 years ago and they are still growing strong. They do need dividing every other year, but otherwise are carefree.

I bought a house last fall, and this spring we started preparing a flower bed where the previous owner had placed a bunch of black plastic and landscaping rock. A few months later, we noticed a couple of fans growing. We left them in place to see what would surprise us, and this daylily bloomed. This must be the hardiest of the hardy!

I have found this plant to be a good bloomer and pest free. I have also found that with additional feeding and water this will rebloom in Georgia in zone 8.

I have a bed of these lilies in my garden from my wife's grandparents. They also grow in other patches around our neighborhood. (Baltimore, Maryland, USA). They grow very well with little maintenance and modest light (tree-shaded yard so they get partial-day direct sunlight).

All I have to do is clean the dead leaves out in late fall or early spring, and to thin them out a bit. They reproduce quite well by themselves and will fill the bed too densely unless you move some bulbs elsewhere each year or two.

Beautiful, complex blossums. They don't last more than a few weeks for me, and don't last long when cut, but they are worth the wait. FWIW, I'm a very amateur gardener, and if I can grow these successfully, anyone can. ;-)

This Kwanso type of hemerocallis is the original daylily plant. These came from Japan decades ago and are parent to the common roadside orange daylilies growing here in Pennsylvania. Mine has variegated leaves, i.e. striped with white. Semi-double orange flowers - apparently the degree of ruffling varies with the plant. This info came from our local daylily expert and hybridizer in Northeaster PA whose farm I visited yesterday. Very vigorous and all parts are edible. With daylilies, the more fragrant they are, the sweeter they taste - or so I've heard! ... Linda

I grow this in Belfast, Ireland and find it is a good, if slightly agressively spreading, plant with a nice soft orange colouring. Flowers are a little on the course side, but it is very reliable. Works well in massed planting.

I have grown KWANSO in two vastly different climates, Kentucky and Florida, and have found it to be a good plant in both. In some situations, the fact that it is an aggressive spreader could be a drawback, but its hardiness is great.