Daylily 'Strawberry Candy'
Hemerocallis 'Strawberry Candy' · Asphodelaceae
Ruffled, strawberry-pink flowers with a rose-red eye and edge and a golden throat. Winner of the Stout Medal, the highest daylily award, in 1998.
- Size
- 2 ft tall, 24 in wide
- Zones
- 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun to part sun
- Flowers
- Late June to early September
- Pets
- Toxic (severe)
- Job in a bed
- Drift
A bed built around daylily 'Strawberry Candy'
The planner designed this bed around daylily 'Strawberry Candy' when this page was made: a 12 × 6 ft (3.7 × 1.8 m) English border in zone 6, full sun. It chose the other plants from the 966 that suit those conditions, and says below why daylily 'Strawberry Candy' stands where it does.
The plants
- 1 Daylily 'Strawberry Candy' × 3, pink
- 2 Winter heath × 4, white
- 3 Sea thrift × 5, pink
- 4 Tatarian aster 'Jindai' × 4, purple
- 5 Wild quinine × 5, white
- 6 Silver sage × 1, silver leaves
- 7 Schubert's allium × 3, pink
- 8 Autumn crocus × 12, lavender
Why this plant
- The only trumpets. The others are bells, globes, daisies and others. Shape reads at a distance, where colours blur.
- The only medium leaves here. The rest are fine and bold. A change of leaf keeps plants distinct when nothing is in flower.
Why here
- In the middle. At 2 ft it is the step between silver sage (12 in) in front and Tatarian aster 'Jindai' (4 ft) behind: each is seen over the one before.
- 3 plants in one group. Massed, one kind reads as a single shape. Scattered, it would look spotty.
Why now
- In flower for 11 weeks. From late June to early September.
- Fills a gap. For two of those weeks nothing else on the plan is in flower.
Planned as an English border: 5 of the 5 groups (100%) are drifts, longer along the bed than they are deep. The flowers run from late January to early November: 39 weeks in all. The bed is balanced: the left half carries 47% of the visual weight and the right half 53%.
The planner's own design check: 11 Excellent, 6 Good.
Open this bed in the planner Change its size, the sun or the style, move plants about, or swap one for another.
Where daylily 'Strawberry Candy' goes in a border
At 2 ft it belongs in the middle of a bed. In the planner's ten height classes it is medium (24 in to 2½ ft).
Its job: drift. Planted in a small group of three or five, and repeated further along in the other number.
A reliable rebloomer with a neat habit, and one of the best-selling daylilies ever. The eye pattern reads well from a distance.
- Repeat-flowering colour
- The middle of a sunny border
- Mass planting
What to plant with daylily 'Strawberry Candy'
Plants recorded as good partners for it, and what each pairing does:
- Shasta daisy 'Becky': in flower together for 10 weeks, from early July.
- Salvia 'May Night': in flower together for three weeks, from late June.
- Dwarf fountain grass 'Hameln': in flower together for seven weeks, from late July.
Questions about daylily 'Strawberry Candy'
Does daylily 'Strawberry Candy' need sun or shade?
Daylily 'Strawberry Candy' grows in full sun (6 or more hours of direct sun a day) and part sun (4 to 6 hours of sun, including some afternoon sun).
It wants ordinary well-drained soil, of average fertility, and a good soak in dry spells.
What zones does daylily 'Strawberry Candy' grow in?
USDA zones 4 to 9. It is hardy to zone 4, which means it survives winter nights down to about −20 °F (−29 °C).
Gardening in Canada? Use the USDA zone for your town: Canada's own zone map uses different numbers.
When does daylily 'Strawberry Candy' flower in my zone?
In zone 5 it flowers late June to early September. As a summer flower it moves about half a week for every zone: earlier where it is warmer.
| Zone 4 | Early July to early September |
|---|---|
| Zone 5 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 6 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 7 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 8 | Late June to early September |
| Zone 9 | Mid June to early September |
Worked out from Hopkins' bioclimatic law: spring arrives about four days later for each degree of latitude north, and one zone is roughly two degrees. A warm spring or a cold one moves any garden two weeks either way.
How far apart should daylily 'Strawberry Candy' be planted?
20 in (50 cm) apart, from the middle of one plant to the middle of the next. That is a little closer than its full width of 24 in (60 cm), so a group knits into one patch.
It grows 2 ft (65 cm) tall. Give it the full distance from anything taller, or it will lean out towards the light.
How many daylily 'Strawberry Candy' plants do I need?
At 20 in apart, set out in staggered rows:
- 4 to fill 10 square feet (about 1 m²)
- 7 for a single row 10 ft (3 m) long
- 14 to fill a 4 × 8 ft bed on its own
In a mixed border, plant it as a group of three or five, with a second group further along in the other number.
In the bed above, the planner used three in one group.
Is daylily 'Strawberry Candy' poisonous to cats?
Yes: severe toxicity to cats. Extremely poisonous to cats: eating even a small amount, including pollen, can cause kidney failure. Not considered poisonous to dogs or people.
It is not recorded as toxic to dogs.
Rated from the ASPCA. Where references disagree, the more cautious rating is used.
Is there a pet-safe plant like daylily 'Strawberry Candy'?
These come closest to doing what daylily 'Strawberry Candy' does, and no toxicity is recorded for them:
- Coneflower 'Cheyenne Spirit': the same job in a bed, the same size, the same flowering time and the same colour.
- Musk mallow: the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 4 in taller, fine leaves, not medium.
- Garden phlox 'Bright Eyes': the same job in a bed, the same flowering time and the same colour; 6 in taller, wants moist soil.
Matched the way the planner's Swap button matches plants: the same job in a bed, then size, then flowering time.
What flowers after daylily 'Strawberry Candy'?
Daylily 'Strawberry Candy' is over by early September. These start as it finishes and carry the same spot on, so it never goes flat:
- Garden chrysanthemum: from mid September to late October, 24 in tall.
- Bottle gentian: from late August to early October, 20 in tall, to stand in front of it and cover its fading stems.
- Blue mistflower: from late August to mid October, 2½ ft tall.
What does daylily 'Strawberry Candy' look like in winter?
Daylily 'Strawberry Candy' holds some of its leaves into winter, more in a mild year or a sheltered spot, and they look tired by March. Cut the old ones off as new growth starts.
More Hemerocallis
- Citron daylily Hemerocallis citrina
- Daylily Hemerocallis
- Daylily 'Catherine Woodbery' Hemerocallis 'Catherine Woodbery'
- Daylily 'Chicago Apache' Hemerocallis 'Chicago Apache'
- Daylily 'Happy Returns' Hemerocallis 'Happy Returns'
- Daylily 'Hyperion' Hemerocallis 'Hyperion'
- Daylily 'Pardon Me' Hemerocallis 'Pardon Me'
- Daylily 'Purple d'Oro' Hemerocallis 'Purple d'Oro'
- Daylily 'Ruby Spider' Hemerocallis 'Ruby Spider'
- Daylily 'Stella de Oro' Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro'
- Lemon daylily Hemerocallis lilioasphodelus
- Tawny daylily Hemerocallis fulva
In these guides
Zone guides: Zone 4 · Zone 5 · Zone 6 · Zone 7 · Zone 8 · Zone 9
Every fact on record
- Type
- Perennial
- Size
- 2 ft (65 cm) tall, 24 in (60 cm) wide
- Plant
- 20 in (50 cm) apart
- Height class
- Medium (24 in to 2½ ft)
- Place in the bed
- Middle
- Flowers
- Late June to early September; trumpets; pink, red
- Leaves
- Medium texture, semi-evergreen; green
- Shape
- Arching, clumping
- Hardy in
- USDA zones 4 to 9
- Light
- Full sun, part sun
- Soil
- Average, well-drained
- Water
- Moderate
- Feeding
- Light, in spring
- Family
- Asphodelaceae
Checked against ASPCA poison lists. Flowering times are for zone 5: later in colder zones, earlier in warmer ones. Toxicity and spread information is a general gardening guide, not veterinary or medical advice, and invasive status varies by region. If a person or pet eats a plant, contact poison control or a vet. Check your local invasive species list before planting anything with a spread warning.