Staying close to the nest today I decided to try some Day-lily buds as a cooked vegetable. Last year I dried a lot of flowers for use in tea and soups and have been very pleased with them, also the fresh flowers were very crunchy and good in salads last summer. This year I will explore the flower buds during their 25 days of development before flowering which from what I’ve read change quite a bit in taste and nutritional value with the buds being most beneficial to eat in the last 4 days before flowering.
Day-lily bed
These few buds here are a little over 2 inches long and were delicious boiled in a small amount of water for 4 minutes. I honestly rate them as better than any cooked green beans I ever had which I also tend to enjoy, so. Here you also see my Stinging Nettle, Jerusalem Artichoke patch with Day-lilies behind them. Some Day-lilies varieties may not be totally safe to eat so I suggest you learn to recognize and stick with Hemerocallis fulva the (Tawny Day-lily) which has become a very common wild Day-lily on the east half of N.A.
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