Ditch Lilies | by Kaija Savinainen | Art | The Ten Collective
Ditch Lilies Hemerocallis means "beauty for a day", and indeed most daylily flowers open in the morning and die by nightfall. I have in my large gardens a number of wild orange ditch lilies patches along with many other varieties of daylilies. Each summer’s day, I wait, I dream of the day when the flowers begin to emerge.
They burst forth in all sizes, colors, and shapes. Their birthing makes me ecstatic; I am happy…the experience leaves me filled with joy. Hours and hours of hard work rewarded in preparing the beds, keeping aggressive weeds and yes, deer, at bay yields a palette of inspirational blossoms. I love their blooms, the color, the shapes, how they sway and dance in a breeze. They have a stateliness to their demeanor; tall, elegant and enchanting. At dusk, the ditch daylilies are particularly noticeable. It is as if they are stretching skywards reaching, reaching for the heavens. They endeavour to be noticed.
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The orange ditch lily is a hardy one. She has adapted to most growing conditions. I see them growing well in ditches, fields, and almost any place one can imagine. Nothing short of total eradication seems to faze this plant. Every little bit of root shoots out to become yet another plant in that family. I’m not sure if birds are involved in the process of sending seeds out into the world?
Over the years these orange interlopers have certainly moved into and around my gardens choosing prime locations. They have barged their way into some of my prized special flower beds, elbowing their more delicate neighbours out of the way. By their nature, they thrive where other plants may not. Slowly they push out, take over, heaving my special plants out. Ditch lilies are the gypsies, the “travellers” of the plant world. They are just seeking a home and after some quiet and at times curse-filled contemplation I made the humane decision to move and relocate some of these orange invaders. I found, in my reflections, that I did not have it in me to cast them onto the composting pile that all weeds are destined for.
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One July morning at the beginnings of a sun-drenched, high humidity scorcher of a day, I began to move the ditch lily clan. I had observed in the previous weeks that a number of butterflies and other insects enjoyed sitting/resting on the tall flower stems/scapes. So, began yet another seemingly “small” garden project. I dug them up, moved them, wheelbarrow after wheelbarrow. Backbreaking work hot work. Dutifully thinking of nature, I replanted them and wished them the best of luck. Grow well, thrive, watch out for deer. The move went well.
Their tall graceful flower scapes have mesmerized me. A seed had been planted, and an idea had taken root… I was drawing her shapes in my mind. How can one NOT notice them around the countryside? I love the hint of orange in a landscape. Love the elegant flower shapes. So why not paint this plant that I had come to observe over the years. Give her some overdue credit. The orange against the blue sky, the gentle movement, and patterns of the scapes… These compositions of nature, easily driven by and taken for granted, are all there waiting to be painted.
If you “google” Ditch Lily, the question most asked is “how do you get rid of them”. Instead, I flip that thought around as I attempt to capture the energy, her happiness, her beauty. The strong bright colors,” and impressions” of the elegant, under-appreciated Hemerocallis fulva has its place on canvas to be gazed upon in the months ahead as I look forward to their re-emergence in summers to come.