Day Lilies, one of natures great bounties, are an excellent food source. They can be used fresh, dried, frozen or canned. Eaten raw, baked, fried or added to other foods.
You can eat all parts, including the tubers which taste a little like a mild radish when eaten raw and like a mild potato when cooked.
Day Lily Fritters are a favorite here. For fritters, the days flower is best. You can use the day after flower or the unopened bud as well tho. The recipe I use for Day Lily Fritters is basically a pancake batter with 2 T. vegetable oil added. You can chop the Day Lilies and add to the mix and fry in a little oil. Or, you can dip the whole Lily in the batter and fry.
They're also excellent in scones. And they're very good with a little cinnamon.
You can add all parts fresh to raw salads, cook all the parts for a vegetable and cut up the tubers and boil or bake them to eat like mashed potatoes.
The day after flowers (spent and drooping) are very good in soups and stews.
Day Lilies only bloom for a day so it's good to pick them in the evening or early the next morning. The open flowers are easy to dry, just turn upside down on your drying rack or screen. The buds and spent flowers take a little longer but well worth it to have plenty for the winter. You can dig and eat the tubers year round unless the ground is to frozen to dig them up.
They are as easy to grow as they are to eat and will grow in full sun to almost full shade. They grow in almost any soil and divide themselves each year. A beautiful and nutritious addition to every yard and garden.
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