Product Field NotesCompanion Plants
Funny Valentine Daylily: Rose Red Flowers, Blue-Green Leaves
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Funny Valentine daylily has two good reasons to grow it. The first is the flowers: large, ruffled, about 5½ inches across, in a sunfast rose red with a bright green throat, held on four-way branched stems with up to 25 buds each. The second is the foliage, a fountain of arching leaves with an unusually dark blue-green tone that looks good from spring to frost.
That second reason matters in a lavender garden, where a daylily spends far more time out of bloom than in it.
Funny Valentine at a glance
| Trait | What to expect |
|---|---|
| Botanical name | Hemerocallis 'Funny Valentine' |
| Flowers | Rose red with a bright green throat, about 5½ inches, ruffled |
| Foliage | Dark blue-green, arching, about 17 inches tall |
| Size in bloom | 25 to 28 inches tall, 18 to 24 inches wide |
| Bloom | Starts early July, peaks mid-July, one main flush lasting several weeks |
| Hardiness | USDA zones 3 to 9 |
| Light | Full sun to part shade |
| Introduced | 1998 |
How it looks beside lavender
The pairing works on two levels. In bloom, rose red flowers stand out warmly against lavender's cool purple spikes, and the timing lines up with the English lavender peak. Out of bloom, the dark blue-green, strap-shaped leaves contrast with lavender's fine gray foliage in both color and form. Plant Funny Valentine behind or between groups of lavender, giving the lavender enough elbow room for air to move around its mounds. Lay out spacing in the Companion Plant Planner.
Planting a bare root daylily
- Soak: let the roots rest in water for an hour or so before planting.
- Depth: set the crown, where roots meet leaves, about an inch below the soil surface.
- Water: regularly through the first season. Once established it handles heat, clay and dry spells.
- Sun: six hours or more for the best bloom. Light afternoon shade keeps the dark petals from fading or scorching.
Care through the year
Each flower lasts one day, so snapping off the spent ones keeps the plant tidy. When a stem has finished, cut it to the base. Funny Valentine is a dormant type that dies back fully in fall and is completely hardy in Michigan; clean up the foliage after a hard frost and avoid soggy winter soil. Watch for leaf streak or leaf spot in wet summers, and expect blooms to spot a little after a rain. Divide crowded clumps every few years.
A note for cat owners
All parts of daylilies are toxic to cats. If you have cats that like to chew on plants, choose a spot they cannot reach, or pick a different companion. This is an ornamental plant and not grown for eating.
Frequently asked questions
Does Funny Valentine rebloom?
It has one main flush with low rebloom, but the many buds on each branched stem keep it flowering for several weeks.
Do deer eat daylilies?
Yes, deer find them tasty. In open rural yards, plan for some browsing or use deterrents.
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