Big Time Happy is an improved take on a classic reblooming yellow, with fragrant canary yellow flowers about 4 inches wide, nearly an inch larger than its predecessor. The slightly ruffled petals open flat to show off the clear color.
It blooms from early summer right up to frost on a compact 18-inch plant, and each flower stays open for 16 hours or more. Use it for edging, mass plantings or containers.
What it looks like
Flat-opening flowers about 4 inches across with slightly ruffled, rounded tepals in clear canary yellow and a small green-yellow throat. Each bloom lasts a day, but many buds open in turn on branched scapes rising to about 18 inches above a fountain of long, arching, strap-shaped medium green leaves. The foliage clump is about 11 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide. At peak bloom the compact clump is covered with bright yellow flowers.
Growing it with lavender
Its canary yellow flowers are a cheerful contrast at the feet of purple lavender in the same sunny, well-drained soil.
Care
Grow in full sun to light part shade (at least six hours of sun for the best bloom) in average, well-drained soil; once established it handles heat, clay and dry spells. Hardy in zones 3 to 9. Deadhead regularly and pull spent scapes to keep new buds coming, and divide crowded clumps every few years.
At a glance
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Botanical name: Hemerocallis
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Flower color: Canary yellow
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Foliage: Medium green
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Growth habit: Arching, fountain-like clump
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Mature size: 18 in tall × 18–24 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 3–9
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Late-June
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Peak bloom: Mid-July
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Bloom pattern: Long Blooming
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Deer resistance: Susceptible
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Pollinator value: Good
Sizes and shipping
Dormant bare-root plant, sold in boxes of 25 per variety (order in multiples of 25). Bare-root plants ship or are picked up March 1–May 31 only. They are soil-free, so they may ship to every state in that window. Dormant plants often show little or no top growth on arrival; plant or heel them in promptly.