Red Hot Returns has brilliant cherry red, ruffled blossoms with a bright yellow halo and an apple green throat. The flowers rest just above the dark green foliage like a bouquet.
It is a vigorous grower that sends up several scapes per fan, blooming from early July and repeating into fall. Each flower stays open 16 hours or more.
What it looks like
Flowers about 4 inches across with ruffled petals in brilliant cherry red, a bright yellow halo around the center and an apple green throat. Each bloom lasts a day, but many buds open in turn on branched scapes rising to about 28 inches above a fountain of long, arching, strap-shaped dark green leaves. The foliage clump is about 17 inches tall and 18 to 24 inches wide. At peak bloom cherry red flowers sit just above the dark green foliage like a bouquet.
Growing it with lavender
Its cherry red flowers keep color going beside lavender from summer into fall 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 4 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: Cherry red with a yellow halo and apple green throat
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Foliage: Dark green
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Growth habit: Arching, fountain-like clump
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Mature size: 24–28 in tall × 18–24 in wide
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USDA hardiness zones: 4–9
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Light: full sun, part sun to part shade
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Bloom start: Early-July
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Peak bloom: Late-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.