Hemerocallis Strawberry Candy Daylily | Award-Winning Rebloomer for Your Garden

The Strawberry Candy daylily is a celebrated perennial featuring 4.25-inch coral-pink blooms with a red eye zone and golden-green throat, known for its reliable reblooming from midsummer through fall across USDA zones 3–9.

Few perennials pack the color punch and extended bloom season of Hemerocallis ‘Strawberry Candy.’ Introduced in 1989 by hybridizer Stamile, this tetraploid daylily stacks awards—including the American Daylily Society’s highest honor, the Stout Silver Medal—and delivers strawberry-pink flowers that stay open for 16 hours or more. For a Midwest border or a Southern container garden, it thrives with basic care and returns year after year.

What Makes Strawberry Candy Daylily a Standout?

The flower itself does the talking. Each 4.25-inch bloom shows a strawberry-pink blend with a darker rose-red eye zone and a golden-green throat, all edged in a fine red picotee. This is a tetraploid daylily, meaning thicker petals and richer color saturation than many diploid varieties. The plant reaches 18–24 inches tall with scapes rising to 26 inches, spreading 18–36 inches wide.

What Awards Has This Daylily Won?

‘Strawberry Candy’ earned the Stout Silver Medal in 1998, the highest award from the American Daylily Society. Its other recognitions include the Award of Merit (1996), the Don C. Stevens Award for Best Eyed Cultivar (1994), and the Annie T. Giles Award for Best Small Flower (1995). It also received an Honorable Mention in 1993.

Planting Strawberry Candy Daylily: Step by Step

Spring or fall planting works, as long as the ground is workable and you give the roots time to settle before temperature extremes hit.

1. Choose the site. Full sun is best—at least 6 hours of direct sunlight daily. Partial shade works but reduces bloom count. Poor drainage kills daylilies faster than anything else, so pick a spot where water doesn’t pool.
2. Prepare the soil. Dig a hole 6 inches wider than the container and the same depth as the root ball. Loosen the soil around the hole.
3. Trim the roots if using a container. For plants from plastic pots, trim the bottom 2 inches of roots and soil off to encourage new root growth outward.
4. Set the crown. Place the root ball so the top sits slightly higher than the surrounding soil level. Back-fill with soil, firm gently, and water thoroughly until the soil settles around the roots.
5. Apply fertilizer. A balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer in spring gives the plant a strong start. An optional complete plant food application at the same time can boost first-year vigor.

Strawberry Candy Daylily: Specs at a Glance

Routine Care for Maximum Blooms

Once planted, Strawberry Candy daylily is low-maintenance. The key habits that keep it flowering heavily into fall are watering discipline, deadheading, and occasional division.

Watering. During the first 6 weeks after planting, water every 2–4 days to help establishment. After that, the plant needs about an inch of water per week. Increase watering during hot, dry periods when the plant is actively blooming. Established plants rarely need watering except during extended dry spells—check soil moisture before adding more.

Deadheading and scape removal. Remove spent blooms daily to keep the plant looking tidy. Once all the buds on a single scape have finished flowering, cut the entire scape at ground level. This signals the plant to produce new scapes instead of putting energy into seed production, and it’s the single most effective step for encouraging rebloom.

Winter preparation. After the first frost, cut the remaining foliage back to 6–8 inches from the ground. Apply a 2–3 inch layer of mulch for insulation, especially in zones 3–5. In milder zones, the semi-evergreen foliage may persist through winter.

Fertilizing. A light application of balanced granular fertilizer in early spring is usually enough. Avoid heavy nitrogen applications mid-summer, which can promote foliage at the expense of flowers.

Common Mistakes That Hurt Bloom Performance

• Poor drainage. Daylilies tolerate many soil types but rot quickly in standing water. Amend clay-heavy soil with compost before planting.
• Insufficient sun. Less than 5 hours of direct sunlight cuts bloom quantity dramatically.
• Overwatering established plants. Once rooted in, daylilies are drought-tolerant. Let the soil dry between waterings.
• Trying to grow from seed. ‘Strawberry Candy’ is a hybrid—seeds will not produce the same plant. Always use divisions.
• Leaving spent scapes. Each uncut scape signals the plant to stop producing new bloom stalks. Cut them as described above.
• Dividing too late. Divide in late summer or early fall after blooming, not after the first frost. This gives roots time to establish before winter.

When and How to Divide Strawberry Candy Daylily

Divide every 3–4 years (every 2 years for reblooming types) to keep the plant vigorous and flowering well. Wait until late summer or early fall after the bloom cycle finishes.

Dig up the entire clump, shake off loose soil, and separate the fans by pulling or cutting through the crown. Each division should have at least 3 fans and a healthy set of roots. Replant the divisions 12–18 inches apart at the same depth as before, then water thoroughly. The new divisions will establish before winter and bloom the following summer.

Pest and Disease Watch

Strawberry Candy is rated as susceptible to daylily rust (3.3 on the American Daylily Society’s scale) and can attract mites, aphids, and thrips. Monitor the undersides of leaves for orange pustules (rust) or stippling (mites). A strong spray of water knocks back most insects. For rust, remove affected leaves and avoid overhead watering to reduce spread. The plant tolerates urban pollution well and handles heat and humidity without complaint.

Rebloom Checklist: Getting That Second Flush

Follow this sequence and the odds of a strong second bloom window increase significantly, especially in zones 5–8 where summer heat lingers into early fall.