The Native Day Lily

Firey colours lovely.

The japanese eat the blossoms tempura. I love this plant for it's sheer tenacity. It is an excellent starter for a garden in less than perfect conditions.

Tempura - I'd like to try it. I think they pick the buds just before they open. Is this right?

yes, that's what I understand. I've never had it though...they do the same with Hibiscus flowers too. ummm pumpkin too? time for a google. ;-)
There are sites with lists of edible flowers... one made mention of treating them before cooking because of toxicity???? boy, you really can't count of the internet can you... sad that a lot of young people don't bother to develop acumen...just google it! get the facts and the mistakes of a hundred generation reposts! whew! As an old person who has forgotten many things in the course of aging, I sometimes rely on google. Oh to be young and infallible again.

I don't think they are toxic. I've seen them eaten straight off the plant on YouTube. Yes, the the squash blossoms too - stuffed with cheese or crab meat, battered & fried. Decadent but definitely worth a try.

or lamb's quarters... taste like spinach but you won't find it at the grocers. and fiddleheads, which are being called carcinogenic, check that one out for a laugh. I think almost anything stuffed with crab meat would taste pretty good! There are shaman on some of the native reserves in Eastern Ontario that conduct seminars on wild food.

Lol i can eat just about anything stuffed with crab meat. Fiddleheads i have yet to try. Have you eaten them?

I have.. they're really bothersome to get clean and I think the ones I had were a little old. It was 40-odd years ago and as I recall, it was a case of "not my cup'o'tea!" What's ironic is that we have acres of ferns here..and a large patch of the osmunda under a pair of huge white pines. The needles that fall from the pines keep the soil acid.

wow, nature is amazing. What we pay x$ for, nature delivers for free - ah blue hydrangeas & azaleas would flourish there.

I have one rhododendron...the hardiest one! but along with the ferns under the big pines I have the native cornus. In the spring they're lovely white and look a bit like something from the Serengeti. (flat on top) They like the pH there. I did pH tests in my city garden..just too many different "gardens" to do it here. and it's pretty obvious by what's thriving as to the pH of the soil it's in.
The edge of the woods understory is very interesting...I've found hazel, ropebark, cornus, prunus (wild cherry), young beech, and apple trees all along the forest margin. I've been cutting and uprooting millions of ash seedlings since we got here 7 yrs ago...The others are finally having a chance, spring and fall they're very colourful.

Sounds like a treat. The border must be quite a sight to see in the Fall and with apples.

yes... nuts from the Hazel and Beech...and apples/crab apples from the fruit trees. I am tempted to buy a pear tree but reluctant to invest in something that may not make it through the next winter. I have a Chicago Fig which is supposed to be hardy but I chickened out and didn't plant it outdoors. Last two winters it's been in my little porch room and I keep it watered until the leaves return in the spring. It lost all it's leaves when I put it outdoors this spring..but they're filling in again. I think I'm going to plant it in the ground inside my greenhouse. (unheated) can't be a coward all my life! lol...

I heard rumors about figs being filled with wasps. Is that why they taste so good? I love figs & wish I had space for one.

I think the wasps are a seasonal curse just about everywhere. If you've seen Amy2's previous garden, she had a fig that gave her fruit, and although I'm not positive I do believe that she had it espaliered on a wall. I have so much stone that I've thought about building a south facing stone wall just to try that with the figs and maybe a kiwi. I bought the Chicago Fig because it is supposed to be cold weather hardy. I love figs, and Medjool Dates.. can't grow the dates but the figs might be a possibility.

ahh. Over here the fig trees are stuffed with straw & wrapped up like a mummy for the winter. Hope you get lots of figs. Let me know how it goes.