Patio Ponds and Gardens

Daylillies

Hemerocallis / daylilies are easy to grow, colorful, extremely accommodating and will perform pretty well under almost all conditions. They are perennial, meaning you can plant them once and enjoy them for years, and come in varieties that bloom at different times, so you can enjoy  their  colors  in your flowerbeds or borders for months  at a time.

Daylilies are properly called Hemerocallis and they differ from lilies as they do not grow from true bulbs. Instead they form clumps of long, slender, and fibrous roots and runners.
Leaves are long and slender, and grass-like, arranged opposite each other oh an the crown, giving a flattened appearance which causes the plant to be referred to as a fan. Multiple fans form a clump.

Mature Daylilies range in height from 8 inches to 5 feet, and flower sizes from 2 inches to as large as 8 inches. They will bloom the first year and for many years after, getting larger each year, and they will reach mature size in about three to four years.

Daylilies come in a rainbow of colors, and many shapes and sizes. There are different types of daylilies in bloom from late spring until autumn. A well-established clump produces daily buds and blooms for a month or more and some varieties have more than one flowering period.

Daylilies are used as specimen plants, for dependable color in shrub borders and in perennial beds, as ground covers on slopes and are even recommended for erosion control.

Easy Growers

They aren’t very picky about sunlight, but the flowers will be more prolific in filtered shade to full sun. In heavy shade, they will produce more foliage with few flowers.

Preferring well drained, well mulched soil, they can tolerate even sandy dry soil or very damp soil, again with fewer flowers.

Planting a Day lilly Bed

If the plants appear dried out from shipping soak the root mass for a half hour or so before planting. Water all plants thoroughly after planting, and continue to deep soak them for a week or so, so they get established.

They are best planted or divided in spring or autumn, but container grown plants may be planted any time. Recommended planting distance is 18 to 24 inches apart. Put each bundle into a separate shallow planting hole just a bit larger than the root mass. Add some compost before planting, and work some into the root mass.

The crown (band of white on the foliage) should be just below the surface. Set the plant so that the crown is no deeper than 1 inch below the surface of the soil.

Daylily gardens should be mulched well with peat or compost in spring.They don’t really need much fertilizer, and if fact will turn yellow if their is too much nitrogen fertilizer in the ground. If you must, just add fertilizer only in the early spring just as new growth commences, and perhaps again in midsummer.

How to Maintain Your Day Lilly Bed

Daylilies grow rapidly to form dense clumps. Division is not essential but may revitalize flowering if the plants have become crowded.

Dividing is usually done after flowering, but plants will tolerate division throughout the entire growing season, except midsummer. Lift the entire clump or cluster out of the soil with a garden fork. To separate a clump into individual fans, shake the clump to remove as much soil as possible, using the water hose if necessary, then work the roots of individual fans apart.

Daylillies suffer from few pests or diseases, slugs and snails being the major hazard. Sometimes aphids or thrips can damage the flower buds and plants grown indoors can be affected by red spider mites. Except for crown rot, diseases are not an issue. Crown rot is rare but it is frequently fatal.

Having a well drained soil reduces the danger from both slugs and snails as well as potential crown rot.