Daylilies

Daylilies have been called the ‘Perfect Perennial’ and sometimes, on days when I don’t have to clean and deadhead 200 of them, I think they just might be.

There are so many varieties to choose from, and most Garden Centers carry a good selection of varieties, whether they sell them in bulbs, fans, plants or all three. The varieties and colors available mean that anyone, even the fussiest of gardeners can find a home in their landscape for one.  

Once I started work in the US I became hyper aware of daylilies. They are a staple for any Garden Center and most customers who purchase them do so because they are either already in love with them or they fell in love with them after seeing one in someone else’s garden. There are societies devoted to them, blogs all about them, collectors who just have to have them and people like me, who thrown into the deep end, had to learn as much as possible, as fast as possible. 

You can read books from Sunday to Monday about daylilies. You can search online and find hundreds, if not thousands of sites, telling you how to take care of them, but ultimately I have found that each person I talk to takes care of them in their own unique way. What works for one person, doesn’t always work for another, and while there are many different ways to keep daylilies happy, there is one practice I find works wonders all across the board for daylily lovers.

Many times customers come to me and ask me why their re-blooming daylily doesn’t re-bloom, or if it does, it has a poor showing. They have issues with their daylily getting yellow leaves and looking tired after extended periods of warm and/or humid weather. They see stunning pictures of daylilies with captions like ‘low maintenance’ or ‘easy care’ and want to know why their daylily hates them and keeps trying to shame them in front of their neighbors.  

There is a fabulous little system I use on my own daylilies and it keeps them looking amazing from Spring until late Fall. Be warned, this is not what the books and the experts tell you to do, but it works, so as far as I am concerned, the books and the experts should be the ones paying attention.  

Even if you don’t have a re-blooming daylily you can still follow these steps. It will keep your daylilies looking fresh and new throughout the year, and later in the Fall when many daylilies are looking tired and run down, yours will look as fresh and happy as the day you bought them. 

When your daylily first starts emerging in the Spring, fertilize it as you usually would. I always recommend organic products where possible – better for the environment, better for us and better for your plants. Also, for those of us that can get a little heavy handed, the likelihood of burning your plant is minimal.

As it grows remove the leaves that naturally turn yellow and also clean any excess leaves around the base of the plant, this keeps the air moving around the plant and lessens the chances of insects and fungus that thrive in moist airless environments.  


As your daylily starts to form its buds fertilize again. The bulbs have stored plenty of nutrition from last year but what I am asking you to do a little later will require your daylily to rely on the stored nutrients heavily, so replacing them is very important. As your daylily flowers, remove spend flowers and once each head of flowers has finished, remove the stalk as low down into the plant as you can manage.

Once your daylily has finished flowering I want you to arm yourself with a dose of confidence and a sharp pair of pruners, take a deep breath, squash down that little voice that is screaming ‘no’ at you, and give your daylily a super haircut. And by super I mean cut it back to about 1.5” above the ground. Once you have apologized to your now bald daylily, take a few minutes to clean out the old and brown leaves that tend to form clumps in the middle of your plant.

I want you to fertilize your daylily again but I also want you to add a tablespoon of phosphate (I use Super Triple Phosphate by Fertilome). Give your daylily a good dose of water and then all you have to do is sit back and wait for your daylily to grow. You would think that it would take months for your daylily to grow back, but in actuality you will see good growth in as little as two weeks.

If you have a re-bloomer then you can expect this round of flowers to be as impressive, or close to it, as your first round of flower. If you don’t have a re-bloomer you may be surprised as some varieties will bloom again – although not always as profusely as the first time. Some just will not flower again, but it is a great way to get a beautiful looking plant, with strong new green leaves.

For the re-bloomers this practice can be repeated again after the next blooming period, just remember to fertilize again, with both your regular fertilizer and the phosphate each time.

I am including some photos of one of my daylilies before and after it received the haircut of it's life. This daylily is not known for its repeat flowers but two out of three years I have had a second, smaller round of flowers. Even without the flowers my daylily still looks as green and happy at Halloween as it did in late March when it first started to grow.

If this seems a little extreme I understand. Occasionally when I am talking to a customer about how to make their daylilies happy they are right with me until I get to the haircut, and then they look at me like I have quite possibly lost my mind. The horror in their faces would be amusing except for the fact that their feet have subconsciously turned to run from me, as if just speaking about it out loud might cause their daylilies to wither and die. 

Be brave… gardening should be fun, it should be an experiment and it should be an adventure. Challenge yourself to try something new!

In all its glory - March 2012

Cut back - June 15th, 2012

Two weeks later - June 30th, 2012

 

August 22nd - six stalks/23 buds total.