Growing Daylilies Together

Watering

Daylilies love their feet wet, but don't like sitting in standing water.

• An ample supply of water will definitely increase the number of buds and the size of daylily blooms.
• As with most plants, an ample supply of water in the spring is especially important as this is the most active growth time.
• Saturating the soil twice weekly as deep as 8-10 inches into the soil, is more beneficial than surface waterings.
• Caution 1: Water later in the day to prevent foliage burn, this will also conserve water as less will evaporate.
• Caution 2: Watering extemely late in the evening can cause spotting on blooms that are considered nocturnal.

Fertilizing

Mulching

Mulching, although not essential, generally contributes to better soil conditions after it has broken down and been tilled iin. Mulch also helps to retain moisture, leaving a smaller environmental foot print, not to mention savings in watering costs.

Grooming

Many daylily enthusiasts and gardeners love to WOW their visitors by keeping an impecable garden environment. Here are some tips about keeping your daylilies looking pristine without hurting the plant.

• Many gardeners that do not hybridize, deadhead the spent blooms at the end of the day. This helps to keep the dead tissue from impeding the next days bloom. Also, some of the newer daylilies can be 8 inches in size or larger and leave a sloppy mess the next day.
• If you hybridize, be sure to use scissors or a knife and cut no more than 1/2 of the bloom away. The act of fertilization occurs in about an hour or two after pollination, so the ovary is fertilized by early evening.

Weed Control

A gardener's full time job! Some effective weed controls are the use of large mulch nuggets applied to the top of the soil, or nursery cloth, but this author prefers Lumite a wooven plastic, in which you can burn holes through with a torch where you want to plant your daylilies.