Red Lane Gardens 2008
Design and photos
© Nancy Oakes
© Nancy Oakes
A short list of Daylily FAQs
When can you plant the bulbs?
Bear with me folks,....a daylily is not a bulb. The Genus Lilium has 2 branches. On one side are true bulbous lilies and all their kin. On the other side are the non-bulbous plants, including Hemerocallis, the Daylily.
Which ones bloom all summer?
None. Yes, I know that 'Stella de Oro' has that reputation, however ill-deserved it is. One of the beauties of Daylilies is the wide selection of colour and season. So, if you would like to look at the same flowers all summer, might I suggest Petunias? (only kidding....well, not really)
I can start planting in April. Why don't your plants arrive until May or June?
It has been my experience that Daylilies do not transplant well until they have actively started to grow. That means that the working relationship between photosynthesis and root production has begun. I don't start shipping until I see lots of white feeder roots appearing. Usually not before mid-May.
How late can Daylilies be planted?
Plants need 6 weeks of good growing weather for their roots to become established and anchor the plant in the soil, otherwise you run the risk of them frost heaving during the winter.
What about fertilizing?
Keeping your soil healthy is the best thing you can do for all your plants. Adding compost and keeping weeds away and insuring there is adequate moisture, either through mulch or in-ground watering should do the trick. If you are unable to add compost each year, then applying a fertilizer that is lower in nitrogen (like 7-14-14) once they are growing and again about 4 weeks later is a good alternative.
Aren't Dayliles drought tolerant?
Yes, once they are established. But they will perform considerably better if at least an inch of water per week is supplied until scapes start to appear.
Are Domants hardier than Evergreens?
Not necessarily. The foliage designation is more about how the foliage behaves than a measure of hardiness. If the original term for dormants, deciduous, had been retained, then you could easily relate it to the foliage of trees. Some loose all their foliage in the winter and others do not. The difference from trees is that Daylilies with Evergreen foliage will try to grow if given the chance, so a thaw in winter may start them growing. There are very hardy Evergreens and there are tender Dormants.
What about re-bloom?
Rebloom is, like all the other characteristics of a cultivar, defined by the hybridizer when it is registered. If your growing season is close to that of the hybridizer, then your chances of rebloom are good. For those with a shorter season, the chance then becomes rather iffy. Some cultivars do consistently rebloom for me here and I make note of them in the catalogue.
Why should I deadhead?
Dayliles do not come 'true' from seed. Each seed will produce a genetically different plant. So, if you allow seed heads to form and the seed matures, falls into the plant, germinates and grows, in a few years you will start to see flowers that don't quite look like the plant you bought. And there is always the chance that the resulting seedling could be more robust than the parent and crowd out the original plant altogether.
How does knowing the hybridizer help me decide what to buy?
While hybridizing is fairly straight forward genetics, there is a certain art to being able to see an important break...something different. Many breeders eventually specialize in a particular form or colour or season. For example, if you like Doubles like 'Scatterbrain' and 'Fresh Start', then you may want to look for other doubles hybridized by Enman Joiner.
More to follow, as they come up....
Bear with me folks,....a daylily is not a bulb. The Genus Lilium has 2 branches. On one side are true bulbous lilies and all their kin. On the other side are the non-bulbous plants, including Hemerocallis, the Daylily.
Which ones bloom all summer?
None. Yes, I know that 'Stella de Oro' has that reputation, however ill-deserved it is. One of the beauties of Daylilies is the wide selection of colour and season. So, if you would like to look at the same flowers all summer, might I suggest Petunias? (only kidding....well, not really)
I can start planting in April. Why don't your plants arrive until May or June?
It has been my experience that Daylilies do not transplant well until they have actively started to grow. That means that the working relationship between photosynthesis and root production has begun. I don't start shipping until I see lots of white feeder roots appearing. Usually not before mid-May.
How late can Daylilies be planted?
Plants need 6 weeks of good growing weather for their roots to become established and anchor the plant in the soil, otherwise you run the risk of them frost heaving during the winter.
What about fertilizing?
Keeping your soil healthy is the best thing you can do for all your plants. Adding compost and keeping weeds away and insuring there is adequate moisture, either through mulch or in-ground watering should do the trick. If you are unable to add compost each year, then applying a fertilizer that is lower in nitrogen (like 7-14-14) once they are growing and again about 4 weeks later is a good alternative.
Aren't Dayliles drought tolerant?
Yes, once they are established. But they will perform considerably better if at least an inch of water per week is supplied until scapes start to appear.
Are Domants hardier than Evergreens?
Not necessarily. The foliage designation is more about how the foliage behaves than a measure of hardiness. If the original term for dormants, deciduous, had been retained, then you could easily relate it to the foliage of trees. Some loose all their foliage in the winter and others do not. The difference from trees is that Daylilies with Evergreen foliage will try to grow if given the chance, so a thaw in winter may start them growing. There are very hardy Evergreens and there are tender Dormants.
What about re-bloom?
Rebloom is, like all the other characteristics of a cultivar, defined by the hybridizer when it is registered. If your growing season is close to that of the hybridizer, then your chances of rebloom are good. For those with a shorter season, the chance then becomes rather iffy. Some cultivars do consistently rebloom for me here and I make note of them in the catalogue.
Why should I deadhead?
Dayliles do not come 'true' from seed. Each seed will produce a genetically different plant. So, if you allow seed heads to form and the seed matures, falls into the plant, germinates and grows, in a few years you will start to see flowers that don't quite look like the plant you bought. And there is always the chance that the resulting seedling could be more robust than the parent and crowd out the original plant altogether.
How does knowing the hybridizer help me decide what to buy?
While hybridizing is fairly straight forward genetics, there is a certain art to being able to see an important break...something different. Many breeders eventually specialize in a particular form or colour or season. For example, if you like Doubles like 'Scatterbrain' and 'Fresh Start', then you may want to look for other doubles hybridized by Enman Joiner.
More to follow, as they come up....
