ALL OF OUR BULBS AND DAY LILY PLANTS ARE SHIPPED IN POTTING MIX, ALLOWING THEM TO GROW AND STAY HEALTHY AND CAN BE STORED FOR EXTENDED PERIODS IN A COOL, DARK, DRY PLACE BEFORE PLANTING.

Basic Planting and Care for Day Lily (Hemerocallis)

Few plants are as rugged, widely adapted, or versatile as daylilies. And with more than 13,000 cultivars available, there's a size and flower color for every garden. Flowers are edible and are a cuisenes in Japan, China, and many other countries throughout the world.

Special Features

• Easy care/low maintenance

• Multiplies readily

• Tolerates dry soil

When to plant

Daylilies can be planted very successfully at any time the ground can be worked — spring, summer or fall.  Fall planted Daylilies should be mulched to prevent winter frost heaving.

Where to plant

Daylilies are sun loving flowers but they also bloom rather well in partial shade. Six or more hours of direct sunshine is preferred. Despite this preference, we are occasionally surprised to find colorful Daylily blooms under the constant shade of tall trees. Wherever some shade is present, the Daylily flowers will face away from it toward open sky.

Day Lilies will survive in just about any soil but perform best in loose loamy soil, avoid high dry spots where the soil is shallow.  Mediocre soils will be improved by adding compost, rotted leaves or wood chips, old manure, or almost any other organic material.  

Planting Depth

A hole 4-6 inches deep will be ample for most varieties and plant the Day lily up to the green part of the fan.  Spread out the roots and fill the hole again with soil, firming it with your foot. The uppermost roots, where they meet the leaves, should now be covered about ½ inch.

Soil

Day Lilies will survive in just about any soil but perform best in loose loamy soil. Sand and gravel are very poor. Mediocre soils will be improved by adding compost, rotted leaves or wood chips, old manure, or almost any other organic material.

Spacing

In a mixed perennial flower border allow a circle of 16-18 inches in diameter if the Daylily will be divided and replanted in 3-5 years. If you expect to leave the Daylily clump intact for 10-15 years, it will need a 24-30 inch space. The same applies to a Daylily flower border. In a landscape setting, such as a bank to be covered with Daylilies, space the Daylily plants in a triangular pattern with each plant 24 inches from its neighbors. 100 square feet of bank will then require 30 Daylily plants. (Multiply square footage by 0.304.) As an edging along a walk, use one short variety of Daylily and space the plants 12-18 inches apart in a single line.

Fertilizer

All plants (including Day Lilies), love an organic composty soil (such as grass clipings, old leaves, bark mulch, etc.) and is seldom deficient in plant nutrients. Composted organic matter such as horse, sheep, or cow manure, or your own compost, in either spring or fall is also a good idea for heathier and excellent bloom producing.  However, to maintain the best Daylily growth and overall health, use our Power Grow Fall Fertilizer (9-0-19 80% Slow Release) at time of planting and top dress every year there after in the fall. You do not need to dig your day lily plants for them to benefit from a fall feeding. Once the Day lily is emerging in the Spring, wait until the new growth is about 4 inches in height then use our Power Grow Four Month Spring Fertilizer with Calcium (14-0-0 17 CA). Our fertilizer is in pellet form, so it is very easy to apply.

Mulch

One to four inches of mulch will retain soil moisture and inhibit weed growth among the Daylily plants. Leaves, hay, woodchips and grass clippings are suitable, but they withdraw some of the soil nitrogen and is very slow to decompose creating a slow nutrient availability.  You may wish to add our fertilizer (see above), especially with freshly cut woodchips. Where the ground normally freezes in winter, fall-planted Daylilies should be mulched heavily the first year to prevent them from being heaved out of the ground.

Water

For best performance, Daylilies like a lot of rain, or watering, just before and after flowering during their daily flowering period. Flowers will be larger and more numerous, prolonging the Daylily bloom season.

Dividing

This may be helpful or needed after 8 to 15 years (or sooner), or it may not be necessary at all.

Pests/Diseases

Daylilies rank high on the list of plants resistant to insects and diseases and Several conditions cause discoloration to Daylily leaves. Mostly it is due to lack of nutrients.

Thrips can occasionally feed on buds or flowers, distorting the blooms and causing cork-like lesions on the flower spikes, which may then break at the affected area. Use insecticidal soap to discourage these tiny pests, and remove and destroy any infested buds or flowers.

Spider mites can infest the foliage during hot, dry weather; wash them off with a forceful water spray regularly, or use an appropriate miticide.

Yellowing leaves and brown leaf tips result from normal senescence after flowering; regular grooming will keep plants looking fresh. If foliage becomes unsightly or diseased, cut it back to the ground, treat with the appropriate fungicide, water well, and in time new and healthier foliage will appear.