Adding DayLilies to Your Garden

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Adding daylilies to your garden can add color and variety to your garden. You do not have to be an expert gardener to create a beautiful perennial garden of daylilies. These beautiful bloomers are great to planting on slopes, around the foundation of a building, along a driveway or pathway, or just about anywhere. These hardy plants require very little to thrive and bloom again year after year.

Daylilies, in fact, will thrive in most conditions. Because they multiple and spread, daylilies make a perfect choice for erosion-prevention or as coverage for an entire area in a large landscape. Daylilies are among the lowest-maintenance choices for a garden, yet the wide selection of colorful blossoms can fit into any color scheme.

Daylilies can be planted from spring until late into August. They are resistant to drought and disease and thrive even in full shade. Few garden pests bother a daylilies and almost any soil will make a happy home for these tough garden plants. You may find these are the perfect perennial for you!

Planting DayLilies

You may purchase daylilies in pots or as bulb stock. When you plant your daylilies , you must keep in mind that they will multiply and should be not closer than two feet apart to allow plenty of room for yearly additions.

If you purchase daylilies in pots, you should plant them using your normal routine for transplanting to your garden. Simply, prepare the soil by breaking the soil, amend with organic matter, aerate, and transfer the plants into the garden.

If you purchase bulbs with roots, a common method of starting a daylily garden, and you plan to plant them right away, give them a good soak in tepid water. One hour or so is plenty of soaking time. You can add liquid fertilizer to the water if you choose but only a tiny amount. The treatment of soaking helps the bulb recover from having been dug up, packed, shipped, and helps them settle into their new homes more easily.

Plant the bulbs within a few hours of soaking if possible. If your soil has not been prepared in advance, you can ‘heel the bulbs in’ by placing them on their sides in a shallow trench and covering the roots with a light coating of soil. It is wise to prepare the soil and get the bulbs into the ground as soon as possible; avoid leaving them heeled in for longer than a day or two.

Daylilies thrive when placed in full sunlight or partial shade. They can survive in deep shade but will not do nearly as well if they do not get sun at least part of each day.

Daylilies like soil that does not become waterlogged. Loam which has been amended with organic matter is the ideal home for these plants. Good drainage and steady, moderate moisture make them very happy as well.

For each bulb, dig a hole about 18 inches deep and two feet around. Amend the soil with compost, peat moss, dry manure, or other organic material, mixing well. Keep the soil level low enough that you will have room to plant the bulb at the correct height. Soak the soil with water. Then place the bulb, root end down, at a depth so that the crown (top) of the bulb will be level with the surrounding ground. Place the bulb in place and fill around the day-lily with additional amended soil which you removed from the hole initially. Press the soil around the plant or bulb firmly but not so hard that the soil is over-compacted.

The First Two Weeks

For the first two or three weeks, water your daylilies. As they begin to become established, watering should reduce to once per week. After you know for certain the [plants] are established, only water during dry periods.

A good coat of summer mulch can keep down weeds and help hold moisture in the soil. This boost, combined with water support during dry periods, will ensure healthy foliage and repeat flowering.

When daylilies form seed pods full of seeds, a great deal of energy is drained from the plant. To prevent this, simply remove any developing seed pods. Your day-lilies will multiply just fine without allowing seeds to develop because they multiple by creating new bulbs.