Daylilies: To survive or thrive?

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Daylilies have a reputation as tough plants. They tolerate heavy clay soils, settle into lightly shaded nooks and can withstand summer droughts. But surviving in the garden is very different from thriving in the garden, especially when it comes to daylilies achieving maximum flower power.

Daylilies, as rugged as they are, do indeed have needs, and while these plants don’t have to be pampered, a little TLC goes a long way. A quick look at the fabulous flower displays at any South Carolina daylily farm in the late spring will prove the point.

How can you grow dazzling daylilies like the ones cultivated by commercial farms? Simple—just follow their tips.

For Peggy Jeffcoat of Singing Oakes Garden (singingoakesdaylilies.com) in Blythewood, it’s all a matter of location. “My best advice is select a proper site—one that receives at least six hours of sun and is away from tree roots,” she says. “Plant shallow. Only 1 inch of dirt should be above the crown in humus-rich, well-draining soil. Once established, water, water, water.” 

Bob Roycroft of Roycroft Daylily Nursery (roycroftdaylilies.com) in Georgetown, seconds Jeffcoat’s suggestions. “Irrigate long enough for water to reach deep into the soil,” he says.

This means a spritz here, and a splash there won’t have much benefit. Drip irrigation is one way to keep daylilies growing strong all season. Another solution: Give your daylilies a long, thorough soaking with a garden hose once a week when the rains don’t come. Adding 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch around the plants will help stabilize ground moisture between watering sessions.

Roycroft is a firm believer in fertilizing daylilies, but notes, “how often you fertilize will depend on your soil. If the foliage looks nice and green, then you are probably OK with your program.” Mixing in generous amounts of compost while turning over the soil at planting time and applying a balanced time-release fertilizer in early spring, provides a one-two nutrient punch to get daylilies off to a great start during their first few years in the garden.

If you want to extend the daylily “show-off season,” Jeffcoat suggests selecting daylilies that rebloom. “Some will send up scapes [flower stalks] two, three or sometimes four times during the bloom season,” she says. Deadheading spent blooms is another way to encourage more flowers.

Reblooming cultivars are the current darlings of daylily breeders, so they won’t be hard to find at nurseries this spring. Simply ask for reblooming selections or check the plant tags for “RE” in the description.

Tip of the month

Prefer to direct sow seeds in the garden? Well, sling away, backyard grower, but let the sun shine, shine, shine on the soil of such plant delights as impatiens, lettuce, ageratums, nicotiana, balloon flowers, petunias, coleus and osteospermums. Their seeds germinate best while basking in the full energy of direct sunlight. Sprinkle these plants-to-be over the growing ground and then lightly pat them into the soil. Since the seeds are so close to the surface, be sure to keep them evenly watered until sprouts appear, and then thin the young plantlets to their proper spacing requirements.

In March’s garden

  • Row, row, rowing your vegetable garden again this year? For a more efficient use of growing space, think about converting to rectangular beds. To make them easy to reach into, don’t construct beds more than 4 feet wide.
  • Before garden chores get into full spring swing, start doing a moderate amount of stretching exercises to be limbered up for all the pushing, pulling, stooping and bending to come.
  • Unless you need a rampant, fragrant groundcover, the best mint is contained mint. Pot up this fragrant and useful herb to keep its wandering ways down to a minimum.
  • Migratory garden friends on the wing should be returning now, so roll out the welcome mat for them by cleaning out bird houses and giving the bird bath a good scrubbing.

L.A. JACKSON is the former editor of Carolina Gardener magazine. Contact him at lajackson1@gmail.com.