I am a lover of Daylilies, I'm not an expert, I don't claim to be.... I just love them. I think the reason is that they give so much for so little. They take abuse and keep on blooming. They take drought, and rain and early frosts. They take slug invasions and mowing down, and yet still give my garden a mid summer show that looks for all the world like the circus has come to town. My border is a riot of red, pink, peach,l avendar, yellow, orange, and even maroon, all mixed in with bi colours. I haven't kept track of the names of a lot of my daylilies. Some I just bought by colour. Others in the sale rack, they'd lost their tags. The few that I know the names too have been engulfed by the others in the border and I'd be hard pressed to know for sure which root belongs to which flower. This isn't the fault of the plant, but of my own poor record keeping. Yes one day I will put name tags on All of my plants. Yes of course I will!
Daylilies will bloom with less than 6 hours of sun a day, but they will not thrive. They enjoy a sunny to partially shaded spot with more than 6 hours of sun daily. They will tolerate drought but reward you with more blooms if watered regularily, about an inch a week. They require good drainage and might rot if left in standing water. They appreciate a neautral to slightly acid soil with added humus. Fertilize in early spring with a granular low nitrogen fertilizer and top dress with well rotted manure. Fertilize again in late summer, not too late though, and not too much, as you don't want to encourage growth so late in the season.
All that said many will also grow in the most neglectful situations and still reward you with gorgeous blooms. I think that is why they just have to find a way into most gardens!
Daylilies can be the easiest and hardest of plants to divide. Easy because just about any division will grow. And hard because you had better build muscles to pry some of them apart.
Dig a clump out of the ground and hose it off. Some plants will just snap apart into new sections. Others will be easily cut. But still others require 2 garden forks, 3 strong men yanking and prying, and Zena the warrior princess with her sword. Pry then apart, hose them down ( the roots, not the 3 strong men and Zena) and continue to divide. You will be rewarded with many smaller, new plants. This is best done in the spring, but can also be done in the fall, just not too late. now you can cut the foliage back to at least half, to put strength into the roots. And the roots can be cut back to 8", but I've never had to do this. You can dip the roots in a weak bleach solution too if you want to, as a fungicide. 1tsp to 1 gallon of water should do it. I haven't found the need to do this. Place each new division 18" apart in a hole about a foot across with rotted manure and compost added. Fertilize lightly and water well. The plants will perform better with well amend soil. Division is necessary about every 2 to 4 years depending on how crowded the plant is, and how few blooms it has.
You can grow Daylilies from seed. I haven't tried this yet, but intend to start since I've had some seeds given to me by a good friend. By doing this you might end up with several new hybrids. I won't try to explain hybridizing here,. others can do it much better than I, but I will give you simple seeding tips.
Place fresh seeds in the fridge to break dormancy, a few weeks should do it. Then soak the seeds, or nick them for ease of germination. Plant in a good composted seedling mix at a depth of twice their width (no you don't need to measure!) and keep watered. Germination should take place in 3 weeks. When the plants are easily handled move them to their nursery bed and keep them watered. Slugs and snails may be a problem and might require them spending the first winter in the greenhouse. (We all have a greenhouse, right!)
Proliferation is another method of starting new plants. Occasionally you might notice a small group of leaves, like a tiny plant, growing on one of the stems or scapes. This is a new plant, and if you can get it to root then you have a tiny replica of it's parent plant. Remove the proliferation with a sharp knife and dip into a rooting hormone then into a seed starting mix, or a sandy soil mix. Leave it grow for about a month before moving it to a nursery bed. Oh and it really helps to label it. I should know!!
More pics of Daylilies
Flowers, Up close and Personal
Bramley Daylilies
American Hemerocallis Society
The Daylily Exchange
Friends of the Daylilies
Gardeningfools _click on daylilies for more info here!
Oakes Daylilies
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