Daylilies light up the garden

Life

July 3, 2009

By KATHIE BOND BORIE The Goshen News Fri Jul 03, 2009, 11:10 AM EDT

Though each flower lasts but a day, daylilies light up the garden with blooms for many weeks.

The common orange and yellow stalwarts have given way to color combinations too numerous to list, and browsing a catalog is enough to make a gardener swoon.

With flowers that are single or double, ruffled or smooth, large or diminutive, there are daylilies for every taste.

Best of all, daylilies ask very little of us — just a partially sunny spot and average soil.

These plants are categorized in several different ways.

Deciduous kinds go dormant in frosty weather, evergreens can tolerate frost and grow all winter in mild regions, and there is an intermediate group called semi-evergreen.

The rule of thumb is to avoid deciduous daylilies south of Zone 8 and avoid evergreens north of Zone 7.

The height provided in nursery descriptions doesn’t refer to the foliage but to the height of the flower stalk. Flower stalks on the shorter varieties grow as high as 12 inches, while stalks of the tallest reach more than 6 feet high.

Single daylilies have six petals. Double varieties have a second set of petals, often ruffled. Flower size ranges from 11/2 inches – miniature varieties – to 8 or 9 inches across. Some modern daylilies, called “tetraploids,” have twice as many chromosomes as the normal varieties, which gives them larger leaves and larger flowers

The color range of daylilies has expanded to include everything but blue and pure white, and many blossoms are bi- or tri-colored.

Growing Tips

Daylilies are stalwarts of the perennial border, but they shine in other spots, too. Vigorous daylilies make weed- and erosion-proof ground covers. Plant them on banks and roadsides or along waterways.

Use dwarf daylilies in rock gardens, in containers, or as edging for flowerbeds.

When planting several daylily varieties, arrange drifts of a single variety.

A random mix almost always looks spotty from spring through fall.

Group at least three clumps of one variety together to get both a more natural look and a stronger impact at show time.

Daylilies grow best in full sun, ideally six hours or more daily. However, in hot and dry climates, they benefit from some afternoon shade, as well as irrigation during bloom.

Also, many of the deep reds and the paler shades hold their colors better in partial shade. In any zone, daylilies will perform reasonably well with half a day’s shade; they just won’t bloom as vigorously.

Daylilies grow well in a wide range of soils. You can plant daylilies successfully almost any time the ground can be worked. The ideal time to transplant and divide is in spring as the shoots begin to emerge, or immediately after bloom.

In Zones 9 and 10, plant in early spring (February or March) or fall; avoid planting in mid-summer.

Likewise in the Southeast, don’t plant during midsummer because the high temperatures and humidity may cause new plants to rot.

When planting in fall in cold regions, move the plants at least a month before hard frosts to allow new roots to take hold against frost heaving.

Space plants 18 to 24 inches apart.

Plant at the same depth plants grew previously or slightly higher to allow for settling. Firm soil, then water.

Some cultivars can grow for 20 years without requiring division, but others may need division every second or third season.

You’ll know it’s time when you notice flower production declining.

For more tips and garden information, visit www.garden.org.

A former floral designer and interior plantscaper, Kathie Bond-Borie has spent 20 years as a garden writer/editor, including her current role as horticultural editor for the National Gardening Association.

(Courtesy of Family Features)

Text Only

Life

Finding the perfect filler for your garden
Rose mallow is a great garden filler. It’s origins are the genus malvaceae (mallow family) and if you are like I am, the mallow family gets rather confusing.

February 10, 2012 1 Photo
The ‘evolution’ of homeschooling
“Benefit number 9,267 of homeschooling.” That’s one of my favorite lines. I use it — any four-digit number is fine — when I hear something about public schooling I find objectionable, sad, mildly amusing, downright ridiculous or about which I’m simply glad to not have to bother.

February 5, 2012 1 Photo
COLUMN: It’s a new year for all you gardeners
Believe it or not it’s countdown time until spring— maybe I’m stretching it a bit but planting time at all the greenhouses is about to begin. Cuttings will be arriving in just over a month and that means activity.

February 3, 2012 1 Photo
Electoral homefront leaves mom the clear winner
It was the morning after the Iowa caucus. An eager nation had waited into the night, breathless, for an unnamed citizen in a pickup truck to arrive with the last of the votes.

January 30, 2012 1 Photo
When babies bite while nursing and other thoughts
It’s too soon for toilet training — in my house, that is. My toddling, teething baby starts his second year next month (meaning he turns 1).

January 29, 2012 1 Photo
Longtime church secretary retires
GOSHEN — For 15 years visitors to the office of St. John the Evangelist Parish in Goshen were greeted warmly with a big smile by former church secretary Veronica Gouker. And visitors or callers would soon find out what a wealth of information was stored within Gouker as she swiftly and efficiently handled requests.

January 28, 2012 1 Photo
Grapes are a passion in southwest Michigan
Lake Michigan has an impact on the rolling hills of southwest Michigan for grape growers. All the way from the Indiana/Michigan state line, north to the Kalamazoo River, and west to the city of Kalamazoo, where the bulk of the growing is done, moist lake breezes prevent the extremes of heat and cold in the spring and summer months.

January 27, 2012 1 Photo
What keeps you going during the lull of winter?
I’m never quite sure about January. First, there’s the cold, chilling to the bone. When I’m out walking the dog, a sharp western wind numbs my brain as well as my fingers.
Then there’s the realization that winter is still here for a couple of months. After the magic of the holidays, each day turns into every day.

January 23, 2012 1 Photo
ICE ESCAPADES IN ELKHART
Winter was slow in coming to the Elkhart County area this year, but now it’s arrived and with it the traditional winter activities are finally available, such as snow-shoeing, sledding and ice skating.

January 22, 2012 3 Photos
Questionable surgery leaves some mothers wounded
Amanda Gobble is angry. She’s working through it and putting her passion to good use for the benefit of others, but her frustration remains an unpleasant companion. This busy Elkhart mom is angry because her four babies were born via cesarean section, and she’s just not convinced they needed to be.

January 22, 2012 1 Photo
More Life Headlines

The Goshen Housing Authority has a $571,050 shortfall. Should the Goshen City Council use money from its $4.7-million “rainy day” fund to pay the debt and maintain the current level of service provided by the voucher program?

Life

Search Results