To say I love daylilies is an understatement. Okay, I think I’ve said that before, so maybe it’s true about flowers in general. Anyway, daylilies are one of the easiest, low-maintenance perennials to grow. They can be ignored and they’ll be fine, but you’ll be rewarded with outstanding blooms, if you give them lots of love, including good growing conditions. I have a bunch of daylily goodies to share with you, so let’s get started with some great Tips for Growing Daylilies.
A Little Education About Daylilies (Hemerocallis)
We aren’t talking about hemerocallis vulva (a/k/a orange ditch lilies) here. Sometimes when gardeners hear “daylilies” they immediately tune out, because they are thinking all daylilies are invasive and ugly like the common orange ditch lily. From a collector’s perspective, I’m here to tell you all daylilies are NOT the same. There are so many wonderful varieties of daylilies that it’s easy to get addicted. Ask me how I know.
Daylilies are NOT grown from bulbs and are not related to the lilies grown from bulbs (lilium) at all. The roots of a daylily plant are fibrous, clumping, fleshy masses that store water.This post contains affiliate links. If you click on
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This little beauty is Siloam June Bug.
Reblooming Daylilies
I have quite a collection of daylilies (over 60 different varieties) and my favorites are the rebloomers. In my Zone 4b gardens, I don’t always get rebloom, but I find that lots of rebloomers are constant bloomers.
Any of the “returns” series fall into that constant bloomer category. Happy Returns is probably the most popular in this category. There’s also Rosy Returns, Red Hot Returns, Fragrant Returns, When My Sweetheart Returns, Passionate Returns, Stephanie Returns, etc., etc. This sweet little Passionate Returns is one of my favorites this year. Stella d’ Oro daylilies are a very popular reblooming daylily as well.
Check out these beauties:
Tips for Growing Daylilies – Where to Plant
Daylilies aren’t too picky about soil; although, they grow best in fertile, well-drained soil. Also, daylilies do best in full sun, but will also be okay in partial sun. Remember daylilies (and most other perennials) can be moved to a different location in your gardens if they aren’t doing well in the area you have them planted.
Meet stunning Itza Pink Teddy.
Tips for Growing Daylilies – Care & Maintenance
Watering & Mulching for Daylilies
During their first growing season, daylilies should be watered during dry weather and for several weeks after they are planted. This will help them get established more quickly. Rather than watering every day, water twice a week if it doesn’t rain, but water deeply, making sure the water soaks down into the root zone. Mulching around daylilies will help keep the soil moist and help to control weeds.
Deadheading Daylilies
Each daylily flower lasts just one day. To keep the plants looking their best, snap off the spent flowers, but be careful not to disturb nearby buds. As the scapes finish blooming, cut them back to the base of the plant to keep the plants looking tidy and prevent them from putting energy into seed production. When I’m deadheading, I will also tidy up the foliage, removing any yellow leaves.
This is Tropical Heatwave
Fertilizing Daylilies
It isn’t necessary to fertilize daylilies and I didn’t fertilize at my last home because the soil was awesome. At my new home, I fertilize my daylilies in the spring with a slow release fertilizer. I simply sprinkle Osmocote around the base of the plant and work it into the soil a bit, before applying a fresh layer of mulch. I believe adding this fertilizer has made a huge difference in my daylilies and the number of blooms on each plant.
Warrior’s Spear is one of the bolder daylilies in my gardens.
I think I need some more bold colored daylilies.
Buying Daylilies Online
I’ll buy daylilies from any place they catch my eye, but my favorite place to purchase daylilies is online. If you really want to add some different varieties to your collection, shop online. Some of my favorite online daylily sellers are Oakes Daylilies and Smokey’s Gardens. I’ve had awesome results and received great customer service from both companies.
A few things to remember when ordering online. Daylilies are usually sold by fans and they are shipped bare root with only 3 or 4 inches of leaves and stem. They come with planting and growing instructions, and I would recommend following those instructions.
This is Strawberry Candy – so sweet!
Daylily Collections
Are you a collector of daylilies like me? In order to keep track of all the daylilies I have, I created a Plant Inventory sheet that I keep in my Garden Journal. If you’re interested in getting a copy, I’ve included it in my library of Free Gardening Printables.
This photo of Inherited Wealth was taken in the evening just as the sun was shining it’s last few rays.
Lavender Rainbow is really thriving this year. It’s one of the many daylilies I moved from my former home.
Here’s a Pin to save to one of your Gardening Boards on Pinterest for future reference.
There are additional Pins at the bottom of the post. Thanks for pinning!
Heavenly Angel Ice is a new addition this year and my first ever spider daylily.
Transplanting & Dividing Daylilies
Daylilies will grow for many years without being divided. After about 4 or 5 years when the plants are getting quite large, they tend to produce more blooms if they are divided. The best time to divide daylilies is in early spring when they are just getting started, or in late summer after they have finished blooming. The easiest way to divide daylilies is to dig up the entire plant and then cut or pull the clump apart into manageable clumps. Before replanting, cut the foliage back to a height of 5 or 6″. If you need help dividing and transplanting your daylilies, check out Tips for Transplanting Perennials.
This is Custard Candy.
Like most other perennials, it takes daylilies a year or two to get established and take off, but once they do, they’ll bloom reliably for many years and just keep getting bigger and better with each passing year. That’s it for the Tips for Growing Daylilies, but I do have some more pretties I’d like to share with you.
Daylily Eye Candy
This is Indian Giver.
This is Beautiful Edgings and it’s only her second year in my gardens. I’m excited to watch this one develop.
Pure and Simple is one of the first daylilies to bloom in my gardens.
One of my favorites, because my sister sent it to me, Wild Horses.
This daylily, First Lady Barbara, was a freebie from Oakes. I’ll take free!
Need some garden inspiration, here are some other posts you’ll enjoy:
Home Garden Tour (a Virtual Stroll Through Gingham Gardens)
Small Shade Garden Transformation
Garden Decor (Lots of Creative Ideas for Your Garden)
Are Deer Chomping off your Daylily buds?
Dealing with Garden Pests
Having problems in your gardens, here are a few posts that will help:
Flower Garden Maintenance Tips
How to Deal With Weeds In Your Garden
Thanks a bunch for stopping by Gingham Gardens today. I hope you’ve enjoyed Tips for Growing Daylilies, along with some beautiful Daylily Eye Candy. The pictures I’m sharing with you today are a mere fraction of the daylilies in my gardens, so I’m sure I’ll be sharing more in the next few weeks… stay tuned.
The American Hemerocallis Society has a wealth of information on their website, if you’d like to learn more about daylilies, pay a visit when you’ve finished up here.
Do you have daylilies in your gardens? What are your favorites? Please leave a comment and let me know, or feel free to email a picture.
Happy gardening,
Joanna
p.s. Follow Gingham Gardens on Pinterest for lots of great gardening ideas and tons of gardener’s eye candy.
p.p.s. You can pin these pictures by hovering in the upper left-hand corner. Pin away! There’s a big pin at the bottom of the page too. Thanks a bunch!
A few of my favorite gardening things:
Pins to Save to Pinterest:
