Daylilly - An Easy to grow beauty

Its botanical name is Hemerocallis, which means "beautiful for a day." The name reflects the reality that daylilies' blooms last for only one day.

Did you know the Ancient Chinese people used them for food ? The flower buds were palatable, digestible and nutritious. The root and crown were found to be good pain reliever.

Originally, they only came in were yellow, orange, and fulvous red, and today we have colours ranging from near-whites, pastels, yellows, oranges, pinks, vivid reds, crimson, purple, nearly true blue and fabulous blends. There is now over 32,000 registered daylillies. You will find  many types to choose from which includes double daylilies, dwarf daylilies, and spider daylilies.

Daylilies(zones 4-9) love sun  and will tolerate part-shade, need well-drained soil enriched with organic matter to bloom well. They need a 10-10-10 fertilizer just once a year---in early spring. Feeding too much causes excess foliage and no flowers. Daylilies need weekly watering when there is no rainfall. Mulching with wood chips, grass clippings or shredded leaves is also recommended.

Proliferations are those little "plants" you may find growing on the bloom scape. When the scape starts to turn brown below the proliferation, cut the scape above and below the proliferation and root. This will be a clone of the "mother" plant.

Daylilies are easy to grow perennials which multiply each year. Dividing should be done when ever the "clump" gets too big as crowding will result in a decrease in the number of blooms. Dividing is usually necessary every 4-5 years.

Dig a hole, make a mound of dirt in the bottom of the hole, spread the roots over the mound, final planting depth should be no more than one inch above where the foliage and roots meet, fill in with dirt making sure there are no air pockets, water and watch them grow!

There are numerous varieties of daylilies which includes dormant, evergreen, and semi-evergreen daylilies. Dormant daylilies are robust and capable of flowering through the whole summer season.

Although, they halt growing after the season of flowering. Evergreen daylilies are capable of creating brand-new foliage in hotter winter weather.

Its petals are ruffled and they also consist of several colors but dormant daylilies have more shades. Semi-evergreen daylilies normally turn dormant during wintry climates however retain their leaves in warmer winter climates. Same as dormant and evergreen daylilies, some semi-evergreen daylilies have ruffled petals.

~Happy Planting ~

Kym

The photos are from my garden