How do I care for my daylilies? 

It’s a common question and sometimes daylilies can seem confusing with respect to their maintenance.   Hemerocallis, the daylily, is not a true lily and that fact is itself a source of confusion.  To compound matters, the variability within the genus Hemerocallis is quite remarkable.  Daylilies grow from fibrous root systems and will send new growth from the expanding crown as well as from the spindle-like tuberous roots.  These swollen roots are storage features that enlarge to hold a reserve of food, helping the daylily to grow and spread.

Even though each flower lasts only a day, the flowers themselves come in a variety of colors and shapes.  A great resource regarding daylilies is the American Hemerocallis Society and the organization has a great page of frequently asked questions about caring for daylilies.

Of the frequently asked questions I received on the sales floor, people asked how to care for their daylilies.  They’d bubble with excitement at seeing a big daylily that looked like this (right). 

Don’t be deceived, I’d warn them, this is almost finished with its bloom. 

It was a teachable moment as I described how to remove the seed pods to extend the season of bloom to its fullest extent.  If it looks like a walnut, pick it off.  If it looks like a torpedo, leave it alone–it’s a flower bud.  It’s a pretty memorable rule of thumb…or green thumb.

Removing seed heads, often called deadheading, is particularly important for extending the bloom season of daylilies like Stella d’Oro, Happy Returns, Just Plum Happy, etc.  Removing the walnut shaped seed pods, and indeed the entire stem/stalk/scape after all the blooms of the stalk have finished will ensure that your repeat bloomers will be more likely to give you their full season’s worth of beauty.  It also makes the plant more attractive than with a myriad of dead stalks waving in the breeze, proclaiming “Look at me!  I’m done blooming!”

As the first flush of bloom is winding down, I become intentional about making sure it has a well balanced fertilizer with added phosphorus (a blooming plant fertilizer with a higher second number such as a 15-30-15) so that it won’t really pause too much with the heat of summer.  I find my Stella d’Oro and Happy Returns want to go dormant during the hottest part of the summer, but fertilizer and plenty of moisture help to mitigate that tendency.

You can find helpful lists of extended season bloomersalthough many garden centers will carry the plants locally. 

At the end of the growing season, as the frost kills the foliage, I remove all the dead leaves so that only the crown remains for the winter.  Fall, before the frosts arrive, is a good time to divide and transplant daylilies although the early spring before they are fully leafed is fine as well.  Once the clump is formed and leafed out, division will delay—if not prohibit—bloom and will result in a misshapen clump instead of the neatly rounded clumps that form naturally.  Some daylilies, particularly the one growing wild in parts of the Midwestern United States, can be rather invasive so careful location and planning–while always wise–becomes imperative.

Daylilies are a remarkable group of plants and are easy to grow, faithful to bloom, and can tolerate a wide variety of conditions.  It’s why daylilies have been a staple of every flower garden I’ve ever had.

When I worked at Home Depot, there was always confusion when the Asiatic lilies went on sale.  People would arrive at the registers with all kinds of things—calla lilies, day lilies, peace lilies, even lily of the Nile.  What’s in a name?  Aren’t all these things lilies?

Every plant has a common name which serves kind of like a nickname.  But each plant also has a Latin name for classification purposes and this is what we rely upon most often to help us understand what plant we are discussing.  Just as many children can be nicknamed Princess or Sport, our legal, given name is much more specific.

Plants have a legal name, if you will, that consists of a genus (larger group) and species (subgroup).  Beyond that, certain cultivated varieties (cultivars for short) will have a name in quotes which makes it even more specific.  The Oriental lily  Lilium ‘Farolito’ shown here is a cultivar.  Lilium x ‘Kiss Me Kate’ would be a hybrid lily denoted by an ‘x’ to show that it is a cross between a longiflorum lily (like an Easter lily) and an Asiatic lily.

In the case of true lilies, there are types (Asiatic and Oriental, for example) both in the genus Lilium. Yet Asiatics will display similarities to each other because they are Asiatics.  Each species within Asiatics will have different characteristics—flower colors, markings, fragrance, height, etc.  Asiatic and Oriental lilies, being closely related (like siblings), have many features in common and can be hard to tell apart.  There are a few web sites discussing the differences, often times that Asiatic lilies open upward and Oriental lilies open outward and are more highly fragrant.  Beyond that, if I desire specifics, I look them up on the grower’s listing since it simplifies matters greatly.

Other plants we commonly call lilies are actually in different genus altogether.  Calla lilies are in the genus Zantedeschia; Daylilies are Hemerocallis, Peace lilies are houseplants in the genus Spathiphyllum, Lily of the Nile is an Agapanthus.  All are wonderful plants, but none of them are technically lilies.

And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin.  Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these.  If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith?” Matthew 6:28-30

What’s in a name?  Quite a bit actually. 

They grow differently in form—lilies (pictured on the left)  are flowers emerging atop leafy stalks, daylilies (right) form clumps.  They originate from different structures—lilies arise from bulbs, daylilies grow from fibrous root systems that will enlarge into spindle-like roots resembling tubers.  Lily flowers are long lasting and open from the lower buds to the upper buds.  When the buds have all opened, the flowering is completed for the year.  Daylilies, on the other hand, have a short bloom—each lasting only a day, hence daylily, however the season of bloom may be quite extensive.  Lily bulbs must be planted at a sufficient depth to protect them from the harsh winters, but not so deep that the plant must struggle through an endless stretch to reach the soil surface.  Daylilies are planted so the crown is at the soil level with the fibrous roots and tuberous spindles are stretched out just below the soil surface.  Lilies will grow larger clumps by growing increasing bulb sizes as well as by dropping bulbils (present after bloom in the leaf axils) off the stem onto the ground.  Daylilies, depending on variety, can be downright invasive…emerging anywhere there’s an opportunity within the range of the mother plant.

Before you buy any old lily for your garden, it always helps to consider:

What’s in a name?

Today is Memorial Day and a day for remembrance of America’s fallen patriots who have ensured ongoing liberty.   For many gardeners, though, it has also become a border crossing saying “Goodbye Spring” and “Hello Summer!”

Among the Spring Goodbyes are a farewell to tulips and daffodils.  The blossoms of many of these—except the latest season tulips—have faded and the inevitable question arises of how to deal with the dying foliage.  Let’s face it: dying foliage looks unsightly whether it’s cool spring beauties dying with the heat of summer or summer splendor dying as the frosts of fall bring the growing season to a close.

How do you deal with dying daffodil leaves?  People have often suggested that they tie daffodil foliage in bundles or braid it; some cut it off completely; some leave it to die; and others ask about the best way of dealing with dying foliage of daffodils and tulips.

I normally do two things:  First, I cut off the blossom end with pruning shears or scissors.  The purpose of this is to prevent the bulb from going to seed and depriving next year’s bulb of valuable food.  Second, to ensure that the foliage can make food and die in its season—yet not be an eyesore—I interplant daffodils and tulips among other plants so the dying foliage will be hidden among the new growth.  Braiding, bunching, and removing the foliage prevents the leaves from making necessary food.

Pictured here are two instances of daffodil inter-planting.  In the wet area of my yard, the hostas, astilbe, turtlehead have emerged and I can tuck the foliage behind these companion plants until it has completely died back.  The foliage will continue to make food with plenty of sunlight and grow the bulk of the bulbs, then the summer perennials will fill the space left behind as the daffodils recede.

Daffodils interplant beautifully with daylilies and variegated Solomon Seal.  Tulips and hostas are also a natural companion planting for part sun areas. 

Again, careful plant selection is helpful. 

If your tulips are in full sun, then consider daylilies, coneflowers, or Rudbeckia.  If they are in part sun, hostas, astilbe, cranesbill geranium would be good companion plant choices.  Some of the earliest season tulips finish their blooming/receding cycle before the trees experience bud break, so these Greigii, Kaufmann, and other early tulips can be planted in areas along with small scale hostas that will be shaded later in the summer.

Plant selection is important for the garden but even more important for container gardens. 

Since a container garden must share the same watering requirement and light level, taking care to select compatible companions is helpful.  Consider these hanging baskets I made from two window boxes back to back.  They are hung from their back loops by using chain link (painted with craft paint to reduce its sheen).  The back window box has maidenhair fern, ivy, fittonia, and nepthytis and the front window box has creeping jenny/moneywort, coleus, tuberous begonia, and impatiens.  Since I will never rotate these, the front box will get brighter light and the back box will be even more shaded and moist.  I like the stewardship present as well since the maidenhair fern, ivy, fittonia and nepthytis are all houseplants that I’m summering outdoors and the creeping jenny was recycled from early spring pots.  I enjoy creating beautiful things primarily from what I already have on hand, plus an added item or two.  Beauty from season to season!

Goodbye Spring.  Hello Summer.

There are ants on my peonies,” she said to me.  “I’ve heard that peonies need ants for the buds to open.  Is that true?” 

When I worked at Home Depot, I could guarantee this query at least a dozen times each weekend that the peonies were in bloom.  Gardening has its share of pieces of Folk Wisdom and this isn’t one of them.   

Peonies can open perfectly well without ants. 

The ants are there to take advantage of a reliable dinner.  As peonies open, they secrete a sweet sap along the edges of the petals through specialized cells called nectaries.  Many flowers have nectaries within the flower to encourage pollination.  Some plants like Trumpet Creeper, Hibiscus, Elderberry, and Willow have extrafloral nectaries.  Peonies have their extrafloral nectaries along the edges of the buds.  As these glands exude the sap, it’s the equivalent of the ice cream truck driving through the neighborhood.  Every ant and its uncle come scurrying for a sweet treat.

Should you get rid of the ants?  Many soft-hearted and environmentally conscious people say “No.”  The ants keep other insects or foraging animals from damaging the blossoms.  I am a bit more pragmatic.  If the peonies are close to the house, I think beyond peony season.  Frankly, I don’t want ants building expansive communities that will become a hungry mob of marauders turning to my kitchen with the inevitable rainfall that occurs when peonies are in full bloom.  I also don’t want to bring ants into the house with my cut flowers. 

As long as they stay away from my house, I say “Hope you enjoy your meal.”  The minute they head toward my home they’ll encounter a barrier treatment of insecticide that will kill them.  The peony will have served as kind of a last meal.  The smart ants will learn to stay outdoors and find all that nature can provide.  The insolent ants will meet their Maker.

To keep from spraying my peonies with insecticide, I submerge the newly opening cut blossoms in a tray of water until the ants float to the surface or I spray them with a gentle shower to wash the ants off with a hose before bringing the peonies inside.  A gentle upside-down shake removes excess water and I can enjoy my floral arrangement without inviting unwanted houseguests.

Peonies enjoy full to part sun, are heavy feeders, and come in singles and doubles as well a variety of colors.  They can endure in the same location for decades and reward you with their beauty in the spring and their durable shrub-like foliage until the fall.  They require some additional care with respect to planting depth and are best divided in the fall in order to bloom happily.  They are some of the oldest cultivated plants for good reason—they are truly among the masterpieces of May.

Every house in which I’ve lived has had its garden problems:  too much shade, too much moisture, too much sun, too much heat.  The key to overcoming these garden problems is plant selection.

Just as every one of us has unique personal tastes, every plant has conditions that promote its best growth, conditions it will tolerate, and conditions where it will surely die.  Forcing a plant to live where it will surely die means the end result is disappointment.  Plant selection is important.

The best ways to select plants involve researching which plants perform in shade.  One of my favorite gardening web sites Dave’s Garden has the care and cultural requirements of many plants so you can see what will survive in your area (sun, shade, and hardiness zone).  These are submitted by gardeners just like us so we’re getting people’s personal experiences (positive, neutral, and negative) and advice on overcoming problems.

Here are photos of some of my favorite plants for part shade to full shade.  As they continue to grow and bloom, I will post more photos.  Redbud (Cercis canadensis, below left) and Serviceberry (Amelanchier canadensis, below right) are two “understory” trees which means that they can handle growing in the shade of taller canopy trees.  They generally stay shorter and they adapt well to part shade conditions.  Both flower in the springtime.  The Serviceberry blossoms have faded but it has begun to set fruit which will develop fall color in addition to the leaves which makes it multi-seasonal in its beauty.

Among the evergreens that do well in shade, the Dwarf Alberta Spruce can handle significant shade, is slow growing, and is one of the few plants whose cold-hardy root systems can withstand being grown in a pot even through a Chicagoland winter.  This Dwarf Albert Spruce (Picea glauca, below left) has been growing in a pot for 5 years.  Their root systems are not large; their slow growth keeps them an ideal size for winter interest by the front door; and their new growth forms bright green “candles” that do not need trimming.  Yews (Taxus, below right) come in upright and spreading forms.  If you’re replacing some of these versatile foundation plantings, make sure of which type you have.  I keep mine  hand-trimmed to maintain a somewhat less formal look, but they respond well to mechanical trimmers.

Here are some of my favorite flowers for shade.  Deadnettle (Lamium, sp) comes in a variety of leaf forms and flower colors.  This one (foreground below, left) is “Pink Pewter” and is followed by Vinca, Sweet Woodruff, Lily of the Valley and Ostrich fern.   I have some blue lungwort whose flowers resemble bluebells, but this variety “Raspberry Splash” (pictured below) provides a nice color contrast to wood violets and pink columbine.  Another fine feature is that deer don’t like any of these.

Likewise, bleedingheart (below, left) can handle shade and deer don’t like them.  Astilbe, Aconitum (below, right) will be later to bloom and I spray my hostas with TreeGuard to keep the deer from devouring them.

Why do some plants not tolerate shade? 

It has to do with several plant characteristics.  First, not all plants have the kind of capabilities in shady environments as shade-loving plants.  Plants adapted to shady environments will often have (1) thinner leaves, (2) larger leaves, (3) more chlorophyll–the green pigment in leaves that helps with photosynthesis, and (4) these plants are more concerned with light harvesting than building leaf bulk.  Sunny plants, on the other hand, build up protective mechanisms and structures within the leaves and will have a different ratio of pigments in order to protect themselves from the intensity of the sun.

Why is this important?  For two reasons:  (1) it means that some plants will never survive in sun or shade depending on its ability to adapt to the environment, and (2) it is important to allow seedlings grown indoors or plants grown in full sun to adapt—a process called acclimation or hardening-off (in the case of seedlings).

Have you ever taken tomato seedlings you’ve carefully pampered inside and brought them outdoors and they seemed to fry out in full sun?  Tomatoes are supposed to have full sun, right?  Yes.  But they need time to adjust to the increased light conditions outdoors.  So acclimating the seedlings gradually over a period of a week to 10 days will give them a chance to thicken their cuticles (waxy layer on leaves) and to structurally make changes to deal with wind, sun, rain, fluctuating temperatures, etc.

Of if you’ve ever bought a Ficus tree as a houseplant, brought it home, and it immediately dropped a lot of leaves, this is because it’s acclimating itself by putting off leaves that will be ineffective for your environment and putting on new leaves that will help the plant to survive in your home’s conditions.

Just as we were Created to BE Individuals, our understanding the individual characteristics of plants will help us to have a successful experience with garden and houseplants and demonstrate patience while our plants adjust to the changing seasons and their new environments.