Handsomely sculptured, flaring, golden trumpets, held high above fountaining clumps of coarse, narrow foliage… yes, daylilies are striking in any flower garden. But they have, also, two other virtues: their adaptability to all kinds of soil, climate and exposure and their ability to take care of themselves. Plant a daylily and it will live and flower year after year, needing only to be divided and given a little fertilizer. Here are some time tested daylily gardening tips.
PLACE IN THE LANDSCAPE
Day lilies, or hemerocallis (as they are known botanically), grow almost any place; in fact only very dense shade or very poorly drained soil deter them. But for the most effective display plant them in the bays of a shrub border: in informal masses by a pool or stream; in the herbaceous border, with stately delphinium, feathery astilbe or dainty babys-breath; or on a sunny, steep slope, where the roots of the vigorous clumps will hold the soil.
BUYING GUIDE
Throughout the United States there are specialists who have a good selection of day lily plants and seeds for sale. Their peak shipping seasons are spring and late summer, when the day lily is best planted.
Before you buy scan the pages of a specialist’s catalog and discover the great range of modern daylilies: in the flowers, from 2 inches to 8 inches across, patterned or in solid colors from palest yellow, to the vibrant blue and purple, to the deepest red, with petals smooth, crimped or curled: in length of bloom, some lasting but a day (though the plant is colorful for weeks, as one by one the buds open) and some staying open well into evening; in height, from 11/2 to 4 feet, in foliage, some being evergreen and some deciduous.
Then make your selection of plants or bulbs, choosing a combination that will provide color from early summer until fall. A few outstanding varieties are:
Early-blooming: BROCADE, COSETTE, PARTY GOWN
Mid-season: EVELYN CLAAR, HIGH NOON, PRIMA DONNA;
Late-blooming: BAGGETTE, SUSAN TREADWELL, AUGUST ORANGE.
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PLANTING
Plant singly 2 feet apart, or group three of a kind, spacing them 1 foot apart. Prepare the soil deeply and add fertilizer. Place the plant, spreading out the fibrous roots, and cover the crown with I inch of soil. Water thoroughly.
LATER DAYLILY CARE
To make the clumps thrive rather than merely exist, water daylily gardens frequently and fertilize in spring and fall. If thrips should attack the flowers, kill them speedily. If flowering becomes sparse, divide, replant and fertilize the clumps.
FASCINATING SIDELIGHTS
Join in the fun and excitement of breeding daylilies. Perhaps a "good white" or a "good green," two long-awaited colors in day lilies, will be produced in your garden!
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