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.

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!

 

Caring For Day Lilies

 

More Helpful Info

How To Identify A Daylily Bloom In A Garden

This is a primer on how to identify a daylily from other garden flowers. Hemerocallis have basic plant parts and specific characteristics to set daylily blooms apart.

THE GREEN MAN: ‘LADY ELIZABETH’ WHITE REBLOOMING DAY LILY

‘LADY ELIZABETH’ WHITE REBLOOMING DAYLILY FOR FORMAL GARDENS. One of the stars of the Lovely Lady™ series, this elegant snowy white flower seem all the more pure as it contrasts with a rich green throat.

(Day lily) Angels Among Us

There are lots of angels among us, but they are especially present in the daylily community. Sharing ideas, time, sweat, pollen, plants, and laughter is part of what keeps us coming back to daylilies.

Hardy and Beautiful Daylilies: Hemerocallis, the Cheerful Plant

It’s a tough, showy perennial and its easy nature makes it a favorite of garden enthusiasts all over the world.

Night Blooming Daylily Flowers: Nocturnal Hemerocallis Plant Ideas

Nocturnal Hemerocallis flowers are large, fragrant and in colors to light up a patio. Night blooming daylily ideas are appreciated planted in evening gardens.

Planting Day Lily Bulbs

I may have planted day lily bulbs that already had roots too deep in ground. What should I do? Its been about 2 weeks since planting and I still haven’t seen any growth.

Greenish Thumb: Growing, Buying, Cooking Day Lily

The cheerful daylily is a cornerstone in many perennial gardens. Its virtual summer to frost profusion of blooms, bright color, and ease of care are attractive to any gardener.

My Nice Garden: My Yellow Daylily and The Edible Golden Needle Flower

Ever since joining Blotanical, I had always admired the gorgeous daylilies that Lynn of Best In Bloom Today blog grows in her garden. There are so many varieties of hybrids and colours and mix of colours.

Hemerocallis

Daylily, a wonderful perennial available in many colors, establish as an anchor of your flower gardern border.

10 Worthwhile And Handy Flower Gardening Tips!

(3) There are many flower gardening tips regarding soil requirements. Soil is an odd combination of rocks, silt, minerals, sand, loam, clay and organic matter. It may well have different pH levels at various loctions.

 

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Among the broad-leaved evergreens which hold places of high esteem as garden subjects, several species of the Asiatic genus photinia command particular attention. Chinese photinia (P. serrulata) is the best of these generally available for areas of moderate climate. At least three others introduced by E. H. Wilson were highly regarded in their native land and it is unfortunate that after so many years they are not better known here.

Photinias are limited in their natural distribution to the Japanese islands and eastern Asia. These plants have much in common with shadbushes and chokeberries, and their brilliant fruits carried in rounded panicles show close relationship to mountain-ashes. Another close relative is the popular toyon or Christmas-berry of California. The best known deciduous species, P. villosa, has been widely planted in Europe and North America, and it is not at all uncommon to find volunteer seedlings establishing themselves in many districts. Although a vigorous and attractive subject, this shrub has no marked advantages over the deciduous cousins noted above nor over the many fine stranvaesia or ornamental crabapples.

This is far from the case with Photinia serrulata, however. When one thinks of adding lustrous evergreen leaves with rich coppery red and pink tones in spring to the well-known beauties of shadbushes and crabapples, the prospect is exciting indeed. A British East India Company captain brought the first plants of Chinese photinia back with him from Canton in 1804. Within a few years Captain Kirkpatrick’s prize had become very popular and was fairly well distributed among gardening enthusiasts.

Shoots and young leaves of this plant command immediate attention because of their striking reddish coloration: buds, petioles and midribs usually retain this effect. The leaves are more or less oblong, from 4 to 8 inches long and with finely toothed margins, as the scientific name indicates. Oddly enough, although the leaves are evergreen and usually remain on the branchlets through the winter and even for several months longer in mild areas, they often show fine autumn coloration in tones of pink, something after the fashion of Carolina rhododendrons.

In earliest spring, even in March in Florida, Texas and Georgia, terminal buds expand into graceful rounded panicles, with many branches eventually measuring up to 6 inches across. Jewel-like flower buds open to show five petals and 20 delicate stamens at the center. Though less than half an inch across individually, these delicate flowers are showy because of their numbers as well as their setting lustrous evergreen foliage.

Berry-like fruits about 1/4 inch across mature during the summer and standout with increasing effectiveness as they turn bright red in the autumn. Their beauty and excellent lasting qualities in early winter have led to the name Christmas-berry being applied occasionally to this species, although this should be reserved for the relative found in California.

Chinese photinias have the reputation of growing best near large bodies of water, and this may be one reason for their popularity along the Pacific Coast. In the eastern states, it is doubtful they can be depended on farther north than Cape Cod, even near the coast, and plantings north of Maryland should be made with special care. It is interesting to note that a fine 8- to 10- foot specimen has been famous on Long Island, and several of about half this stature can be found in the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

After you buy, a warm loamy soil and a situation offering protection from winds are the first things to look for in selecting a location for these photinias. Temperatures much below 5 degrees Fahrenheit for any length of time will cause damage unless the setting has been selected to bring about thorough ripening of growth towards middle or late summer. Dryness of the soil will accomplish this effectively, and yet, if foliage is to remain rich and lustrous, moisture must be fairly constant through autumn and winter. Plants should be set out only in early spring, with every encouragement to promote extensive root and shoot growth in May and June but a gradual tapering off by midsummer.

In most situations these shrubs are best grown as rounded specimens with many stems from the ground. In mild sections where winter injury is rarely a factor they can be developed as small trees with a single trunk. Striking foliage effects, in addition to attractive flowers and fruits, make these photinias feature subjects. Specimens can be used for accent and variety in border plantings framing a lawn or formal garden picture. They are also appropriate near large buildings where the transitions from one stage to another can be watched from windows and porches throughout the year.

Appropriate companion subjects include flowering cherries, camellias, magnolias and other first-rank garden favorites. It is also difficult to surpass the effect of a photinia or two in a grouping with fine specimens of pines and other tree conifers.

Pruning Red Tip Photinias

More On Photinias

Photinia Pink Marble

In recent years we’ve all got used to those photinias with their bright red young growth. They’re evergreen, vigorous, easy to grow, and colourful.

Japanese Photinia in Autumn

I took this photo today. These small trees are Japanese Photinia. It is popular as hedge. Those red ( not green ) leaves are fresh leaves. ( Colour of the leaf turns to green from red ).

Photinia Red Robin Leaf Spot – How To Keep It Under Control

Photinia Red Robin Leaf Spot can be unsightly but there is no need to use chemicals – follow our tips and keep the spots at bay.

Photinia

I love this shrub – it has lovely green leaves that change to russety brown and little clusters of white flowers in spring. I would like another one to put somewhere else in the garden too but we are running out of room!

Red-tipped Photinia X Fraseri And Photinia Serrulata

Also, siting photinia where air circulation is best helps (though that doesn’t help your already-huge shrubs, does it?) This means not planting them too close to each other, as is often done to create hedges.

As we continue to provide information on flower gardening for beginners and flower gardening tips on a variety of flowering plants like the Photinia please let us know of any other topics you may be interested in.

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