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YARD AND GARDEN

Versatile daylily enjoying a come back

Dave Robson

Of all the plants in the yard, probably the most carefree and dependable is the daylily.

Daylilies are definitely old fashioned. You can travel many country roads around the state and find plants growing in the ditches. I first knew them as Tiger Lilies, and only after going to school did I discover that Tiger Lilies are a completely different wild-flower in Illinois.

The Illinois Department of Transportation (DOT) is still planting them along overpasses and on embankments. Plants may be somewhat weedy, quickly spreading over an area. However, the roots form a nice dense mat that limits soil erosion.

It's only within the last 10 years that daylilies have received revitalization. Gardeners discovered the versatility or the plants. The breeding of new types and the release of the outstanding repeat bloomer, Stella d'Oro, has expanded the color palette and blooming times of plants.

There's even a light yellow, fragrant night-blooming daylily.

What the breeders haven't been able to do is get the flowers to bloom longer than the typical day, give or take a couple of hours.

On the other hand, the colors run the gamut from a pale cream/almost white to dark reds and purples that approach black. Blues and pure greens are still illusive.

Typical flowers have three petals and three sepals of the same color, though technically the sepals started out green like tulips and changed colors. Most people just say the plants have six petals, which will suffice unless you're talking to a daylily aficionado.

Newer types may have 12 or 18 petals. Some forms are classified as spiders with long, thin, narrow petals and sepals.

The texture of the petals has gone from the papery of the wild orange ones to those that are thick and seem almost waxlike.

While one of the plant's drawback is its short period of bloom, by careful selection of cultivars, the gardener can extend the period of bloom from May until late October.

Daylilies range in height from less than a foot to over seven feet with individual flowers as little as an inch to 10 inches in diameter.

Daylilies seem to thrive on neglect, although providing optimum growing conditions results in healthier plants and more profuse blooming. Full sun is preferred, though daylilies will flower in light shade. When grown in heavy shade, plants produce abundant foliage but few flowers.

Soils should be well drained and rich in organic matter. Plants seem to grow in clay or sandy soils. However, plants grown in wet soils tend to suffer more winter injury.

At the end of the flowering season, cut the scapes or bloom stalks back to several inches above the grown. Established clumps can be kept from spreading by cutting around the crown or base with a sharp spade.

Old plants should be divided in the late summer to early fall when crowns become crowded and flowering sparse.

Plants seldom require fertilizing. However, the addition of a balanced fertilizer, such as a 10-10-10 at the rate of one pound per 100 square feet, can help increase the clump size for propagation purposes.

David Robson is an Extension Educator, Horticulture, at the Springfield Extension Center, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Illinois. You can write to Robson in care of Illinois Country Living, P.O. Box 3787. Springfield, IL 62708. Telephone: (217) 782-6515. E-Mail: robsond@idea.ag. uiuc.edu

16 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING AUGUST 1998