THE TRUTH ABOUT DAYLILIES AND IMPORTANT CULTURAL DIRECTIONS 
If you are a flower grower and want an abundance of blooms, if you want a perennial 
that is very hardy, and needs very little care, choose the Daylily. Daylilies do not 
require spraying for insects or diseases. They don’t require digging or storing for 
winter. Winter protection is not necessary. 
It is important that Daylilies be planted as early as possible in the season so that they 
can become established before winter. In some sections of the country, especially 
where heaving and thawing is a problem, many shallow rooted plants are heaved out 
of the earth and the crowns frozen and killed. This is because they do not have deep 
enough roots to anchor them in. The Daylily if planted too late may not be able to 
grow enough roots to anchor them, and in this event they might also heave. If Day- 
lilies are planted within 2 months of your frost date it is advisable as an extra precau- 
tion to mulch with some hay, excelsior, or other loose material. After the first winter 
this will not be necessary, as the Daylilies will, by the second winter be well rooted 
and anchored in. We lose very few late divided plants here and yet we don’t mulch, 
but mulching is good insurance the first winter. 
Plant the crowns of the Daylilies, 1 inch below the surface, the crown is where the 
root joins the foliage. 
Plant Daylilies where drainage is good, and any good garden soil is ok. Daylilies will 
grow in sandy or clay soil but is happier in a loamy type. 
A cup of bonemeal with a shoveiful of rotted manure or compost mixed in soil before 
planting is a good fertilizer for Daylilies. 
Daylilies like lots of moisture when they are blooming, and will bloom better and make 
nicer clumps if given water when it is dry. As you know plants are composed mainly 
of water, But Daylilies are about as drought resistant as the cactus if water is not sup- 
plied, and in most all cases bloom and grow well without any additional watering. 
Do not judge a bloom or the number of blooms or scapes on a one year plant, even 
on a few 2 year clumps judgement should not be made as to the quality of the bloom or 
the abundance of blooms. The blooming habits, as to quantity vary with each variety, 
but all make a grand display from 2 to 3 years. Do not divide daylilies after 2, 3 or 4 
years if they are blooming good, as they are usually at their best from 2 to 10 years is 
the same location. Dividing can be made when the piant becomes too crowded in its 
location and this will be evident by the scarcity of blooms and the tendency of the 
bloom to become smaller. Divide by washing the earth from the roots with a hose and 
cutting apart with a kitchen knife into 2 or 3 fan divisions. Spring or right after they 
‘bloom is a good time to divide. In most cases a lght shifting shade as one finds in an 
open woodland is an ideal place to plant Daylilies, but they will b!oom in half shade, 
but not quite so abundant, and bloom heaviest in full sun. A few varieties if placed 
in full sun ‘will burn or wilt a little, especially the first two years, while some of the 
yellows will have a tendency to seorch if the sun is especially hot. So it would be wise 
to give some shade to your Daylilies until you will be able to iudge their reaction to 
different locations. Placement will have to be determined by the grower. 
Spacing Daylilies 3 feet will take care of future growth of plants. and in the first or 
second year other perennials or annuals may be used between these plants to fill the 
gap. 
Descriptions are as close as we can make under the circumstances. as weather, soil, 
and location, (sun or shade) has.a direct bearing as to their specific color in your gar- 
den. On cloudy days, reds are sometimes darker. Colors are truer on older clumps. 
Height indicated is a general average, as some scapes may be shorter, while others will 
be taller than indicated. You wiil also experience a truer height on a more established 
plant, (2 or more years old.) 
pee of bloom will vary 2 or more weeks at certain locations, due to the difference 
in climate. : 
