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Growing Daylilies
It is an added plus that one of the world's most beautiful perennials is
also one of the easiest to grow. Plant in full sun, if possible, in good
soil, if possible, water during times of long dry spells, and enjoy them
for months and years.
Although the daylily's scientific name, Hemerocallis, means "beautiful
for a day," the fact that most individual daylily blooms live up to this
habit is more of a benefit than a fault. Storm injuries or unsightly
effects due to insects or other causes persist on most garden plants for
days but can be forgotten the next day with daylilies when a whole new
set of fresh flowers opens to greet you.
Best planting times in Virginia are spring and fall, and they may be
moved from my garden to yours in full bloom when you can decide where
each color will make the best showing in your garden. Though I start
sales and shipping around the middle of April, if you are a local
resident I recommend that you come and see them in full bloom in June
and July. Descriptions do not give as good an indication of their true
beauty as looking at the real thing in living color.
Example of the
Crown:
Baruch
The growing point of a daylily plant is the point at which roots
and tops meet, and this crown section should be no deeper than 1"
below the soil line. Mulching does many wonderful things for your
garden, and I mulch when I have material for that purpose.
I am constantly adding and digging out plants, so this is not always
feasible for me.
They are not fussy about type of soil, but extra dividends
will result from adding compost, well-rotted manure, sand, or
peatmoss to the planting site. Peatmoss is NOT a good mulch,
as it tends to cake and cause moisture runoff, but it is a great
lightener mixed in with the soil mix and acts like a sponge to latch
onto moisture and have it available for the plant.
Add a sprinkle of fertilizer, whatever you normally use, 5-10-10 or
5-10-5, when growth begins in early spring and then after bloom. You
don't need to overdo it. Your soil may be fine as is.
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Thrips
Q: What are Thrips?
A: Tiny insects the size of the top of an exclamation point !
"Their rasping mouth parts do all the damage, lacerating the plant tissue
at the segment edges of undeveloped buds, forming within the fans before
the scape emerges."
Q: What do they do to Daylilies?
A: "They do their damage inside the buds before the buds open."
The actually eat or scrape the color off the bloom and eat the juices
that "ooze from the injured surfaces." The resulting blooms look
speckled like rain/water damage. They also "rasp long narrow bands on the
scape stem. Red & purple flowers seem to be favored, the pH of the sap a
probable cause. Buds are sometimes so damaged that they look as if small
zippers had been sewn into the edges of petal and sepal. Flowers are
unable to open properly and are deformed and contorted. Scapes are
sometimes so damaged that seed pods often dry and break off before the pod
matures."
Q: How do I control them?
A: "The best remedy is remove old foliage in early spring, spraying
with .05% mixture of diazonon alone or combined at the same strength with
the systemic agent cygon. Repeat spraying may be necessary within a short
time if the infestation is heavy, as the scape elongates and buds develop.
Any other sucking insect will likely be destroyed as the expanding tissue
continues to carry the systemic chemical."
Quoted lines are from the article by Howard D. Brooks entitled, "Pests,
Enemies and Friends of Daylily Growers" from the Spring 1989 Region 4
Newsletter, of the American Hemerocallis Society.
Branham
Farms
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