New to daylillies w/a few questions....

14 years ago

Hi! I'm kind of an accidental daylily gardener. Until this spring, I thought they only came in a bright yellowish orange color that seems to be very common around here (Dallas, TX area)...yes you can laugh at me;-) Despite being fairly into gardening, I'd never tried to grow them myself.

Anyway, I happened upon a display of various bulbs at Sam's Club in early spring and much to my surprise at the time, they had a package of pink and purple (my favorite landscape colors!) daylilies. They were inexpensive, and I'd been looking for something to fill in a spot in my front flower bed so on a whim I decided to give them a try.

So now they're growing, but I'm a little concerned that only 3 of the 10 have scapes and I haven't had any blooms yet. The yellow ones down the street (and all over town) have been blooming for at least a couple of weeks. I also noticed that some of the leaves have pale yellowish looking spots.

The ones I have are called Jordan and Catherine Woodbery. I looked them up on daylillies.org (thanks for the link!), and it does say they're medium late and late blooming, but I couldn't find exactly what that means....like late summer or late spring?

I did work some compost in before planting and have watered them with Miracle Grow a couple of times. Our house faces northwest so they get a fair amount of sun throughout the day. Is there anything else I should do to help them get started? I'm getting anxious for some flowers (and looking at all your gorgeous pictures, I think I'm going to want more:-)

One last question...the info on daylilies.org also says that the foliage type is dormant. Are they going to die back in the winter even here? The yellow ones look kind of like monkey grass through the winter so that's what I had expected. Not a huge big deal, but I was kind of hoping they'd hide my roses a bit through the winter.

Thanks in advance!

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (8)

Nancy Barginear
14 years ago
Hi,

This is a great forum for getting help with your daylilies. Welcome!

It isn't unusual for daylilies to not bloom the first year you've planted them. They need time to settle in and become established.

They do need a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight for best growth and performance.

Since they are dormant, they may die back, depending on how cold it gets here in Texas this coming winter. Some of mine die back, and others sort of shrink in size until spring. Some dormants do very well here, but others will not survive more than 2-3 years. It just doesn't get cold enough over a sustained period of time for them.

There are some really good on-line vendors where you can buy evergreens or semi-evergreens that should do well in your area. You can get a much better variety from these people. (Sunset Meadows, Sunshine Gardens, Aren't I Pretty, and Eclectic Gardens are very reasonable and are great people to do business with. Marietta Gardens and Maryott's are more expensive, but well worth every penny.)

You might want to check the back side of the yellow spots on the leaves for orangey pustules. Give them the white glove (white Kleenex will do) test. If it rubs off, then you have a rust problem, which is very common here in the South. It is worse in the spring and fall. There are a number of good websites that can suggest remedies, if that be the case.

Daylilies do grow new leaves from the center, and the outer leaves turn yellow in places first, eventually turning all yellow and then brown. It is natural for the outer leaves to die. If I have the time, I remove them.

I hope this answers some of your questions.

Nancy

Nancy
0
cantdecide
Original Author
14 years ago
Thanks for the welcome! I just checked them and there doesn't seem to be anything on the bottom of the leaves or anything that rubs off. They're just kind of mottled a lighter color in what almost looks like a water spot kind of pattern if that makes any sense.

I did notice that one of the buds is starting to open a tiny bit. Hopefully I will get a flower soon!
0
Related Discussions
second year w/ OGRes have a few questions
Q
Comments (9)
I don't know that I would wrap the rose around the fence. I think I would just pull the canes as horizontally as I could and tie them to the fence with that stretchy green tie that you can get at any home store. Training in both directions would be very pretty if you can and have the room. Sometimes the Teas can take a little time to get established. They can grow slowly for a couple of years and then they just take off. On the other hand, some of them are very vigorous from the beginning. Mrs. Dudley is one of the ones that took a little time in my garden. By the third year they should be growing and blooming like crazy. At least that is when I noticed a big difference in my garden. Climbers often take at least three years to get established and bloom well. I have all of the perennials and shrubs that you listed in my own garden and I love the way the roses look with them. Perennials, shrubs and trees were my first love, as well. In addition to the ones you listed, you might look at the hardy geranium "Rozanne". It does well in the heat here and blooms from early spring until frost. jbcarr, I lived in Columbia for 15 years before moving here. I still miss it. Except in August :-) Carol
...See More
New Bosch 500 W/D Owner Has Questions
Q
Comments (10)
Hi Sal, I have not tried to dry a load without the dryer balls yet. I have received my 500 plus dryer last Tuesday and haven't really done that many loads yet. The dryer balls are little rubber balls. You can get them at appliance stores, at Bed Bath & Beyond, at Amazon, etc. They are supposed to soften the clothes without the need for fabric softener and to decrease the drying time. There have been a few good comments about them on this forum, so I bought a set of two for $9.99 at Frye's. I have to do a few loads without them before I can really tell if they are effective. The load that included jeans and other clothes came out very soft and wrinke free. I did not use any fabric softener or dryer sheets. On a small load you can hear a slight thumping sound from the balls hitting the drum, but it is not very loud. The balls are fairly soft, so they don't damage the drum or the clothes. They have a pretty strong rubbery smell, so I ran them through the dishwasher before the first use. The smell is still there, but the clothes don't adopt that smell. They smell fresh and clean. I'll post an update after doing some scientific research...;-) Here is a link that might be useful: dryer balls
...See More
Brand New Here w/ paint question
Q
Comments (4)
There is a gold/yellow thread in the gallery with lots of photos. Some of them have broken links but you can still see quite a few. I also like Shelburne Buff in this thread! Here is a link that might be useful: Golds/Yellows
...See More
NEW planting of reblooming daylillies
Q
Comments (11)
I'm probably not the best person to answer that question, as I now try to follow the advice to let just one bud develop and open just to make sure I've received the correct plant. Then, hard as it may sound, one is supposed to cut the scape off. The idea is to allow a new plant to focus on getting established, rather than on channeling its energy on the very-energy-intensive labor of actually producing flowers. But generally, a spring-planted daylily will probably bloom for you. This assumes a mature fan, not something undersized. You probably should not expect new plants to look as good as they might -- bud count will probably be lower, perhaps branching, too (anyone? am I correct about that?). I've seen blooms on new plants that are smaller than their registered dimensions and/or with colors that aren't great. Also, problems with form. For example, I remember the FFO (first flower open) on WHEN BEARS FLY (Gossard 2003). This is registered as an unusual form (UF) and brown. Here's the American Hemerocallis Society's database image of it, which the hybridizer submitted: http://www.daylilies.org/DaylilyDB/detail.php?id=147538&name=When Bears Fly Assuming you like that look -- and I do -- well, that's a very nice flower. My plant's FFO was an odd dark color, small, and so deformed that most of the petals either could not be seen at all because they were twisted behind the main plane of the bloom or could be only partly seen. Which is to say, a real dog. To be fair, not only was it an FFO, but it was in a pot. But if you were to compare this summer's blooms to that FFO, you'd never guess it was the same daylily. Not all daylilies will disappoint like that of course. Some look great right from the start. And for me, in zone 6, some southern daylilies never look as good as they do that very first season after they've left their southern homes. Sorry for the lengthy ramble, but the point is, even if your new daylilies bloom in their first year, and they probably will, don't be disappointed if they, well, disappoint you. Many need a year (or more!) before they strut their stuff. I've had some, especially from some hybridizers, that don't do much for two or even three years. I don't fault the hybridizer or the plant -- it's just the way things can be in zone 6. Example: DAY OF MAGIC (Polston 2006) http://www.daylilies.org/DaylilyDB/detail.php?id=155283&name=Day of Magic DAY OF MAGIC is registered as "pink with gold edge above green throat." I don't have very many pinks, so I'd been looking forward to its blooms. Serious disappointment with its off, muddy, in-between, kind of washy rosy vaguely mauve-ish color for its first two years. Probably my least favorite daylily color. Come to think of it, a color I don't want to see anywhere. Really wanted to toss it in the compost pile, frankly, or give it away. But this year, wow, it was a beautiful pink that I had to look at every day. The exception to all of the above would be field-grown daylilies dug for you, ideally including soil, and then promptly replanted in your garden. They should happily continue performing without skipping a beat. Oh, and finally, back to your question about reds. I misread and thought you were in zone 10. Sorry! Plus, I thought about it, and I do have a couple of reds that should be moved out of hot afternoon sun. One of them I already mentioned: GASPING FOR BREATH. This one does get hot afternoon sun and is also too close to both a stone patio and stone and stucco house walls. It wants a cooler, shadier afternoon, that's for sure.
...See More
shive
14 years ago
The yellows you see blooming everywhere are probably Stella d'Oro or Happy Returns. They are extra early bloomers. The midseason bloomers start about three weeks after that. The late bloomers will start about five weeks after that.

You are lucky to have scapes at all the first year. Also, yours may bloom much later than normal this first time because they were just planted this spring. Catherine Woodbery is a really pretty color. I'm not familiar with Jordan.

If you have scapes coming now, I'd guess the flowers would come in the latter half of June. In future years, you'll probably get blooms in late May and early June.

It's really hard to wait for those flowers, isn't it?

Debra
0
cantdecide
Original Author
14 years ago
I do think they're Stella d'Oro from the pictures I found. Thanks for the additional info about the timing too. I will count myself lucky and try to be patient!

I'm not sure which of the two have scapes, I didn't think to label them, but I do know from the pattern of how I alternated when I planted that they're all the same ones. I thought the Jordan looked purple on the box. Daylilies.org says it's red, but has no picture and I haven't found just Jordan elsewhere so I guess I'll have to wait and see.
0
tweetypye
14 years ago
Tinkers has Jordan listed although there isn't a photo, but here's what they say about it.
Jordan DIP
1961
2' 6''
Late
Dormant
Color/Descript:
deep red with velvet red eyezone blending into a pale yellow throat

So since Jordan is listed as a late bloomer, then you've probably got scapes on Catherine Woodbury.

Here's a link to Tinkers for you.
Oh yes, and welcome to the forum and daylily addiction! :)
Jan

Here is a link that might be useful: Tinkers database
0
cantdecide
Original Author
14 years ago
***So since Jordan is listed as a late bloomer, then you've probably got scapes on Catherine Woodbury.***

You were right:-) They're a very pretty pale pinkish peach with yellow in the middle. Five blooms so far! Now to wait for the others.....
0
buyorsell888
14 years ago
You weren't the only one who thought daylilies were only yellow or orange. :) I did too and I thought any other colors only bloomed for a week.

I hope your Costco purchases are to your liking, I quit buying their packaged bulbs/perennials because I had problems with them being mislabeled...I've read of others having the same problem.
0
newyorkrita
14 years ago
Well, stick around the daylily forum here and you'll soon be adding more daylilies to your garden. They really are great garden plants. Easy care and lots of bloom. If you get some early, mid and late bloomers you can really extend the bloom season. What more can one ask for?
0

New to daylillies w/a few questions....

Comments (8)

Nancy Barginear

cantdecide
Original Author

Related Discussions

shive

cantdecide
Original Author

tweetypye

cantdecide
Original Author

buyorsell888

newyorkrita

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

New to daylillies w/a few questions....

Comments (8)

Nancy Barginear

cantdecideOriginal Author

Related Discussions

shive

cantdecideOriginal Author

tweetypye

cantdecideOriginal Author

buyorsell888

newyorkrita

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

cantdecide
Original Author

cantdecide
Original Author

cantdecide
Original Author