I'm so sorry! I had a similar thing happen to me about 3 years ago. I lost a lot of daylilies that year, & all I could think of to blame it on was the soil. Every thing else seemed to grow fine there, but I lost several daylilies. Mine though would be 1 here, several would be fine, then another. Lost about 2 doz daylilies that year I think. I tried digging them up when I first saw they were dying, & saved a couple, but didn't work on others. That was the worst year. Last year I lost a nice clump of Skipjack, 1 small fan survived. The year before completely lost a huge clump of Blue Luster. Seems like I lose at least one or 2 every year, seems fine one day & dead the next. In my case it was later in the season though, after they had bloomed. And might I add, each plant had bloomed exceptionally well that year.
I hope someone has some good suggestions, but I sympathize.

With the rotting smell, it sounds like crown rot. Are these new daylilies or well-established daylilies?

Debra

Sorry to hear that. Geez, something must be leaching into the soil. You don't have to dig up all of them. Just dig up a sampling from different parts of your garden, take pics, label the cultivar and come back and post your results. Hard to tell what is wrong without seeing some pics of the damage. And like Debra asked, are they established dls or newly planted?

I've had a bad spring (high temps, snow, hard freezes, warm-up, back down into the 20's again, etc) with leaf damage but it seems to be finally getting better as the new growth is coming up. I've only had one instance of buds yellowing on a scape so far. I've been checking the garden more regularly and they seem to be doing fine. As far as scape height, I'm not sure yet as they are still coming up but some are rather shorter than last year as of now. Time will tell.

Julia

I have no ideas to help you but if it smell, it's probably crown rot. I hate it for you though. Please keep us posted!! Ellie

Here is a link that describes crown rot and how to treat daylilies for it.

Debra

Here is a link that might be useful: Crown rot

If it's crown rot, Ed can probably post an in-depth treatment, but I'll offer that a phosphorous acid type fungicide (for example Agri-Fos) is normally recommended.

Nate

Thanks everyone for your comments. ngraham, that sounds exactly like what is going on here. Last year I had this happen later on in the fall,losing 3 in a row, and more scattered here and there.I blamed it on the weather then, 54 days of over 100 degrees, and very little rain, a town just south of here had 2" for the whole year. Then I thought I had just cooked them, watering so much in the heat. Now I don't know what to think, they definately have some kind of rot.
I'm practically computer illiterate, so I'll have to find someone to do the pics for me.
Meanwhile I really do appreciate all the pics that are on here every day.
These lilies are all established, with the exception of 4 that were new last year. They have it too.

Sorry to hear that Flowergirl! I wonder if you are going to dig one up to look. I have those too :( That's the first time it happened. I am afraid to dig. Mine too - some established some new from last year.

If you dig them up soon enough, you can save them. Wait too long, and you cannot.

As soon as you see signs of crown rot (brown leaves in center of plant), dig it up, wash if off, divide and check for mushy crowns. Some fans may not be affected yet, and those you can save. Those that are affected - you can dig out the mushy part, let the daylily dry a couple of days, and then dust roots and crown with sulfur before replanting. Replant in fresh soil - preferably Miracle-Gro potting soil with moisture control. You might be able to save them, if lucky.

We saved five last year, but waited too long for the others. We lost over 65 daylilies because the sheer number of those that were showing signs of it were overwhelming and I was too ill to deal with it.

I blame myself, though, for watering too much during the hot summer months. We had no rain from March until October, so I thought I was doing the right thing by watering.

So far this year, we've only lost two: DARLA ANITA and MICHAEL MILLER. I did not try to save them, as they were puny, anyway. I will replace both of them, and try one more time. The summer is "young," though, so there may be more. I'll give Comet a try, as am willing to experiment.

Several years ago, when I first encountered crown rot, we started spraying with K-Phite which seemed to have put a stop to it. You might want to check that out. I did not spray with it last year as I wasn't expecting another epidemic of it.

Nancy

Thanx for the post najoba, digging is not an option for me. for one thing the temps are now in the 90's and 100's here. The next thing is , I am 79. Then I have 110 daylilies strung throughout my flower beds. About all I can do is pour something(fungicide) around them and pray. As of now, I can't even find one that isn't rotting.