Barb, considering your zone 8 climate, do you folks continue to plant throughout the heat of the summer? Here in Central FL, planting season ends about April and resumes above November. Otherwise, newly planted dl rot due to heat, humidity and rain (if it does that!). I know you won't have the season we have, but it does seems strange that you would consider planting in mid/late July.

Otherwise, send the last picture to your vendor and ask for a refund.

Beachlily, I ordered from another vendor and the daylilies were good. These look like they have been sitting around for sometime,Not of my doing's. Before I ordered I read on how to care for the daylilies and was advised it would be ok to pot them up and place them in the shade.

Thank you for replying, Barb

Normally that would be ok but obviously the company you obtained these from are at fault. I would send them pictures and explain what you received. In the meantime, I would cut away the diseased part and soak the remainder in chlorox water and add some wetable sulphur when you plant them up in the pot. Sulphur adds in the fight against rot and can be obtained generally anywhere like Wallyworld, lowe's etc. I would let them know upfront you are not pleased with the shipment and if they do not survive you will expect a refund or replacement of them in the fall.

The roots look pretty plump, but that mold on there can't be good. I bet it is from shipping (moisture + warmth = mold). I guess there are two choices: 1) Soak in a 5% -10% bleach solution, cut off the damaged parts and lightly dust with rootone, plant and see. OR 2) Contact the Shooter's and see if they will replace them at another time of year. It has NOT been that hot here AT ALL, so I am suprised, but I don't know what the weather is like in NC.

I am no expert, but those are MHO's...

I'd probably call the vendor and tell them that you have reservations about the conditions in which you received the plants. Tell they you can do one of two things. Send them back for a refund or trim the plants and plant them with the understanding that the vendor will refund or replace any plant that is not living in two months. They don't look all that bad to me but pictures aren't as accurate as seeing and feeling the plants.

If you plant them trim off all the damaged soft roots clear back to the crown. Let the plant totally air dry before planting. 1-2 day sitting in the house or a shaded area should do. From what I see in the picture you already have new roots starting to develop. When you plant, unless your ground is just powder dry, I wouldn't water for 4-5 days to give the plant time to seal it's wounds. Then water only once a week thereafter.

It would appear that the plants were a little too damp at shipment. If it'd been early spring that would have been fine but as hot as it is right now it was just too good a thing for bacteria to grow in.

Don't necessarily be upset with the seller for the condition in which the plants arrived. Shipping plants in this hot of weather is extremely chancy and if you have Marietta replace the plants I'd ask they to delay shipping until later in the year. In your zone you can plant later in the fall and do very well.

Janet

Barb,

I agree this is not the best time to be planting. It will take a little extra care on your part to do it successfully. You must choose to either return the plants for a refund or keep them; plant and see what happens. If the plant fails to grow, I think Marietta's will replace them. Check their warranty statement to be sure, but most of the better grower's will, especially if you have documented the problem.

If you elect to keep the shipment, I would notify Marietta's that there was fungus covered and mushy roots in your shipment and attach these pictures to your email and ask them for their advice in dealing with it. Be sure to reference any order numbers on your paper-work. Open the plants up and leave them in an air-conditioned area under a fan, preferably, to dry out while you wait for their response.

If I received them and elected to keep them, I would remove the soft mushy roots and then soak each clump for at least 30 minutes in a 5% fresh bleach solution, then pot them up in a fresh, soil-less potting medium. Keep the plants in the shade until you see new growth and then slowly give them part sun. They should be well established come September-October, or when it cools off a little, to plant out in your beds.

A daylily is always replacing roots. Some are being cast off while new ones grow to replace them. It appears that some of the older, dieing roots are being attacked by fungus. This is a natural process and not necessarily bad. It is accelerated by the heat and darkness while the plant is in transit.

Good luck with whatever you decide,
Ed

Thank you Ed for your expert advise.
Update, I called Marietta and talked to Mr. Shooter I got a run around telling me it was to hot and such. Then Mrs. Shooter called me back she was very apologetic and looked at the pictures I'd emailed them and she asked what I wanted to do. I told her that I am going to try and save them. I put them in bleach and water soaked them like I was told to do then potted them up. Mrs. Shooter was super nice and she told me that if the daylilies don't make it they will refund my money or replace them if I'd like.
I am going to watch for new growth to show up next week.

Camp Daylily, Here they are all potted up and with added protection from the sun.
Even though their under a tree there is dappled sun coming through so I thought it would be best to add the make shift tent.

Thats really minor, a good cleaning, a soak, and potting like you did is fine. The roots can get mould on them fast if its dark, warm and damp. The majority of the roots look good, and there are usually some that don't. I am assuming the plants probably sat somewhere over the weekend. Most likely they were a bit damp, and the mould started.

What you are doing is good so far.

DO NOT WATER THEM, until they are dry again.

These are bad plants, I received them from an e-bay seller last year about now, she swore up and down that they were fresh and green when they were packed, and that they were mailed right away. As you can see they are dried out, one fan (the bottom one)lived to see fall, but did not make it through the winter.

These are the worst plants I ever received from anyone. I had to fight with her for 2 weeks to get a refund, she had a Lawyer and a Private Investigator call me. I have left plants in the garden unplanted (by accident, usually a dropped or misplaced single fan) for weeks and they didn't look this bad.

Barb, it looks like you've got everything under control. You got some great advice from Janet and Ed.

FYI, I've received far worse looking daylilies by mail order. (Of course, I've never ordered from those vendors again. :o)

Hi Barb,
I also had a better experience with Faye when I called Marietta's - Not that anyone was mean or rude, I just really liked Faye. Sweet Lady.

I am glad you are going for it!! AND, that I am not the only one with a tent in my backyard (not used for camping)!

{{gwi:845795}}

WOW, Bambi that is really bad.
Guess one of two problems is that I'm new to ordering daylilies through mail and my first order I got through the mail the daylilies were really fresh no mold, no soft or mushy roots, that was last Thursday of only a difference of a few days between the arrival of the two orders. So I had higher exceptions from the second vendor.
I would order from the first vendor that is on ebay without any worries what so ever.

I am getting onto myself for ordering now in the heat of summer and not having the patience to wait till fall or at least ordering and have the ship date set up for fall. A learning curve for this newbie.

Frankly, your pictures didn't look bad at all. When I see white roots, I know it is a growing healthy division. They probably would have been fine without any extra care, but ordering anything in the heat of the summer is questionable. I'm surprised that Mariettas even sent them during the heat.

Barb, just a hint. I wouldn't use that shade for more than a few days. I'm not familiar with your area, but if you don't have a strong breeze, the daylilies in the back row won't get good air circulation and then problems do develop. It might stay too damp--you want them to dry out some. No one said this would be easy!

Thank you beachlily for letting me know not to keep the tent on to long. I could take it down at about 7 pm and not put it back up till around noonish when the sun starts hitting that area.
I would think this would help out?

Barb

Sounds like a plan! I just don't want you to lose these plants!
I potted up 30 daylilies last summer. They had been dug at David Kirchhoff's place and the date was Aug. 5 (my birthday). I kept them in shade and within a week they had started growing. They were field grown plants that were no longer watered because David and Mort were moving. I thought I would lose 30-50% of the plants due to heat/rain, but all survived! It helped that we were in the middle of a drought.

Summer is a hard time to plant primarily due to warm night temperatures. Here on the beach, days never reach 90 degrees, but the nights seldom go below 75 degrees either. Even the water from the sprinkler is warm because our well is shallow. This causes the soil temperature to rise. Add humidity to high soil temps and rot is almost inevitable.

In the spring other areas get 80-85 days but evening temps are in the 60's. Perfect weather for planting!!!

Barb,

I just received an order from Marietta about a week ago. My plants arrived in very good shape but I planted them immediately. I was worried about planting this time of year in Texas but I just had to have Wizard's Wish. Faye at Marietta tried to get me to wait until Fall to buy but I wanted to take my chances. I guess it is a roll of the dice this time of the year. I hope your plants survive and I am glad that they did offer to replace them or give you a refund if they didn't.

Dianne

Gee,I just ordered 7 plants from Wilds.Hope mine will look better then these did.I don't plan to plant them in the garden.I am going to pot them and may keep them in the pots till next spring before putting them in the yard.I got some last fall from them and potted them up till spring and kept them in my utility room under the windows.They did fine.Some was too big for the 3 gal pot and had to find bigger pots for them,but was real happy with them all.Hopefully,i will be happy with these nezt ones.

Jean

Businesses deserve the opportunity to resolve customer complaints before their reputations become damaged.

From what I could tell by researching the internet before I placed my orders, MariettaÂs Gardens enjoys an excellent reputation among a lot of satisfied customers.

Do you suppose that either someone working for MariettaÂs or for the carrier might have messed up? Those things do happen, unfortunately, when employees make mistakes. I ordered daylilies from MariettaÂs about the same time that you did. They were shipped quickly, and all of the daylilies I received from them arrived in excellent condition.

I live south of you in Texas too, and in our area near Houston weÂve had an extraordinary amount of rainfall this summer, along with high heat and humidity. Yet with all the orders received this month, I havenÂt experienced anything like you have. So I donÂt think buying daylilies this time of the year was the reason for the root rot and mold.

Hopefully, you will find in a couple of weeks that all your daylilies are growing and have recuperated from the stress of transplant during July, as are mine.

Well, After having everyone saying that this company was good and looking it up on dog watch I figured I was safe in ordering the daylilies.
As for waiting for the company to have a chance to rectify the problem, I did call them and I spoke to Mr. Shooter he was short and not to nice. A little later he called back and Mrs. Shooter talked to me and THEY BOTH told me that they were the ones that placed my order and made a mistake when preparing the order forgetting to put something on the daylilies before shipment. I spent my hard earned money and if I get BAD product I figure I have the right to complain?
They offered to refund if I wanted it but I told them I would try to save the daylilies.
ALSO I HAD ANOTHER ORDER FROM ANOTHER COMPANY,,,,, All was fine, beautiful healthy plants......
OK I think I've had enough of being picked on for what everyone wants to say I'm at fault for ordering in the summer. When other have order too, Like yourself you said you ordered the same week I did.
Oh, Well what the heck I'm out of here going back to my hole in the ground Peace out

Barb,
It wasn't your fault. I would have been disappointed to have received that box of daylilies. I think you have done well, all things considered.
Ed

Barb,
I don't think posting a problem with an order is damaging a companyÂs reputation especially when you are just asking for help. In fact, I think that problems represent opportunities for a company to show their customer service skills (or lack thereof). Every company has problems; how they deal with a problem is what really gives them a stellar (or poor) reputation (at least in MO).

Don't go to ground... we love having you around.

Thank you fairysoapgirl and Ed, Last night it just hit me the wrong way and I let it get to me and shouldn't have but you know how it is sometimes.
BTW, I had to get out the shelf's to place the daylilies on to keep away from beloved dog of mine, I caught him starting to pee on them. So now they are safe? I hope at least from any harm of the dog.
Male dogs and plants don't mix and if it wasn't for him being my deceased uncles dog I would have found him a home but I can't do that to him. He's a big big baby and I fell in love with the big goofy dog that he is and just could not part with him and I know my uncle would be glad he is with us. He's like family :)

Suggestion! Put cayenne pepper around the plants. If he sniffs there, he will get a strong whiff of the pepper.. You have to reapply after rainfall. He will not dig there and will probably never do his business there again. You can gradually quit using it.

Barb, I've really learned a lot from reading yours (and other people's) posts. Sharing your experience is priceless, in my opinion. I'll be watching to see how your DLs turn out - probably will be just fine - and I don't think you'll have a problem with the supplier if you do need to get replacements.

I know its hard to share a less than wonderful experience. I didn't ever think you had a bad intention by posting about your shipment. I'm rooting for you! (no pun intended!)

(and I'm going to remember that about the dog, too.)

Jeri in Texas

I don't use anything that could cause harm to an animal. I don't have cat's but my neighbors do and have been told that if a cat gets pepper in it's eyes they will scratch them out so I don't take any chances.
I also have a lot of lizards and I don't know what it would do to them.
I love my lizards they are so cute. I have rocks going around the pool and tons of baby lizards running through out them, the dogs have a good time trying to figure out how to get to them burying their nose into the rocks snuffing them out.