I've tried the heavy black plastic for weeds, and it takes about a year. The plastic broke in one or two spots, and weeds poking right through. Those plants of which you speak will probably survive that treatment. They say the black plastic is not good for the soil. I'm using Roundup on a couple of ditch lilies, and I'm guessing it will take more than one application they are that tough, may lurk for years and pop back up. In the meantime, I'm deadheading so they don't produce seed as I was finding seedlings all over and yanked those. Roundup should be safe enough if applied according to directions. Once it hits the ground, it apparently doesn't leave a residue or leach into the soil. It travels through the leaves down to the roots. Those things are so persistent, I think they will pop back up at some point no matter what I do. Digging those tough things is not an option although my neighbors got rid of a few clumps doing that, left a couple other ones to grow.

To newyorkrita... I didn't plant them there, they came with the house and I have never redone that section of garden. When I get to redoing that section, I will dig them out and put some better dayliles there. Still, they really are not that bad looking are very cheery in color. Nothing kills them as they have been neglected forever. I find a kinda like them anyway." Your words, my thoughts exactly. About 4 years ago I started to transplant those very daylilies that came with my house 25 years ago. They were always ignored on the chimney side of the house where no one ever went. Although I've only "gotten into" daylilies the last few years, I've come to love my ditch lilies as well and always note who's got them growing where. If I were to name my home as they did in the past, it would have to be something to do with ditch lilies. I'm still trying to think of something clever. I was glad to see that by the end of your posting you had conceded that they definitely had their own charm.

the key to success ... as with everything.. is the process ... or the application ... in my decades here.. i have used hundreds.. if not a thousand gallons of RU in proper dilution.. according to label ... and have had little or no problems.. and the problems were my fault .. usually sneezing while spraying.. or swatting at bugs or bees.. of which i learned.. the first reaction is to release the trigger.. next set down the sprayer .... and then run like hell .. lol ... the real key to spraying anything .. is EXTREMELY LOW PRESSURE ... i can literally see drop as they come out of the sprayer.. and drops .. get this.. are affected by gravity.. and falls to the ground.. most pees have trouble.. because they use very HIGH PRESSURE.. atomizing the stuff.. and it wafts all over the place ... as i like to say.. THIS AINT FRENCH PERFUME ... ken

"As others have stated, your top picture is a true lily (tigridium) from a bulb and the stem has leaves growing on it, with bulblets at the leaf axis. Also note the recurved petal and spots. I have a double one. Plant those bulblets and they will bloom in about 2 years." Yes, that is pretty clear now. I don't know all that much about lilies, have never attempted to grow any before. "the second picture could be the daylily Flore pleno, flower lookes like it is stacked, probably with green leaves? Daylilies (hemerocallis) have their leaves growing from the ground from rhyzomes. There is also a variegated leaf Kwanso, with the same double flower, but its petals have a very waddy center, like a peony. Their clumps are very spreading-- not tight, neat clumps like Stella deOro." The leaves on this one grow what I describe as fountain-like, from the ground; it does belong in the daylily forum; I just lumped them both together here. I didn't think it looked like the other sample posted, that one has more petals and is just different. Since everything is such a jungle where it is currently growing, I'm not exactly sure how it would grow in less crowded conditions. I just thought it was pretty and don't usually care for orange lilies or the so-common ditch lily we have all around here. I didn't notice any variegated leaves. "the problem is you CANNOT use it for hybridizing-because it is the species of daylily that has 3 sets of chromozone, and will not interbreed with either the DIP hemerocallis (1 double set of chromozone) or the TET hemerocallis (2 double sets of chromozone). Since the 3 sets of chromozone are not divisible by 2, it usually won't set seed with other daylilies. and remember that when hybridizing double daylilies, the pod parent must be the double. Go to the daylily forum to get more info about them." I don't care that it is no good for hybridizing, but that is interesting information. I've no interest in hybridizing anything at this point, especially that one, just hope they transplant successfully and spread out some but not so much as to become invasive and crowd out other lilies I hope to grow. Hybriding would be fun, but the results are too unpredictable, I'm a little more interested in old roses, and I wouldn't want to throw out baby plants. I want to control the lilies I do plant by purchasing or being given certain particular ones I like. If they happen to cross naturally, well I may or may not be happy about the results of that. Thanks much for the input. It's kind of daunting trying to figure out how I will pull all this together. I can't plant too many at once, too much work. These particular ones look like they won't be too fussy if I don't damage anything while transplanting them, which like I said before, I will wait until fall (cooler for me) even though one poster said I could do it now. If I get to feeling too pressured, can I go and collect some of those bulblets and try them instead of digging the bulbs? When would be the right time for that? It looks like it might be easier but would probably take longer for mature lilies. At this point I have to be realistic because I've bitten off more than I can chew for one growing season. In July and August, I am not going to be able to do much other than basic maintenance and watering because of the heat, although sometimes we get a short break. We have a two-day one now, but it is still pretty hot out. Thank you and everyone else who has been so helpful about these lilies.