I downsized sized my daylilies this weekend

last year

last modified: last year

Well I did it…..downsized some daylilies this weekend. Other than eliminating most of the stella d’oro years back this was a first for me. Got rid of some poor performers and a few I didnt like that much. Poor performers were Spectral Elegance, Opposites Attract Attention, Blue Beetle and Rainbow Dragon. Rosy Returns and Siloam David Kirchhoff left too, and an unidentified daylily. I added six new ones this spring so no increase for this year. BTW, Spectral Elegance always suffered from bud drop, 20% was normal. This season bud drop was over 50%, bye bye, had enough of that on my suburban lot, space is a premium.

I have added alot of daylilies the past three seasons, just waiting for them to get to clump size. This/my aging process has me evaluating what I am growing, I gotta love it for it to stay. I added balloon flowers in a couple spots where I removed the daylilies, they always look good.

What are your thoughts? Any changes in your garden?

Sherry

Featured Answer

mantis__oh

last year

What is the exact cultivar of balloon flower in your garden, Julia?

Yes, of course, information on performance is an essential part of this forum. In many other settings, people are reluctant to say anything negative because hybridizers are part of the group. Who knows what lurkers are here--not many anymore, I suspect.

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Comments (11)

shive
last year
I'm surprised you've already eliminated some. It's still way to hot here to be digging out daylilies (high 90s and 100s this week), but I plan to move out a lot. My goal is to decrease by at least 100 by October. Ideally I'd like to eliminiate 400 total, but that is probably too large a task for this year alone. Many of the ones I will be parting with are nice ones, including purples. If anyone here is interested, I can send you the moveout list, and you can have them for postage. I will only send you four plants per box because that's what my shoebox mailers easily hold. As I've said before, because of health issues and needing the space to grow seedlings, I must part with all of those that I don't absolutely love or use in hybridizing.

Balloon flowers are a great choice for replacements, Sherry. , They don't fade in the extreme heat, they are long lived, and they don't require any special care. It's also extremely easy to propagate them from seed. I love my balloon flowers.

Debra
sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked shive
organic_kitten
last year
Send me your move-out list please, Debra.
sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked organic_kitten
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Nancy 6b
last year
last modified: last year
I am still downsizing some, picked out a few more. I like Gift from Heaven, but it is a so so performer. I have a couple new ones this year that look similar but great branching and bud count. On the other hand, Shutterbug had never done all that well, the last 2 years it has improved, and this year has real branching and has been blooming 4 weeks with still buds to go. It is staying. El Desperado is going. A few others.

Good thing to know about Blue Beetle, I have admired it's look.
sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked Nancy 6b
hoosier_nan (IN z5b/6a)
last year
We are trying to downsize too. Like Debra, we would like to get rid of around 400 or so, maybe more. We spend most of our time looking at the seedlings anyway. We have far too many that don't thrill us or don't perform well. We just can't take care of as many as we have.

Nancy
sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked hoosier_nan (IN z5b/6a)
Brad KY 6b
last year
Debra, did you get my houzz message of 2 I am interested in if you have them and are getting rid of them? [Allegheny Skyline and Astral Voyager]. Also interested in Hakuna Matata. I too am downsizing, have a good number picked out that will go this year, as they all don't do well or some flaw or I'm tired of them. However, these I've wanted for a good long time and still do. I had a long list of wants but have deleted the rest.

Brad
sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked Brad KY 6b
Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
last year
My disposal of daylilies is pretty easy. I take it out of the pot and dump it. I let the city have them in the recycling bin.....I need to get rid of 10. I know I'm a piker compared to the rest of you. But when I see the blooms on even these 10, I think -eh maybe you'll stay. It's when they are through blooming and all I'm doing is watering them for months on end in the heat that concrete decisions will be made...........I certainly enjoy the information about what is going in your garden and why. Maybe someone needs to do an end of the year disposal thread? I too thought Blue Beetle took a pretty picture............... Information to save me money and effort on future daylilies is always welcome...........Maryl
sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
Julia WV (6b)
last year
last modified: last year
Since my garden was started last year, I'm adding some and since I will be adding more garden spaces It will fill up fast. My rule now is add other perennials in with the daylilies. Here is a peek at how fast and tall those balloon flowers can get. Planted last year. I have two colors, white and blue(looks more purple to me).I think I should have pinched them back when they were starting. Debra's Dearest Valentine is getting crowded out. But it will look great with all the perennials around it.

Julia
sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked Julia WV (6b)
Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
last year
Julia: That looks so pretty. Could you name the other plants in the grouping?......I've grown what was called a Blue Balloon flower a couple of times. It didn't like me, but it looks good in your garden space.................Maryl
sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked Maryl (Okla. Zone 7a)
Nancy 6b
last year
I love balloon flowers. I used to have pink, white and the white ones with blue streaks. Those have died out, I still have regular blue, double blue, and dwarf. So nice since their buds are so interesting before they open, bloom for a long time, and rebloom later. Have you tried cutting some back by half in May or so? Those don't flop, and then bloom later than the others so you have longer color.
sherrygirl zone5 N il thanked Nancy 6b
Arachnib
last year
Debra, send me your move out list, too, please!

I downsized sized my daylilies this weekend

mantis__oh

Comments (11)

shive

organic_kitten

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