Plant Daylilies for Summer Color

Daylilies are among the most popular perennials and for good reason. Daylilies are easy to grow and don't require much in the way of maintenance. Daylilies are very adaptable to a wide variety of soils and conditions. It's one of the features that make them popular landscape plants. 

You'll find them planted along streets and sidewalks, often under rock mulch, blooming away. That being said, you'll get the best from your daylilies if you take the time to prepare the planting site soil properly. Daylilies do best in full sun. They'll tolerate light shade but flower best when they receive at least 6 hours of sunlight a day. Daylilies belong to the genus Hemerocallis, a Greek word made up of two parts: hemera  meaning day and kallos which means beauty. An appropriate name, since each flower lasts only one day. Given that established daylilies produce an abundance of flowers that open over a long period of time, your plant will produce blooms on a daily basis through much of the season, especially if you remove the spent flowers. 

You'll find daylilies in our Perennial section. These are well-rooted daylilies in one-gallon containers, ready to take home and plant. You'll also need some compost and peat moss, to amend the planting site soil. When you're ready to plant, mix the Sheep, Peat and Compost 50:50 with the native soil. Make the planting hole twice as wide and one and a half times as deep as the one-gallon container your daylily came in. Remove the daylily from its pot and place in the planting hole so the crown of the plant is even with the surrounding ground. Now mix three and one-half tablespoons of Root Stimulator to one gallon of water and pour into the planting hole, making sure the roots are wet with this solution.  Finish up by filling the rest of the planting hole with amended soil. At this point, you can add a couple of inches of mulch to the planting site. Soil Pep makes great mulch as well as a soil conditioner.  Easy to grow, low maintenance daylilies are hardy perennials that thrive in our climate. They establish quickly, grow vigorously under a variety of conditions and will provide color to your summer garden for many years to come.