Daylily problem

I inherited with the house a few clumps of daylilies, not sure what variety. They flowered very feebly and the foliage was a fairly sparse, so I lifted and divided and replanted but still didn't have much luck. Last autumn I lifted some and potted them up and they seem to have done really well in the pots of compost and look better than ever nefore.

I've never had problems growing them before in all sorts of conditions, I thought they weren't fussy much and did well in most places.

Here I have clay soil and it tends to be fairly dry in this part of the country, they got fairly well watered but I try to use butt water only on my plants so probably got less than with a hose.

I don't want another failure this year so want to give them the best chance possible. The only thing I can think of is that they were a) got too much sun (is this possible) and were too dry and b) didn't have sufficient composty stuff at their roots.

Any ideas?

p.s. Strange I know but in this garden have had a struggle getting easy things like echinops and echinacea to settle in.

 

Hi Fens, strange that, they are as you say usually very unfussy plants, last year was very dry here, and even I watered mine, wouldn't normally,it wasn't quite such a good year as normal, I usually dig in lots of good compost when replanting divisions, I'm on heavy clay too, also don't plant too deeply just level with were the leaves join the roots,too deeply can prevent flowering,also feed in the spring with a seaweed fertiliser which improves flowering, they do flower best in a sunny spot so wouldn't be that, can't think of anything else , some do seem to flower the first year after planting while others can take a year to settle,there are a few other daylily addicts on here so maybe one of them may have some more ideas, hope you have more look this year :D

 

I find from time to time, my Day Lilly's have a bad season. I found dividing them up if a large clump helps but if not a large clump then good liquid feed gets them going. Sometimes just a boost of this in April is enough to keep them going.

G

 

Thanks for that you two.
I'll try putting in plenty of composty stuff (have a fair bit of lovely homemade this year) and giving them a fertilize in the spring.

I guess what I was wondering about is if they had exhausted themselves trying to deal with the poor claggy soil and dryness and given up the ghost.

Cheers

 

I have found they develop massive root systems so may exhaust the soil and take a while to recover if divided.

Watch out for Big Bud, a disorder caused by tiny grubs which overwinter on the soil. The buds go dry, leathery and fail to open. If you open it and look carefully you might see grubs about 1mm across. They don't affect overall growth, though.

 

Luckily the gall midge only affects early flowering varieties Madahhlia, best thing to do to stop the cycle is pick off and destroy all flower buds affected, heartbreaking, but it means the grubs can't drop to the soil to overwinter and continue the cycle the following year.

 

I have claggy clay. Wet in winter dry in summer. My Day Lillies cope amazingly well. The cope with exstremes and is a garden must in my opinion.

I divide mine up every three years and have no problems with flowering or fatality's. They are as hard as nails BUT as i said, every year give them a liquid feed. You wont be dissapointed.

 

Good advice Sinbad !
You can spot em a mile off. Just pick em and dispose :D

 

So true Mr Grinch, amazing plants I've been growing them for over 13 years now and in all that time have only ever lost one variety, trouble is they are soooo addictive,so many too choose from now, must admit the spiders and unusual forms are my favourites , just placed an order for 6 more from Pollies daylilies :D, even last winter they came through unscathed, trouble is now I have so many liquid feed takes too long so use a dry form of seaweed food instead, unfortunately our late beautiful labrador had a bit of a taste for it and would find him in the middle of the daylily bed eating it!!!!!

 

Hello Fens, have come in to convo late as usual. I can only echo the advice given. If you have very hard clay it is best to incorporate lots of organic material so they don't dry out too much. If they do you can water in summer but improved clay is their favourite habitat. We have over 1700 varieties and grow in grotty gravel. Some varieties re-establish really quickly. I have some which take years. We gardeners are pretty patient, aren't we. But agree they are essential to the garden:D