Any daylily experts out there?

gardengalrn · March 26, 2007

I have never grown daylilies before but fell in love with them in a friend's garden. This same friend's father gave me a wonderful selection when he divided his last fall (heh heh, giving away lots of tomato plants DOES have its paybacks). I put them in my garden to basically keep them viable until I am ready to move. I plan to take every single one with me. They are sprouting now with this warm weather we're having. The problem is, that DH is wanting to till my entire garden area and reseed grass for future sale this summer (hopefully!). Is there any possible way that I could dig the lilies now, maybe put them into the 5 gal buckets I have to keep them alive until moving in June? I don't mind if they don't blossom this year, I just don't want to kill them or stunt them so bad they will never recover. Any thoughts?

lavandula girl · March 26, 2007

You should be able to keep those viable, and probably blooming, in containers. I'd just treat them like container plants til you get to your new home, so just remember to add drainage to your 5 gall buckets. Daylilies, even the newer varieties, are almost indestructible. If you do get bloom, the only thing I would encourage is deadheading. While the plants are in pots, you're going to want them to be putting their energy into keeping their root systems healthy, not in setting seed. The best new plants are from division anyway, so there's no need to save seed. Do you know what varieties he gave you?

shelleybean · March 26, 2007

Daylilly Dude! Where are you?

Worth1 · March 26, 2007

Daylilly Dude! Where are you? :smile:

Worth

Tomstrees · March 27, 2007

Rich should find this thread eventually ~ lol ~

Tom

daylilydude · March 27, 2007

Ok i is here (thanks tom) anyways i couldn't have said it any better than lavandula girl put it ! That's the way i would do it but now i'm not an expert but i do know someone else that really knows daylilies OH Carolyn !please chime in just in case you would do it differently it would give her different options .

Suze · March 28, 2007

I like daylilies and have grown quite a few over the years, but I doubt I qualify as an expert.

Anyhow -- it's not uncommon to carry and even propagate fans in a 2 gal container (especially in warmer climes), so that should be 'good enough' for you to move varieties. 5 gal containers seem like overkill unless you have plenty as well as the wherewithal to move them.

flowerpower · March 29, 2007

They keep them in pots all season at the nurseries. Daylily have pretty shallow roots. A 5-gal pail might be too deep. I'd keep them in partial shade if I could. I think they'll be fine.

remy · March 29, 2007

Hi,
Because of operations last year, I could only do so much gardening at a time. I had to keep many daylilies(and other plants) in pots. I used the gallon size nursery containers. I kept them on the east side of my garage so they only got a 1/2 day of sun. Some stayed in the containers until fall. They all did well. The daylilies did exceptionally well. So you should have no problems : )
Remy

remy · March 29, 2007

Oops I forgot to add that I did not fertilize, just watered when they needed it. I figured fertilizing would just make them want to outgrow the pots too quick.
Remy

gardengalrn · April 11, 2007

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I had posted on the daylily forum at GW at the same time and had one lady tell me they should be fine in plastic grocery bags for the amount of time I was talking about. This seemed to me an excellent idea and that is what I did. I dug up the root ball and placed them in the bags, poking some holes for drainage and circulation. I put them up against the house and they made it through this cold spell with a tarp over them. It seems that they will transport easier this way, too.

**carolyn137** · April 11, 2007

Richard, I would do it differently, and have.

I wouldn't even bother with containers, I'd just heel them in somewhere and let it go at that, which I've done many times when I couldn't get around to planting a new shipment ASAP or wanted to rearrange some parts of my beds.

As lavandula said, daylilies are just about indestructible, and I could tell you the unintended abuse I've put some of them through, but won't, and they came out with flying colors.

March 26, 2007	#1
gardengalrn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kansas, zone 5 Posts: 524	Any daylily experts out there? I have never grown daylilies before but fell in love with them in a friend's garden. This same friend's father gave me a wonderful selection when he divided his last fall (heh heh, giving away lots of tomato plants DOES have its paybacks). I put them in my garden to basically keep them viable until I am ready to move. I plan to take every single one with me. They are sprouting now with this warm weather we're having. The problem is, that DH is wanting to till my entire garden area and reseed grass for future sale this summer (hopefully!). Is there any possible way that I could dig the lilies now, maybe put them into the 5 gal buckets I have to keep them alive until moving in June? I don't mind if they don't blossom this year, I just don't want to kill them or stunt them so bad they will never recover. Any thoughts? __________________ ~Lori "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." -Abraham Lincoln

March 26, 2007	#2
lavandula girl Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Virginia Posts: 64	You should be able to keep those viable, and probably blooming, in containers. I'd just treat them like container plants til you get to your new home, so just remember to add drainage to your 5 gall buckets. Daylilies, even the newer varieties, are almost indestructible. If you do get bloom, the only thing I would encourage is deadheading. While the plants are in pots, you're going to want them to be putting their energy into keeping their root systems healthy, not in setting seed. The best new plants are from division anyway, so there's no need to save seed. Do you know what varieties he gave you? __________________ Mostly Harmless

March 26, 2007	#3
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	Daylilly Dude! Where are you? __________________ Michele

March 27, 2007	#5
Tomstrees Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NJ Bayshore Posts: 3,848	Rich should find this thread eventually ~ lol ~ Tom __________________ My green thumb came only as a result of the mistakes I made while learning to see things from the plant's point of view. ~ H. Fred Ale

March 27, 2007	#6
daylilydude Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Iuka, Mississippi Zone 7b Posts: 482	Ok i is here (thanks tom) anyways i couldn't have said it any better than lavandula girl put it ! That's the way i would do it but now i'm not an expert but i do know someone else that really knows daylilies OH Carolyn !please chime in just in case you would do it differently it would give her different options . __________________ Richard

March 26, 2007	#4
Worth1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Den of Drunken Fools Posts: 38,539	Daylilly Dude! Where are you? :smile: Worth

March 28, 2007	#7
Suze Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 3,027	I like daylilies and have grown quite a few over the years, but I doubt I qualify as an expert. Anyhow -- it's not uncommon to carry and even propagate fans in a 2 gal container (especially in warmer climes), so that should be 'good enough' for you to move varieties. 5 gal containers seem like overkill unless you have plenty as well as the wherewithal to move them.

March 29, 2007	#8
flowerpower Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Catskill Mountains, NY Z5 Posts: 94	They keep them in pots all season at the nurseries. Daylily have pretty shallow roots. A 5-gal pail might be too deep. I'd keep them in partial shade if I could. I think they'll be fine.

March 29, 2007	#9
remy Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest™ Coordinator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Z6 WNY Posts: 2,354	Hi, Because of operations last year, I could only do so much gardening at a time. I had to keep many daylilies(and other plants) in pots. I used the gallon size nursery containers. I kept them on the east side of my garage so they only got a 1/2 day of sun. Some stayed in the containers until fall. They all did well. The daylilies did exceptionally well. So you should have no problems : ) Remy __________________ "I wake to sleep and take my waking slow" -Theodore Roethke Yes, we have a great party for WNY/Ontario tomato growers every year on Grand Island! Owner of The Sample Seed Shop

April 11, 2007	#11
gardengalrn Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Kansas, zone 5 Posts: 524	Thanks for the advice, everyone. I had posted on the daylily forum at GW at the same time and had one lady tell me they should be fine in plastic grocery bags for the amount of time I was talking about. This seemed to me an excellent idea and that is what I did. I dug up the root ball and placed them in the bags, poking some holes for drainage and circulation. I put them up against the house and they made it through this cold spell with a tarp over them. It seems that they will transport easier this way, too. __________________ ~Lori "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." -Abraham Lincoln

April 11, 2007	#12
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	Richard, I would do it differently, and have. I wouldn't even bother with containers, I'd just heel them in somewhere and let it go at that, which I've done many times when I couldn't get around to planting a new shipment ASAP or wanted to rearrange some parts of my beds. As lavandula said, daylilies are just about indestructible, and I could tell you the unintended abuse I've put some of them through, but won't, and they came out with flying colors. __________________ Carolyn