Daylily - how do they naturally grow?

John-W-WI

Administrator
There are clumps of daylily around my farm from WAY back in the day (50 years?). They seem to grow in little "islands" and not spread too much.

Does anyone know their natural growth pattern? I would like to transplant some of them to establish new islands but I don't know if I can spread them out and they will fill in or do I need to plant it with complete coverage?

-John
 
Just dig up clumps and spread them out. they will fill in over time. they grow from roots and also little bulbs. daylilies are almost indestructible.
 
Just dig up clumps and spread them out. they will fill in over time. they grow from roots and also little bulbs. daylilies are almost indestructible.
^^^^^ :emoji_thumbsup: We call the ditch Lillies because you see them all along farm roadsides ... plant and they will spread ...
 
Are they the orange tiger Lilly’s that you are taking about?
I used to see them here in ditches.
 
Dig, soak and divide. Each clump grows by adding rhizomes. Yes spread them out and they will fill in. Keep them weeded and they will fill in much quicker. They can be divided most any time but spring and fall is best. Divide using two large screwdrivers, punch right thru the dug clump with the first screw driver on a 45 degree angle. second screwdriver the same to form an X. Pull the screw drivers together and spread them out to divide. It will take a few minutes to get it right but after a couple, it will go quickly. I literally have many thousands of daylilies growing at our cottages.

They can also be grown from seed but it takes two to three years until first bloom for northern gardens. Be very careful; it is like growing apple trees. It takes on a life of its own for some of us.
 
dig clumps up. reciprocating saw is great for cutting chunks out of the root clumps. take a few inches of root clump and plant. soon you can cover a large area
 
Our problem is keeping them in check. The bulb masses are huge. Those and Black Eyed Susan. My wife is a British style gardener - she throws bulbs everywhere. I'm a bit more uptight...I mean organized...
 
I have yellow, peach and red ones as well but I've thrown all the orange ones into the ditches. They are slowly over taking the poison ivy :)
 
Is there any benefit for deer with daylillies? Or are they just for flower gardens?
 
We have electric fencing to protect our hybridized daylilies from deer as the deer would kill them if left to browse freely. That is not so with the wild orange daylilies. Overall though the hybridized daylilies are not a great deer draw. It would be very difficult and time consuming to grow enough to feed deer. So yes, they are simply a garden plant and not a deer plant.
 
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