The daylily is practically disease- and pest-free, easy to grow, and resilient to drought, shade, and poor soil, making it the ideal perennial. Discover how to cultivate daylilies and quickly propagate them for extra plants!
These plants, which are originally from Asia, have adapted so successfully that many of us consider them to be locals. Imagine how thrilling it would have been for a 16th-century traveller to tour the Orient and discover these beautiful flora! Daylilies were welcomed into European gardens by gardeners, and they traveled to the New World with the first colonists.
Daylilies have a long tradition of being used in both gardens and kitchens. The delicate foliage was used as a spring green, the buds and blooms were added to soups and consumed raw, and the swollen parts of the root were cooked and consumed. When cooked in stews, soups, or sauces, all sections have a mild peppery flavor and serve as a thickening factor.
Considering that each blossom only lasts for one day, their botanical name Hemerocallis means “beauty for a day.” Daylilies grow from fleshy roots instead of genuine lilies’ bulbs, and their flowers appear on scapes that are leafless and rise above the leaves. One of the 12–15 buds on each scape opens every two days. With 4 to 6 scapes on an adult plant, there is a lengthy bloom time. Some plants can grow up to six feet tall, measured by the length of the scape!
Divide the daylily clumps before the autumnal equinox in late summer or early fall after flowering (late July to mid-September) in order to multiply them. Before winter, the plants need at least six weeks to reestablish themselves.
Even though many gardening guides advise using two garden forks to cut or push the roots apart, I’ve had good luck by briefly soaking the roots in a pail of water until the majority of the soil is gone. After that, breaking up the clumps is considerably simpler (and you do not damage the plant). Dig up the whole cluster. Check the location of the crown once the earth has been removed. Break it up into larger clumps beginning at the edge (two, three, or no more than four). Reduce the length of the leaves by about a third to a half. Replant. If you want to hasten growth, you can add a fertilizer heavy in phosphorus.
Daylilies thrive in full sun and a location with healthy, well-drained soil, though they will endure in less-than-ideal situations. One inch should be buried beneath the plant’s crown, which is where the leaves and roots converge. Water and mulch a daylily that has just been planted to keep it moist. Daylilies are unaffected by the red lily-leaf insect, which has ravaged Asiatic and Oriental lilies.
There are countless lovely daylilies to pick from. To have daylilies bloom from late spring into fall, combine early, mid-season, late flowering kinds, and repeat bloomers.
Did you know: Despite their name, daylilies are not “real” lilies (from the genus Lilium). If you’re interested in learning how to grow Asiatic and Oriental lilies, visit our Lilies page.
What method of propagation are daylilies employed in?
Each year, a large number of Hemerocallis (daylily) cultivars are introduced, but due to supply constraints, none of them are ever sold to consumers. Daylily propagation is now only possible through vegetative means, with the exception of hybridizers who employ seed propagation to grow-out and assess the plants generated from their crosses. This is due to the enormous growth of daylily cultivars and the preference for named cultivars. According to reports, it can take 20 years for a remarkable cultivar to transition from the enthusiast (connoisseur) market to the general public (Pounders and Garton, 1996). The 1986 introduction of “Happy Returns,” which was in short supply and then quickly produced in nurseries, demonstrated that, even if the cultivar produces a sizable number of divisions year, it may take ten years or longer to produce enough plants to satisfy market demand.
When a new introduction proves to be popular, hybridizers are frequently short on plants, which causes some to delay introductions for a number of years (C. Schott, 1995). The necessity for a quick build-up of stocks has arisen as a result of the recent introduction of patented daylily cultivars and the ongoing attempts by hybridizers to breed cultivars for use by the landscape sector. It has become more difficult to find desirable cultivars due to the current demand for daylilies for use in mass plantings, some of which include tens of thousands of them. To supply enough of the desired cultivars, it will be necessary to employ all available propagation methods.
Starting with seed obtained from capsules on the scapes or seed obtained from particular crossings that can be acquired from daylily hybridizers/propagators are two options for seed propagation. When the capsule reaches maturity, dries out, and starts to split at the distillation end, the seed is harvested (Munson, 1989). After stratification at a temperature between 32 and 45 degrees Fahrenheit, the seed from dormant daylilies can be dried and kept at room temperature until it is time to sow it (Griesbach, 1956). Evergreen parent seeds can either be directly sown or treated and kept in the same manner as seeds from dormant parents (Benzinger, 1968; Munson, 1989).
The most typical method of daylily propagation involves plucking or cutting the clumps of these flowers apart. Plant survival is great, division is quite simple, and the offspring are identical. With harvest season determined by the region, division is advised to take place in the early spring or late summer. Daylilies are often divided in Kentucky from February through April and from late July through mid-September, with the Autumn Equinox being the latest day that can be used for both dividing and transplanting. In Kentucky, the fall is the primary harvest season, but many small producers field divide from February to October in order to make retail and mail-order sales.
Despite the fact that division is the most common method of propagation, there are significant restrictions. The most frequent obstacle is the delayed progress in growing enough plants of a well-liked cultivar to meet demand. An extremely high ratio of new plants to original plants would be 25:1, whereas the average would be closer to 8 and the minimum ratio for commercial production is 3:1. (Apps, 1995). Even though certain cultivars have many attractive qualities and only take a year to produce one division, they cannot be introduced (Dunwell et al, 1995).
“For the propagator, (Spinout treated) fiber pots could be advantageous for boosting the number of fans available for division from continer-grown plants,” according to Dr. John Ruter (Ruter, 1999).
Small plants known as proliferations appear on daylily scapes. Proliferations can be removed from the scape and, if necessary, further separated into separate proliferations before being placed in a well-drained medium. In about a week, the proliferations will spread their roots into the media. Because summer shearing and late summer division destroy the scapes with proliferations and some scapes on which proliferations would have occurred, daylily growers usually miss the opportunity to produce plants from proliferations. I’ve been successful in growing plants from proliferating organisms (Table 1 and 1997 AHS Proliferation Poll). Propagation via roots proliferations can increase the number of plants generated from a single mother plant and, ultimately, increase the income from that plant. This is especially true when taking into account the value of each plant of a recently introduced cultivar. A single plant of “Lisa My Joy,” which had four scapes and fourteen proliferations overall in 1996, may, regrettably, not produce any proliferations in 1997. It is feasible to apply Lanolin-BAP-1 AA paste on scapes to induce proliferations or to obtain numerous proliferations (Pickles, 1997 and Druse, 1997)
Daylilies have been successfully grown from tissue culture by scientists (Apps and Heuser, 1975; Heuser and Apps, 1976; Heuser and Harker, 1976; Krikorian and Kann, 1979a, 1979b, 1980; Krikorian et al 1981; Meyer, 1976, 1979; Pounders and Garton 1996; Smith and Krikorian 1991; Stoutemyer 1976a, 1976b), but it hasn’t become a popular method of propagation because some propagators From aseptically cultivated tissues, Krikorian and Kann (1980) and Krikorian et al. (1981) demonstrated they could grow identical plants. Several farmers are already generating plantlets using tissue culture due to the demand for new cultivars and huge quantities of a single cultivar for bulk planting.
The publications by Krikorian and Kann (1979a) and Meyer provide illustrations of the fundamental steps involved in tissue cultivating daylilies (1976, 1979). Once the plantlets have been created in tissue culture, they can be rooted relatively quickly under the normal daylily proliferation rooting conditions.
The propagation of daylilies can be done using additional methods. Ramets can be divided into portions that contain both root and shoot tissue. These ramet cuttings can be converted into cuttings after about six months of growth if they are treated hygienically (Foret and Nelson, 1967). According to Traub (1936), ramets should not be divided or sliced into portions that are less than one-fourth of the original ramet.
Another method is to remove the tops of crowns and use growth-regulating substances to encourage the development of offshoots that can be cut off and rooted. Kinetin and kinetin-auxin combinations were applied in experiments by Apps and Heuser (1975) and Kirby-Smith and Kasha (1981), respectively. Both of them were successful, but the operation must be carried out carefully, and commercial propagators do not like the approach.
While division will likely remain the most common method of daylily propagation, tissue culture will play a crucial role in the future by helping to ensure that deserving new cultivars reach the market and the abundant supply of plants required by the landscape sector.
How to Propagate Daylilies
A hardy perennial, daylilies can withstand prolonged neglect and yet add vibrant splashes of color to the landscape. I am aware because I have abused daylilies. It’s simple to forget that they can flourish with some assistance because they thrive in poor soil, severe weather, inadequate light, and bone-dry circumstances. The plants will thrive with only minimal maintenance, and you’ll soon discover that your garden needs more. Given how simple it is to reproduce daylilies, this is hardly a problem.
Daylily plants come in a variety of sizes, from small, feathery clusters to big, fans of green leaves, and the flowers offer a rainbow spectrum of colors that bloom over a lengthy period of time. Because of these variations in color and size, I’ve discovered that sometimes when I plant, I do so with an artistic goal in mind, but as the plants grow, I find myself wanting to move them around and grow more of the ones I particularly enjoy. A blessing in those circumstances is simple propagation.
There are just two main methods for growing daylilies. By seed is first. The flowers dry after flowering and pollination, at which point a tiny, green seed pod forms at the base. The seed pod will develop over the course of a few months, and as it reaches maturity, it will turn brown. Eventually, the brown pods will break open. There will be shiny black seeds inside. These immature seeds should be sown in the fall for natural winter cold or they should be stored in the refrigerator in a plastic bag for approximately a month in order for them to germinate. They are prepared to seed outside in the spring after this cooling off phase.
It’s a gamble to collect and plant daylily seeds in your garden. You are probably growing hybrid daylilies. Because they are a cross between different types, they won’t grow true to the parent plant when produced from seed. You cannot distinguish which flower fertilized another if you have different daylilies in your bed. Pollination from various hybrid parents or hybrid cultivars will produce a seed that will eventually develop into an unidentified plant.
A seed may need three years to sprout and develop into a flowering plant. Be prepared for a surprise when the plant sprouts its first bloom after all that time. There is no way to predict in advance what color or size it will be, but given the wealth of advantages daylilies provide, it will undoubtedly be a pleasant surprise.
Remove the seed pods if you don’t want to save the seeds. Usually, plants that produce seeds the next year have fewer blossoms. There is no justification to purposefully limit future blossoms as one of the main reasons daylilies are grown is for their flowers.
Division is the second method of daylily propagation. When you want your plant to have the same size and color as the parent, dividing large clumps of daylilies is the ideal technique of propagation. In addition, flowers will grow more quickly. Every three to four years, each plant forms a clump that is prepared for division. You’re doing yourself and the plant a favor by routinely dividing because undivided plants will start to produce fewer flowers.
You can divide daylilies in the spring or the fall. After being divided in the spring, plants develop swiftly, although they rarely blossom the first year. I favor propagating in the fall primarily for that reason. Plants propagated in the fall usually always blossom the following season. To divide and transplant the divisions, you should wait until after the plant has flowered but at least six weeks before the ground freezes.
Start by completely digging up the plant. Push your spade as far as you can in a circle around the plant, starting approximately six to eight inches away. With the spade, lift the plant while attempting to preserve the rootball. While it shouldn’t be too difficult, larger plants might have roots that extend beyond the hole and could potentially be torn as a result.
To reveal the roots, brush or wash away the soil that is covering them. The roots of many daylilies are swollen and tuberous. The plant stores its food and water here, allowing the divisions to thrive after transplanting. The transplant has a better likelihood of success the more roots there are in the division.
You can see how the fans come together at the roots to produce different and unique parts. These sections can be separated from one another. It is simplest for me to start by lightly shaking the plant and observing where it naturally starts to split. I next carefully divide the plant into two parts. Each of those divisions can frequently be further broken down into two or three other divisions.
When pulling gently, bigger plants and clusters might not separate. It could be necessary to split the clump by inserting two garden forks back to back in the center of it. Garden forks lessen root damage compared to using two spades, which causes greater harm. The divisions can typically be further separated by hand once they are smaller.
Divisions ought to have three or four sturdy roots attached fans. These will take root more quickly, form sturdy clumps, and bloom after a year. You can even cut it into smaller pieces so that each fan has just five or six thin leaves. These individual fans can be moved without issue, but it might take them a few seasons to get big enough to start blooming.
There are some enormous, mature clumps that may have roots that are so thick in the middle that they resemble a solid mass. It might be necessary to use a sharp shovel or garden knife to split these clumps apart. Try to cut so that the identity of the individual fans is preserved.
To prevent the roots from drying up, the divisions should be transferred as soon as they are dug up. Cut the leaves on each division so that just five to six inches are left above the crown. This lessens stress and water loss. The area at the junction of the leaves and roots is known as the crown and is often cream in color. Put the plant in the hole with the crown a little more than an inch beneath the surface.
Daylilies thrive in broad sunlight and moist, organically-rich soil. If you can add organic stuff to the transplant area in advance, do so. A high phosphorus fertilizer addition will aid in promoting root growth. The dirt in the hole for each plant should at the very least have a handful of compost and fertilizer added to it if you’re transplanting divisions amid other, established plants, as I frequently do. Fill the hole and compact the earth around the roots.
Water the area well after the divisions have been planted. Till the ground freezes, keep the soil moist. To control the soil’s temperature and moisture content, add a few inches of mulch. Mulch also helps the plants look more attractive and lessens weed growth.
For some daylily varieties, there is a third way of propagation available. Some daylilies’ stems, or scapes, may support tiny plants. If kept on the plant for a long enough period of time, this tiny plant will develop leaves, a crown, and even roots. Proliferations are the name given to these little clones of the original daylily. Proliferations can either be transplanted or potted up. Both above and below the proliferation, cut the scape. Dip the crown in rooting hormone to aid start the growth of roots if they haven’t already started. Since none of the daylily kinds I cultivate produce proliferations, I am unable to speak from personal experience with this approach.
Daylilies eventually grow into thick mats of vegetation. You can keep the plants under control and looking their best by dividing them. A excellent approach to spread their wonder to new locations is through reproduction. Remember that many of your friends who garden might be interested in some of your excess divisions.