Last week I received a daylily order that had been in the post for approx. 2 weeks. I don't know what went wrong, but that was what happened. Anyway, the upshot was that the plants were completely dried, no green on the leaves. They were big, husky plants with a good root system, though. I soaked them overnight, and planted the next morning and watered thoroughly. We then went into a heat wave with temperatures in the 90's. I kept them watered. I was surprised to see them turn green overnight. Within 24 hours they were shooting up green and this is a picture of them less then one week after I received the box. They were planted last Thursday afternoon, and I took this photo the following Wednesday morning. Daylilies sure are tough!


Planted in my holding bed.

The newly received plants are the five with the trimmed leaves, not the ones on the right at the back.

they look great, Valerie!

It surprises me time and again how strong DL's are


Mayo

Thanks, Mayo. I felt sorry for the poor things. I couldn't believe it when I went out the next day, and they had already shot up with inches of new growth. I haven't planted daylilies quite as dried out as these before.

It is great they are making such a wonderful comeback. I wonder though if it will delay blooming because of the stress, for next year. Will the formation of a nice clump be delayed for a couple of extra years? I don't know of any studies done to determine the answers, but hopefully It will have no lasting effects on them.

Yes, I agree .... they are tougher than you might expect! Glad they are doing so well, Valerie!

Seedfork said:It is great they are making such a wonderful comeback. I wonder though if it will delay blooming because of the stress, for next year. Will the formation of a nice clump be delayed for a couple of extra years? I don't know of any studies done to determine the answers, but hopefully It will have no lasting effects on them.

I don't think they will bloom this year, but you never know. I will keep everyone posted on their progress.

Years ago I had a spring order that was shipped but not received. After two weeks of no show the seller reshipped the order which arrived on time. Those plants were planted and the original order considered lost in space. Two weeks later a crushed box arrived on my doorstep...the original order four weeks late. I figured the plants were done for but decided to look inside anyhow. They were totally dry and the foliage had turned pure white. There was no rot smell or mold so I trimmed them a little and put them in a pail of water in the shade. A few days later there were new green leaves starting to show. They were planted after a few more days and went on to outgrow the second shipment of the same plants and bloomed that summer. The seller said to keep everything and not worry about it. The second shipment, of healthy plants, was donated to our club auction the next year as donated by the seller, felt it was the right thing to do. Daylilies are pretty forgiving of the majority of our human errors.

Your plants are growing great! they bloom this year for you.

Char - That's an interesting and encouraging story!

That kind of "dormancy" must be a selling point with the companies that sell those black bags of daylily plants at Walmart. I've never bought one. Upon feeling the bag, it feels like roots and a crown mixed in a little sawdust or something. Those bags set on the shelf for sale for months. I am sure the longer they sit there, the less likely they are to survive.

Yay Valerie!
Our beloved daylilies are really strong!

Char, that is a very encouraging story! Maybe I will see blooms, who knows. They sure are growing well and are even better today. It is really quite incredible how much they have grown in exactly one week. I didn't take a picture of them in the state they were in when I received them, I don't know why, I guess I was just intent on getting them in the ground as quickly as I could.

Becky, you are right. I didn't really think about those little bags at the big box stores, with the dried up roots and sawdust. They must grow or they wouldn't sell them year after year. Daylilies really are incredible.

Sabrina, Yes, they are strong

Here they are 9 days after being planted. I took off some of the dead foliage, and when doing that I discovered a scape on Mystical Rainbow! How tough is that Edit: When walking around the perennial beds later today, I noticed that the other daylily shipped in this order (Etched Eyes) is sending up a scape, too.

Awesome!!!!

It couldn't have gone better!

An update on these plants that were delayed in shipping. Out of the six plants received in this order, only one did not bloom the first summer. All the others bloomed and all six have come through their first winter with flying colours. I learned my lesson to not panic over a delayed daylily shipment

@touchofsky Great thread/update. Gives me hope for the shipment I'm fretting over...

I too received less than fresh plants from an auction acquisition. They were blanched yellow and white, completely devoid of green and had obviously grown while in the dark box. I soaked them overnight with Super Thrive, cut them back pretty hard and potted them up. They are recovering and growing now. I have faith in their resilience.