7 weeks ago, I re-landscaped part of our front yard and added approximately 3 dozen daylilies that I purchased from out of state. Upon arrival, I potted up each daylily while waiting for the soil and temps to cool and then transplanted them to their final homes in the yard mid-November. Anyway, two days ago, my husband asked our yard man to put down some compost, aged manure and mulch and herein is where the problem lies. Although my husband was very clear not to get the soil additives on the plants, I went out to check the garden this afternoon (I did not look earlier due to flu and disability) and discovered that the yard man buried all of the daylilies approximately 12-16" deep - mostly in fresh horse manure!. I pulled back what I could and found each daylily is now limp and black. My husband and I just finished lifting and potting each daylily in new potting soil (thank goodness he just bought me another 10 bags yesterday) and they are resting in the greenhouse. I am very concerned that my daylilies are going to die as they look terrible!!! I have left the "foliage" on for now but was wondering if anyone has any suggestions as to what to do to help these guys out?

I think they will be fine. I am a bit surprised that the foliage turned black after 2 days.

Even if you cut off all the foliage, I think they will grow back. Daylilies are pretty hardy, resilient plants.

I'm not in your climate though...

If it has been warm or hot where you are, the daylilies may just have gotten burned and they should recover. I've seen folks around here apply mulch too close to the crown in the spring when it is warming up and that can kill them if it isn't pulled away from the crown. Sounds like you got your problems fixed in time, though!

Thank you so much for the encouraging words... What I am worried about most is he used fresh, urine soaked (horse) shavings rather than the aged stuff - the ammonia smell is still overpowering. I suppose time will tell - it is just that the gentleman that I purchased these from was kind enough to dig and send these dl's in his off-season and he actually had 32 fans of the particular cultivar that I had my heart set on. Again - thank you!

I agree with Juli and floota. They should be fine, especially since you got them out of there so soon. They are tough plants, and may have survived even if you hadn't moved them. But, being ones that you really wanted, it was great that you were able to get them out of the manure and into a better place where I'm sure they will be okay. Hopefully that manure breaks down fast!

Thank you so much. I am having the yard man turn the soil today and given the amount of earthworms and our soil composition (have always been organic except for the potted plants), I am sure that most of the manure will be broken down within a couple of months. I will just plan on replanting in mid to late March, then. Again, thank you so much for the feedback - it is most appreciated!

You are very welcome!! Let us know how it goes! And pictures.... we can't live without them!

Will do! I appreciate how helpful and friendly everyone has been.

It is an amazing group of people here! I don't know how I'd survived without them! So many brilliant people in one place is hard to find, and I have gotten an amazing amount of help in a very short time! Please join in on any other topics, or ask any other questions that you may have. At the very least, you'll make a lot of new friends! We also like to chat about off-topic items on the Porch Swing thread! I spend way too much time there, but it really is like hanging out with a bunch of friends!