I just divided and replanted my large day lilies. This is day 3 and they are looking pretty awful. Droopy, some are kind of yellow. I've not over watered. Give them more time? Can they be trimmed shorter or one shock at a time? Thanks!

Probably the best thing to do right now would be to shade the plants until they perk up. You can put up shade cloth, or any old cloth, with stakes and clothes pins (or I use bulldog clips). I've also propped up cardboard boxes on stakes to shade plants. I wouldn't use plastic, though, it will block the air movement. Misting the leaves will help, too.

Did you use any root stimulant fertilizer? I like to use that on transplants.

This is the hottest time of the year in terms of strong sun. Daylilies really like better to be divided in the fall, with shorter days and less intense sun.

Will get some root stimulant and get the Mr to make up some temp shade

Forgot to say to you, Betsy. We lived in Utah for 21 years before moving to FL. I just returned from visiting my kids and grandkids in Salt Lake.

The dry air in Utah always makes it a little difficult on transplants. Your daylilies would probably have sort of scruffy looking leaves right now anyway, since they rest a bit after blooming, before they put up new growth. Just be patient, they will recover. It's truly hard to kill a daylily.

I would trim back the foliage. There's always some damage to the roots when you dig up and divide which means they can't supply the same amount of foliage with water hence the leaves wilt. If you shorten the leaves then the roots may be able to keep up. The leaves aren't going to be of much benefit in that droopy state anyway.

@dyzzypyxxy...

>>>>Probably the best thing to do right now would be to shade the plants until they perk up.

I have been lurking on this forum for a while because I am planning on adding day lilies to my garden.

I certainly have more knowledge of roses than I do day lilies at this time, but I have had to transplant a rose during a period of triple digit temps, which is something that roses don't like very much either, but some of the advice given above is right on.

Whenever the root mass is smaller than the top growth, cutting back the top growth allows the plant to put energy in to growing roots and it establishes itself faster. Shading the plant reduces the heat stress so that the plant doesn't go into survival mode. The only addition tip I can offer for a dry climate is to keep the shade structure moist to increase the humidity around the plant as it slows the transpiration rate which reduces any heat stress. I not only keep the fabric I put over a bamboo teepee moist, I dip the tail of the cloth into a bucket of water and allow the moisture to be wicked up into the cloth.

I remove the shade fabric after the temps have started to cool down to allow the plant to breathe. In my climate, this added step has made it easier for me to help the plant come through in less than ideal situations.

Just my two cents.

Smiles,
Lyn

Certainly can't hurt to cut off yellowed or wilted leaves, but I would leave any green ones that look like they could recover. A green leaf is still making food for the rhizomes, so why cut it?

When you dig up a daylily clump to divide and transplant it, you get a huge ball of big, fat rhizomes (well, the size of your fingers, at least) unlike a rose that has all those fine roots. I honestly don't think the roots are damaged that much in transplanting a daylily as long as they don't dry out in the dividing process. That's a challenge on a dry day in June in the deserts of Utah. (the whole place is a desert, just parts of it are irrigated so they don't look like it).

I had a large plastic tray about 7in. deep that I filled with water, and after I dug the clump and hosed off the soil, I'd sit the whole thing in the tub while I messed with dividing to keep the rhizomes moist. I just planted some divisions in my daughter's garden in Salt Lake last month and on this last visit, they are all doing great, and two are blooming!

dyzzypyxxy said: Certainly can't hurt to cut off yellowed or wilted leaves, but I would leave any green ones that look like they could recover. A green leaf is still making food for the rhizomes, so why cut it?

When you dig up a daylily clump to divide and transplant it, you get a huge ball of big, fat rhizomes (well, the size of your fingers, at least) unlike a rose that has all those fine roots.

I would agree that if one can get away with it it is better to leave the green foliage alone, but if the leaves are wilting then the stomata are closed and photosynthesis is reduced/stopped, so they aren't making food. Shortening the leaves to the point where they're no longer wilting will allow the stomata to open and the plant to function more normally. If the root system was able to supply enough water for transpiration then the existing leaves wouldn't be wilting.

I think maybe by rhizomes you're referring to the tuberous roots? There are finer roots as well and they may be damaged in transplanting.

Blazing June sun, high 90's and single-digit humidity when I was there this week . . . no wonder the root system couldn't supply enough water, right?

Hoping Betsy got some shade on those plants and that next time she waits until September or so to divide her plants.

Sue .....

You said it better than I did "Shortening the leaves to the point where they're no longer wilting will allow the stomata to open and the plant to function more normally. If the root system was able to supply enough water for transpiration then the existing leaves wouldn't be wilting."



Smiles,
Lyn

I dug up and moved some from a half barrel and moved to other barrels on the property and some to garden beds, but they had just started coming up....maybe 6" of growth. Didn't need to cut anything back. All are about to flower already....except for one ate down by an Elk (didn't spray in time...opps!). Our central Idaho mountain weather was mostly cool which I'm sure made the difference between life and death !

Yep, cool weather, and plants that hadn't flowered yet, all the difference. Even so, a bit earlier in the spring would have been even better for them.