Quick comment, Armillaria and the other rot fungi are not obligate parasites. I didn't think Aureobasidium microstictum was either but need to check that, certainly other Aureobasidium species are not. Rust is an obligate parasite.

Thanks! I know I shouldn't count on you to spot-check all this, but it is so very helpful when you do. I learn by steps, so I'll go ahead and re-write those two from the list I started at http://garden.org/thread/view_.... I'm assuming that there is no research on them with regard to nutrients, but will also try to do some searching on it. Each time I feel like I understand more, even if it is little by little (some of these new words and categories can be a real challenge! lol), so it means a lot to have your encyclopedic eye, cross-checking process, and deep knowledge to get them sorted out as I learn.

Does this article possible identify another cause for Spring Sickness (possibly a new Botrytis species of fungus, Botrytis deweyae, which may possibly be an obligate parasite)? I'm also wondering if I got my readings right that Leaf Streak may be from the same pathogen/s as Spring Sickness, and if so, might be considered a possible symptom that could also be part of the Spring Sickness condition?

http://www.plosone.org/article...

Excerpt from Abstract: "...emergence of this disease is suggested to have been triggered by breeding-related changes in cultivated hybrids, particularly the erosion of genetic diversity. Our investigation confirms that emergent plant diseases are important and deserve close monitoring, especially in intensively in-bred plants."

Very interesting thread, Tina! I am getting an education from you and Sue!

First, let me say I was quite surprised by the information you found out about dish soap, Joy! Interesting! Thanks for sharing what you found out! I probably won't use it now.

Second, I want to tell you something that might be of interest to you and others. I have a few clematis vines. I have to grow them in containers as the root knot nematodes will eventually kill them in the ground soil. I drill drain holes on the "side" of my containers, not the bottom. We've had a lot of rain here this summer. I noticed that one of my clematis vines was wilting. At first I didn't pay much attention thinking it was a broken branch that was dying. But then I noticed the entire plant turning brown. I was in a panic! This plant has a nicely developed root system even in a container and I had just potted it up. Come to find out that the drain holes had clogged. So of course, I took a small screw driver and pushed the clogged holes open and water just came gushing out of all the holes. The vine roots had been sitting in water for probably a week! All that rain had just filled up the container. My clematis plant was drowning and developing root rot. It was even smelling like rotted potting soil. You may know that smell I am talking about. Well, in desperation, I poured about a cup of 3% Hydrogen Peroxide all over the top of the soil. Straight H2O2 (not diluted with water). The plant stopped turning brown. Two days later I poured another cup of H2O2 over the potting soil again figuring I had nothing to lose as it was likely a goner. And then waited with little hope. I was expecting the plant to eventually die. Well guess what? It has sprouted all new vine branches, new leaves, and is growing like gangbusters again! I KNOW it was the H2O2!

So this makes me wonder ..... if H2O2 could cure ... or at least aid a plant infected with a root rot fungus.... could it be sprayed on the leaves or used as a soil drench to fight other types of fungus? Might it help? Hydrogen Peroxide may be underestimated.

I have a question for Pat ....

Can you explain more about what you meant when you wrote "soil mineralization". What kind of amendments are you using to benefit your daylilies?

Thanks, Becky. [Edited to remove confusion about the source of plant stress - my misread.] However it occurred, I'm glad to hear your plant is well, and maybe we could even explore and brainstorm about whether there might be fully OMRI-approved organic ways to combat rots (I think there may be some restriction on H202 use in soil)?

I've read about hydrogen-peroxide-gardening online, but it seems hydrogen peroxide is an OMRI-listed material that is only approved with restrictions; to be used only after other measures are taken (205.206(e) and other restrictions below). This first rule is pretty simple and straightforward, and is explained in post http://garden.org/thread/view_...

The OMRI listing: (http://www.omri.org/simple-gml...)

"Hydrogen Peroxide
Status: Allowed with Restrictions
Class: Crop Pest, Weed, and Disease Control Origin: Synthetic
Description: Also known as "hydrogen dioxide." May be used for plant disease control or as an algicide, disinfectant, or sanitizer if the requirements of 205.206(e) are met. Hydrogen peroxide pesticide products may contain a concentration of no more than 6% peracetic acid as indicated on the pesticide product label without applying the peracetic acid restriction(s). May be used as both an adjuvant or inert ingredient in passive pheromone dispensers. See also INERTS – LIST 3.
NOP Rule: 205.206(e), 205.601(a)(4), 205.601(a)(6), 205.601(i)(5) & 205.601(i)(8)"

The additional NOP rules are explained here: http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/re...

Tina - The H2O2 didn't kill any nematodes (that I know of). My plant was not in the ground. It was in "root knot nematode free" potting soil. My clematis developed root rot from the container being flooded and my clematis roots were drowning. It was root rot fungi that was killing my plant. So, if H2O2 could cure a plant of root rot, could it help cure or aid plants of other fungus diseases as well? I wonder if it could help with rust fungus or if sprayed on leaves, could it help with leaf streak? Or even Spring Sickness or crown rot?

Hydrogen Peroxide might not be totally organic, but I bet it is less harmful to the environment than a lot of other chemicals or ingredients.

Thanks Becky, the mention of nematodes sidetracked me ... it is so easy to get pulled off the new topics I'm reading about (2014 publication on Spring Sickness caused by a possible new species of fungus, in my other post above) and get a bit lost - that can get really confusing, I know!

As a discussion of near-organic (not harmful), perhaps you could research further online to see why it is not approved outright (if I'm reading the NOP rules correctly). If it may be, like Dawn dishwashing liquid, due to some possible contra-indications (perhaps that it might kill off needed and beneficial nematodes, etc.?), and see if there are alternative full-organic methods that could also be used, along the lines of possible manipulation of soil nutrient bases that are being referenced in this thread?

My own current focus in on really getting the drawing-board clear, so to speak, by finding out what our soil composition is first. Without that knowledge, we may just be using things (organic, near-organic, or not) that are possibly not needed, may add harm, or may just be a waste of time, energy, and money. Have you had a chance to test your soil?

No, I've not had my soil tested. Mainly because I use raised beds that I add compost, good top soil, and other organic amendments in. Is this thread about what's in the soil? I may have misunderstood the thread topic.

BTW - I did find this paragraph from this link: http://www.ghorganics.com/page...

Quoting the above link:

Hydrogen Peroxide Treatment
To prevent bacterial and fungal problems on outdoor plants use hydrogen peroxide! Hydrogen peroxide will prevent the disease spores from adhering to the plant tissue. It causes no harm to plants or soil, however don't use on young transplants or direct seeded crops until they have become established. Warning: Always test on a small portion of plant tissue first to check for any negative reactions. Do not proceed if there is any damage to plant tissue. Do not substitute food grade H2O2 for the common H2O2. Spray plants with undiluted 3 percent hydrogen peroxide that you can buy most anywhere. Be sure to cover tops and bottoms of leaves. Do this once a week during dry weather and twice a week in wet weather. This works as a preventative. If you already have problems use this as a direct treatment.

Organic (and harm-less near-organic) care of daylilies naturally starts with the idea that we would only use fertilizers, amendments, or treatments to correct problems that stem from known soil, pest, water logging, or other problem sources. So, understanding the composition of the soil that we grow daylilies in makes it possible to know for sure what conditions they are already exposed to (especially if natural local soil is amended or replaced, and other fertilizers or treatments may have already built up over time), and whether daylilies will benefit from or possibly be harmed by our approaches or treatments.

For example, overfertilization can also cause rots to occur. One possible approach to correct the problem, for example, might be just to ensure an affected daylily gets better irrigation, adjusting soil drainage if needed, withholding fertilization or amendments, letting the plant have a chance to right itself in drier soil, and then sending in a sample to be analyzed in order to be sure of the cause, in order to avoid and correct future rotting problems. Simply reducing excess watering to allow oxygen to get to the roots again, and making sure that there is adequate drainage to allow the daylilies to heal, might sometimes work just as well as applying non-organic materials on an affected plant.

Using hydrogen peroxide to treat daylily diseases does make me wonder if we might also kill off nematodes in the soil that are beneficial and needed for daylilies' health? And, rather than use it as a preventive measure to suppress or clean up rust on leaves, the alternative of simply trimming and allowing the fans to recover may be the most "organic" way of all, and one that guides us to do less with treatments and more with simple supportive care? There have also now been references for links between the growing soil's nutritional impact on susceptibility and resistance to rust (and also for Spring Sickness).

I could certainly see why gardeners would want to us hydrogen peroxide on a rotting daylily fan, perhaps after it has been cleaned to bare-roots, and then rinsed after application, but I don't really know what other possible impacts, results, or concerns there might be with using H202 rather than looking at non-synthetic alternatives.

As for soil applications, I know that your clematis must avoid nematodes, but I haven't heard that about daylilies. And, I'm not sure the organic site you found is citing information to support its use in soil, or for safety with daylilies and helpful nematodes and insects? But, it is not something I've been reading up on, so it would be great if you have more info to share that would help me understand better!

I'm getting a bit lost keeping up with the changes, but the only major disease of daylilies that is an obligate parasite is daylily rust. Nitrogen and potassium are not the only nutrients that have an influence on plant diseases, there are whole books devoted to the topic of nutrients and plant diseases. I have one, Mineral Nutrition and Plant Disease, Datnoff et al, APS Press. 278 pages devoted solely to the various nutrients and their influence on increasing or decreasing specific diseases.

Re nutrients and spring sickness, I had my daylily leaves tissue tested and the only nutrient that was too low was manganese (which seems not to be an uncommon nutrient deficiency in daylilies, often related to the pH).

I am familiar with the Botrytis/spring sickness article. I find it somewhat difficult to see a disorder of daylilies that has been known since the early 1940's (at least) as an emerging plant disease! Note that they did not reproduce spring sickness experimentally with the new Botrytis whereas the researcher who looked at Aureobasidium microstictum's potential involvement did reproduce something he felt looked like spring sickness when injecting that latter fungus into healthy daylilies. (Yes, A. microstictum is also the fungus that causes leaf streak). See these references from my spring sickness task force web site (the two lower ones are for bulb mites):

Kobayashi, H. 1998. Aureobasidium microstictum (Bubak) Cooke, The causal agent of leaf streak of daylily (Hemerocallis L.) and its involvement in spring sickness of daylily, M.Sc. thesis, Ohio State University.

Labanowski, G.S., Soika, G. 1992. Occurrence and Injurious Effects of Rhizoglyphus echinopus - A new pest of Hemerocallis hybrida. Acta Horticulturae, 325;739-741.

Muller, P.J., Hollinger, T.C. 1980. Damage by Rhizoglyphus mites in some ornamental bulbous crops. Acta Horticulturae, 109;449-456.

Yes, there are plant pathogenic nematodes that attack daylilies.

Re hydrogen peroxide for rust, this has been studied. There's a citation on my daylily rust info site in the literature list pages but you can get there direct from here: http://www.sciencedirect.com/s... (Hydrogen peroxide and dioxide are the same thing as Tina notes above).

I didn't find much info about the scientific evidence to support H2O2 in garden use. But I am going to try something. I will be adding H2O2 to my liquid organic fertilizer mix to see if I notice a difference.

I have 3 clematis that I potted up at the same time. All 3 are growing in the same potting soil conditions in very similar containers in my backyard. Two are putting on their second bloom show currently. They have a lot more growth since being potted up. The other vine that almost died was way behind. If you saw it now, you would not know it nearly died. The growth in just a few short weeks as been astonishing! It has just about caught up with the other two vines. (H2O2 almost seems like a miracle treatment to me!) So I will be adding a small dosage of H2O2 to my fertilizer to see if there are any changes....

Sue - We cross posted. Very interesting article about H2O2. Thank you for sharing that link and info. Please clarify it for me .... Disease incidence and severity decreased with increasing concentration and number of applications of H2O2 per week, but was also phytotoxic? It was phytotoxic because of the increase amount of H2O2 or the number of treatments a week or both?

I think both. You can get the full article if you Google using the words zerotol daylily rust, there is more detail in there. The PDF link should be at the bottom of the first results page. That same results page also includes the fungicide research article on leaf streak where they also tested zerotol). I'd give the direct link but Google insists on including itself in the address and making it very long!

Great reference for Mineral Nutrition and Plant Disease; I'll be searching out a used copy to obtain! I'm going to pull a couple of the Daylily Nutrition Research Articles you posted elsewhere and include them here in case someone would find them to be of interest:

http://www.hriresearch.org/doc...

http://horttech.ashspublicatio...

I wonder if I should also update Botrytis deweyae as an Oomycete, not a fungus? My thought that it might be an obligate parasite came from "obligate biotrophic Albugo species" and deweyae being linked by DNA analysis as being most closely related to elliptica, which is noted in the text as being obligate also. And, though the tissue samples were not grown to maturity to track and confirm Botrytis deweyae's life cycle, they did isolate it from cultivars donated that appeared to have Spring Sickness. Should I just list it as a daylily pathogen without widely-accepted connection to a particular disease?

Thanks also for the Spring Sickness website references - looks like some new organisms to add to the list, and I will explore them to learn more. Because of the OMRI restrictions on hydrogen peroxide, questions about toxicity, its status as a synthetic, regulated drug, and my interest in the benefits of not masking rust and approaching daylily disease management from "the ground up" I won't be applying the chemical to my soil. I haven't had any lack of vigor other than too much sun and heat (working on that!), and don't really want to push cultivars beyond their natural state here - adhering to more organic practices as I learn more, and appreciating what might be learned instead (without unnecessary boosting or intervention) that may benefit daylily care and hybridization practices into the future.

My browser isn't finding obligate in reference to elliptica, can you point me to which paragraph? I wouldn't extrapolate Albugo's being obligate to Botrytis deweyae. If you notice the preceding comment, it says that Botrytis cinerea (with which we're probably all familiar on other plants) is a necrotrophic generalist.

From: Molecular Phylogeny of the Plant Pathogenic Genus Botrytis and the Evolution of Host Specificity, Staats et al:
"Obligate parasites do not kill host cells but get their nutrients either by penetrating living cells or by establishing close contact with them. Necrotrophic pathogens such as Botrytis need to kill host cells before the cells are invaded by the fungus (Clark and Lorbeer 1976; van Baarlen, Staats, and van Kan 2004), which might suggest absence or a low degree of coevolution."

In the above they not only call Botrytis a necrotrophic pathogen but also a fungus. For most general horticultural purposes I would stick with fungus rather than oomycete - I think we're already getting a bit over our heads.

Re isolation of fungi from daylilies with spring sickness, that was done with the Aureobasidium microstictum study also.

Note I carefully covered myself by saying no MAJOR disease of daylilies other than rust is an obligate parasite. Daylilies do get viruses and those are obligate parasites but they aren't generally considered major daylily problems.

I've been swimming way over my head here in alphabet soup for a while now, lol, but I swear each lap around finds a few more noodles sticking to my head, and for that I am so grateful (by now, I feel I should be sending tuition, for real).

I'm afraid the mix-up may be from my hopping out to go searching further on Botrytis and elliptica with Mr. Gee's help and we all know what can sometimes happen down that rabbit hole. I just tried but can't find my electronic noodle-trail to retrace why I thought elliptica was also obligate, so thanks for untangling that noodle for me. (...reminder to self ... "most closely related," and descended from, do not mean a direct one-to-one association for attributes, as daylily dips, trips, and tets like to show me when I dab). BTW kudos on getting cited twice there; you are leaving quite a legacy with all the diverse and ground-breaking work you do on behalf of daylilies!

Am relieved to keep deweyae streamlined as a fungus. I'm ready to re-structure the list of things daylily people want to know about most, and will post it below here (corrections and clarifications welcome...!). If you get the chance to peek at it, do you think would still be included as a possible contributor under Spring Sickness, or only as a pest associated with a spring sickness-like condition, or ... ? Any chance that there is info, too, on possible soil nutrient role in decreasing or increasing necrotrophic fungi's appearance?

Someday I will have enough room in my head again to try and find out more about daylily viruses, it sounds most intriguing, but I've never seen it explained beyond just it being mentioned that it occurs. Always something new, or a new layer or facet, though, to keep things interestings. Fascinating daylilies.

Soil Testing, Daylily Maladies, Soil Nutrient Impacts, and Organic Approaches to Prevention and Management

...otherwise known as a collection of helpful information garnered and gathered, with deep gratitude, from Sue Bergeron

Soil Testing
= > Locating Agricultural Extension Services for Los-Cost or Free Soil Testing
= > Logan Labs

(Professional plant tissue lab test - leaf analysis that tells you what nutrients are actually being taken up by the plant instead of what is in the soil (and which may not be in an available form). Micronutrient deficiencies are not likely if your pH is around 6.5 or below (although if it too low that's another problem). Also offers soil pH and macro/micro nutrient tests.

= > AL Labs

(Professional lab test for full-range nitrogen and all micro-nutrients/minerals - See Top of Page 5)

= > - Home Soil Test Kit Reviews Inexpensive Kits with 90+% accuracy

Daylily Rust
Information: http://web.ncf.ca/ah748/rust.h...
Identification: http://web.ncf.ca/ah748/FAQ.ht...

Puccinia hemerocallidis fungus, an obligate parasite, multiple strains.

1. Soil Nutrients that impact obligate parasites like Puccinia: "...high nitrogen supply increases the severity of infection ... high concentrations [of potassium (K)] increase the resistance ... However, beyond optimal [potassium (K)] supply for growth, there is no further increase in resistance with increasing K addition or K concentration in the plants. Hence, K addition is only effective in disease control if it alleviates K deficiency." (http://books.google.com/books?...) Many sources also note that too much nitrogen applied to soil may contribute to polluting groundwater, nearby rivers and streams, by spurring growth of algae that can suffocate aquatic plant and animal life.
2. Preventive: Choose daylilies rated as resistant to rust (See ATP Daylily Database and choose "shows resistance" from drop-down box option.) Monitor soil nutrient levels and adjust organically if needed.
3. Organic Management: "For those who do not wish to use fungicides treatment may be limited to continuous removal of individual infected leaves [or affected leaf areas trimmed] as they are noticed. Removed leaves should be destroyed, preferably by burning or burying where this is possible." http://www.daylilies.org/ahs_d...

Spring Sickness and/or Similar Disease Conditions
Information and Identification: http://web.ncf.ca/ah748/sstf.h...

May have multiple contributors:

1. Aureobasidium microstictum, possibly an obligate parasite (If confirmed, see Soil Nutrition Impact info from #1. under Daylily Rust above).
2. Possibly: involvement of a new Botrytis species of fungus, B. deweyae, a Necrotrophic fungus or disease-causing endophyte
3. Possibly: Rhizoglyphus echinopus and R. Robini, bulb mites that feed on fungi found on afflicted bulbs or roots

Leaf Streak
Information and Identification: http://www.pestid.msu.edu/Plan...

1. Aureobasidium microstictum fungus, possibly an obligate parasite (If confirmed, see research on its role in Spring Sickness and on soil nutrition info from #1. under Daylily Rust above)
2. Possibly: Rhizoglyphus echinopus, R. robini and other pests may damage foliage and could potentially create an entry for the leaf streak fungus, which is believed to need some injury before it can infect the plant.

Crown Rot

Fusarium, Phytophthora, Sclerotium, Rhizoctonia and Pythium fungi

Scape Blasting

May be due to erratic or excessive watering, or excessive nitrogen in the soil.

Pests

A. Aphids (Myzus hemerocallis)

1. Controlling Aphids on Hemerocallis with Soybean Oil
2. OMRI Approved Neem Oil Products
3. Beneficial insects: Praying Mantis (USDA), Ladybugs

B. Spider Mites (Tetranychus urticae)

1. Beneficial nematodes: OMRI restricts use until the simple steps in NOP Rule 205.206(e) are met.
   http://www.omri.org/simple-opl...
2. OMRI Approved Neem Oil Products

C. Thrips (Frankliniella)

1. Beneficial insects: Stinkbugs (Orius insidious)

D. Snails or Slugs

1. Sluggo and Sluggo Plus (with organic insecticide): OMRI restricts use until the simple steps in NOP Rule 205.206(e) are met.
   http://www.omri.org/simple-opl...

E. Rhizoglyphus echinopus, noted as one of the likely agents in Spring Sickness and Leaf Streak.

F. General OMRI listed Organic Insecticides

1. OMRI sometimes restricts use until the simple steps in NOP Rule 205.206(e) and/or other NOP Rules are met. Check the OMRI product listings for details.
http://www.omri.org/simple-opl...
http://www.omri.org/simple-opl...
http://www.omri.org/simple-opl...

Other Conditions

Summer Dormancy - drought and/or high temperatures and/or length and amount of daily sun intensity

General Nutritional Information

Phosphorous

Poor Bud Count, Lack of Plant Growth, Slow Maturing Seedlings - These may generally be ascribed to low Phosphorous. But, Sue B. mentions that: "Dr. Scott Elliott wrote an article about his experiments on daylily nutrient deficiency symptoms [in which he reported] he wasn't able to induce P deficiency in daylilies."

Links

OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute): http://www.omri.org/omri-lists
NOP (National Organic Program) http://www.ecfr.gov/cgi-bin/re...

...to be continued...

I'm pretty sure Aureobasidium microstictum is not an obligate parasite. I haven't had time to re-read the first research on it from Japan but I believe they were able to grow it in culture which would have pretty much ruled out its being an obligate parasite. A necrotrophic pathogen would be the opposite of a biotroph (and also that new Botrytis is considered to be a potential endophyte, just to complicate matters). If we're going with the term obligate parasite then the other categories would be facultative saprophyte, facultative parasite, and saprophyte (the latter is not disease causing). I believe Botrytis cinerea would be considered a facultative parasite. Nutrient effects on Botrytis species are described in the Datnoff book, there are several mentions in the index. If I have time in the next few days I'll look up which nutrients have an effect (although whether that would extrapolate to the new one on daylily I don't know).

Collecephalus hemerocalli is an old name for Aureobasidium microstictum. See the AHS daylily dictionary leaf streak page for other old names: http://www.daylilies.org/ahs_d...

Myzus hemerocallis is not the only aphid species that affects daylilies, ditto for Frankliniella (not the only thrips genus that has been reported on daylilies). You can get more info on these also from the AHS daylily dictionary.

The bulb mite, Rhizoglyphus echinopus (also R. robini in my case), has been proposed as possibly involved in spring sickness, but has not been implicated in leaf streak. Having said that, anything that damages foliage, including weather, thrips and other pests etc. could potentially create an entry for the leaf streak fungus, which is believed to need some injury before it can infect the plant.

Summer dormancy is more likely related to drought and/or high temperatures I would say.

As always, such wonderful information. I'll work on absorbing and incorporating it, and look forward to any follow-ups on the classifications, and nutritional effects (at the very least, a starting point for looking at potential organic approaches to the many diseases).

I've included Summer Dormancy on the list because (apart from it being a problem in my chronically high-temp drought area) I'm wondering if there are organic approaches to managing the gardens in ways that would possibly avoid full-out dormancy. For example, if there is research that shows some nutritional levels support better performance in these conditions, if there are any nutritional needs that might show up in tests, what to do (or not do) as foliage burns, ways to avoid the extreme loss of root and fan size from maturity levels by possible organic supplementation, etc.) For now, it'll just be a reminder to myself to hunt around for any pointers. So many gardening conundrums, so little time. So ... your time and thoughtfulness in sharing so much helpful information is really appreciated!

EDIT: Before I forget, I'm just noting here the likely Mr. Gee trail, via Wicked Pedia, from which I think I got the Albugo - > Botrytis - > Oomycete - > obligate biotrophs idea ... but not meant to be a further red-herring distraction, just noting for my own future mulling pleasure on a rainy day ... from the Pathogenicity section, subsection White Blister Rusts, which includes Botrytis.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O...

If nothing else, it is a reminder to me of how difficult but important it must be to understand each organism involved in a disease process, especially since the nutritional effects may bump one type of organism and not another. It will help me curb the impulse to whine a bit about dead-language, surname-bound nomenclature, at least for a while longer. :} Too defining to risk scattershot right now.

I am so very indebted to @sooby for being the inspiration for my learning the central importance of soil testing before opting to apply any products or materials, organic or otherwise, to improve daylily health.

It appears that the soil at our house is not so much soil ... as it is just sand ... and not just ordinary sand, but marine infused, salty sand that leaches and burns in the 108-degrees summers here! That knowledge, gained from soil testing we did last week, makes a huge impact on how we will approach improving our daylily gardening. From our use (or avoidance) of particular organic fertilizers and amendments, to staying focused on carefully balancing nutritional needs with careful review of ingredients and restrictions, we are very pleased to have started looking at things "from the ground up!"

Our 9b blast furnace gardens, as I have called them before in many posts, are now known as the incinerator gardens ... as the sand, composed of solid mineral grains, not only flushes all water and nutrients (even from amendments) right on through, but then nicely bakes and dries our daylily roots. All our amendments in the last six years were ultimately for naught and lost to the great sand sieve's ability to filter them through and out (pH 4.5, nitrogen exhausted, potassium exhausted, potash [the crispy, salty remains of burned foliage] high and off the charts). Given that our outside spigots also dispense salty marine water ... well ... you can imagine (pickled daylilies - astounding me with those cultivars that have made do when other plants just succumb!).

We now know that our first need is to amend and mulch the sand into a sandwich, with organic water-absorbing fibers, low in salt, worked carefully into the soil in small incremental percentages, and then top dressed with same, so that the gardens can begin to build their own new ecosystem. It will buffer the roots from drying out, and keep moisture in to sustain the soil's carbon and hydro cycles, and that should lead to increased biological life and health. It is a slow process when incorporated organically. We feel really good, though, about slowing down, doing as little as possible, learning and refining things in much greater detail, and trying to assist nature in creating a more robust daylily environment in our own back yard. I already know 200 cultivars that not only can make it till that happens, but that will be ever more nourished as they go forward.

We will head off to see what might come to fruition by next year, and so we also send good wishes to everyone else working on similar longer-term goals!

What kind of mulch are you planning to use?