I suppose that sounds a little strange, but that's what it looks like. I am wondering why it is that when I divide plants, some of them have all this fine, hairy fiber like growth at the base of the stalks. Is that caused by too much mulch around the plant, or is it just the nature of the beast for some plants?? Should that be removed before replanting or just left as is??
Thanks!!

If I am getting what you are describing it could be those very fine roots. If not, I do know what you mean but I think that is just common to daylilies. I don't think it is anything to worry about.

Do you mean the stringy bits to the left of and around this rather disreputable looking winter (November) dormant bud?



If so it's the remains of the old outer leaves, I assume the vascular tissue after the in between bits have been eaten or rotted away.

Thanks but that's really not it. It is really thick at the base of the stem and hard to pull out. It looks like fine hairs but there is a thick mat of it all around the stem.

Hmm... got a photo you can post?

The remains of the old leaves can look thicker and finer than in the picture. In the picture the plant had been underground dormant when I dug it up (spring sickness investigation), and I had washed it to get a good look at everything, so the fibers are wet changing the appearance, but it was the only pic I could find that showed them. You mention it is around the stem/stalks. Do you mean it is only around the flower scapes? I agree, a picture would definitely help.

I can't a pic right now but will in the future. I just finished getting ready for my big fall sale so everything is cleaned up.
Thanks for trying to help.

Cookies4kids,
I think I know what you are talking about, when I move daylilies I often see this, but I am not really sure it is part of the plant. I always clean that stuff off before planting, and I actually think that is could be fine root material from other plants. Does that make sense? I can just pull the fine fiberous looking stuff away from the plant, leaving a nice clean plant to be planted.Do you have any type of invasive plants that grow in your daylily beds? I always envision those fine roots as invasive weeds trying to get established in my garden and I try my best to remove them all, but that is based on no fact at all. That stuff could be part of the daylily plants, but as you say some have it and some don't.

I've mostly seen this fibrous stuff in plants that really need to be divided. It can be pulled away when plants are divided. IMHO, it is just the remains of old leaves that have died back. Doesn't worry me and has never caused a problem.

I agree with Julie, just went out to see if I could find that plant that had a tuft of fiber-y stuff. When I was pulling off some spent leaves, they left long hairy fibers around the base.

Mine are all new plantings so don't have much, but a big clump in the spring can have big hairy tufts.

No matter what it is, I always like to clean the daylilies really well when I am transplanting plants from other gardens into mine. I have sometimes skipped that step and lived to regret it by importing invasive plants. I also learned to make sure to clean any potted daylilies brought in, nut grass is often mixed in with the roots.

Thanks so much. That is exactly what I am talking. When you pull all that away, you have a nice clean plant. I was thinking it might be that the plants need to be divided. It seems that some plants are just more susceptible to this also. I also find none of this in plants that are easy to divide, and just fall apart easily. Those that are in tight, hard to seperate clumps almost always have this mess to clean off. As long as I know it isn't harmful, I am ok with it.
Thanks so much.

I dug up a seedling from about 2000 that is completely dormant and all the foliage dies back forming a mass of fiber. Hoping I can get a Spring picture posted and today's photo. This one was lined out two or three years ago and already needed dividing--should have had a knife to split it as these clumps are so tight.-Weedy

That's it, Weedy. Thanks so much.

Weedyseedy,
Did you just dig that plant up Sept. 12th of this year? You said it was completely dormant, so it was in summer dormancy? I have just been complaining about that in another thread. This caught my attention, and I am wondering if there is any connection between plants that experience summer dormancy and all the hairy (dead leaf) appearance. I am sort of wondering if all that dead leaf material contributes to the plants being so tight and hard to separate, or if the plant being so hard to separate contributes to the hairy looking appearance.
It seems reasonable that if a plant is root bound so to speak that the leaves might start dying off. I can see that if a plant experiences a summer dormancy if it is an (evergreen) it would have more dead leaf material than an evergreen that did not experience summer dormancy.

So, I dug up my Daylilie today and what a surprise to me, I guess it is called hairgeowth. What do you do with it? I have replanted many Daylilies from last year and they all grew and flowered, but I wanted to permanently move them during the fall. The lilies that I had in my back yard I pulled up and they were beautiful/ Plump juice dry clean tubes and then this mess from the front yard. What do I do with them ? Do I go ahead and plant them as they are ? I know the backyard soil is different as well as the light time that it receives.
I appreciate anybodys imput on what to do with them .. Thank you

@carolyngrove,

This is an old thread and I have learned a whole lot from the people in this forum since this thread was originally posted. Hard to believe now looking back just how ignorant I was about daylilies, I still have so much to learn.
You do not say what zone you are in but here in my zone I have been busy digging, separating and replanting daylilies. I consider October to be the best month for me to do this type work in my zone.
I am a little concerned about the wording you used in your post, but that may just be that you are new to daylilies. You said you "pulled up" the daylilies and that they were "beautiful/Plump " tubes? I do have a seedling bed with soil so light and porous that I could possibly "pull up" some young daylily seedlings root and all, but I think that would be a very rare instance and most of my daylilies have to be dug with a garden fork or shovel. If your daylilies are large enough and old enough to need to be divided then I doubt any of them could be pulled up as whole plants with the roots.
Also I have never thought of daylilies as having a tube like structure to them, but I suppose the fans could suggest a tube like growth. Now the only reason I mention this is being you are a new member, it is not uncommon for new members improperly identify other plants as daylilies. So I just want to be reassured the plants we are talking about are actually (hemerocallis) daylilies.
But, all that aside, if you have your plants already dug, clean up all the hairy fringy looking material (remains of old daylily leaves)
if you want to have the plants looking nice and clean when you replant them. I am not sure it actually makes any difference to the daylily if you do this step or not.Separate the plants into the size divisions you want. Then, If you are in a zone that will allow you to replant them safely at this time of year outdoors then go ahead and plant them.