Dennis! Glad to see another Hemeroholic join us, prepare to have Hemeritis very soon!

Hi @DancingGenes

I don't know, my whole property is SO completely sopping wet now and more rain is forecast for tonight and tomorrow . Started to make me wonder if I made a BIG mistake trying to make beds here for dalylilies. I've bounced back somewhat today because after inspecting things actually most of the beds are doing OK.
One bed is definitely a problem. I pulled out one of the new daylilies and roots are in standing water:



I could mound this area up another 4-5 inches or so but not sure that would be enough. I might be able to install a drain tile here and connect it to the one I have draining my vegetable garden, but it would not be deep enough to do a great job. I have to think hard about this. This situation is definitely raining on my parade.

Found out yesterday that my second daylily order is being shipped on Monday so we'll see if I am going to have to plant in slop or maybe I temporarily pot them.

I have lots of daylilies growing in a bog bed, they stay wet year round and grow great, plus I don't have to water those. I have heard of people growing daylilies in pots and sitting the pots in plastic kiddie pools of water, I think as long as the daylilies don't get water over the crowns they love having a constant source of water at their roots.
So don't despair, it may be a blessing in disguise.

Larry, I am both astonished and thrilled at the same time! I thought extended wet was the kiss of death to daylilies. You have no idea how much hope your comments have given me! I mean it.
I'm actually excited again about receiving the next batch of daylilies. 13 more that are a mix of oldies-but-goodies and some more modern ones. The first 2 of 4 hybridized by Emmerich will be coming which I am very much looking forward to. And Mynelle's Starfish, which I will be putting in a very prominent location. Hopefully I'm over-reacting to the wet conditions and the daylilies will actually love to be able to dig their roots down in to the rich, wet soil!!

Dennis, you will love Mynelles Starfish. It is one of my all time favorites in the garden. There are so many oldies that are so stunning. Happy planting!!

About the only thing that I know of except round up that will kill a daylily, is rot. As long as you keep that crown out of the water...lifes good.

Pam, thank-you also for the reassurance. I have to remember that the toughness of daylilies is one of the primary reasons I decided to get into them. I need to let them prove their toughness, and RELAX!

Karen, I have heard a lot of good things about MS, including that it can really handle a lot of sun. It is going to get that where I am I planting it. Its short height is also a perfect fit for its spot. Can’t wait to see those huge blooms.

Some other older ones that I’ve heard great things about and will be planting are Beautiful Edgings, Mary’s Gold and Smoky Mountain Autumn.

Received my order from Keast Daylily Gardens (Iowa) yesterday. Fans looked good. Not great, not bad. I am happy.
Gift plant they gave me was North Wind Dancer. I would NEVER have picked that one and that is one of the reasons I love it. Something surprising, very different for me, and the database indicates that it is a very good plant. Looking forward to seeing it bloom some day.

Since I’m a newbie planting bareroot daylilies I was panicking when I saw the outer foliage yellowing/browning. Paul Owen has assured me that this is normal. He told me to try and not worry about them for several weeks, only occasionally checking on them. He says its common they’ll look worse before they get better and surge with new growth. So I am trying to stay calm and be patient!

I had asked Paul about alfalfa pellets and I don’t think he’ll mind me quoting his response:

“I've not used alfalfa myself, but know a LOT of people swear by it. Have at it, if available... sure can't do any harm! Personally, I use a granular lawn fertilizer as a top dressing when I plant... Lowe's sells the best for the cheapest, called "Sta-Green Plus" (29-0-5). It's a 3-month slow-release, and doesn't take much. Dl's aren't too distantly related to grass, and love all the same things as a result... primarily, N. If you use any liquid fertilizer during the course of the season, there'll be more P than they need, so don't feel you're shorting them of it.”

I did use alfalfa pellets, but did not use the lawn fertilizer (though I probably will in the future)-- instead I sprinkled a dash of Blood Meal. The plants have survived all the rain, I have survived my panic attack, and hopefully it’s smooth sailing from here

I grow both Beautiful Edgings and Smoky Mountain Autumn. I love the color of SMA & it does very well for me. BE was a little slow but is good for e now. I always wondered if I should have gone with Big Smile instead. It is very similar.

I have seen mention of lawn fertilizer on FB. Do not remember if it was him or someone else. I need to check that out! I tried alfalfa pellets last year. Do not know if it really did anything for them. But I live with deer & bunnies and I did see an increase in them until I went back and dug it in!!

I use lawn fertilizer. Not all the time, you dont want all leaves and no flower. MG makes it so its easy to just just put it in the sprayer. For me in FL. I use it..maybe some milorganite around the middle of feb. and then again around labor day. I cant use alfalfa...no matter what I do, it attracts the rats.

The color of SMA looks amazing in photos I’ve seen. Will be interesting to see if it ends up displaying more pink or more orange for me. That color, early blooming, and short height are a perfect fit for the spot I have for it. I've read that it can be slow to get established, though.

I put the alfalfa buried within the planting hole so hopefully that deters the pests. However, lots of mice and voles around here so hopefully it doesn’t attract them to dig tunnels around the roots. That would be bad.

The lawn fertilizer does seem to make sense for new plantings when you do want more foliage growth than flowers. Maybe using it the first year or two and then switch to a bloom boosting fertilizer would be a plan.

Dennis616
Dan Hanson has some videos on YouTube showing how he uses milorganite and lawn fertilizer to grow his daylilies "Ladybug Daylilies Fall Planting 2009 PART 1" and then the planting in part 2.

I cannot urge you enough to watch dans videos. He has some good info in those videos. He's a cool guy too.

I do use bloom and flower fert. in the spring and summer.

Welcome to an amazing, informative group of Dayliliy lovers, Dennis. I am also rather new to growing Daylilies (year 4) and have learned more here than any were else.

I do have a little to add about fertilizer. We built our house on a circle corner, and part of our yard and flower beds are hit by the end gun from the circle. Field corn has been grown in the field for the past few years, and since corn is in the grass family, high doses of liquid nitrogen is ran through the circle several times a year. The Daylilies that are hit by the end gun, have multiplied MUCH quicker than those that aren't. I planted my yearling seedling in a spot were approximately half received water from the end gun and half didn't (a little over 100 seedlings). Over half that are hit by the end gun are now multiple fans (up to 5 fans), I noticed 3 that have multiplied from the seedlings not hit by the end gun. I have not noticed any less scape density or blooms from these Daylilies. I am far from an expert and did not plant with experimentation in mind, but I have noticed that Daylilies seem to love nitrogen, and plan to use it to feed mine.

Gale

Gale,
Please enlighten some of us who do not know what a "Circle corner" is, and who have no clue what an end gun would be? The phrase "high doses of liquid nitrogen is ran through the circle several times a year" is a mystery to me.

Larry, A circle is used to irrigate an agricultural field. It has a pivot in the center and towers connected to it on wheels that have sprinklers. It revolves in a circle watering the ground. The end gun is a large sprinkler head on the end of the end tower ( to reach out as far as it can). Farm ground was typically (here) parceled out as quarter section pieces (square), so if you stick a circle in the middle of the square, you end up with four corners that are not irrigated by the circle. It is not uncommon to have fertilizer and or chemicals pumped in the system, down stream of the circle pump, to be ran through the circle (irrigation system). It is how most farm ground is irrigated here, in Eastern Washington, it didn't dawn on me, that may not be the case else were. Hope this helps.

Gale

I've left a pile of alfalfa pellets out so that the deer could eat them, and they never touched them. I know for sure that the deer were there, thanks to the trail cam. Same with the bunnies. They never touched it. I always left it out for the bunnies, thinking that if they had a pile of it, they wouldn't need to eat it from around the plants, but there was never any missing!

Dennis, I really enjoy reading your excitement about your new plants. Reminds me of most or all of us when we first got started, and we all still get excited when we get new plants. Your nervousness is very familiar too. Don't worry, you'll be fine, and so will the plants! You can do this!

I agree. Its the reason I still plant seedlings, even tho its getting to be alot of work. Its just still so darn exciting to me when they open. Heck, I feel like the queen of loosing daylilies, but I still love it.

I went out & looked in the garage and we have some granular lawn fertilizer. It is 31-5-8. So I sprinkled a little around 2 that are struggling, 2 new arrivals and 2 more that just have not increased well. Will let you know what happens.

Larry and Pam, thanks for the tip about the Dan Hanson videos.
I like his sense of humor, and how a cat stole the show on one of those videos.
Even though he is working with very different climate and soil it’s clear that daylilies like the milorganite and lawn fertilizer combination.
I thought his videos on dormancy were interesting also. Will be checking out more videos. Love to learn!