Daylilies don't seem to be too picky about cones or not. They just want ok soil and want to grow. I'm 67 yr old and have moved a lot. Never, ever have I had good crumbly soil. Down here on the island, all we have is beach sand and aggressive oak and palm tree roots. Raised boxes are required to give perennials a chance to grow.
David Kirchhoff used to drive me bonkers because he would cut daylily roots to 3". Those plants didn't even have enough roots to allow them to stand upright. He would even do that when I picked plants up, even though he said he did it to save on shipping. Bet he is still doing that!
