Viewing post #309394 by Maryl

You are viewing a single post made by Maryl in the thread called Growing Daylilies in Pots.
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Sep 14, 2012 1:46 PM CST
Name: Maryl
Oklahoma (Zone 7a)
Cat Lover Daylilies Roses Container Gardener Plant Lover: Loves 'em all! Cactus and Succulents
Region: Oklahoma Enjoys or suffers hot summers
The pot in ground method is one many have tried in our heavy clay soil, but for anything other then annuals or short term residency perennials it really isn't a good long term solution. The reason again is drainage. If the pot just sits there surrounded by poorly drained clay soil, eventually the root rot will set in. What you can do is dig down deeper then the bottom of the pot and put a thick layer of sand down under the container while also sloping your excavation area away deeper in front of the pot (water flows downhill) so that you haven't created the infamous bathtub effect. I've done this in my front mixed border and it works well for shallow rooted plants and temporary bulbs such as tulips, lilies, etc. However, eventually roots from the surrounding shrubs/plants find their way into this nice permeable sand and end up poking through the drainage holes in the bottom of the container. Every few years the process needs to be repeated....As to lack of increase, because the daylilies are in pots, that isn't necessarily a bad thing. Each one of these pots of mine must be hand watered, and in our droughty, long lasting blast furnace summers, that means that this year and last in particular with only rare exceptions, I have been out there every single day watering pots for months. A friend of mine has set up a permanent watering system for her potted roses, but I use smaller pots (around 10-12 inches) for my daylilies so that (A) I can pick them up by myself (B) I can arrange them as needed, (C) they make division easier. Also, when I had an outbreak of rust this year, having my daylilies in pots was a true blessing. The rusters were easily moved away from my other daylilies or pitched (whichever was called for). In winter if severe temperatures threaten I can haul these pots into my unheated attached garage for shelter. There are advantages as well as disadvantages to daylilies in containers. For me, because of my soil and the reasons I've listed above the pluses outweigh the minuses - as long as I don't overdo it by adding too many daylilies (which is hard when I see all of your gorgeous pictures).....I must say Fred that you have done a really nice job of landscaping with your in ground pots while they wait for shipment. Very pretty arrangement........Maryl

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