Tina - I hadn't thought about it until you mentioned it, but I, too, see fewer weeds growing in the shade beds. I guess I will find out this year how the shaded daylilies will do. I've never grown daylilies in shade until this year. If they do well, I might have to relocate some of my full sun daylilies. I also know that making sure they get plenty of water during the hottest days can make a big difference. But that blazing hot sun just wilts them during the summer. Right now we are still having cooler nights in the high 60's and low 70's, so mine are doing well whether they are in sun or not. But in another month, that all changes when the night temps start climbing. We also have the rainy season, when everything in my yard looks good. The worst heat comes in late July-Sept here.
Something else I am noticing ....
I don't treat my daylilies for rust or other diseases because I am an organic gardener. (I garden for butterflies and other wildlife.) I am not noticing much rust fungus on the shaded daylilies at all. But I am certainly noticing rust on the full sun daylilies. I have some daylilies that seem to be resistant to rust outbreaks, but in the shade garden, I've only seen a couple of daylilies showing any signs of rust at all and the majority of those daylilies had rust on them last year when they were in full sun (before I moved them to these new raised beds in shade). So far, they actually seem to be more disease and fungus resistant in the shade. I don't know if that will change as the season progresses or not. I do know though that healthy plants are able to resist disease more than stressed plants for obvious reasons. Maybe shade isn't so bad for them afterall?
