Quick facts
- Daylilies are rugged, adaptable, vigorous perennials that endure in a garden for many years with little or no care.
- Daylilies adapt to a wide range of soil and light conditions.
- They establish quickly, grow vigorously, and survive winters with little or no injury.
- Daylilies are useful in the perennial flower border, as a backdrop to other plants or as a ground cover on slopes, where they form a dense mass in just a few years.
- Daylilies may grown from 1 to 4 feet high.
- Do not plant them directly under trees and shrubs as they will compete for water and nutrients.
Growing daylilies in Minnesota
Daylilies belong to the genus Hemerocallis and are not true lilies. This Greek word is made up of two parts: hemera meaning day and kallos meaning beauty. The name is appropriate, since each flower lasts only one day.
Some of the newer varieties have flowers that open in the evening and remain open until the evening of the following day. Many of these night blooming plants are delightfully fragrant.
Daylilies typically grow one to four feet high. Each daylily plant produces an abundance of flower buds that open over a long period of time. There are many varieties, a wide range of flower colors, and the flowers continue blooming during the heat of the summer.
Site and soil
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Best in full sun, but will tolerate light shade
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They flower best with a minimum of 6 hours of direct sun
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Light shade during the hottest part of the day keeps the flowers fresh
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Should not be planted near trees and shrubs that compete for moisture and nutrients
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Adaptable to most soils, but do best in a slightly acidic, moist soil that is high in organic matter and well drained
- A soil test every 3 to 5 years is helpful in determining the need for soil amendments and fertilizer
Planting
Daylilies can be planted as soon as the garden soil can be worked.
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Till the soil deeply before planting or use a garden fork to break up the soil.
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Work in well-rotted manure or compost to increase organic matter.
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Incorporate a balanced, slow-release fertilizer labeled for perennial flowers.
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Dig a hole wide enough for the roots to spread out without bending or crowding them.
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Place the plant in the soil so the crown (the portion where the stem and root meets) is one inch below the ground line. If needed, add soil back into the hole to lift the plant up.
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Once the plant is at the right level, back-fill with the garden soil, lightly packing it down around the plant.
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Water until the soil around the plant is thoroughly saturated. Not only does watering hydrate the plant, but it also settles the soil around the roots creating a good growing environment.
How to choose daylilies
There are more than 35,000 registered daylily cultivated varieties (cultivars) on the market today. Many newly developed plants are introduced annually. Specialty nurseries can carry thousands of different daylily cultivars.
Varieties that grow best in Minnesota are bred for their ability to withstand our cooler temperatures, as well as for their color and general beauty.
Some of the newest varieties are very expensive because they are not widely available. But you can find many beautiful varieties at reasonable prices.
The selection criteria below give details on different varieties and reasons you might choose one over another depending on type of leaves, when and how often flowers bloom, color and shape, and how hardy a plant is for Minnesota.
Minnesota's short growing season requires cultivars that grow quickly and can survive our long, cold winters.
Most new daylily cultivars are developed in the southern United States. Daylilies are “regional performers,” which means they grow well only in certain parts of the country, usually over three hardiness zones.
To find a variety that will grow well in your yard:
- Purchase daylilies from a local nursery, a nursery within Minnesota, or a nursery in a neighboring state
- Visit a private or public garden or a garden center or nursery that features daylilies
- Or contact a local daylily society about hardy cultivars
Daylilies were traditionally plants that stopped growing and became dormant through the winter. But today there are semi-evergreen and evergreen cultivars that have foliage or leaves that remain green over winter and that are hardy and will grow and bloom well in Minnesota.
Cultivars with semi-evergreen or evergreen foliage
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Fairy Tale Pink— semi-evergreen
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Lullaby Baby— semi-evergreen
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Wind Frills— evergreen
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Joan Senior— evergreen
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May, May— semi-evergreen
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Brocaded Gown— semi-evergreen
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So Sweet— evergreen
Daylilies have early, mid and late-season bloom times with July to early August being the peak bloom period in Minnesota.
An individual flower only blooms for one day, but is quickly replaced by a new flower. Established daylily clumps often produce 200 to 400 flowers in a season with each plant blooming for 30 to 40 days.
With the large number of cultivars available and a little planning, it is possible to have continuous bloom throughout the summer.
Reblooming
Another characteristic is the ability to rebloom, or to bear more than one blooming scape per fan of leaves. To date, these reblooming cultivars are not successful in Minnesota due to the short growing season.
Another guide to flower number is the bud count per scape or flowering stem. 'Stella de Oro' is a cultivar known for numerous buds or flowers per scape.
Others known to rebloom:
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‘Happy Returns’
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‘Charles Johnston’
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‘Good Fairy’
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‘Green Flutter’
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‘Mini Stella’
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‘Parade Queen’
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‘Raspberry Frolic’
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‘Serene Madonna’
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‘Siloam June Bug’
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‘Super Stella’
Daylily flowers may be fragrant and come in many colors, shades and color combinations. Some are very full and round, others have wide petals with ruffled edges and borders. Others, called spiders, are spidery in shape; doubles have double the number of petals and sepals. Many are nocturnal and very fragrant and other cultivars have branched flower scapes.
Color options
The following daylilies are just a few of those that do well in Minnesota, but there are many new cultivars that are equally good.
Apricot or peach-colored: ‘Bertie Ferris’, ‘Calume’, ‘Doll House’, ‘Dress Circle’, ‘Little Rainbow’, ‘Naomi Ruth’, ‘Ruffled Apricot’
Bicolor: ‘Addie Branch Smith’, ‘Becky Lynn’, ‘Bold One’, ‘Chicago Picotee’, ‘Queen’, ‘Close Up’, ‘Frans Hals’, ‘Karen Sue’, ‘Painted Lady’, ‘Sea Warrior’, ‘Shady Lady’, ‘Siloam Bo Peep’, ‘Siloam Virginia Henson’, ‘Toma’
Gold: ‘Golden Chimes’, ‘Golden Gift’, ‘Golden Milestone’, ‘Golden Prize’, ‘Golden Trinket’, ‘Ringlet’, ‘Stella de Oro’
Lavender to purple: ‘Chicago Knobby’, ‘Little Grapette’, ‘Little Lassie’, ‘Mountain Violet’, ‘Prairie Blue Eyes’, ‘Russian Rhapsody’, ‘Sebastian’, ‘Summer Wine’, ‘Two Bits’, ‘Velvet Shadows’, ‘Weathermaster’
Orange: ‘By Myself’, ‘Carrot Top’, ‘Condill’, ‘Leprechauns Wealth’, ‘Pixie Parasol’, ‘Rocket City’, ‘Sombrero Way’
Pink: ‘Barbara Mitchell’, ‘Catherine Woodbury’, ‘Chicago Candy Cane’, ‘Evelyn Claar’, ‘Fairy Tale Pink’, ‘Halls Pink’, ‘Lullaby Baby’, ‘Mariska’, ‘Siloam Double Classic’, ‘Wind Frills’, ‘Windsor Castle’
Red: ‘Carey Quinn’, ‘Chicago Blackout’, ‘Hearts Afire’, ‘Oriental Ruby’, ‘Premier’, ‘Red Mittens’, ‘Riley Barron’, ‘Sigudilla’
White and near white: ‘Crispin’, ‘Ice Carnival’, ‘Joan Senior’, ‘May May’, ‘Serene Madonna’, ‘So Lovely’
Yellow: ‘Bitsy’, ‘Brocaded Gown’, ‘Golden Prize’, ‘Happy Returns’, ‘Hortensia’, ‘Hyperion’, ‘Jay’, ‘Lemon Lollypop’, ‘Mary Todd’, ‘Mini Stella’, ‘Paradise Prince’, ‘Prairie Moonlight’, ‘Raindrop’, ‘So Sweet’, ‘Winning Ways’
How to care for daylilies
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In early spring, before growth starts, remove the dead leaves from the previous year's growth and pull any weeds.
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Mulch to help minimize weeding. Perennial grasses can be difficult to get rid of if they become established within the clumps.
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Keep soil moist — 1 inch of water weekly is ideal, more frequent watering may be necessary on sandy soils.
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Daylilies tolerate drought, but they perform best in moist, but well-drained soils.
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Remove dead flowers after bloom to prevent seed production. This is called "deadheading." Plants that produce seeds are likely to have fewer flowers the following year.
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Insect control measures usually are not necessary.
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Aphids and thrips sometimes feed on the flower buds. These pests can be controlled with insecticidal soaps or a repeated strong spray of water.
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Annual fertilization may be helpful in producing more flowers. A spring application of manure or compost is beneficial each year.
Transplanting and dividing
The best time to transplant or divide plants is early spring or immediately after flowering. Division promotes more flowers, but plants divided in the spring may not bloom the same summer.
Daylilies are vigorous growers and can be divided every three to five years. Divisions should have two to three stems or “fans” of leaves with all roots attached.
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Make divisions by digging up the entire plant and gently pulling the fans apart.
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Cut the foliage back, leaving only 5 or 6 inches.
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Place the plant in the soil so the crown (the portion where the stem and root meets) is 1 inch below the ground line. If needed, add soil back into the hole to lift the plant.
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Water thoroughly after planting.
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A winter mulch of straw or shredded leaves helps ensure against winter injury for unestablished plants.
Reviewed in 2018