Choosing good garden daylilies
- HollyT
- techwrit
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» HollyT - How to choose?
I need some daylily advice. I have about 20-30 daylilies, purchased over the past 10 years. Some were purchased several years ago for their color, when I didn't know about reblooming, how fast the plant increases, etc. Within the past 5 years I added more varieties with long blooming or reblooming traits, and have tried to buy good garden plants. Nonetheless my daylily beds aren't what you would call fabulous. Some plants have increased well, but others have not. Blooming has been ok but not great, even with double the moisture we normally get. (Virginia zn 7A)I'm wondering if it would make a substantial difference if I replaced some of the so-so varieties with 3 of a kind of something more showy. My local nursery has some new Andre Viette varieties which were very vigorous and quite tall. Had as many blooms on plants in big nursery cans as my larger plants have after several years in the garden.
I'm mainly interested in attractive, long blooming garden plants with good foliage and flowers. Not concerned about getting the latest developments in color and form.
What do you think--should I replace older plants, and how do I choose the replacements? My beds get 4-6 hours of bright afternoon sun and bright shade otherwise. Decent soil, spring fertilizer, and generally well cared for except perhaps they should have had more water during the dry summers of 98 and 99.
-- posted by HollyT
» techwrit - Replacing daylilies
I am in the process of doing this myself. If you check the catalogues on the net, most will tell you what the rebloomers are.Frankly, Mr. Munson has some of the best older daylilies that I've seen. Read my column in September for suggestions. Ask the grower in your area what has the longest bloom time and loads of buds.
Daylilies do look great when they are in a mass planting. Some, however have so many blooms on one plant that it looks like a mass planting.
BLOOMING BOUQUET and SAVANNA EXPLOSION are two that come to mind. SWIRLING WATER is another one.
Good luck.
-- posted by techwrit
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