South Florida Gardening: Daylily is as Easy as it is Stunning

I love daylilies. If I could have only one kind of flower in my yard, I think these beauties might just be it. Like many South Florida gardeners, I was in search of an easy to grow perennial, requiring little care, with beautiful blooms. That would seem like a fruitless search in any climate, much less South Florida, but the daylily is just such a plant. I was used to growing them in my gardens in SC, and never thought they would grow well here, but I was thrilled to find I was wrong.

All About Daylilies
Daylily is a member of the Hemerocallis family, which literally translated from Greek means "day beautiful". This is no doubt in reference to the blooms only lasting for one day. Even so, they bloom off and on throughout the year, with their most prolific bloom period being mid-spring through late summer. The ever-blooming varieties bloom continually, except during the winter when they are dormant.

The trumpet-shaped blooms come in colors that include orange, red, yellow, pink, and even bi-colored. Their flowers range in size from 2 to 12 inches, many with ruffled, curled, or spider-like petals.

These cast-iron plants are famous for blooming in tough places. One of their common names is "ditch lilies," a reference to the wild species that fill ditches with blooms during the spring in the Southern U.S. The roots form a dense mat underground, which makes them perfect for planting on hillsides to avoid summer rain soil erosion. Daylilies contain so much water that, planted en masse, they can literally stop a brush fire cold. Need a flowering plant for your beach house? They are also salt tolerant.

Can daylilies get any more wonderful? Why yes, they can! All parts of the plant are edible. Young, tender leaves and roots can be eaten raw or cooked. Flowers can be eaten raw, but taste better cooked. I personally think the buds are yummy just to munch on, and treat them like garden candy. The flowers can also be fried for storage. The dehydrated buds are one of the ingredients of Chinese sweet and sour soup. To top it off, they are higher in Vitamin C and protein than most other popular vegetables. One caution: eating large amounts of the raw flowers can cause diarrhea.

Growing Daylilies
These easy-to-grow plants adapt well to many different soil conditions. They thrived for me both in the acid soil in South Carolina and the alkaline soil of South Florida. They need at least 6 to 8 hours of direct sunlight daily for best blooms, but they will grow and bloom in filtered shade. Remember to water frequently during the bloom period and while they are getting established. Mulching is recommended to help conserve soil moisture. A light mulch, such as pine straw, is best because it allows the foliage to emerge in the spring. These low-maintenance beauties only need twice-a-year feeding with a balanced 10-10-10 fertilizer with trace minerals. They really love being side-dressed with well rotted manure.

For best blooming, divide your clumps every 3-4 years. The best time to divide or transplant is in early spring or right after flowering. Dig and carefully separate crowded clumps by hand. Cut fans back to about 6 inches, and replant with the crown one inch below ground level. Daylilies are heirloom passalong plants in the South, so be sure to save a few of your divisions to give to friends and familiy. I actually got a huge clump once from someone who had dug and put theirs on the side of the road for yard pickup. Of course, they knew someone was going to snatch them up, because curb shopping for plants is a Southern tradition. During the growing season, remove dead leaves and stems to keep them looking their best. Deadheading keeps your plants blooming longer.

So you can see that even in our harsh South Florida climate, the daylily is a plant everyone should have in their garden. If you don't have any yet, you should try them. You'll soon be as addicted as I am!

References:

University of Florida IFAS Extension: Daylilies for Florida