Daylillies are SO at home on Unity Pond!
In July 2001, I planted my first season of daylillies. There were a beautiful shade of pastel peach.
I planted at least two along the side of the cabin to traverse from the back door's white cottage flowers to the front's (lakeside) vibrant colors.
That summer I also found myself doing a photjournal, and many of the standard orange daylillies found there way to my old Solamentekate.com web site. I might still have a photo around to share!
While Im looking for that photo, look! another gardening feature by Monica Resinger!
Daylily (Hemerocallis)
by Monica Resinger of Creative Home
http://creativehomeezine.netfirms.com
Daylilies are one of my favorite perennial plants. They are pretty, hardy and
very easy to take care of. They have arching, sword shaped leaves and lily
shaped flowers that come in all shades of yellow, orange and red. They grow
to a height of about 18 inches usually and are best placed in the middle of
the flower bed because of this. Daylilies are called this because their large
lily-like blooms only last one day. This is okay though because the next day
there will be a new bloom right next to the old one on the same stem.
Daylilies will grow in all zones and like full sun, but if your area is very
hot, plant them in semi shade. They will usually adapt to any type of soil.
They need quite a bit of water during bloom and should be fed with complete
fertilizer during spring and summer.
When your daylily plant starts looking crowded and the base is pretty large,
it's probably time to divide it. This is a great time to share with your
friends and family. Just dig it up and pull (or whack) it apart. It will take
some forceful pulling (maybe even some wrestling) to get the roots apart.
It's a tough plant, so don't worry too much about hurting it. The best time
for this is in early spring or late fall.
Daylilies look beautiful planted near Shasta Daisies or Poker plant. They do
well on banks, near pools in the flower bed, and in containers. You can even
try them in the vegetable garden planted near some salad ingredients.
The petals are edible. I know this sounds weird, but they are really good. It
is crunchy like lettuce and goes very well in tossed salads, not only for
it's flavor and texture, but to make the salad pretty. If you can bring
yourself to try a petal, please do, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.
Even though the blooms only last one day, they still make great cut flowers
because the buds are in clusters on one stem. This means one stem with 5 or 6
buds will probably last a week in a vase provided the water is changed daily.
If you don't have a daylily yet, I recommend you get one (or two, or three).
Before you buy one, check to see if your family and friends have a plant that
needs dividing. This way, when you look at the plant in the future, you'll
have a pleasant memory of who gave it to you.
©, 2001, Monica Resinger
Monica Resinger is the Editor of Creative Home Ezine, a fun ezine packed with
homemaking tips, inspiring articles, recipes and themed content from folks
just like yourselves - its readers! After each twice-weekly issue, you'll
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