'Love and Dazzle' (Lamb-K. 2006)

'Love and Dazzle' (Lamb-K. 2006)
A Loon Song Gardens daylily introduction.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Daylily bloom season begins!

Yesterday, May 5, I saw my first flower open (FFO) for the 2010 daylily season. No photo because of rain, so I have to wait for another photo op. The FFO is on Arlow B. Stout's 'Elfin' (1949), always the first of all my daylilies to bloom each season. It's a cheerful, low-growing plant—top-budded, but with numerous scapes for a lovely extra-early season display of small yellow flowers.

'Elfin' is 10-14 days ahead of schedule. Many daylily gardeners are wondering if the whole season will be early, and I am guessing it will be. It could be a longer bloom season than usual if temps aren't too hot. Let's hope! We must wait to see what nature has in store.

Next in line for its FFO will be 'Apricot', a very special historic daylily. It is considered to be the oldest registered hybrid with a date of 1893. Its breeder, English plantsman George Yeld, began working with daylilies in 1877, starting with only a half-dozen varieties.
The American Hemerocallis Society book, Daylilies—A Fifty-Year Affair, includes a short but fascinating article about Mr. Yeld. I love the photo of his ivy-covered home in York, England, called Clifton Cottage. It is fun to imagine our beloved daylily starting on its journey from such a charming place.
Two different plants arrived here with the name 'Apricot'. One of these looks more like photos I have seen of 'Apricot', so I had assumed the other was mislabeled. But then I read in A. B. Stout's book Daylilies that in 1932, the Royal Horticultural Society trial gardens had four clones with the name 'Apricot'. Both of my plants are scaping and forming buds right now. I wonder if it's possible that I have two different 'Apricot' clones in my garden?

Rain is on the horizon as I write this evening and—with temps dropping—we may have frosts and even a little snow. I expect the daylilies to be fine, but I'm not sure how hostas, roses, lilacs (in glorious full bloom today!) and apple trees will fare.

Weather like this is a good reminder of why we love daylilies. They are a perfect perennial for the ups and downs of spring weather in the North.

© 2010 Kathleen M. Lamb

Thursday, April 29, 2010

Growing Daylilies in Pots

Are you in "avid daylily collection mode" and do not always have a piece of ground ready for your new acquisitions? Or is it a little too early to plant in the ground in your area? Or did you end up with a few extra plants and don't know exactly where they will go?

Growing daylilies in pots may help you extend your season or give you that little bit of extra time to convince your significant other that you need to dig up yet another section of lawn for more daylily garden.

While it is challenging and risky to overwinter potted daylilies in our USDA hardiness zone 4 garden, I have had good success with growing new acquisitions in pots before planting them in the ground.

I have even set pods on containerized daylilies. I set the pod for my daylily 'Love and Dazzle' on a pot of 'Desperado Love' (with frozen pollen—but that is another story), and that pod parent still grows in my garden today. I remember when the summer turned excessively hot that year, I brought 'Desperado Love' into air-conditioned comfort inside my house. That probably saved those pods from aborting, which happens all too often as a result of a heat wave. I waited until I had harvested the pods before transferring the daylily into the garden.

H. 'Desperado Love' (top) is the pod parent of 'Love and Dazzle' (bottom)




In general, if a daylily arrives in poor condition, potting might help, but it will take probably take six to eight weeks to see results. Do not count on a plant recovering in just two to three weeks.

I once received a new daylily as a partial fan with a small piece of crown and a bit of root. The hybridizer was not selling this daylily at the time, but he parted with this starter fan as a gift for me, so I was quite thrilled to get a piece. I potted it up so I could give it extra care. It spent most of the summer in the pot before it really took off. I planted it in the ground at the end of that summer, and in a couple of years, it grew into a beautiful clump. It was 'Judy's Penthouse Double', which won the Georgia Doubles Award at our AHS National Convention in 2007.

Potting tips
I use a commercial variety of soilless extra coarse potting mix made with a blend of pine bark, peat moss, and soil conditioners. Last year, I used a bulk nursery blend delivered by dump truck from a local supplier. The specific brand doesn't seem to matter as long as the mix is fairly loose. I always add my own fertilizer. Potting mix does not keep well from year to year because some components break down, so fresh is best.

I size my pots according to plant size. I try to keep the pot fairly close to the root size. That way, the roots will fill the pot and produce strong growth. I have a collection of pots in the one-quart size and larger so I can choose accordingly. I never put a tiny plant in a large pot--it will sit there forever. I might even trim the roots slightly to avoid using a larger pot (such as when a plant has one or two really long roots and not much else).

I wet the mix before filling the pot, but just until it's somewhat moist, not sopping wet--it should still be a little loose. I usually do a bunch of plants at one time, so I dump the potting mix into a garden cart (the one-piece plastic type), add water to to the whole batch at once, and let it sit for several hours or overnight before using. You could also use a wheelbarrow for this step.

I dip the pot in the mix and fill it to the brim. It will settle a bit after the final watering. Try to avoid layers in the pot (especially a moist/dry layer), but keep the mix uniform throughout the pot.

Do not press on the mix to tamp it down. Keep it loose. If using time-release fertilizer, add as you plant.

When I plant, I use a planting tray to catch spills. I remove as much of the mix from the container as needed to make room for the plant. I make a hole with a trowel and just let the roots hang down. I add potting mix around the roots, gently working it in with my fingers.

Avoid planting the daylily too deep--you want to keep the crown close to the surface. In my experience, too high is better than too deep.

After you plant, tap and shake the pot on a hard surface to settle the mix instead of pressing on it.

Label the container! You can write on the outside of a DRY pot with a paint marker. This is the most secure method, especially if you have garden visitors. You can also create a garden marker and stick it in the pot so it is ready for the garden when the time comes. I often do both.

After potting, water gently but thoroughly to eliminate air pockets. Air pockets can mean death to roots.

After the final watering, the top of the potting mix in the pot should be about 3/4 inch to 1 inch from the top of the container. This allows good air circulation but keeps water from running over the sides of the pot. If the top of the potting soil is too deep in the pot, fungus can develop.

If I receive a plant with a lot of foliage, I usually cut it back. My general approach is to keep the length of foliage similar to the length of the roots. When a daylily is dug and divided, the daylily does better if it is not trying to support a lot of foliage while growing new roots at the same time.

Because you are planting in a soilless mix, you should use a balanced fertilizer. I add about 2 tablespoons of a pelleted 13-13-13 time release fertilizer per one-gallon pot. I prefer a time release fertilizer, but if you fertilize regularly, other types of fertilizer are just as good.

I mix in about half the fertilizer throughout the mix before adding the daylily, then I add the other half just under the surface of the top layer of mix. I stir it in with a chopstick or wooden garden stake.

Check the label to see how to handle your fertilizer. The fertilizer I use needs to be protected from sunlight, so I make sure the mix covers it. It is also activated by warm temps, so in cool weather, it doesn't do much. You can give early potted plants a boost with a liquid fertilizer. Once things warm up, I rely on the time release fertilizer and do not add any more.

Place the pots in full sun. Water every day—and twice a day if it's really hot. In a northern climate, you rarely need to worry about overwatering if the mix is coarse enough.

If you are growing your newly potted plants outdoors, pests should not be a problem. Indoor potted daylilies might have more pests, such as aphids. Keep them under control by giving them a hard spray of water periodically until you can move the plants outdoors.

During the growing season, remember to check for weeds. The ideal growing conditions you create for your newly potted daylilies are perfect for weeds, too! It is amazing how fast weeds—including trees—can grow in a pot!

When it is time to plant your potted daylily in the garden, loosen the roots thoroughly and spread them out all around the plant. Remove some of the potting mix so the daylily will settle well into your garden soil. You may even need to do a little root pruning, which does not hurt the daylily and will stimulate new root growth.

Your newly planted daylily may need a little extra water during the first couple weeks while it adjusts to its new home.

Plant it in time to give it at least six weeks before the first hard frost.

I have not had a problem with winter survival of daylilies grown this way.


Have fun with your potted daylilies!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Excitement Builds

Spring excitement builds at Loon Song Gardens. These photos are from April 18, 2010. I estimate that we are about three weeks ahead of the typical spring.

The serviceberry near the front terrace is in full bloom.

The clumps of Feather Reed (Calamagrostisx acutiflora 'Karl Foerster') ornamental grass along the front walk are shooting up.

Picea abies 'Acrocona', a dwarf form of Norway spruce, develops highly ornamental rose-red cones on the tips of its branches each spring. The tree looks like it is decked out for Christmas. You can see a mature cone in the same photo.

This is a close-up of the newly-forming pine cone.

In a shady area, the soft green fuzzy leaves of wild ginger (Asarum canadense) beg to be touched!

Surprise! Beneath the leaves, rosy cup-shaped flowers hug the ground.

Nearby are the multi-colored blooms of self-seeded lungwort (Pulmonaria).


Fothergilla 'Mount Airy' is a shrub that displays small greenish white blooms before leafing out.

In the close-up of this Fothergilla bloom, you can see how the fringy flower looks like a bottlebrush.

And a promise of what's ahead: 'Elfin' (Stout 1949) shows scapes and buds already. It will have its first flower open soon, marking the official start of daylily bloom season at Loon Song Gardens.

The fun will soon begin!

Monday, April 19, 2010

Dormant Daylily Foliage Shines in Spring

On Sunday, in between weeding, I took a few photos to show the season’s progress. Spring is galloping way ahead of the usual schedule. It looks more like mid-May in Minnesota that mid-April.

Our garden is in USDA hardiness zone 4, meaning winter temperatures can reach minus 20°F to minus 30°F. We haven’t had extremely low temperatures in recent years, but in 2009-2010, we did reach minus 22°F. Luckily, we had snow cover.

Believe it or not, snow cover is unreliable during many Minnesota winters. I dread open winters. Many perennials and hardwoods—even native varieties—experience damage with frigid temperatures and no snow. I look forward to a great gardening season in 2010 because of the favorable winter conditions we had.

In springtime, I truly appreciate the lovely foliage of dormant daylilies. When the new shoots of dormant daylilies emerge from the earth, they look fresh and bright. The foliage speaks to me of renewal and reawakening—a beautiful new beginning. It's what spring is all about. This photo of a dormant seedling was taken 4/24/08.

The next photo, taken last Sunday, 4/18/10, shows how the dormant foliage of 'Minnesota Sunshine' comes through the vagaries of early spring weather. The photo also shows how much further along our spring season is compared to 2008.

The next photo, also taken on Sunday, 4/18/10, shows another dormant daylily with early spring appeal, 'Grape Kiss', my 2010 introduction. This cultivar produces numerous fans quickly and forms a nice clump without being overly aggressive.

In comparison, as the snows melt, evergreen foliage reveals itself standing limply above the ground, all tattered and sometimes even mushy. It grows intermittently when days are warm enough, struggles through frosts and sleet, and then starts to grow again. Here is an example of evergreen foliage from 4/24/08.

So when all else says, “Spring is here!”, an evergreen like this says, “Wait. I’m not quite ready!” And so, we wait.

In a few weeks’ time—as I now know—most of the evergreen foliage will recover, and I won’t be able to tell one from the other. But I am impatient in the beginning. This looks like a good spring for the impatient gardener, because it is apparent that those differences will disappear very soon.

The next photo (from Sunday, 4/18/10) is of a clump of the evergreen daylily 'Tooth' (Hansen-D. 2000). This southern-bred evergreen is hardy and vigorous here. Already, it has almost grown out of the early spring tatters.

I can’t help but feel a little anxious about an evergreen’s actual survival when I first see its sad-looking foliage. I’ve had some tender varieties that would start to grow in the spring, only to turn to complete mush a couple weeks later and be gone for good.

I suspect the crowns were too damaged by winter to be able to withstand insects and pathogens that become active as soil warms in the spring. By now, most of those tender weaklings have eliminated themselves from Loon Song Gardens. I try to avoid daylilies that need pampering here, especially for hybridizing.

Welcome, new visitors! I appreciate your comments—thanks for your interest.

P.S. A third type of foliage used in daylily registrations is semi-evergreen. The next photo (from 04/24/08) shows a daylily that is registered as a semi-evergreen, considered intermediate between dormant and evergreen.

If you are reading this and are new to daylilies, you might want to see the page on my website about foliage: More About Daylilies - Foliage

Friday, April 16, 2010

Welcome to Loon Song Gardens!

A new gardening season begins, and with it my new blog. I am excited to share what is happening at Loon Song Gardens.

For those who have not yet visited, we are a state licensed and inspected home-based nursery located just 30 minutes northwest of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Tall Scots pine trees surround our 4 1/2 acres, and we have filled just about every sunny spot with display beds of daylilies, conifers, ornamental grasses, and a variety of shrubs.

During peak bloom in July, visitors can meander along grassy paths and let the daylilies bedazzle them--we grow over 1,000 named varieties--or they can relax in a shady spot and enjoy the view.

We are open by appointment, so drop us an email and let us know when you would like to visit.

Spring is sending us into our gardens early this year, and it's grand! Sunny skies and cool breezes invigorate after weeks of working indoors. We are already hearing the loons from nearby Elm Creek Park Reserve. We could not believe our ears the first time we heard their calls, and it is always a thrill to know they have returned each spring. We enjoy a fox family each year, too, and I spotted one trotting across the yard in the early morning last week. Soon a new litter of fox kits will be romping through the garden.

Other beautiful signs of spring: the big white flowers of the 'Royal Star' magnolia are open, the buds on the eastern redbud look rosy, and delicate flowers cover our young serviceberry. Oh--and bird song! It is all simply gorgeous right now.

The daylilies seem eager as well. Their foliage is beautiful in the spring, especially the dormant varieties. Pristine, fresh green shoots proclaim the excitement has begun. I expect to see scapes any day now on some. With such an early start, bloom season should be spectacular.

I recently finished updating our website. Please take a look! I especially hope you enjoy the new photo gallery. Let me know if you have any questions or run across something that needs fixing. I really do appreciate your comments.

We look forward to a great season and hope yours is wonderful, too.