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I was looking at what is blooming in my garden and found that daylilies have just started.
Daylilies have to be the easiest perennials to grow. They will grow in full sun to shade and in every type of soil. They have few issues with insects or diseases. The more shade they are subjected to the fewer blooms you will get.
There are so many varieties now that you can have blooming plants from mid-June until the frost.
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I like to buy my lilies when they are in full bloom. I never trust the colour on the plant tags because after all the sun the tag colours fade.
The most popular colour is yellow but you can also buy purple, red, pink, cream and ever colour combination in-between. Many daylilies come in two tones where the throat of the plant is a different colour than the outer edge or the edge is trimmed in a fine colour.
There are what is referred to as miniature blooms which are less than 3 inches in diameter and the small which are between 3 inches and 4.5 inches. Large blooms are between 4.5 inches and 7 inches and extra-large is anything of 7 inches in size.
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The blooms also come in singles that have roughly 6 petals or doubles that seem to have an extra row of petals. There are also some real neat looking ones called Spider which means the petals are 4 times longer than they are wide. These are really cool and often hard to find but are worth the hunt. It is important to see the blooms or read about all the different characteristics of the plant.
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I always buy reblooming or continuous bloom plants as I want colour for as long as possible.
When dead heading daylilies make sure all the blooms have opened before you cut off the flower stem. I gently pull off the spent blooms until I am sure there are no buds left on the stem.
Another great thing about daylilies is they don’t mind having their feet wet. I have a spot in my own yard that floods every time it rains and the daylilies are looking wonderful in this area.
Why not add some new colour and texture to you garden today.
Denise Hodgins is a professional gardening coach in London. Send your questions to coaching@diggendirtdesigns.com
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