5 tips for growing daylilies

Daylilies are cheerful and colourful perennials that can grow in a range of conditions and be used in different areas around your garden.

• The colourful blooms of the popular daylily lasts only one day—hence its name.
• Native to Asia, daylilies have narrow leaves about 60 centimetres long, with funnel-shaped flowers atop leafless stalks that may grow to 1.5 metres.

Here are a few tips for growing daylilies.

As long as the soil's not too wet and they receive at least a half day of sun, daylilies will grow in a range of conditions.

• You can even use them to hold a slope that's prone to erosion.
• Very showy varieties and all of the new reblooming daylilies (which bloom for months rather than weeks) need regular water and fertilizer and good-quality soil in order to produce plenty of flowers.

• Look for at least two fans, or crowns, when buying a new daylily.

It means that the plant is more mature, so it will be more likely to bloom well in its first season in your garden.

• Place plants at least 60 centimetres apart because every year, a daylily will grow one to three new crowns.
• Fill space between plants in a new daylily bed with small summer annuals.

• Plant red daylilies in a spot that gets relief from the hot afternoon sun, because many red daylilies bleach out in intense sun.
• Yellow daylilies tend to be easy to please in less-than-ideal growing conditions.

• Use daylilies to mask the base of a fence or any low area that needs hiding.

Instead of battling the grass and weeds that grow at the base of a fence with a weed trimmer, let vigorous daylilies take over the space. They will dominate lawn grass with ease and often win out over weeds.