Perennial Bulbs Plant Profile: The Daylily
Daylilies are one of the easiest to grow flowers from perennial bulbs. They are suitable to grow from zones 3 to 9, tolerant of a wide variety of soil conditions, have few diseases and pests, and will return to bloom each summer with almost no maintenance.
Daylilies Latin name, Hereocallis, means "beauty for a day" and this well describes the behavior of this perennial bulb. Each day, the daylily flowers will open in the morning, and then at night they will close and die. However, each perennial bulb will have more than a dozen flower buds growing on it, and each plant will bloom daily for several weeks.
Daylilies are a great perennial bulbs to interplant with other earlier spring-flowering perennial bulbs, such as tulips or daffodils, since their foliage will help hide the dying foliage from their earlier perennial bulbs counterparts. Daylilies look wondeful when planted in mass along a fence or a walkway. There are thousands of different daylily types to choose from. Cultivars range in hight from six inches to 3 feet tall, you will find a wide variety of colors, blooming time and flower types (trumpet shaped, double, ruffled and more).
Daylilies do best when they are planted in areas of your garden that receive full sun and well-drained soil, although there are some types that will thrive in partial shade as well. When planted right, they will flower for years with little care from the gardener. The only task you will find that you need to do is to divide them every four or five year, to keep them from becoming too crowded. You should divide your daylilies during late summer - dig up the clumps and seperate it into several separate plants (called fans) and make sure each one you plan to replant has a healthy root system.
For more information on the planting and care of perennial bulbs like daylilies, please return to the Perennial Bulbs Home Page.
