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| THE CASUAL GARDENER, Shawna Coronado You Can’t Kill This Plant!! = = = = = = = = = = = = Dear Casual Gardener, What is the single most “unkillable” perennial plant for full-sun? I have killed them ALL. I need your help! Signed, Plant Murderer = = = = = = = = = = = = = Dear P.M., Take heart dear reader!! There is one plant I have had unrivaled success at growing: the daylily!! It survives in partial shade to full-sun, wet spots, dry spots – heck, I even have several growing in pots!! No matter your gardening skills, you can always plant a daylily and have it survive. For some inexplicable reason my Mother hated a particular variety of daylily which grew in a large 20 foot patch near an old fence row on the farm I grew up on. It took her three dedicated years of her mowing those suckers down EVERY WEEK for them to finally die. I’m not sure I would say it was a battle of good versus evil, but a battle to kill that plant was quite evident and the daylilies almost won! My neighbors, Bob and Kim, generously gave me a big dig of old-fashioned orange daylilies from their garden years ago and I’ve split them twice already. Happily replanting them and watching them generously spread. My mother-in-law picks the Daylily flower bud and eats it right out of the garden. Most cultivars are edible and are used frequently in Asian cuisine. It is sold in Asian markets as dried “Golden Needle”. Life, for the flower of the Daylily, otherwise known as a Hemerocallis by its Latin name, is quite short. The Daylily got its name by having one flower which will bloom for one day on each stem. It does not last long as a cut flower, yet in the perennial bed it can bloom for weeks – one lily at a time – one day at a time. They are quite beautiful with arching greenery that stays green all season and a tall stem which lifts the gorgeous flower high above its green base. Daylilies are not true Lilies – a traditional Lily is from the Lilium family and has a different growing habit, but the Daylily has beautiful flowers which resemble a true Lily. Although there are over 60,000 registered cultivars of the Hemerocallis, there are only a few which rebloom or have a strong scent. Every flower consists of three petals and three sepals. The center section of the flower, called the throat, sometimes has a different and contrasting color. Amazingly, daylilies can be grown in USDA planting zones 1 through 11, making them some of the most adaptable perennial and landscape plants. Most of the cultivars have been developed within the last 100 years. A friend of mine called me last year saying her husband had a “few extra” daylilies as he was rearranging his garden. I came over to pick them up and was surprised to have a five gallon bucket handed to me bursting with Daylily fans and roots swimming in water. I had never received plants in such a messed up heap before! I had no idea if they all looked the same or if there were multiple varieties. Were they tall or short? Big or small? What to do?!?! In the end I decided to have a three week long planting party. It took me that long to plant all the roots all over my yard and out the back garden gate and down the street. Every single one of them bloomed their first year in the ground even if they only had one little green leaf to show, even if they were in the shade, EVEN if I didn’t water them! WOW! I was amazed. Quite frankly, I’ve never seen anything like the beautiful show I’ve seen this year. For the last two weeks I’ve been in Daylily Heaven. The varieties that man gave me! I don’t know any of their names, but I now have Daylilies in more than the traditional yellow and bright orange color range – I have vibrant reds, dark rust, deep burgundy, almost purple, greenish flowers, crème colored flowers, pinkish flowers and the loveliest salmon color you’ve ever seen! Everyone comments on them and they’ve been the hit of my July garden. Believe me – you should not be able to kill a Daylily! I have faith you can do this! Go out and get yourself a Daylily – preferably from a friend – and plant that baby in a sunny spot in the garden. The first year take a little extra care to water it regularly. After that – you have nothing to do but enjoy their smiling faces! Now that’s what I call murder-free gardening! Please send your gardening questions for Shawna Coronado, The Casual Gardener to dearshawna@thecasualgardener.com or The Casual Gardener, P.O. Box 358, Warrenville, IL 60555. www. thecasualgardener.com |
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