How to Fertilize Daylilies for Rebloom

Daylilies add dependable color to the summer garden, returning each year with only a minimal amount of maintenance. Each daylily flower blooms for only approximately one day, but each plant produces a profusion of flower buds so the plants stay in bloom for four weeks or more, according to the University of Rhode Island Extension. While daylilies require only minimal fertility, proper fertilization helps ensure that the plants produce optimum numbers of buds and continue to rebloom for the longest period possible.

Difficulty:

Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need

• Compost
• Cultivator
• Soil test kit
• Fertilizer

1. Spread 2 inches of compost over the daylily bed in spring. Work it into the top 2 to 4 inches of soil with a hand-held cultivator, taking care not to damage the daylily bulbs. The compost improves drainage and slowly leaches nutrients into the soil bed throughout the flowering season.
2. Perform a soil test in spring after adding in the compost. Test kits are available at garden centers or from your county extension office. Follow the kit instructions for proper testing procedure, as this differs between tests.
3. Apply 2 pounds of fertilizer for every 100 square feet of daylily bed in spring when the daylilies begin actively growing, and again in midsummer once they have begun blooming. Use 13-13-13 or another balanced fertilizer in beds that showed a low or average level of fertility on the soil test, or use a 12-3-6 analysis fertilizer if the bed tested as highly fertile.
4. Water the daylily bed immediately after fertilizing so the nutrients leach to the root zone where the plants can access it. Soak the bed to a 6-inch depth. Rinse any fertilizer from the daylily foliage.

Tips & Warnings

• Pinch off the spent flowers as soon as the petals wilt to further prolong the bloom. Once daylilies set seed, they may stop blooming.

• Plant daylilies varieties that are labeled as reblooming. These plants have been bred to produce multiple flower stalks throughout the summer.