How to Plant Day Lily Seeds

With their brilliant shades of orange, yellow, pink and red, day lilies are one of summer’s cheeriest flowers. There are so many new day lily hybrids in exotic color patterns that even seasoned gardeners are sure to enjoy adding day lilies to their garden bed. This perennial favorite is easy and rewarding to grow from seed provided you are attentive to detail during the seed germination and give the plants plenty of water and sunlight as they grow.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You’ll Need:

• Day lily seeds
• Plastic baggies
• Paper towel
• Potting soil
• Seed trays

1. Three to four weeks before you are ready to plant, place each day lily seed in its own plastic bag. Add a two-inch square of paper towel and moisten seed with two teaspoons of water. Smooth out the air and seal the bag. Repeat this process until you have bagged all of your seeds, then refrigerate so that the seeds can begin to germinate.

2. Plant germinated day lily seeds in seedling trays, allocating one sprouted seed per square and planting them 1/2 inch deep. Place trays under grow lights or in a bright location and water until the soil remains moist.

3. Loosen soil in your garden bed and perform any weeding to prepare the bed for planting. You can prepare the soil at any time but will not be able to plant the day lily seeds until all danger of frost has passed in your area.

4. Once your region is free of frost, plant day lily seedlings at a depth of 1 inch, leaving 6 inches of space between seedlings. Water regularly.

Tips & Warnings

• Day lily seeds do not bloom the first year after planting. Day lilies are a favorite plants of many gardeners since they are hard to kill and offer beautiful blooms all season long.