Early Daylilies

Daylilies are part of the large lily family, and grow in a wide range of colors and sizes. These are warm weather plants that bloom throughout the summer, with flowers that fade after only a day and are quickly replaced by new blooms. Because of their popularity, cultivators work hard to develop new strains, like early daylilies, to keep the flowers in the garden longer.

Early Daylilies

• Early daylilies bloom several weeks before standard daylilies, which bloom in June through August. Daylilies that consistently bloom in May or June are considered to be early daylilies.

Features

• Daylilies grow large, five-leafed blooms in colors that range from red to purple, yellow, pink and orange. Blooms may grow up to 9 inches in spread and are surrounded by spear-shaped leaves. Early daylilies are usually restricted to shades of yellow, and may feature smaller flowers than standard daylilies.

Growing Needs

• Early daylilies require the same conditions as standard daylilies – full sun and good nutrition from compost and plant food. Lilies do best in quick-draining soil, but can thrive in natural soil when it’s mixed with liberal amounts of compost.

Propagation

• Daylilies grow from bulbs, which divide and multiply as the plant grows. To propagate daylilies, gardeners dig up the bulbs of established daylily plants and separate them at these natural divisions, to transplant the new bulbs to new sites. The best time to separate daylily bulbs is in the fall.

Considerations

• Daylilies require plenty of moisture, and thrive with 5 to 6 inches of water a week. However, they also require good drainage. They suffer and fail to thrive in sites that puddle and have poor drainage. They also suffer if they’re left too long on their own, as the plants require division every three years.