Daylilies are so easy to grow that you can forget that they still need occasional care and attention. I learned that lesson the hard way last summer when scores of my daylilies didn’t bloom, or they sent up only one or two flower scapes.
I just assumed it was a lingering environmental response to the 2012 drought and the two extreme winters that followed. Their foliage wasn’t dense or wide—in fact some plants had only a small clump of leaves popping out of the ground, so I was sure they didn’t need dividing. I waited until the daylily blooming season was over in mid-August and dug up a few of my no-shows. The results were alarming. The clumps I unearthed were HUGE. There wasn’t a lot going on above ground, but there certainly a lot of activity happening below ground.
I spent much of August and September dividing daylilies—almost two hundred of them to be exact. I don’t care to repeat that chore ever again. Since I have four flowerbeds that are devoted almost entirely to daylilies, I plan to choose one bed each year and divide or check on just those daylilies. The following year I will care for a different bed and so on. By the time I’m done dividing daylilies in the last bed it will be time to start over again with the first one.
Daylilies should be divided about every 4 or 5 years, and as I discovered, appearances can be deceiving. The only way to know if they really need dividing is to dig up the plant. The work is much easier if you trim back the leaves first which doesn’t hurt the plants. One of the easiest ways to pull apart a clump is to insert two garden forks and gently pry them apart in opposite directions. If the soil is dry you may even be able to pull apart the roots with your hands.
Once you’ve reserved 3 or 4 fans for replanting you can decide what to do with the rest—replant them in other areas, share them with a friend or throw them on the compost heap.
While I made much more work for myself by waiting too long to divide my plants, I’m looking forward to seeing how many flowers appear in the next couple of years. The show should be spectacular.