• SELECTING THE LOCATION     ​Look for a sunny, or part sunny spot with no less that six hours of direct sunlight.  In hot afternoon sun, some red and purple daylilies fade.  I would also choose a site that is close to your home or an area where you would walk by and enjoy often. Leave room for some annul flowers to compliment them, if you like.

• SOIL  As you would prepare for all your special plants, dig or till the ground deeply.  You need rich soft soil.  I always add a layer of around three inches of humus and manure before tilling.  You may have your own special of mix growing medium.

• PLANTING TIME Any time of the year you can plant daylilies.  The best time to plant or divide lilies is in the early spring or while they are actively growing.   In purchasing daylilies, it is best to view them in bloom, so in that case it would be around June in north GA.  The spacing between plants should be around one to two feet apart and plan on dividing them about every four years. Divide plants in North Georgia in September.

 

• WATERING Be prepared to water if they are not getting a good rain once a week, especially in growing season. Daylilies love water, as long as they don't sit in it. The blooms will be full and fresh if they get lots of water.

 

• MULCHING Always mulch your daylilies.  I have tried almost every kind and I have found pine straw to be my favorite, but not for slopping pathways because it's slippery.  I like bark better for pathways.  If you really want to hold the weeds back, you can put a few sheets of newspaper under your pine straw. Any kind of mulch is fine, just not to heavy around plant.

 

• FERTILIZATION The best way to begin is to take a soil sample to the county agent to be tested. Daylilies like PH range of 6.0 to 6.5 in the soil.  Some studies lately have learned that they also like fertilizer high in nitrogen.  The first number on the bag is nitrogen, the second number is phosphorous and the third number is potash.  A time release fertilizer is always good with spring and fall applications being the best.

 

• PESTS The easiest way to cover all pests that attack daylilies is to spray early spring with a combination bug and disease spray.  The first time you spray, should be when they first start growing again or coming out of the ground and about every two weeks after that. Then in the growing season not any problems.  Well, Deer love to eat them so put deer replant, or fence.