Their remarkable adaptability makes growing daylilies easy and carefree in just about any conditions.

Because of their extensive and robust root systems, daylilies are very efficient when it comes to storing water. This makes them remarkably tolerant of dry conditions. Well established plants rarely need to be watered in any but the hottest, dryest conditions, but there are some special cases in which additional water is important to daylilies.

New plants need to be watered thoroughly and regularly for a week or ten days. This is crucial to giving their root systems a chance to adapt to the new conditions, and a healthy root system is the key to a beautiful, profusely flowering daylily.

During the flowering season daylilies may need some additional water. If rainfall is light or infrequent you will need to water the plants weekly during the flowering season in order to get the maximum number of blooms.

When you do water daylilies, it's important to be thorough about it. Frequent light waterings will make the plants develop shallow root systems, and daylilies with shallow root systems are much more susceptible to insects, disease, and environmental stress. During long periods of little rain or very hot temperatures, soak the soil to a depth of about eight inches once a week.

Food Requirements

Daylilies respond beautifully to proper fertilization, which is important to getting the most blooms and the best color as well as to the overall health of the plant.

Most experts agree that feeding twice a year with a balanced, slow-release fertilizer is best. Do the first feeding early in the spring, after the plants have started their spring growth spurt but well before the flowering season. The second feeding should be done after the flowering season but before the first frost.

Daylilies aren't heavy feeders, so beware of over-fertilizing them; more isn't necessarily better. In fact too much fertilizer can result in super-abundant foliage with few flowers, and in red or orange strains, too much fertilizer can cause the color of the flowers to become dull or muddy.