What to do now
Plant as soon as you can: Your day lilies can wait a few days, or longer, if necessary, to be planted, but the sooner the better! They may look dry upon arrival, but this is normal. Until you can plant your day lilies, open up the bag and keep it somewhere cool and shaded. (Don’t leave them sitting in the sun!)
How to plant:
*Don’t divide your day lilies! The plants are healthier and more likely to bloom their first season if you plant them like they are, rather than splitting them into smaller plants.
*Plant somewhere sunny! (Or at least mostly sunny.)
*Any decent garden soil should be fine. However, here in Texas with our clay soil, it is best to add some compost at planting.
*Dig a hole: Larger than the root mass and deep enough so the crown of the plant (where the roots meet the leaves) is about at soil level or slightly above. You see that band of white at the base of the foliage? That’s the depth it was planted when it was growing in the field.
*Cover the roots with soil and water them well. Keep them evenly moist for at least the first few weeks until they are established.
What to do later
*Keep your day lilies evenly moist: Day lilies are drought tolerant but keeping them evenly moist, especially during our hottest months, will ensure their best performance.
*Fertilize: We recommend fertilizing in the spring, when most of the danger of frost has passed and you see new growth emerging.
*What kind of fertilizer: Day lilies aren’t picky. We recommend that you use a general balanced fertilizer. They do like nitrogen, so you may consider supplementing with some additional nitrogen.
*How to fertilize: Just sprinkle granular fertilizer around the plants, or soak the plant and surrounding area if you’re using liquid fertilizer.
*Can you over-fertilize? Yes, but it’s kind of unusual. If you over-fertilize you may get lots of outstanding foliage, but few blooms.
*Mulching: Mulch is great! It helps hold moisture in the soil and also helps keep weeds down. Day lilies aren’t particular, any common mulch material should be fine.
*Dividing: Day lilies don’t need to be divided every year. Most varieties can go 3-5 years (or longer) without needing to be divided. How will you know when to divide? If you notice your day lilies aren’t blooming as well as they used to, they may need to be divided.
*How to divide: Dig them up and use a sharp shovel to divide them. Try to keep at least three fans as smaller divisions will take longer to bloom.