Why deadhead daylilies

After they fade they quickly turn to mush, occasionally drying onto undeveloped buds, preventing them from fully opening. Flowers that are successfully pollinated form seed pods. Most flowering plants, including daylilies, expend a tremendous amount of energy on seed production. Seed production in turn takes away from root and shoot development and future flowering potential.

From a plant health perspective, seed pods should be removed so that daylilies will produce more flowers next season. Deadheading plants at least a few times throughout their bloom period should be enough to keep them from spending energy on developing mature seed. When plants are in full bloom, all you need to do is snap off the spent flower heads and seed pods with your fingers.

So, to ensure the daylilies bloom and develop well, deadheading is vital. Another time you need to deadhead daylilies is during late fall or early spring.

The simple reason behind deadheading daylilies this period is because daylily is a seasonal flower. By this time, the daylilies would have completed its bloom cycle, making it the perfect time to deadhead. Deadheading is a bit tasking, but after taking the time to do it, it would perform better. Daylilies require little attention and can grow even in extreme conditions.

Despite that, you should ensure the environmental conditions around which your daylilies grow is conducive for optimal blooming. And that is why you should deadhead your daylilies at the right time. Daylilies come in different colors apart from pure white or blue colors.

Some daylilies may even come in multiple colors and may produce double blooms. Some varieties of daylilies are fragrance, which attracts butterflies. The flowers of daylilies grow on stalks, while the entire flower stalk is the scape.

So, by deadheading daylilies during late autumn or the beginning of spring, you give it a better chance to bloom next season. You should deadhead daylilies before winter because the plant is going into dormancy. Further deadheading after this period might kill the plant. After flowering, daylily will start to wither and becomes very unaesthetic and unattractive.

At this point, you should deadhead a daylily to make it look aesthetic. Doing this also encourages a more extended flowering period and also makes it look tidy. You can easily remove spent flowers with your hand. When the flowers on a single scape bloom, prune it from the stalk of the daylily. Now that you know how vital deadheading is to encourage more blooms in daylilies, which is what we all want, we also need to consider how to do it the right way.

Surely, deadheading daylilies make them look better and attractive, but doing it right is critical. Here are five ways to deadhead daylilies properly. When daylilies bloom in a season, do not feel they will become useless. It might take a while, but under proper care, it will blossom again. And you can help it bloom again by leaving its foliage. Because the daylily leaves are responsible for photosynthesis and absorption of carbon dioxide — its primary source of carbon.

There are several reasons given for deadheading daylilies, you need to decide for yourself whether it is worth the effort, or if you have the time, trimming spent daylily flowers can be a relaxing pastime.

Appearance is usually the main reason for deadheading. As most gardeners know, flowers on a daylily only last a day, and in the morning the faded flowers from the previous day are still attached to the daylily scape or the main flower stem. The daylily blooms will often drop off on their own after a few days, but it depends upon the daylily cultivar and the weather. In humid or damp conditions especially, the petals of spent blooms can stick to new daylily flowers and discolour them or prevent the daylilies from opening properly.

Pruning daylilies will enhance the display of new blooms and give a much tidier appearance. Remove the developing seed pods is the next reason given for deadheading daylilies, this is so the plants will put energy and resources into producing more new flowers, rather than seeds.

Initially, you may find it easier to use scissors or secateurs to cut off the old flowers this can be a little slower at first but with practice, you can master deadheading flowers quickly, most people find it easier to pinch or snap off the flower with their fingers just like the picture shows. Adequate water, especially during a hot dry summer in Australia and regular division of large daylily clumps are both far more important in increasing flowering than deadheading, even for the yellow so called rebloomers such as Stella de Oro.

It may, however, encourage new flowering scapes to form more quickly on a rebloomer, if you cut off the old scape down at the base of the daylily plant as soon as all the flowers have blossomed.

Leave a few inches between the mulch layer and the base of the daylily plant to prevent stem damage. Provide 1 inch of water each week, as well, to keep the plants hydrated. Sprinkle the fertilizer around the plants, taking care not to get any on the foliage. Water well after each application to wash the nutrients into the soil. Sasha Degnan is a freelance writer and educator specializing in gardening and horticulture. She has nearly 25 years of experience in the propagation and care of plants.

By Sasha Degnan Updated August 04,