As much as I love my daylilies, Picky-Patty-Me harbors a few pet peeves. Here are my top ten:
- Daylilies that multiply too fast. Sounds crazy, right? Truth is, I get tired of dividing the same plant every year or so, and then trying to re-home the discards. (Why can't I just throw them in the ditch?) At one point in time, I'm pretty sure every friend I've ever had received a division of 'Mary Todd.'
- Blooms that have poor substance and slick-off in the sun (wet, slimy blooms). In my 100% sun yard that calls for instant removal.
- Scapes that droop and/or fall over. I refuse to prop up any plant in my garden. Away you go!
- Daylily bloom petals that canoe (when the flower petals turn inwards) Ick!
- A cultivar that puts out exceptionally beautiful blooms alongside of inconsistent blooms. Why put up with that? There are thousands and thousands of daylilies available that always have consistent, beautiful blooms; those are the ones I keep.
- Some daylilies have roots that are so densely woven together and tangled up that I have had to resort to a small saw to get divisions! It must be genetics, because most daylily roots are not saw-worthy.
- Daylilies that periodically send out traveling roots to new fans that are far away from the mother plant. Then Picky-Me has to dig out the traveling fan to keep the plant contained in its allotted garden space.
- Plants that bloom inside of their foliage instead of above the foliage.
- Ratty foliage. Enough said.
- Daylilies that exhibit scape blasting. I've had some cultivars that routinely did this every year. I've said goodbye to all of them but one, and that daylily (Virginia B. Hanson) is so perfect in all other aspects that she gets a pass.
RSS Feed