Why I Remove All Hemerocallis Leaves In Early August

I get frustrated when folks complain about how their Daylilies look once the heat of the summer roles in. Especially when they want to remove and get rid of the plant because of it's poor appearance in the late summer.

There's a way to avoid all that....

This year, the summer heat may have come later than normal, but the effects of the heat were first noticed on Hemerocallis, Daylily plants. Lush green grassy leaves adorn the plant in the early part of the summer, ushering flowers all throughout June and July. Then this happens:

As shown above, the Daylily at the top of the photo shows the grassy foliage turning yellow. I left this one alone to demonstrate the difference. The old foliage flops over and looks weak. Depending on the type of Hemerocallis you have, this usually happens after their big floral display or during a drought laden period.

To avoid this and you may find it odd, but I just yank out all the foliage - yes ALL.  That is what I did to the Daylily at the bottom of the photo. If you look carefully, underneath all the droopy leaves, the plant begins to send new foliage out from the roots. Leave those and pull out the old-yellow ones. If you don't see any, pull them all out.

Make sure you don't cut back the leaves, but instead, pull them out. They come free so easily. Leaving dry stalks at the base can cause rot sometimes. It's best to just yank them out.

Within two weeks, you'll see new, vibrant green foliage emerging from the roots and within 3-4 weeks, you'll have a great mound of lush growth that will extend all the way into late October.   It just extends your perennial border.  Yes, you'll have to be patient and wait few weeks with a look of bareness, but in the end it's so worth the effort.

I've had great success in even getting the re-blooming varieties to extend their bloom even further with this leaf removal.  If you've ever transplanted or divided Hemerocallis plants, you may have noticed they have large thickened roots (like a mini potato). These thickened roots store up water and nutrients. This is the plant's way to store up reserves. When the leaves are removed, the plant can regenerate from that stored energy. The renewed growth, can then start the process to replace those reserves again before the onset of winter.

All of the varieties in the picture above are Stella D'oro. A repeat bloomer. I find these among some of the most valued in mass plantings. They extend the flowering season and bear a hardiness and vigour some of the more cultivated ones do not have.

Try repeat blooming varieties like:

Stella D'oro
Red Hot Returns
Bonanza
Dragon's Eye
Happy Returns
Janice Brown
My Ways
Pardon Me.... there's many more, I'm certain!

When you leave sad looking Daylilies with spent flower heads and yellow foliage, it just takes the spark out of the garden in late summer. Try removing all the leaves once you see them yellowing and find out the difference it can make in your garden.

These photos were taken September 21st and the leaves and foliage will remain green until frost.

So much prettier and worth the effort!

September - Time to collect seeds

September is the month where you get a true bumper crop of selection when it comes to seed. Last year's harsh winter claimed many casualties in the garden. Collecting seeds now can prevent the loss of many plants that self seed readily.

Yesterday I managed to collect seeds from:

Nasturtium (please don't pull off the seed pod, if they naturally come free with a little effort, then it's the right time to collect).

Coriander. I let these dry completely on the bolted growth. Half I usually leave overwinter to allow natural reseeding, half for culinary purposes. Taking a few in case this winter kills them off.

Don't eat all your snow peas. Allow some to go to seed. Wait to collect once the pod goes yellow.

I love this allium. I rather not divide this young plant yet. Instead I would like to try and...

grow from seed next spring. Seeds are now dry, still encased in the pod.

Hemerocallis is so easy to grow from seed. Be sure to collect the pod, not the flower bud. Note the difference.

One of the easiest perennials to grow from seed is this common Coreopsis. Just allow the seed pod to dry completely on the plant before collecting.

Once some seed begins to fall off, or eaten by birds, you know this is the right time to collect Rudbeckia seeds and...

...Echinacea seeds. Please leave some for the birds. Yellow Finch love them. They provide fabulous winter interest in large clumps.

With Gaillardia, I leave many pods alone for birds too. Because of that, sometimes nature does a better job in plant production than I do. Come late spring, I find baby Gaillardia all at the base of this plant. But just in case we have a tough winter like last, I've taken a few for safe measure.

With Common Rue (Ruta graveolens), I deadhead and harvest the seed, so it doesn't seed itself everywhere. This is a tough one to die off. However, collecting the seeds now gives me a chance to give seedlings in spring as gifts. So easy to propagate.

With this Siberian Iris, I enjoy leaving their seed pods for winter interest. Thankfully, the pod stems are rigid and sturdy enough that you can bend them over and collect without taking the attractive seed pods off.

The best way I find to make sure you don't get debris mixed in with seed for storing, is to just empty the pods onto a sheet of white paper. You can lightly blow off the unwanted bits and the seeds remain to be packaged away.

I hate waste and I learned this from my Mother. If you get return envelopes from your utility bills, save them by:

1. Licking the envelope closed. Then cut the envelope in half.
2. Cut about 1/2 inch away on one side of the newly cut area to make a fold over flap for the new envelope.
3. Flip over and crease.
4. Be sure to write the name of the plant and date ahead of time before inserting seed. Tape closed.

Store in a cool, dry, dark place. Ready for March (indoor propagation) or May (sown right outdoors).