Looking for a few simple secrets to get your daylilies to bloom a little bigger and better this year – and maybe even multiple times?
Daylilies are one of the easiest and most dependable flowering perennials you can grow, but like all plants, they perform best when given a little care and attention. In return, they’ll reward you with waves of colorful blooms – and sometimes more than just once a season!
The good news is that you don’t need a complicated care plan to get outstanding results from your daylilies. In fact, just three simple tasks can make a huge difference in how well they bloom, how long the flowers last, and how many flowering cycles you get.
The best news of all? All three tasks are easy to do in the spring and during the growing season to give your plants the best possible chance to thrive!
3 Secrets To Get Your Daylilies To Bloom Bigger
#1 Fertilize In The Spring
One of the most important things you can do to boost your daylilies’ blooming power is to give them a healthy start in the spring with a balanced granular fertilizer. As the soil begins to warm and the plants wake up from their winter rest, they are hungry for nutrients.
Feeding them early gives the roots and foliage the energy they need to grow strong and prepare for flowering. A balanced fertilizer is best for this. Look for one with equal parts nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium.
Nitrogen helps build up healthy green foliage, phosphorus promotes strong root development and bud formation, and potassium supports overall plant health and flower production. Affiliate Link: The Andersons PGF Balanced 10-10-10 Fertilizer.
When you give daylilies a solid base of nutrients early on, you set them up for better growth and bigger bloom sets. The best time to fertilize is just as new shoots start to appear in early spring.
Apply the fertilizer around the base of the plants, scattering it lightly over the soil and gently scratching it into the top inch or so. Avoid placing it directly against the crown of the plant, as this can cause burning.
After you apply the granular fertilizer, it’s best to water thoroughly to help dissolve the fertilizer and begin to send the nutrients down to the root zone.
#2 Prevent Overcrowding
Daylilies are known for their ability to multiply and spread over time. While this makes them a great choice for filling in garden spaces, it can also lead to overcrowding if they’re not occasionally divided.
When daylilies grow in the same spot for several years without being split, their root systems become tangled and compacted. As this happens, the plants struggle to absorb nutrients and water efficiently. The result is smaller, fewer blooms and weaker overall growth.
To keep your plants blooming at their best, it’s important to dig up and divide crowded clumps every three to five years. This helps rejuvenate the plants by giving each new division its own space to stretch out and grow.
Early spring, just as new growth starts to emerge, is the perfect time to divide your daylilies. The weather is still cool, and the plants haven’t yet invested much energy into growing new foliage or flower stalks.
How To Divide Daylilies
To divide a clump, start by digging up the entire plant with a shovel or garden fork. Try to lift the entire root ball out of the ground. Then, using a sharp knife or your hands, gently separate the roots into smaller sections.
Each section should have at least a few inches of root growth for best results. Once divided, replant the new sections in fresh soil, spacing them about 18 to 24 inches apart. Make sure the crown of the plant sits just at or slightly below the soil surface.
Dividing daylilies not only improves bloom performance, but it also gives you extra plants to expand your garden or share with others. Best of all, rejuvenated plants tend to flower more heavily and can even start blooming earlier in the season. For more, see our article: 5 Perennials You Can Divide In Spring – Help Plants Bloom Better & Get Free Plants!
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3. Deadhead Spent Blooms – The Secret To Get Daylilies To Re-Bloom!
And the final secret to get your daylilies to bloom bigger and more often? It’s to make sure you deadhead your old blooms!
Deadheading, or removing spent blooms, is another simple way to encourage more flowers and keep your daylilies looking neat and tidy. By regularly removing faded flowers, you help the plant focus its energy on producing new buds instead of forming seeds.
To deadhead properly, simply pinch or snip off the spent bloom as close to the base of the flower as possible. This can be done by hand or with a pair of scissors or pruners. Try to check your plants every day or two during the blooming season, as removing the faded blooms quickly helps conserve the most energy.
Just as important as deadheading individual flowers is removing the entire flower stem once all the buds on it have finished blooming. After a flower stalk is done, it no longer serves any purpose and can actually drain energy from the plant.
Cut the stalk down at the base, near where it emerges from the leaves. Doing this helps cleans up the appearance of the plant. Even better, it helps redirect the plant’s strength to the production of new stems and buds.
For many varieties of daylilies – especially reblooming types – this extra care can lead to a second round of blooms later in the season. While not all daylilies rebloom, those that do will often perform better when old flowers and stalks are promptly removed.
It’s a small task, but one that can result in more vibrant and long-lasting color in your garden. Here is to getting your daylilies to bloom bigger than ever this year!
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