Mid-July typically is when flower gardens hit their stride.
Perennials are in bud or blossom, and annuals continue to thrive. It’s a kaleidoscope of color to be sure, assuming fungal disease and insects haven’t been too severe.
Among the most prolific bloomers are daylilies and lilies, notably Asiatic lilies. You see them along roadsides, at the entrances of malls and in formal gardens as well as abandoned gardens. Take a drive in the country, and you’re likely to see hundreds of orange daylily blooms swaying beside crumbling foundations of old farmhouses.
They’re most likely old-fashioned daylilies (hemerocallis fulva), the same ones growing along roads and in ravines. This particular type of daylily grows about 2 feet tall with 4-5-inch bright orange blooms that last only one day. Each daylily produces about 50 blooms, making it a mid-summer flower powerhouse.
Lilies on parade
Appreciation for lilies dates back to the Bronze Age, as evidenced by Minoan wall paintings in the Mediterranean region. In more recent times — specifically July 13, they were celebrated at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids Township during the annual Daylily Show sponsored in collaboration with Grand Valley Daylily Society.
Notice the event centered around daylilies — not lilies. There is a difference.
The scientific name for Daylilies is hemerocallis, meaning beauty for a day. Each daylily bloom lasts only one day. But with so many buds, established plants often bloom for several weeks. Daylilies are tuberous-rooted plants and thrive in sun and part shade. They’re adaptable to many types of soils. They’re the ones with grass-like foliage and produce flower stalks with multiple buds.
Daylilies vary in height from 6 inches to 6 feet. Hundreds of varieties are suitable for Michigan gardens, offering blooms at different times. Some varieties, such as Stella D’ Oro, bloom all summer. Daylilies come in red, pink, orange, yellow and cream. They are popular in borders and as foundation plants.
Lilies, on the other hand, are members of the lilium family and grow from plump, scaly bulbs. Easter lilies are perhaps the most recognized member of the lilium family. They also grow in full sun to partial sun but prefer to have their feet in shade. Lilies prefer loamy soil and come in multiple colors, including red, pink, orange, yellow and white. Both daylilies and lilies are hardy in Michigan.
Both daylilies and lilies multiply in the garden. That’s what helped John and Jan VanWyk amass a riot of color in their spacious yard near the shores of Myers Lake in Kent County’s Courtland Township.
“I planted these maybe 10 years ago, and each year, I get more and more flowers,’’ Jan VanWyk said while watering her gardens on a hot mid-July afternoon. “I have lilies that came from Jerusalem; they should be blooming in a week or so.’’
The VanWyks have lilies towering more than 4 feet tall; many of them are Asiatic lilies, which are cold-hardy to minus-40 degrees.
“They multiply real quick, and I love the colors,’’ she said. Her garden boasts Asiatic lilies of various heights with uplifting blooms of red, yellow, orange and bi-colors. There also are plenty of daylilies, including the familiar orange ones that have been in her landscape for more than 20 years.
Lily bulbs usually are between 5 and 6-inches in circumference and should be planted three to four inches deep. In about three years, the bulbs can be lifted, the daughter bulbs removed and replanted. For best results, dig, clean, separate and allow bulbs to air-dry before replanting in late summer or fall.
Keep 'em coming
Some gardeners remove seed pods when they appear along the stalk beneath lily leaves to keep them from taking food from the plant. VanWyk lets them fall of naturally; some of them take and eventually grow into another stunning lily.
Daylilies also are quite agreeable to dividing; many gardeners prefer doing this in spring just as new growth starts poking through the ground, although they can be successfully divided in fall once the foliage has died back. Dividing daylilies every three years or so keeps the mother plant vibrant and provides an easy, cost-free way of expanding your plants to other areas of the landscape.
When dividing daylilies, make sure each division has “eyes,’’ or growing points. Space divisions 18 to 24 inches apart.
Daylilies and lilies benefit from fertilizer. Mix granular fertilizer (a 10-6-4 bulb food is ideal) into the soil at the base of plants when they emerge in spring and just before blooming.
You also want to keep them protected from deer. Bambi and his friends love to chomp off the tops of lilies when they emerge in spring. Come summer, their attention turns to daylily buds. Not the stalks or foliage — just the flower buds.
This will have you seeing red, which also happens to be one of the more popular colors among lily aficionados.
Learn more about lilies
Grand Valley Daylily Society: grandvalleydaylily.org
For more information on growing lilies, notably heirloom lilies: oldhousegardens.com