Rescuing Storm Damaged Trees

Well, it's a good thing we got those apples picked when we did.  A few days later, we had our first snow of the season.  October 4 is early for snow, even for us.  And an early October snow in a year where spring came very late and summer even later, well, it just didn't feel too good. 

Snows that come very early or very late in the season tend to be very heavy, wet snows.  Both are problematic for power lines and other standing structures, but the early fall snows are pretty devastating to trees.  And this one was no exception.  In fact, you'll hear most people say this is the worst, most destructive early season snow we've ever had. 

In the grand scheme of things, with tens of thousands of dead cattle and unharvested sunflower and corn fields broken down to the ground, our damage doesn't seem that significant.  But, to a gardener who has worked 20 years to get a nice stand of trees and a fine fruit orchard started in the Burleigh Country desert, the aftermath of this storm is heartbreaking.  Trees still tend to be fully leafed out this time of year, so all the heavy snow gets caught in the limbs, adding more and more weight until branches, and sometimes the entire tree snaps off. 

I knew we were in trouble when the closer I got to home, the harder and heavier the snow was coming down.  Then I turned in the driveway and realized it had disappeared under fallen trees.  The beautiful arching elm trees that framed the driveway were no more.  I found Gene in the orchard, trying to knock the heaviest part of the snow off the tree limbs.  His efforts saved many of the trees, but he had to quit when our largest plum tree split the trunk into three pieces, to within about a foot of the ground, and large limbs began falling everywhere.


We went inside and listened to the popping, cracking and crashing as more trees came down.  The next day, the final count was seven elm trees completely broken off within about a foot of the ground, along with a plum, pear and apple tree.  Half a dozen more elms, a couple apple trees, another plum, my Prairie willow, and several viburnum shrubs badly damaged and a ton of clean-up work that will need to be done before winter sets in - it was enough to make me cry. 


But, gardening and storm clean-up doesn't get done with tears, so as soon as we determined it was safe to be out walking amongst the remaining trees, we had to start the process of clean-up.  We don't have any overhead power lines on our property, so we didn't have to worry about downed lines, but when trees come down, that is always the first thing to be aware of when going out to survey the damage. 

Any large branches that are completely broken off but are still hanging amongst other branches will need to be removed first to eliminate the danger of them coming down on top of us.  Then we can work on branches that are broken and are likely to break off with any additional pressure.  We'll take these off by first making a partial cut from the bottom of the branch to keep it from tearing more bark off the trunk if it continues to break.  Then we'll cut from the top, a few inches further out on the branch than the one on the bottom, and finish cutting the branch off just outside the raised area where the branch meets the trunk, called the "branch collar".  If the original break is into the branch collar, we will smooth it out as best we can.  It's important to try to eliminate divets and "cups" that will hold snow and water or harbor insects.

We'll have some decisions to make - can this tree be saved or is it best to just remove it?  Many of the damaged trees were young, healthy trees and we hold out a little more hope for some of them.  The elms are old trees that will be harder to salvage.  The larger the limbs that are broken, the harder it will be for the tree to recover.  The larger the size of the wound from the broken branches in comparison to the size of the limb to which they were attached, the harder it will be for the wound to heal.  If the wound is 1/4 the size of the limb or smaller, the wound will likely heal over within a couple years.  If it is nearly half the size of the limb or trunk, it may be very difficult for it to heal before it falls victim to rot, diseases or insect infestations.  The bark of a tree is like our skin and when large pieces of it are disrupted, the tree is vulnerable to all kinds of infections and insect infestations. 

Any tree where the trunk is split is not likely to recover and is much more vulnerable to future damage from snow or wind.  If 50% or more of the crown (top) of the tree is badly damaged or destroyed, there is little hope that the tree will regain its vigor.  There may not be enough foliage left to support the photosynthesis necessary to sustain life.

If a tree is leaning, it generally means that the roots themselves were damaged or loosened.  These trees usually need to be removed because they won't survive well and are very susceptible to being completely pulled out of the ground in future storms.  One of my honeycrisp apple trees was leaning nearly to the ground.  This is a young tree, so we will try to save it by gently pulling it back to a straight, vertical position and staking it until the roots re-grow and stabilize it in the soil.  With young trees, sometimes you can foster new root growth.  With mature trees, this is not likely to work.

One of my plum trees lost its "leader" or the main upward growing branch.  We will trim the damaged area to create a smooth cut and over the next couple years, I will work to retrain another strong upward-trending branch to become the new leader.  This will require diligent trimming of weaker upward trending branches to keep the stronger one dominant in the upward growth.  After the new leader attains some size and strength, the other upward trending branches will assume their supporting role, and hopefully the tree will regain a nicer appearance and a strong form.

Trees should never be "topped", the process where all the top branches are cut back to stubs.  Professional arborists say that topping is the worst insult you can deal a tree.  Topped trees produce a lot of weak branches that are going to be even more prone to damage in storms.  Not to mention that they look incredibly ugly.  If a tree trimming service recommends "topping" trees or has a history of having done that, I would suggest you run them away from your trees as fast and as far as you can.

Hard as it may be, we will need to resist the urge to overprune.  We'll learn to live with trees whose appearance is less than perfect for a while.  Some of them may never look the same, but many will continue to grow, the bare spots from broken branches and limbs will be covered, and we will once again be able to look at our trees and say "oh what a beautiful sight".  And in the meantime, we'll relish those trees that braved and battled the storm to stay upright and whole.

Apple Season

Nothing says autumn to me like apple picking time.  Apples are usually the very last produce to be dealt with, so it is a bittersweet time.  The abundance of fresh fruits and vegetables picked and eaten right out of the garden is coming to an end.  That's the bitter part.  The end of that bounty means I can settle in for nice, relaxing evenings in my recliner beside the fireplace.  That's the sweet part.

I have a good crop of apples this year, with four of my trees putting their heart and soul into growing apples.  Most apple trees bear heavily on alternate years.  Their "off" year, they may not produce any apples or just a few.  Their "on" year, they are sometimes so heavily fruited that the branches seem in danger of breaking.

The Whitney crabapple tree seems to be an exception to the alternate year rule.  It produces heavily just about every year.  The apples from this tree were picked in late August and made into applesauce, juice, and apple butter.  Even though it is a crabapple tree, the apples are large - about the size of a tennis ball - and sweet.  They don't keep well, so they need to be preserved almost immediately after picking.  They are good for pies, especially if used before they are fully ripe.  Mom had a beautiful Whitney crab tree right at the entrance to her vegetable garden.  Each summer, when the apples were fully formed but still green, we were treated to fresh baked green apple pie.  Mm mm good!  Whitneys are a soft apple, so have a mushy texture when ripe, which makes them perfect for applesauce.

Most other varieties of apples don't obtain their sweetness until they are chilled by the cool days and nights of fall, and can even bear a fairly hard frost without damage.  Temperatures as low as 29 degrees, as long as the cold doesn't last over a period of hours, will not damage most fall ripening apples.

My Honeycrisp tree outdid itself this year.  It is a young tree - only four years old- but is in its second year of production.  Last year, it produced six nice, large apples.  Not bad for a tree that was only five feet tall and has a trunk that's less than two inches around.  This year, it was so loaded with nearly softball sized apples that we had to tie the trunk to a steel stake to hold the top branches off the ground.  Honeycrisp is a relatively new variety of apple, developed by the University of Minnesota in the 1960's and available for planting in home orchards for only the last few years.  Officially, Honeycrisp trees are still listed as "in trial" for North Dakota, but so far mine seems to be very hardy, disease resistant, and a good producer.  Honeycrisp apples are crisp, sweet and juicy and can be stored for six to seven months in a cool place.  My baby tree produced two five gallon buckets full of nice, large apples and I am going to enjoy every one of them!

Next came the Haralred tree.  Haralson and Haralred are essentially the same type of apple tree.  Haralson apples were developed by the University of Minnesota in the early 1900's, specifically to be hardy enough to withstand the harsh winter climate of Minnesota and North Dakota.  The Haralred is what's called a "sport" of the Haralson.  A sport is a plant mutation that suddenly produces a new plant that is similar but different from the parent plant.  If the sport produces a desirable plant, it can be propagated vegetatively to produce a new variety.  The Haralred produces apples that are a deeper, more uniform red than the Haralson and also tends to ripen a little earlier than the parent plant.  Both the Haralson and the Haralred produce a medium sized apple that has a nice firm texture, is moderately sweet, and keeps for four to six months.  Both are proven hardy varieties for North Dakota winters.  My Haralred yielded a full bushel of apples.  The Haralson did not produce any apples this year.  I think it is quite considerate of them to work out this nice schedule...they make the best pies, but even I don't need two trees full of apples for pies.

The final picking was what I call my "bird poo" apple tree.  It's a tree that started in the very corner of one of my flower gardens about 5 years ago.  A bird conveniently dropped the seed in a location where I wanted a tree anyway, so I just let it grow.   Last year, it produced a few apples that were on the small side, so I still wasn't able to tell what kind of tree it might be.  This year, we picked and picked and picked from that tree, until we'd filled three bushel baskets with apples.  They are a nice, , medium sized apple, red with slight striping.  The apples are sweet and have just a touch of a vanilla-like flavor, so I suspect it's a Sweet Sixteen.  

I also have an older Sweet Sixteen apple that produced a couple apples this year.   Sweet Sixteen is another very hardy apple tree developed by the University of Minnesota in the early 1970's.  Sweet Sixteen is marketed to be hardy to 50 degrees below zero.  The taste of the Sweet Sixteen apples is unique and very flavorful.  That hint of vanilla and maybe even a slightly nutty taste make it a great apple for eating fresh, pies, applesauce - pretty much anything you want to do with an apple.  The downside is that it just isn't a good keeper.  You can store the Sweet Sixteens for up to two to three months, but quality declines rapidly after the first six to eight weeks.

Dakota Gold was developed by North Dakota State University in the 1960's.  It's hardiness here is well proven.  Dakota Gold produces large yellow fruit that is good for eating and cooking, but it stores even less well than Sweet Sixteen.  My Dakota Gold tree is only in its second growth year, so no apples yet, but I'm looking forward to them in a few more years.

Hazen and State Fair are two additional varieties that are hardy in northern climates, producing nice sweet apples, however, both are poor keepers.  Wodarz is a very sweet apple that does well in harsher climates and also stores well for four to six months. 

Zestar is a fairly new release of the University of Minnesota that is heralded as being a "new taste" in apples, with its brown sugar overtones.  While Zestar is rated as hardy to zone 3b, it's durability for climates like North Dakota hasn't been fully proven yet. 

The state universities are always working on new varieties that combine the best features that people want in their home apple orchards.  I'm not sure if we'll ever see commercial apple orchards in North Dakota, but we can sure grow a lot of yummy treats in our home orchards.

Fall Planting

I really do love this time of year.  It's still busy but not crazy busy like the vegetable garden and fruit orchards keep me from late July to early September.  I'm about ready to put the canner kettles away; the cold room shelves are full.  The cool, crisp nights lead to good sleeping weather. 

There are still things to do, though.  It's not too late to plant deciduous trees and perennials, although the latter will need some mulch for the winter.  My planting season has been cut short by an injured foot, but I did manage to move some tree seedlings from places they'd planted themselves but weren't welcome.  I can still always find room for these little treasures and sometimes I'm even lucky enough to just be able to let them grow where they land.

I also managed to remove the perennials I've used for containers throughout the summer and find places in the gardens for them.  I can feel better about tearing those containers apart at the end of the season when I know that I will be able to enjoy those plants in a new setting next year.

In North Dakota, fall is a great time to do planting.  The roots of the transplants need about six weeks of ground temperatures above 40 degrees to become well-established.  The ground temperatures cool much more slowly than air temperatures, so here we can generally plant through the month of September and oftentimes into early October.  Bulbs and dormant deciduous trees can be planted almost till the ground freezes.  Evergreen trees and shrubs should be planted by the end of September for them to be established well enough to survive the winter.

Fall transplants love the cooler temperatures - there is much less stress on the plant, allowing for better root development.   Often, moisture becomes more abundant again as we move into fall, and the cooler days and much cooler nights keep the moisture in the soil longer.  There are fewer diseases and pests to plague the tender transplants in fall.  While the plant may look a little worse for the wear this year (it may even look dead, but resist the urge to pull it out), it will reward with lush foliar growth next spring because of the vigorous root development that took place the preceding fall.

Another advantage of fall planting is the prices.  Many garden centers don't have the resources to overwinter plants, so they clearance them as fall approaches.  The later it gets in the fall, the lower the price goes.  Last year, I picked up several nice viburnums for $1.00 a piece - their original price was $19.99.  True, I had to really use my imagination to see the glory that could be coaxed out of their bedraggled little selves, but with a little trimming, some TLC, and fall planting, I had some beautiful new shrubs this year.

Just as it is with spring planting, adequate watering is critical.  The new transplants need to have a half to one inch of water each week right up until the ground freezes.  Then a three to four inch layer of mulch to protect the crown of the new plant from the freeze and thaw cycles of winter, and the scene should be set for a nice new planting to emerge in the spring.

Tomatoes and Blights

You can definitely feel autumn in the air.  Mornings are crisp and cool, but not so cool that you can't be outside in your shirtsleeves  - or pajamas.  :)  The days are warm, but not too warm; and the nights are just perfection.  I love this time of year - as long as I don't think about what's right around the corner.

Fall is a busy time in the gardens.  The vegetable and fruit gardens are putting on their last hurrah.  One picking of tomatoes yielded 14 quarts of crushed tomatoes, 10 quarts of spaghetti sauce, 12 pints of garlic-basil-tomato sauce, 15 pints of salsa and 12 quarts of tomato soup.  Plus about 60 pounds of tomatoes given to friends and family.  I really hope next spring when I am too tender-hearted to throw away those extra tomato seedlings, someone reminds me of this season's excesses!

This over-achieving production is in spite of having some problems with tomato blight.  It appears that there may be a variety of blights attacking my tomato plants this year.  That's one of the dangers of a wet growing season, and of growing tomato varieties that aren't resistant to the various tomato diseases.  I am pretty attached to my Sheyenne and Cannonball tomatoes that were developed by North Dakota State University specifically for success in our North Dakota soils and growing conditions, so I am willing to take the risk on blights.  My brother, who was one of the recipients of some of the excess this year, said these tomatoes made the best tasting salsa he's ever had.  I happen to agree with him - they are firm, meaty tomatoes with a rich, tomato taste.  People who choose to grow heirloom varieties of tomatoes feel the same way about their tomatoes - the benefits of those varieties make them worth the extra trouble and the risk of blights. 

Early blight (internet photo)

Early blight is caused by the fungus Alternaria solani.  It comes from the soil and starts attacking the lower leaves of the tomato plant.  The first indication is usually some large, irregular brown spots which appear on the leaves and may have lighter, yellow spots in the center.  Eventually the entire leaf withers, dies and falls from the plant.  The fungus also infects the fruits, causing dry, leathery sunken spots near the stem end.   The dying off of the leaves makes the tomatoes prone to sunburn because they lack the protective foliage cover.   If this blight occurs early enough in the season, it can decrease the vigor of the plant and diminish production for the year.  (As you can see above, that was not a problem with my tomatoes this year.)

Septoria leaf blight, caused by the fungus Septoria lycopersici, occurs later in the growing season.  It makes its initial appearance as small yellowish-tan blotches on the leaves, with a dark halo around them.  They are smaller than the spots of early blight and are more regularly shaped.  They may have dark spots in the center of the lesions, called "fruiting bodies".  Infected leaves generally drop from the plant, again leaving the tomatoes susceptible to sunburn and rotting.  Spots may also appear on the stems and the blossoms, interfering with fruit production.

Late blight is caused by the pathogen Phytophthora infestans, which is classified as a "water mold".  This pathogen attacks both tomatoes and potatoes.  In fact, its greatest claim to fame is the Irish potato famine during the 1840's.  It makes its appearance on tomatoes as regular or irregular oily looking spots.  A distinctive difference between late blight and other blights is that while early and Septoria blight attack the lower, older foliage first, late blight attacks the plant from the top down, affecting the youngest foliage first.  Late blight also more readily attacks the fruit, causing dark, mushy lesions, which may be more pronounced at the stem end of the tomato, but eventually cover the entire tomato.  The rotting tomato emits a distinctive, foul odor.  I've found that while you can trim out affected spots on tomatoes affected by other blights, tomatoes affected by late blight often have a nasty taste throughout the entire tomato.

As with all fungal infections, prevention is the best cure.  Good air circulation goes a long ways toward preventing fungal and mold diseases.  Remember those little seedlings I couldn't bear to throw away?  Well, at Wiese Acres, I have a limit to the space in my vegetable garden.  So, my tomatoes ended up a little more crowded than they should have been this year.  Strike one for my tomato plants.  Then, my tomato foliage went crazy and I didn't take time to properly prune the plants to keep them from completely overfilling the tomato cages.  Strike two.  Then, we had days and days of rain and even when it wasn't raining, we had cool, damp, gloomy weather.  Strike three!  And I had blights. 

Once any blight appears, if it is not extensive, you can gain some control by pinching off the affected  leaves and destroying them, then spraying the plant with a fungicide to prevent or at least slow further infection.  Chlorothalonil or mancozeb are effective against the blights, or for an organic solution, copper based sprays may provide some control.  Fungicides are more preventive than curative, so it's best to spray before any symptoms occur.  I'm a sort of "just in time" gardener, though, so it usually doesn't occur to me to spray fungicides before I have fungal infections. 

It will be critical to clean all the infected foliage off the garden and destroy it.  This debris definitely doesn't belong in the compost pile.  It will either be bagged and taken to the landfill, or it will be burned.  Next year, I will need to be careful to not plant any plants in the nightshade family (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplant, peppers) in the same area, as the spores of the fungus can overwinter in the soil.  I'll need to make sure that I don't overcrowd things next year, and if I irrigate, ideally, it can be done with a drip system.  If overhead irrigation is my only choice, it will need to be done early in the day when the leaves won't stay wet for extended periods.  I'll also check the nutrients in my soil.  Blights are much more likely to attack plants that are less vigorous and proper fertilization is one way to foster good, healthy plants.  I'll also place some mulch around the base of the plants as the mulch may stop any spores that may still be in the soil from splashing up onto the foliage and setting up housekeeping.

On a positive note, I did not have any blossom end rot.  I save my egg shells for several months leading up to planting time, crush them, and sprinkle a handfull in the bottom of the planting hole.  This supplies needed calcium for the tomato plants.  In addition to having the calcium available to them, though, they need to have even, consistent moisture to allow the calcium to be absorbed into the plant and fed to the tomatoes.  One or the other alone may not prevent blossom end rot, but the two together is just about a guaranteed prevention.

So, I've learned a few things to not do with tomatoes this year.  As I think about my aching feet and look at my reddish tinged hands, I can't help but think that throwing away those extra seedlings might just be the most important lesson, though.

Daylilies Diseases and Pests

Daylilies are usually pretty disease and pest free, if planting conditions allow for good drainage and the soil contains a good supply of organic matter.  The biggest problem I see when people tell me their daylilies aren’t “doing well” or aren’t flowering is that the daylily is planted too deep.  That crown should not be covered with more than one inch of soil.

But, just like sometimes even the toughest of us get sick, so sometimes do daylilies. 

Leaf streak (internet photo)

A common fungal disease of daylilies, especially the last couple years when we’ve had cool, wet weather, is Leaf Streak.  Leaf Streak is a fungal infection that causes yellowing along the central leaf vein, followed by brown streaking.  The yellowing usually begins at the tip of the leaf and follows the leaf downward towards the crown, leading to browning, drying out, and eventually death of the entire leaf. 

 

Prevention is the best cure, if possible.  When Mother Nature delivers the moisture, we don’t have much control over when or how it hits our daylily leaves. When we are delivering the water, we can be a bit more particular.  A drip system that delivers water directly to the soil without wetting the daylily leaves is the best way to irrigate.  If the only option is to water in a way that wets the leaves, it’s best to water in the morning when the sun and breeze will quickly dry the leaves.  When the daylily leaves are wet, whether from rain, irrigation, or dew, resist the urge to walk amongst them and admire their flowers and foliage.  The more we disturb the leaves when they are wet, the more opportunity we give fungi to set up housekeeping. 

Once the infection is evident, good housecleaning is essential.  Remove and destroy affected leaves.  These leaves do not belong in the compost pile – they should be bagged and put in the garbage.  Affected plants should be isolated from others if at all possible.  

It is difficult to “cure” a fungus once the symptoms appear, but spraying with a fungicide may slow development of the disease and prevent new growth from becoming infected with Leaf Streak.    Fungicides which have proven effective for Leaf Streak are thiophanate-methyl, mancozeb, chlorothalanil, and iprodione.   These are all marketed under various trade names, but if you look at the “active ingredient” on the label, one of these should be the top ingredient. 

The entire plant should be “doused” with the fungicide, upper and lower surfaces.  If your daylilies had Leaf Streak last year, it might be a good idea to prophylactically spray the new foliage right away in the spring, before any signs of disease.  Spraying every couple weeks during the growing season might be necessary to keep it under control.

Spring Sickness is considered a “mystery” disease – its cause is not known for sure, but it is definitely more prevalent in those areas where there are freeze / thaw cycles.  I’d never heard of this disease before the spring of 2012.  That spring, instead of my nice, bold, strappy daylily leaves, I started noticing that the leaves were growing sideways, twisting and turning every which way, sometimes ending up in a twisted mass in the center of the clump.  In addition, some of the leaves had jagged, brown edges. 

What in the world was happening?  I couldn’t see any signs of pests that might be causing the problem, no mechanical damage (e.g. no one had gotten close to them with the lawnmower or weed whacker), and no signs of fungal or bacterial infection.   So, I started doing some research and discovered “spring sickness”.  The winter of 2011 – 2012 was non-existent in North Dakota.  Most people were rejoicing in our winter with very few days below freezing and even 80 degree days in March, but we gardeners were already concerned about what this meant for our perennials.  The spring sickness in our daylilies confirmed that temperatures should just not be high enough to wear shorts in February in North Dakota. 

Spring sickness may also be caused by mites or some type of fungal infection, but in my daylilies, those not affected as severely, outgrew the problem by mid-summer and went on to bloom beautifully that year.  Those more severely deformed were just fine the spring of 2013, leading me to believe that it truly was our bizarre non-winter that was the culprit.

Bacterial soft rot is often caused by the bacteria Erwinia carotovor.  Symptoms are a soft, mushy crown and roots, often accompanied by a strong, foul odor.   Erwinia is a bacteria that is present in most soils but it doesn’t cause any problems until conditions are just right.  High temperatures, poor air circulation, poor drainage and improper fertilizing are friends of soft rot.   In these conditions, it spreads very rapidly and once soft rot becomes noticeable on the daylily, it might be too late to salvage.  If caught early enough, the daylily might be salvaged by digging it up, cutting out any affected parts, soaking the remaining part of the clump in a 10% bleach solution for 20 minutes, letting the cut surfaces dry, then re-planting in a well-drained area.

White mold is a crown rot caused by the fungus Sclerotium.  The crown of the daylily becomes covered with white, cottony looking growths.  Sometimes small, black seed-like growths are evident in the cottony growths.  There are no fungicides effective against sclerotia.  Treatment is to remove the daylily and the soil surrounding the plant for one foot beyond the root ball and one foot deep.  Both the daylily and the soil should be bagged and discarded.  Sclerotia lives in the soil for many years, so it is important not to compost any part of the plant or use the affected soil in other garden spots.
 

Rhizoctonia crown rot is another disease of daylilies that occurs in wet years, or in areas with poor drainage.  The crowns rot from the soil surface down towards and into the roots.  There is usually a dark, heavy growth on the crown of the daylily that almost looks like a piece of cloth or heavy felt wrapped around it.  Unfortunately, like the other crown rots, there is no treatment once the rot is established.  The only hope is to catch it soon enough that you can salvage some of the clump through the pruning and soaking method described for bacterial soft rot.

Pests of daylilies hardly bear talking about, in my opinion.  I have rarely, if ever, had much problem with insects.  Even slugs, those dirty little slimeballs, rarely do much damage to daylilies.  Cutworms, cucumber beetles, Japanese beetles, grasshoppers and bulb mites may cause some periodic damage, but usually not of much significance. 

Spider mites are the most common pest of daylilies, especially in hot, dry weather.  Spider mites cause yellowing of the leaves, sometimes with tiny brown spots amongst the yellow showing where the mite began sucking the clorophyll from the leaves.  The webbing is sometimes visible, especially on the undersides of the foliage, and you may even see the mites moving in the webbing.  Usually a strong spray from the garden hose or spraying with an insecticidal soap will do the trick. 

Thrips may infest daylilies and cause streaking on the leaves and buds.  They often cause deformities in the petals, leading to an unsightly flower.    There is a specific aphid that feeds only on daylilies and isn’t controlled as easily by a hosing off with plain water as most aphids, because they get deep into the folds of the foliage.  Both thrips and aphids are best controlled by a systemic insecticide if the infestation is severe.  A common systemic insecticide, dicofol, marketed as Kelthane, Hilfol, or Acarin should not be used on daylilies, as it can damage the plant.  Other systemic insecticides should be safe for use, but please keep in mind that systemic insecticides are not selective to thrips or aphids – if a butterfly or bee stops to sip the nectar from your daylilies, it will kill them, too.  In most cases, the pest problems are not severe enough to warrant these “big guns”, in my opinion.

It is really hard to find a more carefree plant than a daylily and they give so much beauty and diversity to the garden, it’s hard to go wrong with them.

 

 

Dividing Daylilies

Daylilies are tough, dependable workhorses in my garden.  They are very low maintenance and every few years, they generously provide new plants I can use to fill spaces in my own garden or give to friends.  

There is no magical time to divide daylilies.  Technically, any daylily that has two or more fans can be divided to obtain one or more additional daylilies.  As I mentioned in an earlier blog, though, the harder you divide them, the longer it takes for them to bloom again. 

So, when is it necessary to divide daylilies?  The general rule of thumb is that if the daylily is in optimal growing conditions, e.g. full sun if it is one that requires that, soil rich in organic matter, etc., and it isn’t blooming its best, it might be time to divide it.  Another indication that it is time for some dividing is when the foliage in the center of the clump becomes thin and straggly, along with fewer flower stalks and less blooms per stalk. 

Daylilies are tough as nails, so they will survive dividing and transplanting virtually any time.  The best time, though, is shortly after they finish flowering in late summer or early fall.  Here in North Dakota, I usually like to have my daylilies divided and re-planted by mid-September at the latest.  That gives them time to get their roots established before the ground freezes for the winter.

Daylilies can develop some pretty massive root systems and may require some muscles to get the root ball lifted so it can be worked with more easily.  It’s easier to do this if you clear away mulch, leaves, and other encroaching plants first.  I also trim the foliage back to about 6 to 8 inches, so that it isn’t flopping around and in my way.  Then, with a sharp spade, I dig straight down about 10 to 12 inches from the outer crown of the plant, doing this completely around the clump.

Once I’ve loosened the soil with the spade, I either use the spade or a garden fork to lift the clump from the ground, knocking off as much loose dirt as I can so it’s easier to lift.  I set the large clump to the side of the hole and then, again using either the spade or the garden fork, slice down through the center of the clump, dividing it into two parts. 

Now, here I have a confession to make.  I know a lot of people tell you to carefully tease the root clump apart to avoid damaging the roots.  Here’s my confession – I don’t baby my plants.  And, I think most people who have seen Wiese Acres will tell you that my plants don’t really seem to mind that.  So, I’ve been known to take my sharp spade, set it in the center of the clump, and give it a good whack right down through the middle of the clump. 

After the “whack”, I remove any roots or tubers that are badly mangled, or any that are mushy, shriveled or look otherwise unhealthy.  If it’s a very large clump or if I want a large number of divisions, I’ll more gently divide it down further, to about three to four nice sized fans. 

Only if it is a young daylily that has a small root clump and I'm dividing it just to get an additional plant, do I use the gentle teasing apart of the roots method to preserve the majority of the root ball. This is most easily accomplished using two garden forks to "wiggle" down between the roots to separate them, and then gently pulling the clump apart.
 

The next step I will take is to rinse the old soil off the root ball with a garden hose.  Then I soak the roots and tubers in a 10% bleach solution (1 cup bleach to 10 cups water) for about 10 minutes before re-planting.  With all the spring moisture of the past couple years, my daylilies have been prone to some fungal diseases, such as leaf streak.  The bleach solution may (or may not) help give them a fresh start in their new home.  Sources differ in their opinions on the value of the bleach soak, but bleach is cheap and 10 minutes isn’t very long, so I figure “why not?”

Then I plant the divisions just like I plant new bare root daylilies; water them in; give them a little TLC for the first few weeks; and place a 3 to 4 inch layer of wood or straw mulch around to protect them from the freeze and thaw cycles of winter.  Then I sit back and wait for next year’s glorious show!

 

Planting Daylilies

Now that we know the terms to describe the blossoms, colors, foliage types, and more, we’re almost ready to start planting daylilies, whether they are divisions from a friend, bare root from a supplier, or potted from the local garden center.  Before we start, though, there are just a few more terms it will be helpful to know.

Daylilies grow from long, thin, fibrous roots, which over time thicken into spindle-shaped tubers.  These thick, fleshy roots absorb and store water and nutrients to feed the foliage and blossoms of the plant.

The crown is the solid white core of tissue that joins the leaves and the roots of the daylily plant.  The crown produces the leaves from its upper surface and the roots from the lower surface.  Most daylilies must have a crown with each propagated piece to be able to establish a new plant.

 

Daylily leaves are grass-like with a center rib that is prominent on the underside of the leaf.  The leaves are attached opposite each other on the crown and form a fan.  Multiple fans form a clump.  Daylilies can be divided down to a single fan or left with multiple fans in a clump.  The more fans left in the clump, the sooner the daylily will bloom again, but also the sooner it will need to be divided again. 

 Finding the right location for the daylily is important.  Most daylilies prefer full sun, although more and more cultivars are being developed to tolerate part shade.  Light yellows and other pastel colors need full sun to show their best colors.  Darker colors, like reds and purples, may benefit from partial shade, particularly from the hottest mid-day sun.  These dark colors have a tendency to lose their vibrancy when exposed to the hottest sun.  Too much shade, though, will keep the daylily from blooming its best and may cause the foliage to become limp and floppy.

Daylilies are not particular about soil type.  In fact, daylilies are great in my heavy clay soil because the thick roots and tubers act as “clay-busters”.  They are said to prefer a slightly acidic soil, but they thrive in my highly alkaline clay.  They do require a location with good drainage and they like to have a fair amount of organic matter in the soil around them.  I top dress mine with a couple inches of composted manure at least every other spring.   (Top dressing is simply a matter of spreading the compost over the top of the existing soil around the crown of the daylily).

Daylilies prefer evenly moist soil, but are quite drought tolerant once established.  About the only thing they really don’t like is too much moisture.  In extreme conditions, the tubers can rot.  In less extreme, but still too moist, conditions, they are prone to fungal diseases such as leaf streak, white mold, or Rhizoctonia crown rot.  Bacterial soft rot can destroy the daylily if the soil remains too wet.  We’ll talk about controlling diseases of daylilies in another blog.

Daylilies can be planted anytime that the soil is workable, e.g. anytime the soil isn’t frozen solid.  They tend to do their best if planted in early spring, while moisture is more abundant and temperatures are a little cooler.  I have successfully planted daylilies, though, in the hottest part of the summer – the key is to give them a little extra tender loving care in the form of good, even moisture and a little mulch around the planting area to help keep the roots cool.  Daylilies planted in late fall need protective mulch covering them for the winter in harsher climates.

Daylilies  should be planted in a hole that is large enough to hold the roots without twisting, bending or crowding them in any way.  It may be helpful to mound the soil in the middle of the planting hole, then set the center of the crown on the mound and spread the roots down the side of the mound.  This helps assure that the roots stay straight and uncrowded when the planting soil is filled back in the hole.  The daylily should be planted so that the crown is about one inch below the surface of the soil. 

Most daylily cultivars benefit from being divided every three to four years.  Some, like the Stella d’Oro, are vigorous growers and require dividing every other year to continue to perform their best.  Dividing daylilies really isn’t difficult, but there are a few tricks to make it easier and assure success.  We’ll talk more about those in my next blog installment.

 

 

 

More About Daylily Terms

Well, gosh.  Who would have known there is so much to know about daylilies that it almost entails learning a new language?  I sure didn’t years back when I walked up to one of the ladies from the daylily society and asked “Can you answer a few questions about daylilies for me?”  Could she ever, and her enthusiasm for this particular family of plants grabbed hold of me and stuck for all these years.

 And, I’ve learned a little bit of the language of daylilies – enough to help me select just the cultivar I need for any particular spot at Wiese Acres.

 We talked about scapes; bloom size, season, and habit; ploidy; foliage type; throats; and bud counts and branching.  Today we’ll talk about terms that describe the blossom itself.

 Here’s how another of my favorites is described in the AHS cultivar database:

 

'Strutter's Ball' (Moldovan, 1984)

scape height             28 inches

bloom size                 6 inches
bloom season           Midseason
ploidy                       Tetraploid
foliage type                Dormant
bloom habit               Extended
flower form:                Single

 Color: black purple with very small silvery white watermark and silky halo above small lemon green throat

 The fact that Strutter’s Ball is a tetraploid tells me that when it says the color is “black purple” it means that it is a true, deep, rich color.  The 6 inch bloom size tells me it is going to really stand out in my garden.  Since the scape height is 28 inches, I’m not going to want to plant it where anything tall will stand in the way of my view of this remarkable blossom.   Extended bloom tells me I will be able to enjoy each blossom for at least 16 hours before it fades away.

But, there are some descriptors here that we haven’t talked about yet.  What does “flower form” really mean?  The AHS uses this to describe the shape or structure of the flower.  It recognizes five different flower forms:  single, double, spider, unusual form, and polymerous.

Strutter’s Ball is a single flower.  This means that it has three petals (the upper part of the blossom); three sepals (the lower part of the blossom); six stamens and one pistil (the reproductive organs of the flower).  Double daylilies have extra layers of petals, giving it the appearance of a flower within the flower.  A spider is a flower whose petals are at least 4 times as long as they are wide.  These are usually very airy looking, loosely formed flowers.  An unusual form is a daylily where the petals or sepals have unusual characteristics, such as pinching or twisting.

 Strutter’s Ball has a watermark.  A watermark describes an area just above the flower’s throat which is lighter in color than the rest of the petal.

 An eye or eyezone refers to a darker colored area on the petals and sepals just above the throat.  The silky halo that is described in relation to Strutter’s Ball tells me that this blossom has a relatively small eyezone that is not really very distinct.  Silky tells me that it probably a very smooth transition with only slight variation from the lighter colors of the petals and sepals to the darker color of the eye.

 There are a few other terms used to describe flowers that do not apply to Strutter’s Ball.

Choo Choo Fantasy is a good example of a bicolor.  The top and bottom flower segments of a bicolor are completely different colors, in “Choo Choo’s” case,  rose pink petals and cream colored sepals.

 

 

There are also bitone daylilies, where the upper and lower segments  are different tints of the same color. A bitone has lighter sepals and darker petals.   A reverse bitone has the darker tones on lower sepals and lighter coloration on the upper petals.  A blend is a mixture of two or more colors, also referred to as polychromatic. 

A daylily, like Meadow Mist, that is referred to as having a complete self is one where the entire flower – petals, sepals, pistils, anthers, throat and all – are the same color.

Some flowers have a glittery appearance on the petal surface. When the sparkles appear white, they are called  diamond dusted; if they appear gold, they are referred to as gold dusted.  Apricot Sparkles is a diamond dusted daylily.

Every leaf, petal and sepal on a daylily has a midrib, the central lengthwise vein of the segment.  When a midrib is mentioned in a daylily description, it is usually because it is a different color than the rest of the petal or sepal and adds a striking feature to the blossom.  Apricot Sparkles has a faint cream midrib.

Now, of course, you can buy some beautiful daylilies that are perfect for your garden without knowing any of these terms.  But, I like to have a pretty good idea of what it’s going to look like before I go to the work of planting it.

We’ll get to the planting part on Thursday.

More on Daylilies - Useful Terminology to Know

Not everyone has the desire to be a daylily hybridizer.  I'm one of those folks.  I don't have the patience to do a task one year and then wait several years to see if it results in what I hoped it would.  Many of the terms you'll find if you look at the dictionary of the American Hemerocallis Society (the organization that registers and tracks daylily cultivars), are only needed if you do desire to be a hybridizer.  There are a few, though, that it's handy to know just to understand exactly what you can expect from a daylily you purchase. 

Here is a daylily description from the American Hemerocallis Society's website:

Lynnabelle (Adams-Schock, 2005)
Scape Height:  28 inches
Bloom Size:      5 inches
Bloom Season: Midseason - Late
Ploidy:              Diploid
Foliage Type:   SEV
Bloom Habit:   Diurnal
Bud Count:      23
Branches:          3
Color:   cream yellow apricot polychrome with darker apricot eye and gold picotee edge above yellow green throat.

Without understanding a few basic daylily terms, it's really hard to know exactly what this daylily looks like, or even how it grows.

So, let's start with scape.  A scape is simply a flower stalk without leaves.  It's the long sturdy "blossom holder" of the daylily.  Low scapes are from 6 to 24 inches tall.  Medium scapes are 24 to 36 inches tall and tall scapes are taller than 36 inches.

Bloom size measures the diameter of the flower.  A miniature bloom size is under 3 inches in diameter.  Small blooms are from 3 to 4 1/2 inches and any bloom larger than 4 1/2 inches is considered large.

Bloom season tells us when in the summer blossom sequence this daylily is likely to bloom, but not exactly when it will bloom because that varies from location to location.  Bloom season is classified as Extra Early; Early; Early Midseason; Midseason; Late Midseason; Late; Very Late; and Rebloomer.  Midseason to Late tells us that Lynnabelle is going to start blooming towards the end of the peak of daylily blooms (Midseason) and into the late summer or fall.

Ploidy.  Now that's an interesting word and not one we are likely to use in everyday conversation.  Ploidy refers to the chromosomes in the plants.  Most plants  have two identical sets of chromosomes per cell and are known as diploids.  Tetraploids have four sets of chromosomes per cell.  Tetraploid daylilies usually have larger, more intensely colored flowers, with sturdier scapes and more vigorous growth.  Diploid daylilies are still the most common, especially in pink daylilies, as well as spider type and double daylilies, and provide many beautiful flowers and healthy plants.

 

We talked a little about foliage type or growth habit in Tuesday's blog.  As a quick refresher, SEV means that Lynnabelle is a semi-evergreen variety.  Other varieties are DOR or dormant and EV or evergreen. 

 

Bloom habit refers to when the blossom opens.    Most daylilies bloom for a single day, beginning in the early morning and lasting until the evening and are referred to as diurnal.  Nocturnal daylilies open in late afternoon and close the following late morning or early afternoon.  Extended bloom refers to a daylily whose blossoms remain open 16 hours or more.  Extended bloomers may be diurnal or nocturnal in nature.               

Bud count often isn't included in a description you find at the garden center, but it is important to know if you want to fill your garden with the best of the best in daylilies.  Bud count is the number of buds, seed pods, and bud scars on a scape.  It's important because each blossom only lasts one day, so the more buds you get, the longer the bloom time for the plant as a whole will be.

Branches are the number of times a scape separates.  Lynnabelle typically has three branches per scape.  More branching means more buds and more buds mean more blossoms.  That's always a good thing.

Lynnabelle is a cream, apricot, and yellow polychrome color.  This means that there are at least three different colors (cream, apricot, and yellow, in this case) intermixed on each of the petals (the top three flower segments) and sepals (the bottom three segments).  The darker apricot eye means that there is a darker colored area on both the petals and sepals just above the throat.

The throat is the innermost center of the flower, where the pistils and stamens attach to the back of the flower.  The pistils and stamens are those threadlike projections that contain the pollen and reproductive organs of the flower. Lynnabelle's throat is a yellow-green color.

A picotee edge refers to an edge around the petals and sepals that is a completely different color than either the petals or sepals.  In Lynnabelle's case, the picotee edge is a golden color.

So, even though I understand what all these terms mean now, it's still helpful for me to see a picture.   Putting the photo together with what I know of its growth habits, number of flowers it's likely to produce and all the other information I have tells me pretty much exactly what to expect from this daylily once I have it in my garden.

And, if I ever have questions, I can easily ask, the "Schock" part of the Adams-Schock hybridizer team who created and registered this daylily. She lives just a ways down the road from me. Now how exciting is that to know the creator of one of the best producing daylilies in my garden?  And yes, I got my Lynnabelle directly from her.

We'll cover a few more terms in next week's blog.