Daylilies: Spring Flower Beauties

Daylilies: Spring Flower Beauties

One of the more popular flowering perennials grown in the landscapes of Florida and throughout the Southeast is the daylily.  This blooming perennial traveled with many of the early settlers.  They brought this plant for several reasons beyond the enjoyment of the bloom display, it was considered a source of food by including the petals and buds into the cooking of specific dishes.  

The daylily is an easy to grow plant that requires less management than many of the other perennials grown in the garden settings of the landscape.  Daylilies are linked to the lily family but are not actually in this family, Hemerocallis in Greek is Hemero for “day’ with Callis meaning “beauty”.  The passion by many professional breeders and novice growers can be seen in the many selections and varieties in the plant industry today.  This plant brings interest and joy to anyone that visits your landscape gardens. 

Hemerocallis x 'Mystic Red Dragon'
Hemerocallis x ‘Mystic Red Dragon’. Photo Credit: J. Stephen Greer, University of Florida/IFAS Extension – Santa Rosa County

This clump forming plant can be grown in different soil types from sandy loam, clay to muck edges near wetlands.  The location for best performance is sandy well drained soil with high amounts of organic matter.  It has a moderate salt level tolerance lending itself as one perennial to consider in coastal settings.  The best way to accomplish the levels of organic matter is to till the bed area for planting, add three to four inches of compost or well-rotted manure plus a ½ pound of 3:2:1 ratio fertilizer to a 100 square foot bed.  The 3:2:1 is a Nitrogen, Phosphorus and Potassium fertilizer recommendation.  Till all of this into the previously tilled bed to a six-inch depth.  This mix of sand or clay with organic matter at the six-inch soil depth places it where the roots will grow.  

Daylilies multiply in several different ways from forming clumps of plants from a single plant over three to four years that can be divided into separate plants and replanted to expand the bed area for managing the color display of the original plant.  Plant breeders cross pollinate between selected plants that have desirable characteristics.  These characteristics may be ruffled outside edges on the petals, bright or daker petal color, a change in color from the outside portion of the flower petal to the throat area at the center of the bloom or even the height of the scape which is the stem that emerges from the leaf clusters near the base that supports the flower display. 

Hemerocallis x 'Oriental Impressions'
Hemerocallis x ‘Oriental Impressions’. Photo Credit: J. Stephen Greer, University of Florida/IFAS Extension – Santa Rosa County

Daylilies can be purchased at many box stores in containers and easily transplanted in the garden.  Another option is to visit local daylily nurseries as they often have more named variety options with many different flower colors available.  Local nurseries usually grow plants in the ground so they will need to be dug and purchased as a bareroot. When planting bareroot daylilies look at the location where the leaves emerge near the base just above root area and plant one and a half to two feet apart.  Make sure to plant no deeper than at that point of root and leaf growth area known as the crown.  The crown must be above the soil level for quality growth. 

After planting and watering in the plants be sure to mulch the bed with three to four inches of pinestraw or bark mulch.  This manages weed growth and keeps soil moisture at consistent levels reducing stress to the plant.  If periods of dry weather conditions occur watering the plants will be needed to keep the plants from stressing.

The Ultimate Poinsettia Care Guide

The Ultimate Poinsettia Care Guide

The flower of the Christmas season is the poinsettia, a tropical plant from Mexico that changes its leaf color when the daylength changes.  Poinsettias were originally noticed for their bright red color and are now available in many colors, shapes and sizes, thanks to decades of work by plant breeders.  As much as we love them, caring for poinsettias during and after the holiday can be a challenge.  Here are a few tips to extend the bloom for a longer period and encourage it to grow for the months to come!

Photo credit: Tyler Jones.
  • Provide plenty of sunlight.  A sunny window facing south is ideal.  Be careful to not let the leaves touch the glass. Keep temperatures around 55-60F at night and 65-70F during the day.
  • Keep soil slightly moist on the surface.  Wait until the surface feels dry before watering, then add just enough to soak in.  If water collects below the pot, pour it out.  Those decorative wrappers make it hard to tell, so be sure to check.  However, don’t wait for wilting before watering as that is too dry.  Both overwatering and underwatering can lead to wilting and excessive leaf drop.  Check the soil each day.
  • Don’t fertilize while “blooming”.  While the colored parts of poinsettias are actually modified leaves called bracts and the true flowers are the tiny yellow centers, we often refer to the entire non-green portion as a bloom.  The plant can maintain its nutritional needs throughout the flowering time without additional fertilizer.
  • In the spring, cut the plant back, fertilize and move outside.  Remember, poinsettias require temperatures to always stay above 60F.  If we receive any cool nights, bring it in for the night.  Let the rootball become quite dry throughout April.  You may have to move it under a cover if the April showers are occurring every few days.

If you want to try your luck at re-blooming, re-pot it in a slightly larger container and cut it back to about 4” high in mid-May.  Keep it in nearly full sun.  A little shading in the heat of the day is helpful.  Water consistently and fertilize every two weeks with a water-soluble, complete fertilizer.  As it grows, you will need to pinch the plant back every six weeks or so until October, I usually remove about half of the stem that has grown out.  To get coloration in time for Christmas, find something dark to cover the plant or move it to a dark location each day.  The poinsettia must be in complete darkness from 5 p.m. to 8 a.m. until the leaves start to turn color, usually 10 weeks. That means moving or covering and uncovering at the same time every day.  Any deviation will delay the color change.  Once you see a complete set of leaves coloring, the plant can be exposed to regular daylengths.  If this sounds like too much work, spent poinsettias do make good compost and garden centers will be happy to sell you a new one!

Remember, poinsettia sap does contain a latex-like chemical that can cause allergic reactions.  Small animals, young children, and adults with allergies should not handle poinsettias.  If eaten, get medical attention immediately.

Plant of the Week:  Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)

Plant of the Week:  Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)

October is the premier wildflower month in the Panhandle.  Nighttime temperatures drop, days shorten, pollinators emerge, and many native plants explode into flower.  Of all the native fall-flowering Panhandle wildflowers, maybe the most striking is currently in full bloom, the Mistflower (Conoclinium coelestinum)! 

Photo credit Bill Boothe / Natural Encounters

Mistflower is a low growing, spreading native perennial (1-2’ in height) found in sunny, moist areas of meadows and near rivers, ponds, and creeks throughout much of the United States from New York to Florida and even west as far as Texas and Nebraska.  This common native wildflower is conspicuously one of the few native plants in our area that has blue flowers, making Mistflower easy to spot in a sea of yellow, orange, purple, pink, and white wildflowers.  The flowers appear as little puffs of purply-blue due to the lack of ray florets (think the outer yellow “petals” of sunflowers), possessing only disk florets (think the inner part of sunflower heads) with long blue, fuzzy-appearing stamens.   Mistflower is attractive to more than just wildflower watchers as well, it’s a magnet for nectar-seeking butterflies as well; Eastern Swallowtails, Great Purple and Juniper Hairstreaks, and others are often found feeding on the flowers. 

Great Purple Hairstreak butterfly on Mistflower. Photo credit Bill Boothe / Natural Encounters.

As lovely as Mistflower is in the wild, it’s probably best left for folks enjoy there, especially those who prefer an orderly yard.  Mistflower will indeed grow great in moist areas of pollinator gardens and landscapes, requiring only ample sunlight and rainfall, but it is very aggressive.  Its spreading nature via its rhizomatous root system and prolific seed production often lead to it becoming a weedy nuisance in more manicured landscapes.  But, if chaos and fall bursts of blue erupting at random throughout your garden don’t bother you, by all means, seek out Mistflower for purchase through seed catalogs and local native nurseries.  For more information on Mistflower and other fall-blooming native wildflowers, contact us at the UF/IFAS Calhoun County Extension office!  Happy Gardening.

Video: Perennial Peanut Considerations as a Lawn

Video: Perennial Peanut Considerations as a Lawn

Turfgrass remains a popular groundcover for most home landscapes. Perennial peanut offers potential as a turfgrass companion in North Florida. Learn the pros and cons of using perennial peanut with existing turfgrass with UF IFAS Extension Escambia County.

Yay for Yarrow

Yay for Yarrow

Gardeners delight in finding a versatile and resilient landscape plant, especially one that is easily shared. Unfortunately, when a plant checks off those characteristics, it usually finds itself on the invasive species list (see IFAS Assessment). Well, in the case of yarrow (Achillea millefolium), we get a tough plant that is easily propagated, has attractive blooms and foliage, attracts butterflies, and is considered native! As I’ll discuss below, it doesn’t come totally flawless.

Yarrow, in the Asteraceae family, is a great addition to the landscape.

Yarrow is considered a cosmopolitan species. It is found across the entire northern hemisphere and there has been a lot of mixing of native and introduced plants, causing much confusion amongst botanists. It is currently considered a single, though complicated, species. Much of the mixing is due to its history with man, being carried along all sorts of expeditions, even the mythical character Achilles, where the plants genus name comes from. The species name comes from the finely divided leaves – like a thousand leaves. It is in the daisy and sunflower family, called the Asteraceae, or composite family, due to the flower heads being composed of many individual flowers.

The cluster of flowers over the feathery leaved foliage is what makes yarrow stand out. The classic yarrow is white-flowered, but breeders have developed many cultivars in an array of colors, including red (‘Rosea’ or ‘Paprika’), pink (‘Cerise Queen’), purple (‘New Vintage Rose’), and yellow (‘Gold’ or ‘Lemon’). Yarrow is also great for its drought tolerance and has few pests or diseases that bother it. It is even reported to be deer resistant! It can be propagated by seed and is easily divided.

Yarrow ‘Paprika’ is a commonly found yarrow cultivar. Source: Timeh87, Creative Commons license.

The common yarrow shows off beautiful white blooms over the feathery foliage. Credit: Rachel Mathes, UF/IFAS.

With all these great attributes comes one potential problem – it is considered toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. Yarrow contains a toxic alkaloid, called achilleine, that can poison some mammals. So, if you have an adventurous pet that likes to chew on random plants, then you may want to skip adding yarrow to your landscape. Achilleine is the same compound that has led it to be used by humans for centuries as a blood clotting agent. Achilles was said to have carried yarrow to the battlefield in Troy for his soldiers and the plant has been known as herba militaris and soldier’s woundwort. Of course, always consult a doctor for medical advice!

While not a good choice around Fido, yarrow can be a great plant for Florida gardeners. For more information on growing yarrow, see this Ask IFAS publication and this profile from Evergreen State University. You can also contact your local county extension agent for additional information on gardening and more.

Firespike

Firespike

Looking to add something to brighten your landscape this autumn?   Firespike (Odontonema strictum) is a prolific fall bloomer with red tubular flowers that are very popular with hummingbirds and butterflies.  Its glossy dark green leaves make an attractive large plant that will grow quite well in dense shade to partial sunlight.

In frost-free areas firespike grows as an evergreen semi-woody shrub, spreads by underground sprouts and enlarging to form a thicket.  In zones 8 and 9 it usually dies back to the ground in winter and re-sprouts in spring, producing strikingly beautiful 9-12 inch panicles of crimson flowers beginning at the end of summer and lasting into the winter each year.

Red flower with hummingbirdFirespike is native to open, semi-forested areas of Central America.  It has escaped cultivation and become established in disturbed hammocks throughout peninsular Florida, but hasn’t presented an invasive problem.  Here in the panhandle, firespike will remain a tender perennial for most locations. It can be grown on a wide range of moderately fertile, sandy soils and is quite drought tolerant.  Firespike may be best utilized in the landscape in a mass planting. Plants can be spaced about 2 feet apart to fill in the area quickly. It is one of only a few flowering plants that give good, red color in a partially shaded site. The lovely flowers make firespike an excellent candidate for the cutting garden and is a “must-have” for southern butterfly and hummingbird gardens.  Additional plants can be propagated from firespike by division or cuttings.  However, white-tailed deer love firespike too, and will eat the leaves, so be prepared to fence it off from “Bambi”.