We all know that daylilies are one of the easiest-to-grow, most carefree perennials out there. But like almost any other plant, the better the soil they’re in, the better the growth … meaning more blossoms, which is the whole point, isn’t it?
The old-fashioned orange fulvas (aka ditchlilies) clearly grow all over the place without anyone tending them at all – no weeding, no fertilizing, no watering. But hybrid varieties usually do not thrive with total neglect.
Perhaps you’ve already got yours in good soil. Perhaps you mulch them to retain moisture and discourage weeds. Terrific! They should do very well.
But here’s one small and easy way that you can make them even happier.
Are you a coffee drinker? (I’ll bet most of you are) Do you throw out those used coffee grounds each day? Don’t!!
Those grounds are wonderful fertilizer for your garden, full of nitrogen, which promotes green growth. Sprinkle them around the base of your daylilies instead of tossing them into the trash. Particularly in the spring, your plants will love it … not only daylilies, but hostas, lettuce, kale, Swiss chard, and the like. Blueberries, too, appreciate the acidity of coffee grounds.
We make a full pot of coffee each morning; the grounds get put into a 2-quart container, and when it’s full -- maybe once a week -- we take it outdoors and distribute the black gold. By the time the daylilies are blooming, we start adding the coffee to the compost pile instead; it’s no longer time to encourage leaf growth as much, but rather shifting over to root growth for next year’s scapes. The cycle starts over again as soon as the snow is gone in the spring, putting the grounds right on the garden beds.
So share your morning cup with your daylilies! They'll love you for it!
