Hemerocallis Tigers Eye

Short Description
Day lily. Bronze with yellow eyes. Evergreen

About Daylilies
The term Daylily refers to the idea that flowers of daylilies last for only a single day and are replaced by further flowers on consecutive days. In practice though flowers of daylilies may last 1 to several days depending on the cultivar, but generally should be a short period compared to other flowering plants.

Daylilies can be evergreen (retains foliage all year) or deciduous (fully dies down in winter and reemerges in spring), depending on the cultivar. Deciduous daylilies can be seen as a true perennial, and evergreen daylilies seen as a semi perennial. Some people do not like deciduous perennials as there is nothing to see in winter. However, a big advantage of deciduous perennials is they clean themselves, in that they dispose of all foliage in winter getting rid of damaged or unsightly leaves, and when the new shoots appear in spring it is completely clean. Evergreen daylilies may require cutting back in winter to tidy them up.

Cultivation of Daylilies
Daylilies are not too fussy about where they grow. They like average garden conditions, a reasonable topsoil, not too wet or dry. However, they are drought tolerant.

Daylilies with light flowers do best in full sun. Those with darker flowers may prefer light shade for best effect.

In winter, deciduous daylilies can have their old leaves raked off the soil surface. Evergreen daylilies may need to be cut back to tidy them up. This can be done quite severely if required, and we have heard of a lawnmower being used to do this for larger plantings.

In the Waikato and assuming original topsoil, daylilies do not need fertilizer, but the high humidity that occurs much of the year can cause rust streaks on some leaves, and is the perfect conditions for aphids or mites. This applies to all plants not just daylilies. Most would tend to ignore these issues, but if you want spray with a mild insecticide and fungicide, or just use summer oil instead. Even using nothing more than a watering can of water with a small amount of dish wash liquid mixed in will control most insect pests.

There is a considerable amount of information online about daylilies. A good place to start is the American Daylily Society:

https://daylilies.org/daylilies/faq/