Day lilly ?

[bobm]

I planted 3 daylillies about 4 years ago from 3 small plants that I purchaced from the annual Master Gardeners sale at Washington State Vancouver , Wa. campus site ... they have bloomed every year since and have spread . Now the plants have turned brown and now limp to the ground starting about 3 weeks ago. The plants have overwintered as green plants with brown flower stalks before . Question is ... is it going dormant ( didn't do this before ) , or are they dying ( dead )?

 

[ducks4you]

Did they bloom at all this year?

 

[flowerbug]

I planted 3 daylillies about 4 years ago from 3 small plants that I purchaced from the annual Master Gardeners sale at Washington State Vancouver , Wa. campus site ... they have bloomed every year since and have spread . Now the plants have turned brown and now limp to the ground starting about 3 weeks ago. The plants have overwintered as green plants with brown flower stalks before . Question is ... is it going dormant ( didn't do this before ) , or are they dying ( dead )?

we've never been able to kill any daylily we've ever planted so i would be surprised if it were going completely dead.

i'm sure it is possible to kill one somehow via diseases or pests or even herbicides...

considering how hardy they usually are i would dig one up partially to see what the roots look like. if they're sound and firm then the plants will be ok. otherwise examine for pests.

maybe thin them out too if it looks like they can use it, but really, we have clumps here that have been in the same spot for 15+yrs... never fertilized, never divided, just weeded once in a while and that's it.

 

[bobm]

Did they bloom at all this year?

Yes, 1-3 blooms per plant per day... very showey on very long blooming stems. Right after the last flower withered for this year , the plant leaves started to turn brown .

 

[so lucky]

I wouldn't count them out yet. The corm may still be alive, and ready to resprout next spring. Like @flowerbug said, they are very hardy.

 

[ducks4you]

Agreed. The corn should still be alive. Do NOT dig them up!! That is a sure way of dry them out. They will keep very well in the soil and probably bloom next year. Been a bad weather year for US, with way too wet, and then 6 weeks now of almost total drought, that only a desert succulent would like.

 

[bobm]

As a trial look see ... I dug up one small dried up plant from an underground stem to the main plant since it came up against a blueberry bush. The corm was all mush. Any other ideas as to what is happening with this new evidence ?

 

[flowerbug]

As a trial look see ... I dug up one small dried up plant from an underground stem to the main plant since it came up against a blueberry bush. The corm was all mush. Any other ideas as to what is happening with this new evidence ?

keep digging as it looks like something happened. you may find some bits that are still viable. but this will also give you a chance to inspect the area for drainage issues, poor soil underneath or some other signs of what may have happened (bugs, voles, gophers, etc.).

is there a chance someone sprayed them with herbicide? like have you had any lawn care professionals around doing other things?

 

[bobm]

keep digging as it looks like something happened. you may find some bits that are still viable. but this will also give you a chance to inspect the area for drainage issues, poor soil underneath or some other signs of what may have happened (bugs, voles, gophers, etc.).

is there a chance someone sprayed them with herbicide? like have you had any lawn care professionals around doing other things?

When we purchased this property, all plants ( except the weeds) were dead. I did a complete clean up, dug down the double depth of my shovel, watered the area, then after any seeds germinated, I dug the entire area a couple times. If any more seeds germinated, I dispatched them. Then I put on a couple inches deep of mulch and dug in in followed by a couple inches of purchased and bagged peat moss, also dug in. After I planted the plants, I covered the ground with purchased and bagged with an inch or 2 of forest floor litter and covered that with purchased shredded forest tree bark. All of the plants thrived and grew profusely for the past 3-4 years. As for spraying ... NOPE... I have NO LAWN so I have NO NEED for a lawn maintenance service and , I am the chief cook and bottle washer for my raised beds formed by volcanic boulders / rocks ( 100 - 700 pounds each ), A meandering dry creek bed that I dug from the back corner of our lot to the front edge of the driveway where it joint the sidewalk. The excavated dirt was used to make the hills. This dry creek's sides and bottom is filled with up 2" round river rock and some round river rocks up to 10" . Lots of hard work over several years, but I managed to survive the hard labor. So, are the day lillies infected with vertisillium wilt of some other disease or just comiting suicide ?

 

[thistlebloom]

I'm pretty sure it's suicide.