▷ Fantastic days: cultivation, propagation, recommended varieties

Marigolds are one of the easiest ornamental plants to grow and reward us with beauty. During the flowering itself, I met a passionate admirer and breeder of these flowers Edvin Misiukevičiuswhich grows countless sunflowers in the Kaunas region. Take a look and find out for yourself what interesting varieties there are, learn his tips for growing and also for design:

How special those days are

For starters, daylilies are a perennial plant with one flower that blooms for one day. How is this possible? So what’s the point of growing it?! The good news is that there are a lot of those flowers. So let’s do the math: there are 10 to 50 buds per inflorescence and there can be up to 50 inflorescences in a raceme, maybe more. So the number of rings in one day is impressive! And the most interesting thing is that new flowers bloom every day.

Daylilies grow to different heights, which are already “programmed” as a characteristic of the respective variety. The normal height of daylilies is around 70 or 80 cm, but there are gigantic varieties that reach a height of 2 m and more, and there are also those that grow only 40 cm.

You can enjoy the sea of flowers from the end of June almost until frost, depending on whether the variety blooms again or not.

What is a reblooming daylily?

Typical daytime “behavior” is that leaves grow, inflorescences grow buds, and then each inflorescence produces flowers (those that bloom one day at a time). When the inflorescences “bloom” all the flowers, one-day flowering ends.

Repeatedly flowering varieties differ from the former in that they constantly release new inflorescences of the same plant. Such marigolds can begin to bloom in June and finish only in autumn. Choose reblooming varieties if you want to enjoy the flowers for a long time, when the inflorescences give their beauty slowly, expanding one after the other.

And don’t underestimate regular marigolds that don’t rebloom. Consider your needs and it will be clear what type of daycare you need. Dimensionals, which do not have the characteristics of repeated flowering, bloom in a single burst, after which the plant remains without flowers, empty. However, the abundance of flowers in such a short period of time seems truly impressive and this explosion of flowers usually occurs from the beginning to the end of July. Choose this type of variety if you want to enjoy the beauty of the sun for about a month, for example on the farm during the summer holidays.

If you plan to grow marigolds at the entrance to the house where you live, definitely choose reblooming marigolds so that you can see the flowers for as long as possible.

Day-old varieties are recommended

Maybe some interesting examples? E. Misiukevičius recommends the following daily varieties:

Marigold ˈPastel Spiderˈ – its outer sepals are slightly darker than the inner ones, so it would look great both in mixed beds and among other marigolds.

The one-day variety – ‘Give Me Eight’ – has four inner sepals and four outer sepals instead of the usual three. It would be suitable for any flower garden because it has both playfulness and beautiful blooms all season long. You can see what this breed looks like in the video report (see above).

Viendienė ‘Webster’s Pink Wonder’ – close to the spider type (there are spider-like ones here), an exceptional variety – won the Viendienė Association’s Stout Medal, which is the highest award for Viendienė varieties. It is special because, in addition to its beautiful flowers, it is a very strong plant, so it will not be overshadowed by anything in flower gardens.

The daylily ˈEl Desperadoˈ is suitable for any flower garden, as it will add playfulness to various plant combinations, thanks to its yellow color and bright, contrasting eye of the flower. And since the variety is the older one, you will easily find where to buy it. You can see the flowers of this variety in the video report (see above).

Viendienė ˈDancing Summerbirdˈ is a muted variety that not only grows very well, but also looks beautiful. On cooler days the flowers remain open for several days.

Evenings - 'Dancing Summerbird'. author of the photo E. Misiukevičius.

Viendienė ˈMaya Blueˈ is a rare variety with a blue flower center with contrasting edges and a soft base color. These or similar varieties will soon be found in ordinary flower gardens, because they are a rarity sought after by collectors and breeders.

Viendienė ˈLakelet Reflecting Watersˈ – a variety created by E. Misiukevičius with a cuckoo-like eye. It is an extravagant and unique variety, very important for harvesting and selection, but which also has good garden variety characteristics. For now it is still growing in Edwin’s yard, but it will soon be registered and you will be able to purchase it directly from the breeder.

Monocotyledons among other plants

If you are fascinated by these flowers and are wondering how best to combine them with other plants, E. Misiukevičius offers the following options:

in single beds, raised alonewithout other plants (you can clearly see how it can look in the video);
One day English style flower garden. Here they would open together with other plants (roses, snapdragons, witch hazel, daisies, etc.) and would create a beautiful display of flowers. You can choose singles, of various colors and shapes, the ones you like best;
One day flower garden in naturalistic style. In such a flower garden, I would recommend hollyhocks or tall varieties. Let’s say this is an example: in the background taller bell-shaped plants are planted, and in the foreground there are day plants with narrow sepals (spider type or similar) together with other plants. It is better to choose flowers of light pastel shades, as they will combine beautifully with other plants of this style and give seasonal changes to the flower garden.

If you want to learn more about how to create harmonious and aesthetic compositions from different plants, we invite you to visit the course “Decorative plants: let’s create a composition.”

Daily care: should the flowers be torn?

It is not necessary to collect the bloomed flowers. They usually go away on their own and resolve after a few days. The breeder says it’s best to take your time with the flowers and just leave them, so there’s a better chance that the last flower will be as beautiful as the first.

Daily care: fertilization

Daylilies do not require land and can grow almost anywhere: both in clay, sand and peat. If you buy more sophisticated varieties, it would be good to improve the soil a little, for example adding humus, mulching, fertilizing with a little fertilizer.

From the third year you can start fertilizing more abundantly, because it is natural that the plant has already absorbed the nutrients from the soil and needs further nourishment.
And in general, it is normal for marigolds to grow in the same place for 10 years, so this plant is really undemanding and long-lasting.

Stages of reproduction on the same day

It’s a really simple job, just follow these steps:

Dig the keram in early spring or after flowering;
Shake or wash off as much soil as possible from the spell;
You can break it up with a simple shovel or separate it with forks and, if you are strong, you can also do it with your hands. Be careful, because cutting with sharp tools can cause injuries and slow down the plant’s development, which may cause the plant not to flower the following year. It is simply not advisable to divide kero one plant at a time, but it is better to divide as much as is easily separable, separating multiple plants from each other.
Then shake off the rest of the soil from the roots and don’t worry at all about the roots remaining bare or drying out a little after planting: nothing should happen to them;
Plant the seedlings in the location you prefer. They are planted at a distance of approximately 20-50 cm from each other (depending on the variety, the size of the plantations, their quantity and location);
The surplus can be shared or exchanged with like-minded people.

For daily harvesting or arranging in bouquets

No one forbids picking daylilies, but remember that at home they bloom even shorter, so the open flower may not arrive in the evening and start blooming earlier – says E. Misiukevičius.

On the other hand, the flowers of an inflorescence do not necessarily open every day. There are days when not even a single flower blooms. In the plot, that day will go unnoticed, maybe you won’t even notice it. And a submerged inflorescence that does not bloom on that day will look strange.

The situation is similar with bouquets: it will last longer and look good if it has additional buds and one flower replaces another flower. Just be careful with purple, red, or other brightly colored flowers, as they become sticky and dripping when they bloom, and their juices can stain not only the tablecloth, but also other plants in your bouquet.