All the Dirt on Gardening

  Both true Lilies and Day Lilies are blooming in abundance right now. What's the difference? It's more than just their names since they are planted, grown, divided and propagated differently.  The top photo of a Lily in our yard lily bulb . is a true Lily or Lilium that is grown from a bulb that looks like a garlic bulb. True flowers are trumpet-shaped, bowl-shaped, funnel-shaped and recurved. They have six petals. True Lily  Propagation  You can separate lily scales and grow more lilies from them as illustrated in the photo. Or you can dig the mother bulb and separate her bulbils (tiny bulbs surrounding the main, large bulb) to be planted into pots while they grow or plant directly in a prepared bed. While most true Lilies have their bulbils underground right around the top of the mother bulb, Tiger Lilies have their bulbils along their stems. Harvest them and plant them in moist compost until green emerges and then put them into individu...

Daylilies are blooming in practically every color right now. (The photos here are from our garden.) The original daylilies were Hemerocallis flava and Hemerocallis fulva, the Chinese orange daylily commonly seen growing alongside the road. Known to have been in cultivation since 479 B.C., historically they were used for food and medicine. The early hybrids were yellows and oranges, and then later, the lavender, pink, cream and red hybrids came from the pink-orange color in ditch lilies.   Although those tall orange ones gave daylilies a bad rap because they are invasive, the hybrids are an easy-care garden choice. They can tolerate any soil other than wet clay, they are rarely bothered by insects or diseases, and they bloom in full or part-sun. Not only are daylilies non-toxic to children and pets, their pollen is non-allergenic, making them ideal for family gardens. A single plant is called a fan and the fans multiply steadily, requiring dividing only every 3 y...