Of Irises, Daylilies and spring planting

Hey there!

I'm a new to gardening as of last year, and would like to try my hand at some perennials. I'm in Zone 8, and I've heard that Daylilies are hard to beat for Texas gardening. I also would like to plant a few Irises. As I've been reading about these flowers it seems that they both should be planted in fall, especially this far south. If I plant them in the spring (early April) will they have enough time to grow before it is time to bloom? Or will I have to wait for fall (or next year)???

Thank you!!

I grew daylillys in ETEX near Kilgore. They did well for me and i think they did well farther south. There are DL,s that are bred esp for the south.
LOL I planted DL whenever i got them They are very forgiving plants. Just keep them watered about once a week.
Texas has so very many wildflowers that are easy to grow too. You might want to look into mixing some in with your DL.
I did'nt have iris there so no experience with them.
Have fun and goodluck,
Vickie

I am also in Zone 8 - in South Carolina, having moved from South Florida about a year ago. Gardening here is very different and of course this is a new garden for me. I put in a dozen or so daylilies last spring. They flowered all through the summer and I got an odd bloom every now and then into October! Plant this spring and enjoy. I can't wait for it to warm up.

Yay! I'm going to order them tonight from American Meadows (they have an "advance sale" going so I can actually afford the plants :-) ). I'm not ordering quite so many DLs as I had planned, mainly because I checked the height and realized some of them were quite a bit taller than I'd realized!! But they are really pretty, and I'll probably be planting more next season after I see how the first batch does.

I'm also doing a bed with a wildflower mix. I've never done wildflowers before, but I figure they have a good chance of doing well considering they are all native to the area!!

The Irises I'm still not sure on. They are kinda costly, but very worth it if they stick. Any tips from people who have grown irises around here?

I am so excited about gardening this year. I can't wait for spring!! :-D

As cando1 says, daylilies are very forgiving. I have many in my flowerbeds and haven't had one fail yet. Mine were all planted in the spring. Some are several years old now and almost all of them are already putting up new green growth for this year. They start blooming early and will bloom all the way through fall and they're very easy to care for. I think you will be very happy with them. I just planted some irises a couple of years ago and, so far, they're doing well. They're unknown types that friends shared with me.

If you're on a budget, you can probably find some older types of irises for giveaway if you ask around. Also, we drive along the country roadside looking for old homeplaces where irises are still growing. You won't get the ultra fancy types, but you'll get something tough and durable that has lived on its own without pampering for decades on end.

Irises are tough to kill except by too much moisture and planting too deeply. They multiply like gangbusters so most people that have them thin them out regularly, often giving away the excess.

Jubileesong, there is a fantastic iris grower in Argyle TX. Let me see if I can find her info, it's been 10 years since I lived there. I used to stop by there with my 3 yr old and she loved walking through the flower forest, of course the irises were taller than her so it did look like a forest :) nice memory:)

Here's the link! http://www.argyleacres.com/



This message was edited Feb 7, 2010 9:55 PM

jubileesong,

Lucky you that live in the warmer climate. You can grow the DL's that are evergreen and have the beautiful blossoms that are heavily fringed and crimped.

Here is a online DL nursery that sells both on ebay and off ebay. I purchased 7 DL from them on sale, to be delivered this May. They still have a sale going on right now.

http://stores.ebay.com/Blue-Ridge-Daylilies-DAYLILY-STORE

Here is another who also sells seeds from her own hybridization. I have ordered from her also and have DL seedlings growing. Will edit to add the link.

http://www.tsflowers.com/index.html



This message was edited Feb 8, 2010 5:18 PM

I live in N.E. Louisian and day lilies are easy to grow for us. They are very hearty and we plant them all during the year. We have no problems with Iris either. We just don't have many of them.