How to properly deadhead tall bearded iris and daylilies

[Pelvis Popcan]

Figured I'd include both flowers instead of making two separate threads. I'm a second year gardener, so I've got newbie questions...

I planted Iris in my zone 5 bedding from Schreiner's during the first week of July. It's reblooming Iris, and the purple ones have actually sent up bloom stalks and bloomed, not two months after they were planted (!!)

I'm new to Iris. I can see they send up stalks separate from the leaves. I'm assuming that after the blooms have faded, the whole stalk should be cut off down to the base, to get it out of sight.

Am I correct? Please tell me if I'm wrong!!

Now to the daylilies... they also send up stems with their blooms separate from the leaves. Should I also be doing the same with the daylilies in cutting the whole stem off after the blooms have fallen off? I noticed that after the blooms fall off, many of the stems have a green fleshy pod on the ends that kind of looks like a small pickle. It's hard. Here's a pic of one:

those seed pods? It's not going to harm the plant to cut off the stems with those pods, is it?

[fran]

That's right, cut them down. And in when the leaves die back in the fall, I leave them on the plant until spring to protect the rhizomes (roots). I remove the old leaves when the new ones start coming up. This goes for the daylilies, too.

YES

NO, you'll be letting the plant store the energy for next year that would otherwise go to growing seeds.

[Starlord]

If he lives in an area where the Iris Boarer lives, then he can NOT leave the dead fans as that is where the moth lays its eggs and it's an invite for trouble the next spring. Even out here in the Mojave Desert I clean away the dead stuff and send it to my compost pile.

-- "In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening towards an east that would not know another dawn. But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go again."

Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars

[Frogleg]

I believe the OP was asking about seed pods on daylilies. But of course the process of cross-polination may make both processes ones of uncertain outcome. I was quite pleased by my daylily, which may have been an exact copy or a variant -- I have several different sorts.

[Joan]

I believe the OP was asking about seed pods on daylilies. But of course the process of cross-polination may make both processes ones of uncertain outcome. I was quite pleased by my daylily, which may have been an exact copy or a variant -- I have several different sorts. [/B]

I am new to the forum, but have been hybridising daylilies for many years in Australia. The seedpod in the photo looked to be near ready. As soon as the pod starts to split I bring in inside in an egg carton and allow the pod to dry for 24 hours, then I take the seeds out and allow them to dry for a further 24 hours. I label a small snaplock bag with the parents' names and put the seeds into it, and place the seeds in the fridge (not the freezer!!) till I am ready to plant them. On removing them from the fridge, I add a little sphagnum moss to the bag and leave it at room temperature. Before long tiny white shoots appear. The seeds are then planted in pots where they are kept damp, and green leaves usually appear within a few days. When double sets of leaves grow the plants can be put into the garden. In our climate most bloom in 9 -12 months. I have never seen a seedling that was exactly like the parent.

-- Joan Lily lady.

------------------------------------------------------------------------ posted via

[paghat]

Howdy Lily Lady:

With your particular expertise, perhaps you have some general rules for reviving a tired worn out day lily. A neglected clump inherited with the property had long stopped blooming. I dug up a big fragment of it, divided that, put bits of it in better locations. Last year the new clumps were leaves only. This year they bloomed tepidly. What was left of the old original clump still does not bloom, though I filled in around it with good soil where I had removing some of it from the edges to divide.

I've other lilies that are not very old & never went through a long period of neglect, & they bloom splendidly. Should I just give up on the old one, or are there any tricks that might revive bloom vitality?

-paghat the ratgirl