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No flowers? Then it may be time to divide your day lily



Day lily blossoms in a file photo.

Photograph by: Ian Lindsay , Vancouver Sun

Q: Our day lily is planted in full sun and has been in the garden for seven years. The plant, which has produced a mass of blooms each year until this one, has grown large, with many very green leaves, but no flowers.

A: Depending on the variety, day lilies can flower from late May to August. You don't say when your plant usually blooms, but I gather it usually will have begun producing flowers by now. If this is so, the issue could be the lateness of the season. Cool, wet weather has promoted masses of green, lush growth and delayed bloom in some plants.

When a day lily clump has become very large and the flowers become smaller and fewer, it is probably time for dividing, in the spring as new shoots begin emerging.

As a rule, though, most day lilies need dividing only every 10 years or so.

Q: What is the best way to remove suckering stems growing from the lower trunk of my wisteria vine?

A: On woody plants like wisteria, removing suckering growth by grasping it firmly and pulling it downward or sideways gives a better chance of removing other potential points of follow-up growth at the stem's base. Cutting usually leaves them.

Q: Why are some cauliflower heads purple on the floret stems? The colour is attractive in salads, but I'm wondering whether it indicates a problem. Someone told me the purplish colouring was a beneficial trait.

A: I agree that the colouring is quite beautiful, and it does not affect the taste of the cauliflower.

Some attribute the purple-blue pigmentation to low soil fertility or moisture stress; others to the plant's reverting to genetic traits in its heritage. Cauliflower belongs to a plant family that includes vegetables rich in anthocyanins, pigments responsible for red, purple, and blue colours of fruits and vegetables. Examples are red cabbage, broccoli, and kale.


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