Dierama jucundum

[maggiepie]

Thanks Paddy, I probably would have cut them ( was told to do that to Daylily  seedlings last year).
Do you have any pics of your plants in flower?
Would love to see some.

[Ezeiza]

Dear Maggie:

                  Cutting back the foliage of seedlings is incredible advice. The nourishment that will fatten the corms or bulbs is in the green leaves and will finally move dowmwards only when the leaves start to yellow naturally and normally at the end of the season. The younger the plants the more fragile they are.

                   The process of cutting with secateurs, knives, whatever, is very risky, and the only source for virus infection in bearded iris of all kinds and many other herbaceous plants. The reason for this are

compensating for the root damage involved in dividing and transplanting.
reducing the leaf surface that would act as a sail against strong winds and would make the plant tip over and become uprooted

[maggiepie]

Hello Alberto, thanks for the advice.
When I was told to cut back the daylily seedlings I just assumed it was a way of pruning them as you do with clematis seedlings etc.
It didn't seem to hurt them at the time, as they just kept putting up more shoots.
I suppose using all that energy was taking away from the root develpment.
It will be interesting to see if they have survived winter and how they develop.

[Paddy Tobin]

Helen,

One would cut back a clematis to force it to produce side shoots and so produce a more bushy plant. However, I could not recommend it for daylilies of dieramas.

Now, I will attempt to post a few photographs of dieramas taken in the garden in June of 2008. I had a bit of bother posting them before dinner. They are not named varieties. They cross and seed around and so different colour variations arise. The reddish ones are D. igneum, I believe.

Hope you like them. If you want seed you could remind me in June-July of this summer. They produce large amounts of seed - one of their drawbacks as they then self-seed all over the place.

Paddy

[Paddy Tobin]

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At long last...the end.

Paddy

[maggiepie]

Paddy, thank you so much for posting the pics, they are all beautiful, I've never actually seen any face to face.
I especially like the whites and dark purples, and blues and pinks and and 
I wouldn't mind them seeding around but I doubt they are hardy here, I think zone 6/7 is the lowest they can take, thank goodness for pots.
Btw, I'd love some seed so you can expect a begging PM around June, if I can remember.

[Ezeiza]

"When I was told to cut back the daylily seedlings I just assumed it was a way of pruning them as you do with clematis seedlings etc."

Hi:

    Clematis and the other dicots have shoots in lateral branches and one can redirect the plant's energy to remaining buds.

     But, in monocots, the number of buds available is limited and the number of leaves is "preprogrammed". This was said against the rainlily adice, not against Paddy practices, of course.

     And Paddy, let me tell you that years ago I decided to mimic natural fires since our clump of Dierama robustum was very impressive with many dead old leaves at the base. I thought "if this happens regularly in South Africa with no harm to the plants why not try it?". So we set fire to the old foliage of the clump. Instead of the sparks and slow fire as in the wild the whole clump was swallowed by huge flames that were controlled with difficulty by throwing buckets of water on it. Needless to say, the clump never recovered and only produced weak flowering several years afterwards. So, the chaff in the wild and thoroughly dried off leaf remnants have nothing to do with plants in cultivation. Isn' t it odd?
This mentioned in case someone else is tempted to start a wild fire

Regards

[maggiepie]

Alberto, thanks for your explanation, I will be passing on the information to my friend.
Daylilies are something I had never grown.
I had to smile reading your  fire story, I might have been tempted to do the same thing
I do love this fabulous forum, I learn new things every day.

[Paddy Tobin]

Helen,

You should surely be able to source plenty of daylily cultivars as they are a very popular plant in the USA where innumerable new cultivars are introduced each year. A recently published book might be of interest: The New Encyclopedia of Daylilies, Ted L. Petit and John P. Peat, Timber Press, Oregon, 2008, HB, 408pp, US$ 49.99, ISBN 13:978-0-88192-858-7.  It doesn't give a lot of information on cultivation and general care though, to be honest, it is unnecessary as they are the very easiest of plants in the garden and increase very well - an expensive plant with variegated foliage bought a year ago as a single shoot was divided into eleven plants this spring here.

Alberto,

Someone should have had a camera to hand for that incident. It would make amusing viewing on the forum! I have heard it recommended for pampas grass but have never tried it. I ever planted only one of these in the garden and removed it after a few years as I didn't like it.

Paddy

[maggiepie]

Paddy, I should have mentioned I am not very fond of Daylilies,  although I quite like the yellows.
 I do however have friends who are very avid collectors and will pass along the information regarding the book.
It's funny you mentioned pampas grass as Alberto's story reminded me of a huge clump I had in my garden in Australia, ( must have been before it was outlawed).
If you got rid of one you can imagine what an awful job it was trying to get rid of an established clump in a hot climate!!
After trying to hack it down, the boys decided it was time for the kerosene to come out, thank goodness it was out in the middle of the yard.

[Iris]

What wonderful pics of my favorite Iridaceaes! I tried to start "the national collection of Germany" with Dieramas about two years ago and bought every Dierama I could get (well, not to many so far!). Unfortunately the severe winter last year may have killed at least half of it. I am very curious which will come back.

If you are so interested in Dierama, why not try to buy the most recommendable book about that genus: Dierama (The Hairbells of Africa) by O.M. Hilliard and B.L. Burtt, Illustrations by Auriol Batten. ISBN 1-874802-01-7, Acorn Books First published in 1991. You may be lucky and get it second hand if you try for a while. I was very happy when I got it through the internet.
Reading this thread I looked for a picture and the description of Dierama jucundum. It is in the book, but considering the copy right I am of course not allowed to post it here. If you want me to send you a scan, Maggie, please let me know. I think that is allowed(?).
Funnyly when I opened the page of D. jucundum there was a dry stamped flower, nicely faded between a small peace of equally faded newspaper from 1993. I like second hand books .