Daylilies like sun, at least six hours per day. They will tolerate some shade, and the darker varieties will actually benefit from some shade in the hottest part of the day.

Daylilies can be grown in almost any type of soil — from sand to clay and in a wide variety of pH (acidity to alkalinity).

If you have clay soil, which is predominant in Butler County, you can always add compost, humus, or peat moss to improve the soil conditions. This not only benefits daylilies but almost all other flowers also.

Now is a good time to plant daylilies, but they also can be planted in the spring after the danger of frost has passed.

You can buy either bare root plants or containerized plants. Some gardeners like to soak bare root plants in water for several hours or a day, but this is not necessary.

Dig the hole larger than the root mass. Set the crown of the plant right below the soil level. Firm the soil and water well. Make sure there are no air pockets.

Daylilies like good drainage, so watch you don't plant them where water is likely to pool. Daylilies should be planted 18 to 24 inches apart.

Try not to plant daylilies near shrubs or trees where there will be competition for water and fertilizer. If you must plant in these areas, extra watering will help.

Watering in non-competitive areas should include about an inch of water a week, especially in the spring and summer.

Fertilize daylilies with a balanced fertilizer (6-12-12 or 10-10-10). Newly planted daylilies should not be fertilized until they have been in the ground for two to three weeks. After establishment, a single application in the spring is sufficient although some gardeners also fertilize in the fall.

Mulching helps daylilies maintain their moisture, keeps weeds at a minimum and provides winter protection. Wood chips, pine needles, straw and any other types of mulch will work well.

Pests usually do not bother daylilies and if they do, usually only minor damage occurs. I've seen a few Japanese beetles on mine but nothing like other plants get.

The more common pests are aphids, spider mites, thrips, slugs and snails. They may cause bumps on the buds, discolored leaves, bent or twisted scapes and/or ragged edges and holes on the foliage. Several sprays are available to treat these pests.

Deadheading the spent flowers is not necessary, but you may want to do this just to keep the plants looking neat. If you do this daily and have a lot of daylilies, you may find the job overwhelming. Just remember that it is not necessary to deadhead.

You can also cut the scape (stem that flowers bloom on) when there are no more blooms or buds. Use pruners and cut down as far as you can.

You also will find that the foliage around the bottom of the plant gets yellow or brown as the summer progresses. You can grasp this foliage firmly and pull it away from the base of the plant.

As the plants come up in the spring, you may also want to remove any brown foliage that remains from the winter.

Another great use for daylilies is to plant them with daffodils. After the daffodils bloom and the foliage is still green but is not that great looking, the daylilies start to come up and soon their foliage and flowers hide the daffodil foliage. I personally use daylilies in this manner and it works well for me.

Dividing daylilies is a great way to increase your plants and also is a great way to share with your other gardening friends. It's easy to do and late summer is a great time to do it — I've also done this in the spring.

Some people recommend dividing every three years, but again, this isn't necessary unless you see that the blooms have decreased.

Lift the entire clump and pull or cut the thick tangled roots apart. If, however, you only want to divide off a small portion of the plant, you can actually divide it at any point with a sharp shovel or spade while it is still in the ground.

Plantings of daylilies look best in groups of the same cultivar. Daylilies can be used on banks (salt from the road doesn't seem to bother them), as accent plantings around foundations, interspersed with ground covers, and, of course, in any flower bed where they have enough room to show off their wonderful color and foliage.

Pricing of daylilies can range from $3 to $300 for new cultivars. The higher priced daylilies are usually the newly introduced daylilies that are in short supply.

Here are some popular daylilies which you might want to try: Strawberry Candy, Ruby Spider, Barbara Mitchell, Ruffled Apricot, Tom Collins, Fairy Tale Pink, Bella Lugosi and Canadian Border Patrol.

These are just some of the many, many varieties. To see more, visit www.daylilies.org.

Maryellen Walter is a Master Gardener with the Penn State Master Gardener program. She lives in Butler County.