Pet Scribbles

A crafty blog with a vintage vibe. And cats.

  • Home
  • About
    • About Me
    • Why “Pet Scribbles”
    • Featured On
    • Work with Me! Hire Me!
    • Contact
    • Copyright
    • Privacy Policy
  • Gardening
    • All
    • My Favorite Plants
    • Easy Pruning Tips
  • Crafts & DIY
    • All
    • Winter
    • Spring
    • Summer
    • Fall
  • Holidays
    • Valentine’s Day
    • St. Patrick’s Day
    • Easter
    • Mother’s Day
    • Father’s Day
    • Patriotic
    • Halloween
    • Thanksgiving
    • Christmas and New Year’s Eve
  • Life
    • Cats
    • Personal
    • Books
    • Blogging
    • Food

How to Prune Stella D’Oro Daylilies

September 16, 2019 By Laura 18 Comments

Pin
Share
Tweet
987Shares

This post and photos may contain Amazon or other affiliate links. If you purchase something through any link, I may receive a small commission at no extra charge to you. Any supplies used may be given to me free of charge, however, all projects and opinions are my own.


How to prune Stella D’Oro Daylilies, including spent flowers and seed pods. Also how to remove seed pods and prevent them from developing during the blooming season. Helpful images included.

How to Prune Stella D'Oro Daylilies

Have you been “hands-deep” in Fall gardening chores like I have? After recently cleaning up our Stella D’Oro daylilies, I felt like I accomplished so much because of how neat and tidy they looked!

However, I’m not sure whether or not I like our Stella D’Oro Daylilies.

One one hand, they look so pretty when in bloom.

But once the major blooming is done — by the time Fall rolls around — man do they look awful!

Here’s a picture of some of our daylilies when they were just about to bloom . . .

Stella D'Oro Daylilies about to bloom

The daylilies are nice and bushy, and even the buds have a yellow “hint” of the sunny blossoms to come!

And when that happens, I always love the daylilies!

Stella D'Oro Daylilies blooming in June

As I was pruning Stella D’Oro daylilies a couple of weekends ago, I grabbed my camera because the “before and after” was amazing.

Here’s a wonderful image showing you the freshly pruned and cleaned up Stella D’Oro Daylily on the right, versus it’s sad counterpart up front, on the left . . .

daylilies that need to be pruned

This article will show you how to prune Stella D’Oro daylilies and answer many of the common questions surrounding pruning and deadheading these perennials.

Table of Contents

  1. Deadheading versus Pruning
  2. Stella D’Oro Daylilies: what to deadhead and prune
  3. Why are my Stella D’Oro Daylilies not blooming?
  4. Stella D’Oro Daylily seed pods
  5. How to remove Stella D’Oro seed pods
  6. How to properly deadhead spent flowers on Stella D’Oro Daylilies
  7. What are those brown stems that appear in my Stella D’Oro Daylilies?
  8. How to prune Stella D’Oro Daylilies

This article was originally published in 2017. Since I’ve greatly expanded this to include information on deadheading, seed pods, and additional photos for guidance, I have republished it.

FTC Disclaimer: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. I explain more here.

Deadheading versus Pruning

When you deadhead a Stella D’Oro Daylily, you are primarily removing the dead flowers from the plant — including its “ovary” which we will talk about below.

When you prune a Stella D’Oro Daylily, you are primarily removing dead grass leaves, any seed pods and trimming back the plant to a smaller size.

That’s the main difference between deadheading and pruning.

Stella D’Oro Daylilies: what to deadhead and prune

With Stella D’Oro Daylilies, you want to remove spent flowers, any seedpods that form on the end of stems, and yellowing or dead grass stems.

In Fall, give these plants a hard pruning and tidy them up.

Let’s dive a bit more deeply into all of this.

Why are my Stella D’Oro Daylilies not blooming?

Until a few years ago, I thought that as long as I gently pulled and removed the dying Stella D’Oro flowers, I was good. Remove them and supposedly more flowers will pop up.

I originally wanted Stella D’Oro Daylilies because they bloom all season long.

Stella D'Oro Daylilies blooming in Summer

But mine weren’t doing so after the initial flush of flowers. And they were planted in full sun, which Stella D’Oro daylilies prefer.

Why weren’t they blooming? 

Because I wasn’t fully removing the spent flowers from the plant. I had no idea that I need to prune Stella D’Oro daylilies during the season, and not just in the Fall and/or Spring.

Stella D’Oro Daylily seed pods

Instead of getting a new flush of blooms, I was getting seed pods forming where the flowers once were.

Stella D'Oro Daylily seed pods

When seed pods begin to form, the plant will focus its energy on developing those seed pods. The plant’s energy is no longer focussed on producing flowers.

The plant thinks the growing season is over, so it’s time to work on producing seeds for next year. Thus, no more flowers appear.

The solution to the seeds pods versus blooms is two fold:

  • Remove the seeds pods immediately.
  • Learn how to properly deadhead the spent blooms of your Stella D’oro Daylilies, to avoid seed pods in the future.

How to remove Stella D’Oro daylily seed pods

how to remove Stella D'Oro Daylily seed pods, shown here

To remove the seed pods, use either Fiskars hand pruners or Fiskars garden snips.

Snip off the seed pods AND their stem as far down as you can go. The base of the stem is usually hidden by the daylily leaves.

how to remove seed pods from Stella D'Oro Daylilies

These leaves are pretty resilient, so you can move them without worrying you will damage the plant.

If you just snip off the seed pods near the top of the stem, those remaining stems will soon dry up and turn tan or brown. Not a big deal, but you probably want to cut them out with the seed pod to avoid another chore of removing the brown stems later.

Removing these seed pods will be a pain to do if there are a lot of them, but once those seed pods are removed, your Stella D’Oro daylilies will refocus their energy back to producing flowers. Pretty soon, you’ll have those wonderful yellow blooms back!

blooming Stella D'Oro Daylilies
Stella D’Oro Daylilies in full bloom, June 2019
seed pods in Stella D'Oro Daylilies
Seed pods in Stella D’Oro Daylily plants, July 2019
removing seed pods from Stella D'Oro Daylilies
After seed pods have been removed from Stella D’Oro Daylilies. Much better!

How to properly deadhead spent flowers on Stella D’Oro Daylilies

Usually when we see spent blossoms on our garden flowers, we know to remove them — whether with garden snips, pruners or even by just pinching them off with our fingers.

Doing so prevents those flowers from going to seed, which helps the plant continue to focus its energy on producing more flowers. You want the plants producing more flowers instead of diverting their energies to developing seeds and/or seed pods.

Here is a typical Stella D’Oro Daylily stem:

Stella D'Oro Daylily stem

There is a full-bloom flower, a spent flower shriveled up, and two flower buds yet to open.

If you tug on the spent flower, it will easily come off:

how to deadhead Stella D'Oro daylilies

However, you are left with the flower’s ovary, which is small and can appear like it is just part of the stem.

deadheading Stella D'Oro daylilies

You need to also remove the ovary, otherwise that tiny ovary (below, right) will turn into the large seed pod (below, left).

how to prevent seed pods on Daylilies

I find it easiest to gently grab the spent flower by the bottom, where you can feel the ovary inside of the thin blossom covering it. Gently snap off the complete spent flower with its ovary and throw it away.

That’s all there is to it.

Once you get the hang of deadheading Stella D’Oro daylilies the right way, this becomes an easy chore you can do regularly.

And if you deadhead Stella D’Oro daylilies properly, you will prevent those giant seed pods from developing.

What are those brown stems that appear in my Stella D’Oro Daylilies?

Once you snap off the spent blossom with its ovary, a new stem or flower will not form in its exact spot. Instead, once all of the Stella D’Oro flowers on that stem have finished blooming, the stem will just turn brown and die.

removing dead stems from daylilies

When you’ve removed all of the spent blooms on a particular stem, cut back that stem as close to the base of the plant as possible. I usually try to at least cut those stems down into the leaves so they aren’t as visible when they begin turning brown.

The good news is that once those stems are brown, they are easy to pull out of the plant without needing pruners.

New stems (with new buds and flowers) will continue to form from the base of the plant.

How to prune Stella D’Oro Daylilies

I prune my Stella D’Oro Daylilies twice a year.

  • Fall: main pruning and clean-up for the Winter months.
  • Spring: secondary clean-up from the Winter, possible (optional) pruning if needed.

First, grab those dead leaves around the outer base of the plant and gently tug — they come right off. (They look like dried grasses, don’t they?)

Next, use your fingers as a rake and comb “up” from the center base of the plant to remove the rest of the dead leaves.

Look at this ugly mess I removed from just one plant . . .

removing dead leaves from daylilies

Using your favorite pruners — I use these from Fiskars — start trimming the green leaves down.

I hold a bunch with one hand, then cut them with the other. This way, I’m holding the remains that go right into the garden trash, no mess in the garden bed.

When you see any stiff brown stems — stop and pick those out. Most will come up readily, you might need to gently tug on a few of them.

Finally, continue cutting the leaves down to just a few inches tall.

I kept any remaining flowers, just because.

freshly pruned Stella D'Oro Daylilies

Check out this before-and-after shot . . .

how to prune stella d'oro daylilies before and after

Such a huge difference, and it only takes a few minutes per plant once you get the hang of it.

Doesn’t this section of the garden bed look like it could be early Spring instead of early October? Kind of funny!

pruning Stella D'Oro Daylilies

How about you?

Do you love your Stella D’Oro Daylilies?

Or does your affection wax and wane like mine does?

How to Prune Stella D'Oro Daylilies

Happy gardening!

More from my site

  • Should You Deadhead Knockout Roses?Should You Deadhead Knockout Roses?
  • Little Lime Hydrangea — Your Ultimate GuideLittle Lime Hydrangea — Your Ultimate Guide
  • How to prune Variegated Lilyturf (Liriope Muscari)How to prune Variegated Lilyturf (Liriope Muscari)
  • Pinky Winky Hydrangea Care  — Your Ultimate GuidePinky Winky Hydrangea Care — Your Ultimate Guide
  • Geranium Care — How to Grow Annual GeraniumsGeranium Care — How to Grow Annual Geraniums
  • Helene Rose of Sharon: Non-Stop White Ruffled Flowers!Helene Rose of Sharon: Non-Stop White Ruffled Flowers!
Pin
Share
Tweet
987Shares

Comments

  1. Charlie Hogan says

    July 9, 2018 at 8:17 am

    Thank you very much. The secret to a beautiful garden, always ask the professional.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      July 16, 2018 at 11:35 am

      LOL I agree Charlie! And I don’t consider myself a professional. You will find in many of my gardening posts — or in the comments I respond to — that my best advice is to ask a local nursery professional in your particular area! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Simple Decorating Tips says

    May 7, 2019 at 8:53 am

    I do love Stella d’oro daylilies for their all summer blooming ability! Not to many perennials will do that. Up here in NW Wisconsin, sure to the harsh Winters, I don’t clean up any perennials until Spring just to give them a little more winter protection. Liz

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 7, 2019 at 10:57 am

      Good point, Liz! Mine die back completely to the ground, as in you can’t even really see there were — or are — any daylilies there during the Winter months. I’m always amazed they come back each year. LOL I do exactly what you do (with your daylilies) with some of my other plants, to give them more protection. Harsh winters are no fun…especially for our plants. 🙂

      Reply
  3. Donna LaRoche says

    July 5, 2019 at 2:48 pm

    We were on vacation very recently and when we returned our Stella’s Had bloomed and now you see Mostly the seed pods. Is there anyway I can now do something to get them to bloom because we still have a lot of summers ago.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      July 8, 2019 at 6:59 pm

      Excellent question Donna, and there is hope, so no worries. Remove those seed pods from the plants. I use garden pruners to do this. It will be a pain to do if there are a lot of them, but go slowly if it’s crazy hot outside. Once those seed pods are removed, your Stella D’Oro daylilies will refocus their energy back to producing flowers. (When the seed pods develop, the plant spends all its energy on making sure those seed pods continue to grow and develop.) Pretty soon, you’ll have those wonderful yellow blooms back! (I plan on adding info about these seed pods to this post, as this is such a good question and one that gardeners encounter frequently, so thanks for asking!)

      Reply
  4. Judy Griffin says

    July 15, 2019 at 4:19 pm

    I ‘ve read up on deadhead but now I have long browning stems with no buds and pods forming. Did I overdo the deadheading? What do I do now?

    Reply
    • Laura says

      July 16, 2019 at 10:11 am

      Hi Judy — no worries. Those brown stems are left over from your deadheading. When you deadhead, you need to cut back that stem as close to the base of the stem as possible. I usually try to at least cut those stems down into the leaves so they aren’t as visible when they begin turning brown. The good news is that once those stems are brown, they should be easy to gently pull out without needing pruners. As for the seed pods, I just addressed this in the comment above, and it is a common problem, so no worries. Cut out those seed pod stems the same way: as close to the base as possible. Once you remove those seed pods, the plant will return its energy to producing flowers again. I’m in the midst of writing about seed pods and adding the info to this article, as I run into it as well.

      Reply
  5. Heidi says

    November 16, 2019 at 5:06 pm

    >Because I wasn’t fully removing the spent flowers from the plant. I had no idea that I need to prune Stella D’Oro daylilies during the season, and not just in the Fall and/or Spring.

    Hmm… perhaps this is the mistake I was making this past summer as well. I’ll have to try doing a better job pruning next spring/summer and see if it makes a difference! It’s always frustrating when you think you’re doing everything right but your flowers just won’t bloom 🙁

    Reply
    • Laura says

      April 21, 2020 at 10:21 pm

      Heidi, your last sentence made me chuckle, because I can relate. So many times I thought I knew what I was doing, but there’s always something new to learn apparently! 🙂 Hopefully your daylilies will do great this year!

      Reply
  6. Holly Haynes says

    April 18, 2020 at 9:14 am

    Thank You for this well written, easy to understand information! I have had a bed full of Stella D’oro day lilies for 18 years and have been caring for them incorrectly all along. I’ve been searching for proper care instructions because they haven’t been reblooming well for the last 5 years or so. My mistake was thinking the “pod” underneath the spent flower was another flower that just wouldn’t bloom. I put all of my efforts in trying to get these little boogers to open up and bloom! So very happy I found your article. I was making my deadheading and pruning work twice as hard and not getting any results. I never leave comments… suffice it to say I am thrilled to have this new knowledge and can’t wait to care for them correctly and have a beautifully blooming garden all summer.

    Reply
    • Laura says

      April 21, 2020 at 10:24 pm

      Holly, you made my day with your comment! Made my week, in fact, as I’m thrilled you now can snip those pods off and keep your daylilies (hopefully) in bloom! Keep me posted!

      Reply
  7. JULIET says

    May 24, 2020 at 8:13 am

    Hello Laura,
    I have been going through your Pet Scribbles blog and needed to compliment you on sharing your love of gardening as you and I share the same passion and so I have a great appreciate for the descriptive attention to detail that is then complimented by your photos and the helpful arrows and circles embedded in them. Thank you so much for sharing your ideas, thoughts and emotions connected to your gardening experience. Thoroughly enjoyed.
    all the best,
    Juliet

    Reply
    • Laura says

      May 28, 2020 at 10:39 am

      Julie, I’m so humbled reading your comment. This is why I do what I do. We do share the same passion, and it is this passion for gardening that I want to come across in my articles. Thank you so much for taking the time to leave this comment. It truly means a lot to me. Happy gardening!

      Reply
  8. Diane Vertullo says

    August 2, 2020 at 11:15 pm

    Hi I was wondering if this is the procedure to take care of all day lilies or just this type

    Reply
    • Laura says

      August 6, 2020 at 11:23 am

      Yes Diane, this method will work for all varieties of daylilies! Good question — thanks for asking!

      Reply
  9. Mardell Christian says

    October 6, 2020 at 11:37 pm

    I have a question regarding the seed pods. In the Fall, can you harvest the seeds, plant them, and get more day lilies? Or, if you shake the pods so the seeds fall on the ground, will they grow more lilies? Thanks for your willingness to share your knowledge with the rest of us!

    Reply
    • Laura says

      October 16, 2020 at 12:20 pm

      Yes Mardell, you can indeed harvest the seeds and plant them — however — it is best to start them in tiny seed pots first. This way, as they begin to germinate, they aren’t competing for nutrients from other plants plus you can keep a better eye on them to make sure they survive. Once they grow into a little seedling, definitely add them to your garden! Thanks for asking and let me know if you try this — I haven’t personally done this but am curious!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Pet Scribbles is where I share my craft tutorials, home and garden projects, and occasional stories about my cats. I can never have enough pretty craft paints to work with, and I love to make things look time-worn with distressing and aging. Gardening is my therapy!

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Subscribe to our Newsletter

Pet Scribbles is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Archives

Looking for Something?

Categories

COPYRIGHT © PET SCRIBBLES LLC • PRIVACY POLICY