Yes, Baby's Breath works great. I always have some that comes up every year.

Regina, I have to say your gardens are really impressive.

Larry, I am 66 and thinking of cutting down on the daylilies here. Not sure how many I have, but about a 100. I know when I'm out there in a few weeks dividing all the ones I sold on the classified ad, I will be wondering why I do this to myself year after year. It is hard work! Some of these won't be replaced with daylilies. I am getting more and more into lilies and find them easier to dig and divide.

One thing I would strongly suggest is not planting them too close. I think 24" between crowns is perfect. This means you don't need to divide them so often. 18" minimum. When you plant out those first single or double fans you may think this is way too far apart. In 3-4 years, you will be glad. Also either keep the beds narrow enough that you can reach into them to deadhead or plan paths right from the start. When you do this, you may not have room for as many as you think.

Once you've grown daylilies for a few years you may find you only need so many purple spiders, white with purple eyes, ect. By then you can see which of the purple spiders you grow is the most pleasing to you and get rid of the others. I have two purple spiders in my front garden but they bloom at different times, so am keeping both. Same with plain yellows, orange doubles ect. Evaluate them for a few years and then cut back if you need to. I love iris and lilies just as much as daylilies and would recommend not using all your space for daylilies and try branching out a little if you haven't already. I always keep a little space for annuals too and often move pots of annuals like coleus out to the daylily beds when the daylilies are finished.

Becky,
I love to have dahlias mixed in among the daylilies. They don't migrate or send out large root systems. There are many varieties from the small, short ones to the very tall dinner plate type. I tend to go for the latter among the daylilies because their height draws your attention away from the daylily foliage (which is usually recovering from bloom season) and the blooms are amazing.








I also add rudbeckia, Shasta daisies and an older plant called wormwood. Wormwood has no blooms, just interesting foliage. It is easy to control by cutting it back to the shape you like (and you can root the pieces you cut). It can get large over several growing seasons if you let it.





My favorite to add is sun coleus. Just as the shade varieties get more intense coloration in shade, the sun coleus gets to be stunning colors when it gets 6+ hours of sunlight per day. I put these in among the daylilies and as a front border in the bed. They are small while the DL are blooming, then get larger as the DL fade. They are annuals here in my zone, not sure what they are considered in yours. Wish they were perennials here! They also root very easily...you will have more pieces to share than you can find homes for. They have shallow roots and aren't invasive either.

Cindy, I alway thought you were my age, 55. I am slowing down too, lupus and extra pounds don't help with the aches and pains. I currently have 242 and hope to keep it below 300. Before I buy, I say to myself..Do you really want to weed around this plant lol. It really helps on what makes the cut!

If you have the time, money and energy there isn't a number wher you should stop.

.... the time, money, energy and SPACE there isn't a number wher you should stop

Mayo

Susan, you are so right about keeping the beds narrow. I wish I had done that when we made my raised beds. They are 8 ft wide and I have to step in them to reach the center plants. Every time I do I think of the soil my feet is compacting.

Maybe I should ask to have this split off as a separate thread, but don't know how to do that myself
'Plants that do well planted among daylilies'

Went out after the rain (thank goodness for rain!) and took a little better picture of the wormwood. It keeps it's foliage in the winter here in my zone 8a.



And remembered another annual (sometimes can survive if winter is not too cold) that I like to use: bat face Cuphea





The last one...a tall red cockscomb (celosia). It's the heirloom variety, not the one that is for sale at garden centers. Definitely an annual here. Deadhead plant before fall when it drops its seeds or remove entire plant, hang it upside down and use for dried flower arrangements.

Regina - Thank you for your suggestions! I do love and have grown Dahlias, but they never come back for a second year. Not sure why. The price is what discourages me on those, but if they would return year after year, I'd be sold on them! Coleus is sweet. It gets quite large here. Maybe there are miniature cultivars that stay smaller? I even thought about Caladiums (the miniature cultivars) as I do love them and they like my yard. I have many of them growing in containers. Celosia tends to be invasive here in my yard. Took me 3 years to get rid of it all. And I do indeed have various species of cuphea around my yard. It's the Florida climate. I had thought of just planting small zinnias around and maybe even some marigolds. But that is about all I could think of that is REALLY annuals here for me.

Leslie - I learned the hard way about garden bed depth, too. I strategically placed small round pavers through my some of my beds, so that I wasn't compacting the soil.

I'll ask Char if she can most some of this to a new thread.

@Char, could you possibly move the last few posts to a new thread? We're getting too off-topic, but it is a great subject!

There are to many on-topic posts woven in to split this. Just start a new thread or better yet...add to this one.

The thread "What do you plant with your dl?" in Daylilies forum

We have new members who may enjoy reading through this thread for ideas on what to plant with their daylilies.
Then this thread can get back on topic to "How many daylilies are to many?"

Thanks Char! I didn't realize that there was already a thread for that!

If I only knew 10 years ago what I know now, I would be choosing different daylilies. The best thing I can suggest Larry, is to visit any daylily farms to see first hand what the daylilies look like. Branching, bud count, strong scapes, rust... I would be scrutinizing all of those qualities before even thinking about buying now. But back 10 years ago, I was interested in pretty faces and didn't know a thing about the other qualities of a dl.

I don't think there is such a thing as too many dls. Whatever you have room for is the only constraint!

Me, neither. I either forgot or didn't see the other thread. My questions were triggered by my awe of Regina's lovely yard! (It's not Regina's fault though .... I take full credit for taking this thread off topic.)

Leslie, this Spring I took on the huge task of moving a bed that was 8 x 24 foot wide! I like my narrow rows to weed better. I now only have things 3 deep. So I can reach the center from either side.

I love companion plants. I intermingle true lilies, iris and sometimes even annuals. So I have blooms from May until frost.

I only 100 or so hybrids and i live in a residential area so space is limited as my house was built in 01 and lots are not huge like some of the older construction in Fort Wayne. So i too have to play revolving door with my plants and i have given 7 away just this year to some ladies i work with. Thus far know ones husband has complained. Lol.
So for me i will have too many when there is no longer grass to mow although i had better save some for our dog to do her business as it is not the best fertilizer i imagine.
Seriously though if i have too many to properly care for than its time to stop adding to the total number of plants.
No matter what i have to save some room for hosts and purple loosestrife.

I'm still adding even while I have too many. Last year I did pretty well with not getting anymore Daylilies. But I added a number of other plants. This year I've succumbed to my desire for new Daylilies. I did get rid of about 12 but I've surpassed that number with the plants I've ordered. refraining from getting new plants, especially when I find a deal is so hard for me. I've started a list of what can go. Will have to do some big sales this fall and next spring. But I don't see myself not getting any new plants at this point. I'm too weak. An d they bring me such joy.

Joy, it is just fun to see a new bloom in the garden. They bring me joy and happiness too

Isn't it true though Teresa? BTW Love you avatar kitties.

Thank you, off topic but they are Salem and Cordell. Sometimes I think they hide in the dl foliage to just scare the daylights out of me!