Baby Daylily OVerwintering Question

[GardenGeisha]

I bought a boxed Dutch Bulb brand 'Purple Waters' daylily bulb in the spring and planted it in the field where it nearly died. Just had a teeny tiny sprout when I dug it up. I babied it in s mall pot, and now it has 2 sets of shoots and looks about the size of a chives plant. The foliage is still narrow and small, and it's longest leaves are no more than 12" tall. It will be a long time before it blooms.

I'm worried about trying to overwinter it. I think it will be a long cold winter ahead. I'm in Salt Lake City.

What do you think would be the best method of overwintering it? Should I take it indoors? I don't have a garage or basement.

Should I bubble wrap the pot and leave it in an unheated storage building?

Should I transplant it directly into the ground right now? I doubt it would have time to establish decent roots before first frost.

Should I dig a hole in the raised bed and submerge the pot the daylily is growing in in that hole? The raised bed has lousy soil. Not much will grow in it other than umbellifereae. But if the daylily is in its own pot of soil, I would think the bad soil outside the pot wouldn't bother it too much?

What do you think is my best course of action?

 

[catjac1975]

What zone are you?

I bought a boxed Dutch Bulb brand 'Purple Waters' daylily bulb in the spring and planted it in the field where it nearly died. Just had a teeny tiny sprout when I dug it up. I babied it in s mall pot, and now it has 2 sets of shoots and looks about the size of a chives plant. The foliage is still narrow and small, and it's longest leaves are no more than 12" tall. It will be a long time before it blooms.

I'm worried about trying to overwinter it. I think it will be a long cold winter ahead. I'm in Salt Lake City.

What do you think would be the best method of overwintering it? Should I take it indoors? I don't have a garage or basement.

Should I bubble wrap the pot and leave it in an unheated storage building?

Should I transplant it directly into the ground right now? I doubt it would have time to establish decent roots before first frost.

Should I dig a hole in the raised bed and submerge the pot the daylily is growing in in that hole? The raised bed has lousy soil. Not much will grow in it other than umbellifereae. But if the daylily is in its own pot of soil, I would think the bad soil outside the pot wouldn't bother it too much?

What do you think is my best course of action?

 

[GardenGeisha]

Salt Lake City has different zones. They claim it changed from 6 to 7 recently, but I am conservative and say 5. I haven't been able to pinpoint an exact zone. Last winter was freakishly warm. Everything survived. This winter is predicted to be a killer. Tons of geese, animals already have put on heavy winter coats.

 

[Smart Red]

All of my day lilies are planted outside and over winter just fine. I have had one in a pot waiting for its forever home that wasn't killed by freezing weather last winter.

 

[catjac1975]

I am a daylily backyard breeder. I have had a few daylilies lose they foliage already. I replanted it because it was a bit shaded and it too started sprouting. They are hard to kill-though not impossible. My zone is 6 but, I only buy zone 5 hardy shrubs. I think you can plant it out with mulch and it will be fine. I received a plant from a grower in October last year, a bit late for me to plant them out safely. I mulched it heavily with leaves and it thrived this year

Salt Lake City has different zones. They claim it changed from 6 to 7 recently, but I am conservative and say 5. I haven't been able to pinpoint an exact zone. Last winter was freakishly warm. Everything survived. This winter is predicted to be a killer. Tons of geese, animals already have put on heavy winter coats.

 

[GardenGeisha]

Really? A teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy day lily baby would survive being planted in the ground now, you think? Would that be superior to burying the pot?

 

[catjac1975]

I guess I don't know how small it is. I plant out my seedlings in very early spring. They are mulched with leaves. They are the size of a blade of grass when I put them out. They will over winter just fine for the coming season. So they are small plants at this point. I hope you did not pay much for that tiny plant. I only buy from daylily growers. I have found where daylilies are just one of many plants that are in a catalog the stock is very poor. You can keep it in a sunny window sill if you think it will not make it. Give it some fertilizer if you are keeping it in. I would not keep it in the pot in the ground.