Getting it to bloom

Why won't my Daylily 'Frans Hals' bloom? (and how to make it flower)

Also called Frans Hals Daylily, Bicolor Daylily (Hemerocallis 'Frans Hals').

More about daylily 'frans hals'

About Daylily 'Frans Hals'

Hemerocallis 'Frans Hals' · also called Frans Hals Daylily, Bicolor Daylily · flowering

Frans Hals is a striking bicolour daylily with orange outer petals and contrasting rusty-red inner petals above a yellow throat. A vigorous mid-season bloomer on 70 cm scapes, it is one of the most recognisable daylily cultivars. Named after the Dutch Golden Age painter. TOXIC — all Hemerocallis are potentially deadly to cats.

Plant type: flowering

Watch for — Thrips on flowers: Cause silvery streaking on petals. Treat with spinosad during bud break.

The reasons daylily 'frans hals' isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming daylily 'frans hals' traces back to one of these, roughly in order of how common they are:

Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.
Too much nitrogen feed, driving lush foliage at the expense of flowers (very common with general or lawn feeds).
The plant has not been deadheaded, so it stops flowering once it sets seed.
Irregular watering — drought or waterlogging at the budding stage makes buds abort.
It is still too young or was checked by a transplant and is rebuilding before flowering.

Feeding daylily 'frans hals' a high-nitrogen general feed and growing it in too little sun — you get a big leafy plant and almost no flowers.

The fix — how to get daylily 'frans hals' to flower

Maximise sun. Give daylily 'frans hals' the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers.
Switch the feed. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.
Deadhead regularly. Remove spent flowers often to keep it producing more rather than stopping to set seed.
Water consistently. Keep moisture even through budding and flowering — drought-then-flood swings make buds drop.

Light and feeding do most of the heavy lifting here. Dial in the spot with the light guide for daylily 'frans hals' and get the feeding right with the daylily 'frans hals' fertilising schedule — the wrong feed (too much nitrogen) is one of the most common silent reasons a healthy plant makes leaves instead of flowers.

Bloom season and what to expect

Daylily 'Frans Hals' flowers across its growing season (mostly summer) and, kept fed and deadheaded, can bloom for many weeks or right up to frost.

Post-bloom care so it flowers again

Deadhead, keep feeding lightly, and many will rebloom; collect seed from the best plants at the end of the season if you want to grow them again.

For everything else this plant needs day to day, see the full daylily 'frans hals' care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Daylily 'Frans Hals' blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my daylily 'frans hals' flower?

Daylily 'Frans Hals' blooms on the season's growth given enough sun, warmth and the right feed — there is no cold or photoperiod trick, just good growing conditions and a bloom-leaning feed. The most common reason it is not happening: Too little sun — most of these need full sun (or very bright light) to flower well; shade gives leaves, not blooms.

How do I make daylily 'frans hals' bloom?

Give daylily 'frans hals' the sunniest spot you have — for most bedding and fruiting plants, more direct light directly means more flowers. Move off high-nitrogen feeds and use a higher-potassium "bloom" or tomato-type feed as it comes into flower.

When does daylily 'frans hals' normally bloom?