Getting it to bloom

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

Also called Mary Todd daylily (Hemerocallis 'Mary Todd').

More about daylily 'mary todd'

About Daylily 'Mary Todd'

Hemerocallis 'Mary Todd' · also called Mary Todd daylily · flowering

Hemerocallis 'Mary Todd' is a large-flowered early-season daylily with bold, ruffled golden-yellow blooms and a rich yellow throat. It is a vigorous, reliable performer in full sun borders. All daylilies are extremely toxic to cats, capable of causing fatal kidney failure. Keep away from households with cats.

Plant type: flowering

Watch for — Aphids: Soft-bodied insects congregating on new growth and flower stems; dislodge with water or treat with insecticidal soap. Natural predators such as ladybirds provide good biological control.

The reasons daylily 'mary todd' isn't blooming

Almost every non-blooming daylily 'mary todd' 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 'mary todd' 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 'mary todd' to flower

Maximise sun. Give daylily 'mary todd' 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 'mary todd' and get the feeding right with the daylily 'mary todd' 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 'Mary Todd' 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 'mary todd' care brief and its watering schedule — a stressed, badly watered plant rarely has the energy to flower at all.

Daylily 'Mary Todd' blooming — frequently asked questions

Why won't my daylily 'mary todd' flower?

Daylily 'Mary Todd' 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 'mary todd' bloom?

Give daylily 'mary todd' 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 'mary todd' normally bloom?