Daylily oddities



Michael brought this home and said that one of his clients showed it to him and asked him about it. She says that some of her daylilies develop this second growth up on the stalk which she can remove and transplanted. I've never seen this phenomena but I also don't know a lot about daylilies. Can anyone out there enlighten us?

Click on the photo for a larger view...

Update: LynnS of Wood Ridge blog responds:

"The term is "keiki", meaning baby or child. Some daylilies reproduce in this asexual manner, as do some orchids. Also, if you think about regular houseplants, the Spider Plant sends out shoots with quite a few keiki plants and tiny blooms. I've had all of the above keiki offshoots and had great success with each.

I have heard one orchidist say that the Phalaenopsis orchid which pushes a keiki means it is not receiving sufficient nutrients. Perhaps. Never researched it further.

With all keiki offshoots, snip them and treat them as any baby plant -- they will continue to root and grow if given proper potting soil and care."

Thanks so much Lynn!
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Comments

Anonymous said…
Interesting oddity. I'm clueless. I'll have to check back and see how the experts replied.
August 24, 2009 at 10:16 PM
Les said…
The daylily folk I work with call it a prolif, short for proliferation. If you cut it off of the mother plant and give it a little TLC it will give you another plant. These same folk will look for profifs to cut off of the ones we have for sale or planted in the display gardens, that way you get the plant without having to pay for it or dig it up.
August 25, 2009 at 2:48 AM
Yolana said…
this is probably a stupid question but when you say stalk do you mean the blooming stalk. I only have a few daylilies and I've seen nothing like this.
August 25, 2009 at 3:21 AM
Frances said…
I am so glad you showed this Phillip, I have one daylily with the exact same thing on it, Raspberry Rasper. Why just the one variety and not others, I wonder? Good to know that it can be potted up and grown on and what the name of it is, prolif. Will do so today. :-)
Frances
August 25, 2009 at 3:41 AM
Lisa at Greenbow said…
I have seen this before. I didn't know what it was called. I just thought it was a nice bonus.
August 25, 2009 at 4:07 AM
Randy said…
Phillip,
We've had several of these and I've made the mistake before of cutting the blooms stalk before the roots had formed well enough.--Randy
August 25, 2009 at 5:21 AM
LynnS said…
The term is "keiki", meaning baby or child. Some daylilies reproduce in this asexual manner, as do some orchids. Also, if you think about regular houseplants, the Spider Plant sends out shoots with quite a few keiki plants and tiny blooms. I've had all of the above keiki offshoots and had great success with each.

I have heard one orchidist say that the Phalaenopsis orchid which pushes a keiki means it is not receiving sufficient nutrients. Perhaps. Never researched it further.

With all keiki offshoots, snip them and treat them as any baby plant -- they will continue to root and grow if given proper potting soil and care.

Hope this helps.
August 25, 2009 at 6:00 AM
Andrew said…
I've never seen that before. Thanks everyone for enlightening me!
August 25, 2009 at 6:04 AM
Roses and Lilacs said…
I've read about proliferations but never seen it happen on my daylilies. I've heard you can use rooting hormone and stick them in potting soil enclosed in a baggy or something to retain moisture. Never done it.

Marnie
August 25, 2009 at 6:39 AM
Monica the Garden Faerie said…
Interesting to know the term. that iris DOES sort of look like a spider plant, too!
August 25, 2009 at 7:40 AM
Dirt Princess said…
I have seen these on my daylilies, but never thought much about it...good to know
August 25, 2009 at 8:38 AM
Dee/reddirtramblings said…
I see someone else answered it, but we call them prolifs in the club, and they are quite sought after at the end of the season. I can always tell that I will have one if the scape stays green. Fun to watch grow. Then, even more fun to transplant. Certain varieties prolif more than others. Isn't that strange?~~Dee
August 25, 2009 at 9:10 AM
Tatyana@MySecretGarden said…
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
August 25, 2009 at 12:03 PM
Gail said…
I've seen this on one daylily in the past...but not recently. Who knows what's under all those Susans! Thanks for sharing this Phillip...now i'll pay attention. gail
August 25, 2009 at 1:16 PM
Catherine@AGardenerinProgress said…
That's really interesting. I'd never seen that before, a great way to get more plants!
August 25, 2009 at 4:25 PM
sweetbay said…
I've heard of those from hemheads but never actually seen any on my daylilies.
August 25, 2009 at 6:43 PM
Rob (ourfrenchgarden) said…
Now this is easy propagation. I like it.
August 25, 2009 at 11:51 PM
Carol said…
How Cool! I wonder if any variety can do this... or what special conditions might bring it on where others do not encourage this type of offspring.
August 26, 2009 at 10:42 AM
Mr. McGregor's Daughter said…
Mine never do that. That looks like an easy way to propagate a Daylily. No messy digging & dividing!
August 27, 2009 at 5:43 PM
Anonymous said…
I cut the scape about a half inch above and below the keiki and push it into the ground with the keiki resting against the ground. It holds it securely until it grabs hold.
August 28, 2009 at 1:00 PM
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