This
GLOSSARY OF TERMS is provided to help the home & hobby
gardener better understand the various wording and phrases
commonly used within the horticulture industry. Additional information and usefull details at bottom of page
ACIDIC
SOIL:
Soil
that has a pH factor of less than 7.0. Plants in acidic
soils have difficulty absorbing potassium & phosphorus.
Adding lime or organic material will help bring the pH
level up creating a better growing environment for your
plants. Generally, most perennials do best in soil with
a pH of 6-7.
ALKALINE
SOIL:
Soils
with a pH level of 7.0 or more are considered alkaline.
You can make your soil more neutral by adding organic
materials. Plants in highly alkaline soil have difficulty
absorbing iron, manganese and phosphorus. Your plants
will grow best with a pH level of 6-7.
BARE
ROOT:
A
plant or division generally with soil removed. Most bare
root plants sold by HostaGardens.net
are field grown for 1-2 years, harvested,
washed, graded and packaged for shipment. These bare root
plants are generally graded as #1 divisions. Once dug,
the tops are trimmed down to about 1" from the crown.
Most perennials, including Astilbe, Daylilies, Hosta,
Ferns, Iris and many others survive bare root shipping
very well and re-establish quickly from new roots that
originate from the crown.
BICOLOR:
Daylily
blossom where the three outer blossom segments (sepals)
are of a noticeable difference than the three inner pedals,
which are considerably darker. A reverse bicolor has darker
sepals and lighter pedals.
BITONE:
Daylily
blossom with pedals & sepals of unmistakable different
shades or tints of the same basic color, like a light
yellow and a darker gold.
BORDERED:
Daylily
flower with definite color difference along the edges
of the blossom segments. Edge color might appear on the
pedals, sepals or both. Many newer hybrids with distinctly
colored edges are often referred to as having Picotee
edges.
CLUMP:
A
plant that has been grown and divided into multiple parts
is called a clump.
COLD
STORAGE:
The
storage or holding of plants at cool temperatures to prevent
growth.
COMMON
NAMES OF PLANTS:
Most
Plants unusually are identified by two names. The common
name is what most people know plants as. Example: Common
name DAYLILY, Horticulture name HEMEROCALLIS, Common Name
HOSTA, Horticulture name FUNKIA.
COMPOST:
Decomposed
plant material(s) that add nutrients & improves soil
quality.
CROWN:
The
part of the plant where the root & stem meet. The
uppermost part of the root where the leaves & shoots
emerge.
CULTIVAR:
A
cultivar is a named hybrid which is unquestionably different
from the species & is propagated for dissemination.
Individual plants of a given cultivar are clones since
they share identical characteristics. Cultivars cannot
be propagated by seed. Hybridizers follow a goal of developing
& introducing new cultivars that are obvious improvements
over earlier generations of hybrids.
DAYLILIES:
There
are over 35,000 officially registered cultivars of Daylilies.
DIPLOID:
A
diploid is a plant that has 22 chromosomes ( two sets).
Most plants are diploid. Diploid daylilies have 22 chromosomes,
11 of which come from the egg cell in the pod parent with
the remaining 11 coming from the sperm cell in the pollen.
DIVISION:
A
division is the splitting of a mature plant clump into
multiple portions to increase the vigor of the clump and
/or to produce more plants.
DORMANT:
The
term DORMANT means deciduous. Dormant plants lose their
foliage completely when exposed to frost. The plant will
remain leafless until the next growing season. Dormancy
may be affected by day length & temperature changes.
Photoperiod sensitive dormant plants usually develope
yellowish foliage & gradually dieback before frost
as the days shorten. The temperature sensitive dormants
remain green until freezing weather arrives when they
stop growing & die back.
EYE
& EYEZONE:
A
darker colored area just above the watermark on both pedals
& the sepals. A daylily eye is usually circular. Some
hybridizers have produced varations in eye shape, color
and size in the last few years.
FAN:
The term "FAN" is used to describe a single
division of a daylily clump that has it's own separate
crown, foliage and root system.
FRAGRANT:
The
smell or odor a plant produces from the flower or foliage.
FULL
SHADE:
Full
shade is defined as fewer than 4 hours of direct sunlight
per day.
FULL
SUN:
Full
sun is defined as direct exposure to sunlight for more
than 6 hours per day.
HALO:
A
daylily halo is an eye that is relatively narrow or indistinct.
HERBACEOUS:
Dying
back to the ground. Not woody.
HOSTAGARDENS:
Is
a mail order company selling hundreds of various perennial
plants to the retail garden buyers.
HUMIS:
Decayed
organic matter, usually black & crumbly, that will
improve soil.
HYBRID:
A
cultivar that is produced by cross pollination of two
parent plants that are genetically different.
LIGHT
REQUIREMENTS:
Daylilies
prefer full sun. They will do respectably in light or
dappled shade.
MULCH:
Any
material spread on the soil surface to conserve moisture.
Mulch will help hold down weeds and protect the plants
from excessive heat and cold.
NEUTRAL
SOIL:
Soil
with a pH level of 7.0.
ORGANIC
MATTER:
Portions
of the soil that consists of decayed or partial decaying
plant or animal material. Also known as organic materials.
PEAT
OR PEAT MOSS:
Decayed
matter or remains of ancient plants, added to soil to
increase it's ability to absorb moisture.
PERENNIAL:
Herbaceous
plants living in a garden for more than two years.
PICOTEE:
A
type of edging on a daylily where the edge is a completely
different color than the tepals. Many picotee edges now
come in two or more colors.
PROPAGATION:
The
process of increasing the number of plants from the original
or mother plant. Commercial propagation of daylilies,
hosta and others involves digging & dividing mature
clumps into single fans or divisions. These asexually
propagated plants remain true-to-form in that each division
is identical in all characteristics to the mother plant.
Daylilies cannot be propagated true from seed.
REBLOOM:
A
characteristic in which a plant blooms at it's normal
period & then, after a period of rest, produces a
second set of flowers. Rebloom in the south may yield
a third and sometime a fourth blooming. In the north the
second set of blossoms are usually smaller.
RECURVED:
Term
used to describe how the tips of some flower petals curl
under.
RHIZOME:
A
specialized slender or swollen stem with branching close
to the soil surface. It produces roots, stems, leaves
and flowers along it's length and at it's apex.
SEASONAL
PROBLEMS:
Occasionally,
daylily foliage is damaged by hard late spring frosts.
It is worst on evergreen types and varieties that emerge
especially early. Foliage can be blemished by slugs or
insects, too. For whatever reason, whenever Daylily foliage
is less than desirable, it can be refreshed by cutting
back almost anytime except for fall. Using clippers, shears
or a very high set mower, chop the plant tops back to
4-6". You won't harm them and within a couple weeks they
will re-grow and look great.
SEMI-EVERGREEN:
By
definition a semi evergreen daylily behaves like a dormant
in the north but acts like an evergreen milder frost free
climates. Semi evergreen daylilies generally perform well
in both northern & southern gardens.
STAMENS:
Daylily
blooms usually have six stamens attached to the base of
the pedals in the throat of the flower. Each stamen is
consists of a slender stalk or filament topped with an
anther that contains yellow pollen. Stamens are regarded
as the male portion of the flower's sexual segments.
SUNFAST:
A
term used to describe a flower's blossom texture. Sunfast
daylilies withstand a full day of sunshine, heat and humidity
with little deterioration of blossom quality. Most yellow
& pink cultivars have been improved so their blossoms
are totally sunfast. Darker colors, such as reds &
purples, are generally less sunfast, however, hybridizing
advances are improving sunfastness throughout the color
spectrum.
TETRAPLOID:
Tetraploids
have 44 chromosomes, four sets, in each cell. They are
generally bigger and stronger plants that are often more
resistant to disease. Tetraploid daylilies have emerged
over the last 50 years of hybridizing and have expanded
the genetic pool from which new varieties are developed.
THROAT:
The
center of a daylily where the pistil & stamens join,
often contrasting in color to the base blossom color.
Hybridizers breed for green throats that remain sunfast
or non-fading through out the day, since green seems to
improve the overall appeal of a cultivar. Some older daylily
varieties have yellow, gold or melon colored throats.
Z:
Zats
all folks!
