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Home » News » 2025 » July

News Brief

July 11, 2025 |  By: Gavin McGough

Maryville Garden Club 101

Photo courtesy of Deb Cooper

 This summer, KXCV is speaking with members of the Maryville Garden Club for tips and tricks to keep your lawn and gardens lush.

This week we hear about daily lilies from Debra Cooper, "I grew up on a farm and, and our focus was mostly on growing vegetables. You know, to help us get through the winter. But I've always loved color. I've always loved growing things, working with my hands. So even as a young child, I was always trying to grow flowers and, you know, watch 'em go through the bloom process, that type of thing. Day lilies are actually very easy to grow. Just get 'em some good soil, keep the weeds cleaned out of them. You get all different types of colors. They're very easy to divide. A lot of people will say, only divide 'em in the fall. Personally, I have divided my day lilies all during the summer and the fall, and as long as you cut the leaves back and transplant them in, and if it's dry, give them a little water, you know, every few days and they will just amaze you by sending up new leaf structure. And they can get a good start all summer long to bloom. If you get a good, a good enough sized clump, then they will bloom the following year. If you just take one or two fans, it's probably gonna be a few years before it would bloom. You know, fans, root structures, that type of thing."

McGough asks, "Say somebody. You know, has a bunch of the classic orange ones and wants to diversify. Uh, what should they do? How did you curate your, um, color selection here?"

"Many different ways. You know, being a gardener, you always want to stop by nurseries and that type of thing. So, um, if we'd stop by a nursery and I saw a bloom color that I liked, or a bloom style that I liked, then that might be my purchase. When we're out traveling. Um, some of them I've purchased from the Maryville Garden Club's, spring and Fall plant sales because we have a lot of members and they grow a variety of flowers just as I do. We all break our clumps apart so that we can share with others in our club and also in the community that, that want to get new varieties, right. And the Blooms only last one day. So as an example, you know, there boom, he's going, he's pretty well gone. But then you get a, a stock, a bloom stock that has numerous buds on them. And so you have a perfusion of blooms for maybe a couple of weeks, maybe longer. And then there are different bloom times. You have your early bloomers, such as your Stella Dior, and then they will bloom all season. But mostly they, they bloom the first burst of blooming is the largest amount of blooms and the most beautiful big clumps of blooms. And you had mentioned earlier about the the, the Orange day lilies. Those, those are what we call the common name of ditch lilies. And you know, a lot of our ancestors had those. And so that's where you will, when you're driving along the countryside and you. See all of these beautiful Orange Day lilies. You probably know there used to be a, a farm there, a farmhouse.", informs Cooper. 

"And now the farmer's in the ditch. Is that why they're calling the ditch?", asks McGough.

"Right, right. Exactly. Yeah.", responds Cooper

That was Maryville Garden Club member Deb Cooper, discussing day lilies, which are in flower now all around. Check out the Club's Garden Show this weekend at the Tawa County Fair. You can view the show at the first Christian Church from 2:00-4:30 on Friday and 8:00 to 1:00 on Saturday. Tune in each Thursday during Morning edition for your weekly gardening tip.