Hello,
Being in a new house we discovered we have a crazy amount of wild daylilys.  We have dug up a zillion bulbs, but they keep coming back!  Does anyone know of a good way to get rid of these spreading/take-over lily's?

Are you referring to daylily, hemerocallis with the strap-like leaves or tiger lilies? Tiger lilies grow from a bulb while daylilies grow from a crown, though they do have tuber like roots as well fibrous roots. Daylilies are probably the easier of the two to get rid of. Keep digging or hoeing out new ones, eventually you'l get them. When digging them a fork does a better job of getting all of the roots and crown. You can do the same with tiger lilies, but it will be a longer process because they will continue to send up sprouts from bulbils in the soil..Round-up is also an option if you choose to go that route.

Thank you for your responce.  I tried to download a picture of the flowers, but file is too big...  The daylily looks like orange hemerocallis (looked it up), grow up to 4 feet tall...not sure what type of lilies they are.  I felt like an archiologist sifting through the roots & dirt!  Parden my ignorance of terms, but what is the crown?  I know the roots I dug up had tuns of bulb-looking things... some as long as almost 2 inches and fat!  I think they have been growing for a while!!!   Don't know if you have more advise, but I will try your suggestions.  Thank you!

The crown is the area where the stem meets the roots. It sounds as though you are dealing with daylilies from your last description. You will get new ones sprouting for awhile but if you keep on top of it you'll get them. The reason I mentioned using a garden fork for digging is that you are less likely to slice off roots and crown and leave them behind to regrow, as with a shovel. The plants can be a challenge to remove but I've done it. Don't give up.

The garden fork is a great idea, makes sense not to use a spade! You sure seem to know your stuff, I appreciate it. These plants won't get the best of me! I hope this helps other too. Thank you so much Joyce!

While you are digging up those day lilies put them to good use and cook for supper ~ the flower, tuber roots, and young, green leaves! Enjoy!
--- http://articles.sfgate.com/2005-04-...ps-harvest ~~~~

Dig them up in the spring just when they are sending up new shoots.  That identifies all the active crowns.  By mid summer they will be sending out many new growths from running roots.  But if you dig out all the active crowns in spring, you should prevent any further spreading, as the roots without the crown will die.  For those interested, I hybridize daylilys.  Many darks, pinks, two tones.  Looking to trade for any forms that may be usefull in my breeding.  Prefer the taller ones, not the short rebloomers.

hello, i live in illinois and have about 25 named varities ,lots of them,,but i only have one red w/yellow throat,and one dark purple with yellow throat..all the rest are yellows,creams pinks.,apricots,ect...Im looking for more dark varities..come spring I would  love to do some trading.. "only for dark.colors.".day lily bill do you think you would be intrested? I could shutterfly some pictures if you like?  Dee