Watering New Plants: When to Water and Evening Watering Myths

If you can avoid wetting the foliage, you can water new plants—begonias, daylilies, black-eyed Susans, and others—at any time, morning or evening. The old wives' tale against evening watering stems from disease concerns when leaves stay wet overnight. My preference is morning watering so foliage dries before cooler evening temperatures arrive.

Honestly, most new perennials only need supplemental watering a few times to establish. After that, they can typically handle natural rainfall unless a late summer drought occurs.