I am sorry to say that I’ve gotten out of the habit of doing my Sunday Stroll with Aisling from the Quiet Country House. On Sundays, I have family commitments. I often miss the stroll, and it is one of my favorite memes on the blogosphere. So, this week, I’m going to stroll on Saturday instead. I hope Aisling won’t mind.
Above, I took this photo of H. ‘Indian Giver’ which is a small diploid, meaning it has two identical sets of chromozones in each cell. Ever since hybridizers discovered how to treat daylily seeds with colchicine, we now have tetraploids. Thus, daylilies are divided into dips and tets. I like both for different reasons. H. ‘Indian Giver’ is a favorite because its bloom possesses the delicate dip form with shades of both lavender and purple. The colors in this photo accurately represent ‘Indian Giver’ (one of the first daylilies I bought), and it is placed in the garden where it gets enough shade so that it doesn’t wash out on 100F degree days. If I photographed it in the sun, you would see more of the gray undertones of the flower which aren’t pretty.
If I’d never seen H. ‘Indian Giver’, I wouldn’t have gone nuts over daylilies several years ago.
We are at midseason with daylily bloom. Some are just now coming into flower, and others are finished. Some are sending up second scapes (stems), and others still have lots of buds on their scapes. To me, the garden appears full of floating butterflies, but the daylilies are starting to wind down, and that is all right because other plants will now bloom in their place.
Many daylily hybridizers prefer tets because they believe there is more opportunity to create unusual edges, brighter colors, flowers with strong substance, etc. Some hybridizers like John Shooter at Marietta Gardens are dedicated to dips, and he has done some wonderful things with the edges and eyes in his diploid introductions.
‘Victorian Lace’ is a tetraploid. Compare it with ‘Indian Giver’, and I think you can see the difference in ploidy. However, also consider that these two flowers are just a representation of their particular ploidy and not directly related to each other. I love both flowers the same way I love both tets and dips. I think it all depends on what you want in a particular flower. Fortunately, there are so many different hybrids that gardeners can find the kind of flower they want.
As I’ve mentioned before, it is really hot here with temps of over 100F for over a week. However, that hasn’t hurt the garden. In fact, everything continues to bloom well. The irrigation system helps. The beds and borders are irrigated with a drip line system which makes my job easier.
I get to enjoy the garden more than in years past. The one good thing about the heat is that the weedy grasses, with the exception of the Bermuda, are slowing down. I’m going to try a natural herbicide in the paths today. I’ll let you know if it works. Keep your fingers crossed.
Pam, I’m not sure about Cuphea llavea Tiny Mice. It seems to really like this spot, and is growing larger everyday. It is still not as large as its Bat-Faced cousin, but may achieve that later in the season despite its tag. I’ve also looked around the Internet, and they may be the same plant although Proven Winners shows this as a different variety. It does look more floriferous than the Bat-Faced one in a container on the deck. The above combo is unfortunately planted in front of a pale pink daylily and could have made it in Elizabeth’s garish combo parade. Fortunately, they didn’t all take off at once, and this daylily is finished for the season.
Most of the roses have retired to their queenly chambers until fall, and those that haven’t are crisped and faded from the sun. One exception is R. ‘MElpotal’, a/k/a Carefree Delight, which is beautiful spring to fall. If you decide to plant this big girl, better have a lot of room for her to spread her thorny canes because she will snag you at the slightest opportunity. I learned not to take it personally. I have deadheaded nearly all of the roses and in a month or two, they will look good again.
Hyrdangea arborenscens ‘Annabelle’ is in full swing and what a dance it is. Like I wrote last year, I did plant the other shrub I have on the other side of the arbor. You can’t see it in this photo, but it isn’t as large as this ‘Annabelle’ and still looks a bit out of balance. Next year, they will be more copasetic.
Dee,
I think Indian Giver just about the most beautiful daylily I have ever seen! That’s also a gorgeous picture. Well done!
.-= Randy´s last blog ..Ready For Planting! =-.
Good for you to have the irrigation taken care of. Annabelle is definitely my favorite shrub, after maybe the viburnum, for its reliability and abundance. Though Alpenglow is great too. The hydrangeas I am NOT impressed by are these Endless Summer types.
OMG – your blog is beautiful! I just found it on blotanical. Your photos are amazing! 🙂 -Jackie
.-= Jackie (Ellie Mae’s Cottage)´s last blog ..Tour of Newport Flower Show – Part 2 =-.
Jackie, thank you so much! That makes my day.~~Dee
It’s all lovely, Dee;-) The white hydrangeas, *sigh*, just gorgeous!
You are a real daylily guru! I just plant a few, and enjoy. But I don’t have any of those bi-color versions, only a Stella and a red one. But I’m running out of room!
.-= RobinL´s last blog ..So many flowers, so little time! =-.
Dee, I love to stroll through your garden with you any day of the week! I love Indian Giver! Oh no! (You realize this means that I’ll be hunting for it now, to add to my garden!)
Wonderful flowers… wonderful photos. So glad I happened by. 🙂
.-= Aisling´s last blog ..Sunday Stroll – Dappled Light =-.
Beautiful daylillies, Dee! And those hydrangeas are just gorgeous. They are one of my favorites.
.-= Teresa~ Gardening with Soule´s last blog ..Green Thumb Sunday 6/28 =-.
Thanks Teresa.~~Dee
Looking at your cuphea (which looks fabulous with the gaillardia, BTW), I’m inclined to think that ‘Tiny Mice’ and the bat-face are one and the same. Or at least close enough.
I’m glad you got some rain and cooler temps. The weathermen are not predicting that any of it will reach us, unfortunately.
.-= Pam/Digging´s last blog ..Woody lilies love the heat =-.
The only daylily blooming here is Stella de Oro. Buds on the scapes of just about all the others.
.-= Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening´s last blog .. =-.
Dear Dee, thank you for the stroll, highlighted by the wonderful explanation of the daylily ploidy differences. I am just learning about that and do plan to make some human crosses once the dips and tets are identified. Carefree Delight is a beauty, blooming despite the heat, she is a tough Oklahoma girl is seems. 🙂
Frances
.-= Frances´s last blog ..Rock My World-A Zen Garden =-.
It is such pleasure to be invited along on a garden stroll with you. Thanks Dee. You’ve created a bit of heaven there.
Very impressed with your ‘Indian Giver’ daylily — it almost looks like some kind of Lilium. Thanks for the info on the “tets and dips,” too. And I love the idea of any plant that is “bat-faced.” It was great strolling with you.
.-= Helen at Toronto Gardens´s last blog ..Discovery: Scarborough Community Garden =-.
Helen, IG does have a kind of Lilium look in that photo. I never thought about it that way. Thanks for strolling with me.~~Dee
I had a delightful time on the stroll Dee. Thanks for explaining the ‘ploids! I get it now, but don’t ask me to explain it! Your photo of Indian Giver is gorgeous! This is a daylily that goes on the list…ruffled edges and all! It’s a perfect blend of colors for my garden..and looks pretty spectacular in yours.
I hope it rains or something changes this heat wave that is continuing to hover over us all. Enough is enough! It is getting very tiring. gail
.-= Gail´s last blog ..Flowers For Friday =-.
Thanks Gail. You’ll be happy to know that unlike some of the newer cultivars, ‘Indian Giver’ is an inexpensive daylily. I think it costs about $7.00. I know I was.~~Dee
What a great stroll through your garden. And thanks for all of the info on daylilies. In the last few years I’ve started to appreciate them, so it’s interesting to learn about the differences. I do love your ‘Indian Giver’. Such dramatic and different colors for a daylily. Love the ‘Annabelle’ too. We’re experiencing the same kind of heat and it’s getting old!
.-= Jean´s last blog ..Too Hot to Blog =-.
Hi Jean, daylilies are good performers, but I need a mix of pretty perennials to make the garden sing. I think I just love whatever is blooming at the moment.~~Dee
If I could get hydrangeas to flourish in my garden I would be happy. It is still a goal after all these years. So I will just enjoy yours.
Donna
.-= MNGarden´s last blog ..Summertime Garden =-.
MN, I stopped by your blog, and your garden is lovely this time of year. Just so you know, ‘Annabelle’ Hydrangea arborenscens is about the only Hydrangea I can grow. I think it’s because it isn’t a macrophylla, but instead, a native of Illinois. If you can find it, I bet it will grow in your garden too. Such beauty is a gift isn’t it?~~Dee
Thanks for taking us on your lovely stroll, Dee. It’s so nice and cool, walking through your garden while I sit in the air conditioning! Those Hydrangeas are amazing, and so light there in the shade — very impressive.
.-= Diana´s last blog ..107 =-.
Diana, I hope you get some of the rain we had last night. In fact, it’s still raining a bit here. You all need it worse than we do, and it finally cooled us down to 92F.~~Dee
I really like ‘Indian Giver’ Daylily, and hearing that it looks best in some shade makes me think I might have a spot for that in my garden, as only one of my Daylilies gets full sun. Must go track it down.
.-= Mr. McGregor’s Daughter´s last blog ..GBDW: Green Mustache Update & A Corner Front Garden =-.
MMD, all of the purple and red daylilies look their best with a little shade in the afternoon. Not too much, or they won’t bloom as well, but if they get too much sun, they fade.~~Dee
What a nice stroll. I can see how you would want more daylilies after getting ‘Indian Giver’. It’s very pretty. Your garden looks lovely, hard to imagine that it has gotten to 100 F there all week.
.-= Carol, May Dreams Gardens´s last blog ..The Mystery of the Old Grub Hoe =-.
Hey Carol, I think the irrigation system is what kept everything going.~~Dee
What a delightful stroll through your garden Dee. I can see why Indian Giver drew you down daylily lane. That Annabelle is a striking bright white. I bet it really lights up the area where it is planted.
Hi Lisa, ‘Annabelle’ is a wonderful Hydrangea which requires little care. It works in most gardens. I don’t know why more places don’t sell it.~~Dee
It looks like a lovely stroll through the garden!
.-= Sheila´s last blog ..The Dry Garden =-.
Hi Sheila, thanks for stopping by. It rained here last night, so the weather will finally cool off.~~Dee