Hot and humid are the watchwords for this June Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. Daylilies and grasses don’t mind though I do when I go out to weed the garden. The air is so heavy I can hardly breathe. From just deadheading today’s daylilies, I’m soaked in sweat. Deadheading requires very little exertion so you can tell how humid it is.
I wrote that paragraph yesterday. This morning I awoke to raindrops pelting the skylights above my bed. The rain didn’t amount to much, barely a trace, but it did bring down morning temperatures. I am grateful.
Since June is always about the daylilies in my garden, I’m going to try to show you some of my newer cultivars this year. This is the ninth year of the blog, and while gardens do change, they stay pretty constant unless you have a building project under construction. I have a lot of good strong colors in my garden, and I’m now trying to add daylilies with a certain Je ne sais quoi. I specifically chose many with patterned eyes and eyezones. Hybridizers are doing a lot of work with eyes, and they are coming up with fantastic patterns. Of course, they are always trying for blue eyes because blue is the one color daylilies don’t feature.
Working a lot of daylilies in the landscape with other plants takes skill. I remember years ago pondering the photos of a lady named Barbara. I don’t know her last name, but she was one of the most skillful landscape designers I’ve ever seen using daylilies. I used to pore over her photos–this was before blogging–and try to capture the essence of why her garden and photos were so beautiful. She was quite clever echoing daylily colors, with the eyezones of one daylily matching the color of another daylily self. Barbara removed her photos from the Internet years ago, but I still sometimes dream of them. My garden is only a hazy mirror of her skill.
Not only is color important, but also texture. Daylily foliage looks like rough grass, and clumps take up a lot of space, so you need to weave in texture that is feathery and light, or substantial. It’s important to have larger leaves so the whole garden doesn’t look like it’s going to float off the planet, or just be messy. My garden can look very messy and overgrown if I’m not careful. So, I add sturdy plants like true lilies, perennial hibiscus, shasta daisies, Phlox paniculata and others. Then, I also plant ornamental grasses and echinacea to blow in the wind. Movement in a garden is important too, don’t you think?
If you can find the cultivar ‘Wild and Wonderful,’ you should buy it. I don’t think it’s that expensive anymore, and it blooms prolifically with huge bouquets of flowers. Although it doesn’t bloom over a long period, it is fantastic while it does.
Another large wild daylily is ‘Webster’s Pink Wonder.’ It truly deserves the name because, when blooming, it stops people in their tracks. It also wins at daylily shows because is very large and unique.
I used to grow mostly dark daylilies. While I still love these, I have moved on to some of the pinks. They are quite special. One of the great difficulties in hybridizing was pulling the peach out of our pink daylilies. Hybridizers have been very successful in recent years. ‘Pink Lemonade Party’ is very pink. It’s a short daylily though.
H. ‘Elegant Attire’ is peachier than this photo shows, but it’s a beauty with nearly perfect form. It’s also a shorty for the front of the garden bed.
Below you can see what I’m trying to accomplish in the garden. I’m not very happy with it this year. I don’t know why. Maybe because the rain made all the perennials go gaga, and they are crowding each other out. The poor daylilies are having a heck of a time. It could also be that leaving the garden for a couple of weeks I didn’t get to cut everything back and give the daylilies more sun.
It’s still pretty. I guess. I promise I’m not searching for compliments. I’m truly not happy with it.
I’ll leave you with a couple more daylilies I’m enjoying today. That’s the thing about daylilies. Everyday is a new one with new flowers. I could go out there now and see different ones in bloom. The garden is always a surprise and a joy from day-to-day. See, now I sound a bit happier. Ha!
H. ‘Apache Beacon‘ is a UF Crispate. Don’t you just love how its petals and sepals curl at their very edges? Mine does have a bit of thrip damage on some of its flowers, but nothing in life is perfect so I’m showing it anyway.
Oh, and here’s a true lily. Daylilies aren’t true lilies, but this lily is wonderful. Longfield Gardens sent ‘Kaveri‘ to me last summer, and I love it. Thanks Longfield!
That’s all I have for GBBD. I hope yours was great. After I deadhead the daylilies this morning, I’ll sit and read my favorite blogs. Ciao!
You’ve touched on my problem with daylilies. That crazy, messy foliage just drives me nuts. I’ve got the same problem with daffodils, the foliage is even the same shape! I put up with it in daffodils, with much grumbling. But I went bold one day and tore out the few daylilies I had. Now don’t gasp! it had to be done. LOL Yours are gorgeous, and obviously you know how to work around that strappy foliage.
It’s okay Robin. I completely understand. Haha.
Love that Navajo Pony and the Apache Beacon. My kind of daylilies. Thanks for joining in for bloom day!
I enjoyed the early morning (for me) romp through your garden. ‘Kaveri’ is an eye-catcher and I’m glad you gave us a peek. Since I have little to no sun, I have to admit I don’t keep up with the new daylilies these days, but even still, I’m not totally sold on the chunky tetraploids. The old-fashioned lemon lily is likely to be my lifetime favorite. That said, I’m smitten with the iris-like form of ‘Navajo Pony’ and would give it a try if I could.
I’ve also enjoyed reading about your trip to England. You caught Sissinghurst at its prime, I think. I’ve made 7 visits since 2001, but only once when the Moat Walk and Nuttery were in bloom and the White Garden was at its best. Seems you were lucky with the weather too. I’m just home from leading a tour to the West Country (mainly Somerset and southern Wales). The gardens are fabulous everywhere in Britain and I don’t think I’ll be able to curb myself until I’ve seen them all…or nearly all, at least.
Will you make it to GWA in Atlanta this year? I thought I would have to miss because of a family wedding, but it’s been moved to July, so I hope to fit it in.
Hi Marian, yes I’m planning on going to GWA in Atlanta this year. I need to re-up my membership and get the trip paid for also. Thanks for the reminder. I did so love England and like you, I think I’ll need to see all the famous gardens I can. Bill and I are ready to go back. 😉 About the daylilies, I have many that are diploids. I tend to like them better because they are more delicate. ‘Navajo Pony’ is a dip for example. Many of the UF and spider ones are. Would love to see you in Atlanta.
Seeing your daylilies makes me want to go purchase some new ones. I love them. They are so beautiful for requiring such little attention. I love the way the blooms change direction with each bloom. You can walk through the garden daily and even tho the same ones are blooming it appears that they are different by the way the blooms are pointing. Happy GBBD.
Lisa, I hadn’t thought about that, but yes, they do change position each time they bloom. You’re so smart. I love them because of their variety and easy care. Wonderful plants. Wonderful season.
I just bought my first Cheyenne Spirit. Isn’t it peaceful? I am confident you will figure out what to do with the garden you are not happy with – the artistic inspiration will come to you. You do great work. All the beautiful photos you post prove it!
Thank you Tiffany. I went outside after I wrote this post and worked hard cutting things back. I felt much better afterward. When I’m not here, the garden gets out of control. I love ‘Cheyenne Spirit,’ one of the best newer plants on the market I think.
Your daylilies looks amazing to me. The last 2 days have been so humid and hot. My husband asked me if I sprayed myself down with water hose after I came in from deadheadung and watering my flowers. I hadn’t but sure looked like I did. The heat index in my Oklahoma backyard read 120° with an actual temp of 102°. What will July and August temps be like?
Karen, it was just awful, but I sure enjoyed the respite we got last night. Did you notice it too? I’m not going to think ahead about July and August. I just can’t. 😉
Gorgeous! Scrumptious! Your garden looks wonderful.
Thanks Gail. I think the heat was making me grumpy.
Love the daylilies! Never thought about matching the eyes to surrounding colors. That really makes them pop. I would love to have just borders and borders of their lovliness. And with the scarcity of water in our area, that might be what I need to do.
Hi Peggy, I wouldn’t have either if I hadn’t seen Barbara do it first. All of my daylilies are on drip irrigation. I’m sure that helps.
You always show at least one daylily I put on my want list. Last year it was Webster’s Pink Wonder. This year it’s Raspberry Goosebumps and Pink Lemonade Party. Do have a favorite online place to buy daylilies?
Hi Kathy, I buy a lot of my daylilies off of the lily auction. http://www.daylily.com/cgi-bin/auction.cgi. I also buy many from my friend, Clint Barnes, who is a local hybridizer. My advice is for you to get ‘Raspberry Goosebumps’ over ‘Pink Lemonade Party.’ It’s taller and shows up better in the garden.