One the great gifts of Carol Michel’s long-running meme, Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, is the chronicling of one’s own garden throughout the years. I’ve participated most months since May 15, 2008, when I wrote about my David Austin roses. Since I’ve done this for so many seasons, I find some things never change. The roses bloom April and May, and the daylilies begin their two-month sprint at the beginning of June. This parade rarely varies.
As summer moves in with a vengeance, hard-working natives and other perennial plants like Phlox paniculata will take over the show.
June, however, is still about the daylilies. I have changed many of mine over the years. My taste in daylily styles from rounded bagel shapes to wild and wooly UFs goes back and forth, and while some old favorites continue blooming, others now take center stage.
I’m a big fan of red and dark purple plants, and my fascination doesn’t stop at daylilies. Lucky for me and other red/purple freaks, hybridizers have worked tirelessly to create many that are much more color fast. Because daylilies are composed of so much water, they fade and melt in the sun. Still, they need warm temperatures to multiply and bloom at their best. Reds and purples also show thrip damage to a higher degree. This summer, I’ve had more thrips perhaps because our weather has been so moist even when it turned warm.
I fell in love with H. ‘Banana Pepper Spider’ a couple of years ago at our local daylily show. Seeing daylilies in a local garden or at a show is a good way to see if a particular cultivar likes your climate. I bought ‘Banana Pepper Spider’ from a friend, and it hasn’t disappointed me in the garden. I like its slender scapes (stems), and I love the yellow flower and bright green throat. You may notice that many of my daylilies are older. My garden is proof that you can grow older daylilies and still have a beautiful daylily garden in June. Although I’m a sucker for newer ones too, I find that simple shapes blend better into an overall garden setting. Gosh, I’d love to write a book about daylilies! There’s so much to know about them.
Boltonia asteroides ‘Pink Beauty’ is such a pretty native. It’s supposed to be cut back and bloom in late summer, but I let it grow this year because its blue-green foliage was so pretty, and I had a hole where a rose died all the way to the ground. As soon as it blooms, I’ll cut it back and hopefully, it will bloom again in September. If you’re thinking it looks like an aster, you’d be right. It does. It’s one of our false asters.
Another plant continuing to put on a show is ‘Queen of Holland’ clematis which began blooming in late April or early May. It is still going strong.
While processing my photos yesterday, I noticed that all this rain made the garden look very, very green. Normally, you can see much more brown from the gravel paths, and it seems like more flowers should be blooming. The long, slow spring may have something to do with flowers taking their time. We had one small hot spell, and then more rain. We are supposed to hit 90F today with more rain on Thursday. Has that El Nino year started already?
Looking back toward the house, you can see the cafe lights we hung above the back deck. The deck is on its last posts. Bill and our brother-in-law, Paul, built it about twenty years ago. We figured we would let it go out with a flourish. Just kidding. The truth is we have two kids in college and one in Catholic high school. We don’t have money to replace the deck this year or next. Let’s hope it hangs in there. I like the cafe lights very much, and I was inspired by Pam Penick at Digging when we visited a few weeks ago. Last week I saw lights in Target, and I snapped them up. Pam has a meme every month on the 16th called Foliage Follow-up. The two pictures, above, show much of my foliage is green because the coleus haven’t had the heat to do their thing yet. They will. The pot below shows a preview. When plants quit blooming due to the heat, colorful foliage always comes through.
Happy Bloom Day and Foliage Follow-up everyone!
I totally missed the frog the first time around! What a fabulous photo!!!
It’s funny to hear other gardeners rhapsodizing over daylilies, because I took all of mine out. The flowers are gorgeous, I’ll admit, but too brief, and the foliage always looked ratty. I suppose I was doing something wrong, but I finally gave up. So I’ll just admire yours, and be done with it!
Hey Dee,
Looking as beautiful as ever and your GO K-STATE chairs look great in red dirt country.
Love ya, babe.
Dee, the frog image is spectacular. One of my favorites of all time. Well…..mostly. I’m not a big daylily person but I do like your collection and the clematis too.
It's all beautiful Dee!!!! Love, love, love the frog in the daylily. Great shot
Anna, I'm grateful for it too. So grateful for the rain also.
Jennifer, it has bloomed for a month or more. Amazing really. I think it's been there five years now.
I get you on the earwigs. We have blasted thrips ourselves. They muddy things.
He's snug as a bug in a rug. 🙂
I agree. I'm quite partial to Sea Urchin and Storm of the Century. But I also like Druid's Chant and Lavender Stardust.
Dee, would you mind if I paint a watercolor picture of your header?
Lisa, feel free to paint a watercolor of my little frog. That is the exact color of that daylily too. I didn’t change a thing while working with that photo. I’m honored that you want to.~~Dee
Jane, hurrah for rain and sunshine both. This has been one of those springs when I feel like I can really garden. Thanks for stopping by.
Thank you Dee.
I want the frog and the daylily it is squatting on ! Fantastic photo !
The garden looks fantastic, and, as you say, all is so green this year. We are the same here in the uk, we have had it wet and warm so far, so things have shot up, and are very lush !
You've got some nice daylilies, especially Readheaded Hussy. Great name, too. And I also like the frog, I had to look at the picture for a while before I saw him.
Love that Banana Pepper Spider lily, and I wish I had frogs in my garden! They are so cute! Also, I have to say I'm rather grateful for the slow spring. I'm sooooo behind!
The little frog on your daylily is an amazing photo! I love daylilies, too, and it’s a treat to see all yours, knowing it won’t be long before they bloom here, too. I pick daylilies out for color and their names–I’ve got a ‘Romeo’ and a ‘Juliet,’ for instance:) We’ve had similar weather this spring, and it’s been so nice not to have to get the hoses out every day. Everything looks so lush and such a gorgeous green in your garden, Dee!
Two kids in college….yes, been there, and I understand!
Rose, I love that you pick out your daylilies for their names. There are some I won’t grow because I don’t like their names, but mostly I pick out for plant habit. Thank you! Someday those children will get out of college and maybe have some children of their own.
Your little frog looks so cozy in the world's most beautiful bed. You absolutely should frame it. Rather than charming little green frogs, I only seem to get wicked looking earwigs. I really need to do something about them. They are not charming.
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, June 2014 http://t.co/P2o5OqqWHo via @reddirtramblin
That clematis Queen of Holland got my attention. It's a beauty.
Yes, agreed–the frog/bloom shot is fabulous! You have some beautiful Daylilies. Ours are just about to bloom here–it will probably happen fast now with all the heat.
Dee A. Nash Pat Stamile is great for producing real pinks. He calls them "Petunia Pink" also stating that in the past daylilies that were called pink were not the color we would call "pink". So he set out to make a real clear "Petunia Pink" daylily.
Great frog shot!
Thanks Kathy!
Nancy, I would love to visit your garden, and I will. I love all pink daylilies that have a blue undertone. Stamile's pinks are my favorites even now.
Thank you Nancy!
Thank Carol, and thanks for Bloom Day.
He did me too Gail. Terri, that's so funny. He does look like he's in the middle of a crown.
OF COURSE everyone loves that precious little green frog sprinkled with pollen. Great photo! It belongs in a prominent nature magazine. I’m going to look for ‘Jedi Blue Note’. Lavenders and purples in daylilies are my favorites.
Hi Sandy, thank you. I’m thinking about framing that picture. I love those little frogs. ‘Jedi Blue Note’ is an oldie, but a goodie. I hope you find it somewhere. Try the Lily Auction. It’s often there and for a cheap price. ~~Dee
So pretty and lush! I love the frog picture. It is fabulous.
A-mazing capture of that little friend in the daylily! Lovely post…and I especially adore those purple chairs tucked into the middle of your garden.
I LOVE that frog picture! Such a good capture! Your patio lights make that whole area look even more inviting. Your garden — both flowers and foliage — are looking so pretty. Thanks for joining in for Foliage Follow-Up, Dee.
Thanks Pam, and thanks for the idea and meme.
I LOVE that frog picture! Such a good capture! Your patio lights make that whole area look even more inviting. Your garden — both flowers and foliage — are looking so pretty. Thanks for joining in for Foliage Follow-Up, Dee.
It is a good idea not to rush to get new cultivars of daylilies, besides the price. Those that eventually are Stout Medal winners or everybody’s favorite at the daylily clubs are bound to be great bloomers and sturdy plants.
Yours look beautiful up close and from a distance.
Jean, you’re absolutely right. I try to wait a few years to see how a cultivar performs before I buy it. Like everyone, I’ve been burned before. Thank you!
kinda looks like he has a big crown
That pollen sprinkled froggie makes me happy!
Dee I love the daylilly with the little green frog! That’s a priceless photo! I want you to know I am so inspired by your purple chairs. My mom is a purple girl deluxe and I know she would love to look out her window and see purple chairs on the lawn. Maybe I’ll get up my courage….
Go for it Vickie! It’s just paint. You can always paint them a different color later. Come visit me soon, okay?
Hi! Your garden is beautiful! Great pictures, love the one with frog at the lily.
Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, June 2014 http://t.co/FkMFjSiRcH #garden
I love love love your header photo. So colorful and full of life. The pollen on that little frog…wow… Your garden is a wow too. So lush with all the rain and temperate weather this spring. Summer is upon us this week tho. Happy Gardening.
Thank you Lisa. I thought he was simply darling too. I took the pic in early morning. He’d just woken up.
I love all pink day lilies and your Jedi Blue Note is wonderful. And Mr. Frog adds just the right element of charm and surprise. My day lilies come later than yours. Storm of the Century is sending up buds, but it's the only one that is even thinking about blooming. You can visit my garden at http://www.garden337.com .