Welcome to Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, June 2015, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens. If it’s June in Oklahoma, then you must know it’s all about the daylilies, or hemerocallis, if we’re being botanically literate. Here are my bloom day posts for 2014 and 2013. Daylilies are always the stars of my June garden, but sometimes the roses join the party too.
Hemerocallis, as many of you know, means “beauty for a day,” so this botanical name makes perfect sense for a flower that only blooms for twenty-four hours and then is gone never to be seen again. Luckily clumps produce many, many flowers so we can enjoy them for two months or so, if we grow cultivars that bloom extra early and late. The latest daylily in my garden every year is ‘Autumn Minaret’ (Stout 1951.) It’s a worthy plant in any garden. Place it at the back of the border because it gets so tall. Because I have so many photos this time, I’m putting the daylilies in galleries. Just click on the smaller photos, and you can view them in a larger format.
Fortunately, we’re a week or so behind schedule, which will be good for the daylily show at Will Rogers Park Exhibition Center next weekend. I plan to be there and show off some of my plants. Daylily season should peak at the end of this week or the beginning of the next. When the daylilies are in bloom, my garden always reminds me of brightly-colored clown pants. It is a garden of many colors, varied shapes and heights. It’s crazy and joyful. I love it so.
Before we launch into total daylily addiction, I want to show you a few of my hydrangeas. They are peaking right now too. Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ is clearly not intimidated by all of the hydrangea newcomers added to the garden this year. Instead, she is strutting her stuff for all to see. I am ever grateful for this beautiful plant, and I’ve added starts to other parts of the garden so that her beauty will ever shine.
‘Annabelle’ is native to the U.S. and must have tons of nectar because she is a pollinator favorite. I just love those large, puffy white blooms. Don’t you? I don’t have good luck with the macrophylla hydrangeas. I know many people in Oklahoma do, but it just gets too hot and dry in my garden. H. paniculata, H. quercifolia and H. arborescens are more forgiving. As I wrote in an earlier post on perennial gardens, I’ve planted several new ones this year. They are just beginning to have their moment in the sun’s warm rays. I’m grateful for all the rain this spring and summer because it’s made transplanting easier.
On GBBD, it’s easy to just show beauty shots of individual plants, but that doesn’t give you an overall picture of how the plants relate to each other in the garden. This month, I’m trying for a mixture of each. Let me know if you like it.
Now, for more daylilies…. Would you like a few growing tips too?
Daylilies are shallow-rooted creatures so it’s not a good idea to plant them when temperatures are over ninety degrees. Still, one plantsman sent me three or four last week when we’d had our hottest weather yet. I planted them in the shade of other plants and watched them closely for rot. If you get a double or single fan of a particular plant, watch it closely. When you move a clump, it’s easy to keep alive, but small divisions are harder, especially when the mercury climbs. You can place a child’s umbrella over new plantings too. I’ve done that many times over the years. As for care, they don’t ask for much. Once established, they are fairly drought tolerant, but they also love water. The number of blooms you get is all determined by clump size. Fertilize with an idea of creating larger clumps. Daylilies love nitrogen. They also love shredded leaf mulch. I use both. This year, I fertilized with Back to Nature. All that manure helps increase clump size. However, I don’t do that every year because it might cause them to be over-fertilized. Aphids are attracted to clumps especially in the spring. Lady beetles will take care of some of the problem, but a blast of water from the hose end sprayer helps too. I also fertilize my daylilies at the same time I do my roses. They respond well to rose fertilizer too. I use Jobe’s All-Purpose Organic granular fertilizer for my roses. I also like Mills Magic Rose Mix. If I’m only doing the daylilies, I use a lot of Milorganite. I’ll be honest. There are a lot of good organic fertilizers out there, but I like the granulated ones and Moo Poo Tea the best.The others with chopped alfalfa blow in the wind. Plus, they mess with my asthma. I usually make the manure tea and use it in a hose end sprayer when summer has sapped the garden’s strength.
Here is another post on growing daylilies that breaks down the Four B’s to Daylily Garden Zen.
Those are my pretties for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. I can’t wait to go around and see what’s blooming elsewhere in the world. Thank you Carol for continuing this meme year after year.
‘Autumn Minaret’ also happens to be the last daylily I planted. I am really looking forward to its lateness and height.
I agree with everyone else. I love looking at all your photos and reading your posts. The close-up photos give me ideas for what I would love to have in my garden and the long shots give me ideas for design, color scheme and layout. After reading your blog for a while, I was convinced to buy and plant my first daylily. Thank you for sharing your hard work with all of us!
With your hot, dry summers, I’m surprised at the more tender plants that still do well at your house. You must be a diligent water-er! I gave up my daylilies a few years ago, because the strappy foliage often seems messy. But I know I am in a great minority to most gardeners! When I see blooms as pretty as yours, I get tempted again…..
Oh, I think I’m in daylily heaven! Every time you post long shots of your garden, I think how much I would love to see it in person. It looks beautiful in every season, but daylily time has to be extra beautiful. Thanks for the tips on caring for daylilies. I pretty much plant them and forget them:) But I remember a tip from a local grower of daylilies how important fertilizer is, especially to Stella d’ Oros (of which I have many and can’t seem to give away!), which you wouldn’t think need it. But he explained they put so much energy into producing blooms at the beginning of the season, they need lots of fertilizer to help them recover and re-bloom. Really enjoyed the combo of longer shots and close-ups.
Thank you very much Rose! Yes, daylilies do fine without good fertilizer, but they respond really well if you have the time to give them some. I find they make such nice large clumps. The garden is so beautiful today I can hardly stand it.
Beautiful!
I love hydrangeas
Happy Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day!
Oh Lea, I do too. I really do. ~~Dee
I love, love, love that second image with your home in the background. You must have a very peaceful location. Daylilies do have roots near the surface, but they are one plant I really don’t like to dig out when dividing or moving. They don’t “willingly” let go of their home in our dense clay soil. But like you, I have many of them for their ease of care and beauty in the garden. I also like your row of Annabelles. I had a client that ordered 120 of them for his daughter’s outdoor wedding (all plants needed to be white) on his huge property. That was some sight when they were in bloom in July.
In my mind’s eye, the thought of that wedding with all of the ‘Annabelle’s’ takes my breath away. I can’t imagine. Yes, I’ve dug so many daylilies this spring, and I’m tired of it. They take a lot of dirt with them when they go. ~~Dee
Love seeing your daylilies. Most of mine blooming now are the smaller ones. They are just getting going. Love the colors of yours and the ruffles. I haven’t bought a new daylily in several years. I sort of od’d on them many years ago. There is so much more variety now. Annabelle is the belle of the hydrangea ball right now. She is a beauty. Happy GBBD. P.S. I like seeing overall looks at the garden as well as close ups.
Lisa, I went through an od stage. Then, I quit buying for awhile. Now, I’m back to adding several. Part of that is the tour in 2017, but it’s also because they’ve made some real strides in color, shape and form in the last few years. I’ll probably quit buying again soon. Maybe. Ha~~Dee
Love the hydrangea photo- wish I could do those like that!!! Beautiful photos- Happy GBBD!
Thank you so much Kacky!
Gorgeousness abounds in your garden. I still love daylilies even though, my heart belongs to wildflowers! Love Ruby Slippers flanking the purple chairs!
I love day lilies and your blog! I also liked the idea of putting the entire garden bed as it does give a better perspective.
I have been hearing a lot about the Moo Poo tea. I am in southern IL and some summers are similar to your with not much rain. This year we too are getting a good amount. The poor people that are having all the flooding>>how awful!
Keep blogging and sharing!
Jill Nordin
You have some beautiful Daylilies. The mix of long views and blooms up close is terrific.
My daylilies are just starting. I love that red spider; she’a a beauty.
Like seeing the big picture alongside beauty shots of individuals. Gives ideas for placement and structure in garden.
Gogeous daylillies and hydrangea!
My garden is far behind and I only have small buds on my daylilies.
Thanks for the fertilizer info. I am terrible at remembering to fertilize (and my daylilies show it this year) but somehow I can usually remember to fertilize the roses. Now that I know rose fertilizer works well for daylilies, maybe they get in on some of that goodness! I also have ‘Autumn Minaret’ and though the bloom isn’t that special, I love the way it pops up and towers over the other plants.
Lilies! Not quite yet here. Such a beautiful garden Dee. The perfect balance of flower, tree, shrub and purple chairs!