At the Red Dirt Ranch, when the daylilies are blooming, nothing else can compare.
Not even beautiful Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’ although she does give it her best shot as she peeks from behind the variegated weigela.
Can you see why I never want to leave home?
I’ve enjoyed the ‘Atomic’ glads so much I’ve added some other types. Scott from Old House Gardens Bulbs had a great suggestion to plant a few glads at a time. That way you get a succession of bloom. So far, all of my glads have come back every year and multiplied just a bit. They may remind my mother of funerals, but they just make me think: COLOR!
Right now, the entire garden is an explosion of color. Bright, bold, beautiful color. Don’t be afraid. Instead, in the south, work it.
Above, ‘Jan’s Twister’ is really showing off. The bloom is larger than my hand, and the scapes (stems) don’t fall over with the weight.
H. ‘Jedi Blue Note’ is such a pretty shade or purple/blue. It is a great contrast with the Echinacea ‘Sundown,’ one of the Big Sky Series I can actually grow. Every summer, when TLC Nursery has its August Bucks, I add another echinacea or two to my garden. They don’t mind the heat during transplanting.
‘Annabelle’ caused quite a stir on Twitter and Facebook earlier in the week when Helen Weis snapped a pic of me next to the arbor because ‘Annabelle’ is nearly as tall as I. People wanted to know what I fed her (the shrub, not Helen.) I don’t feed ‘Annabelle.’ It is the type of hydrangea (arborescens vs. macrophylla.) She just gets good soil and does her thing while making me look good.
‘Moonlit Masquerade’ is an older beauty, but my goodness, she does light up a shady space.
Back when I bought my original named daylilies from Wanda (who basically gave them to me she was so generous), she convinced me to take an eyed daylily called ‘Joe Marinello.’ She said it was a “good one,” and I should have it. At the time, I wasn’t as enamored as she was, but she proved to be the smarter one. ‘Joe Marinello’ is very hard to find now, and he is a favorite.
As is the incomparable ‘Brooklyn Twist.’ With daylilies, I like them all: the eyed ones, ones with enhanced midribs, ruffled ones, whirly twirlies, spiders and UFs. If it’s pretty and does what it is supposed to do, and isn’t a weird muddied reddish-orange-brown, I’m in.
This Sunday, the Central Oklahoma Hemerocallis Society is holding its annual show. The doors open to the public at 1:00 p.m. I’m planning on entering again, and if you’re near Oklahoma City, why not bring out your dad for Father’s Day. Contrary to what the world says, it’s not just women who love flowers (ask my husband), especially daylilies.
Well, I’ve got to be going now. Hope to see you at the show on Sunday. Many thanks to Carol of May Dreams Gardens who hosts Bloom Day each month. Go there, and you can see what is blooming all over the world.
It is certainly a treat to visit your gardens.
Thanks so much Nell Jean.
Wowza! Your gardens are so inviting! I’d stay put, too, sipping sweet tea and savoring all those gorgeous blooms. 😀
Hi Kate, they aren’t so inviting later in the day (chuckle.) Too hot. But, if you ever visit, we’ll sit on the deck and have some sweet tea with lemon and mint. 🙂
OMG the frog on the lily is gorgeous! the best kind of friend…
Yes, those little frogs are everywhere Jennifer. We had painters in, and the lady painter was terrified of frogs. Egad, what a terrible place to have to paint. I kept telling her the frogs were our friends.
I love the long shots of your garden. I could just imagine walking out there into that morning light. The best part of the day. I love all your day lilies.
Thank you Rose so very much. I love those silly daylilies too. They are my passion along with roses, phlox, glads, dahlias, lavender . . . . 😉
I want to start planting more glads. I’ve also had luck with them returning. Do you have a link to your favorite list?
Jim, I buy heirloom ones from Old House Garden Bulbs. I’ve had great luck with these hardy survivors returning. I also add a few each season to keep up the bloom parade.
Love, love, love daylilies. And frogs. 🙂
Mary, I love those little frogs too. They are so much fun. They like to rest in the blooms.
Hi Dee,
Just getting to look at your post, but so glad I did..how cute is that frog on your ‘Jason Salter’ !
He’s got the best seat in the house for your wonderful Daylily show.
What a beauty ‘Brooklyn Twist’ is, and your Annabelles are so far head of mine,
Do you have yours in sun or shade?
Thanks for the tour
karen
glimpsesofglory-karen.blogspot.com/
Thanks Karen. This time of year, I find those little frogs all over the garden. ‘Brooklyn Twist’ like so many UFs really gets going when it gets hot, and lawsy, it is hot around here. 106F yesterday. My Annabelle’s are in partial sun. The one on the left gets more sun than the one on the right. They are on a drip irrigation system.
What a glorious garden you have.
Gardeners are the luckiest people in the world.
Hi Lydia, I so agree. I keep trying to tell everyone that. 🙂
Frog on a daylily, gotta love that. Your garden looks very cheery and bright… you can sure tell you “work it”!
Thanks Carol. I would think as hard as I work, I’d be thinner. Ha!
Your garden looks lovely. Enjoy!
Thank so much Cynthia. Getting too warm to really enjoy. 🙁
Your daylilies are beautiful. You have a couple that I have too ~ Moonlight Masquerade and Jedi Blue Note ~ and several that I now want to order immediately.
Gladiolus ‘Atomic’ is a real stunner.
Sweetbay, I deleted the other two comments. I do that all the time on others’ blogs. It’s so easy to not find one’s comment, and then, later, there it is. Thanks so much. I love so many of them. It was too hard to choose, so I just have most. 🙂
Dear Dee, Daylilies are my first love and even though they bloom for too short a time I still love them dearly….So much so, that I have been looking at daylily catalogs…the spider types get me every time! Wowzer on the glads and the daylily’s frog friend. xogail
Gail dear, they were my second love. If you have earlies, mids and lates, they bloom for well over a month. Yippee!
This time of year I always feel a little daylily envy which leads to my wondering why I’ve not planted them in masses.
Yours Dee, are gorgeous. Walking around the new neighborhood and driving by the old yesterday — especially that one magical garden near St. Luke’s filled with Dayliies — I decided I’d take the plunge in these new gardening grounds I’m digging in. I love how they tower above the garden like shooting stars.
Maybe Sunday will be a good place to start.
Janell
Come on in Janell, the water’s fine. I wouldn’t plant until September though. The weather is way too hot. Their roots are so close to the surface they get too hot and rot.
Enjoyed all the colorful pics. Your place is so beautiful! I would like to do more perennials around our place. The annuals are pretty but they are wearing me out.
Have a great weekend!
Yes, Kelly, add a few perennials every year. It will help to cut down on the garden work (after the initial push).
Dee, your garden is a daylily heaven! I’ve been smitten with these plants for several years now and keep adding a few more each year, though nothing to compare to your garden. ‘Joe Marinello’ certainly is a beauty–I love the pink and purple combo. The owner of the daylily farm where I’ve gotten many of my starts talked me into buying ‘Moonlit Masquerade’ a couple of years ago, and I’m so glad I did. It has performed really well for me.
The little frog on the last daylily is the perfect garden accessory!
Rose, I think ‘Moonlit Masquerade’ won a 2004 Stout Award for being a great performer throughout the country. It is a lovely thing, but I have heard it is prone to rust. However, it gets cold enough in both of our gardens to keep daylily rust at bay.
What a gorgeous explosion of color in your garden.
Have a great weekend.
Jennifer
Thank you Jennifer. It is quite colorful right now. You have a wonderful weekend too.
Love the yellow flower with the green frog- amazing colors- not the colors we see in Illinois.
Yes, the light is different in Illinois from Oklahoma and further south. We have very intense sunlight which makes the garden look very different. However, I love Illinois (much of my mother’s family is there), and I find the softer light soothing. Thanks so much.
A beautiful garden, Dee. And I love your closing shot with the green visitor. Happy Blooms Day!
Helen, aren’t those frogs the cutest? I love them. Happy Bloom Day to you too.
Annabelle is just lovely. As lovely as the tiny frog is cute. Wonderful post!
Thanks Linda. I hope you’re staying cool. Would love to see your garden again someday.
Right now in my own garden it is hard to notice anything else as well. I have decided that Daylilies are just as exquisite as any orchid. I have a Moonlight Masquerade at home and love the high contrast colors. We have Brooklyn Twist at work in the display garden, and several of us were commenting on how nice it looked this morning. I have no more room for anything, including a daylily, but I saw Black Ambrosia blooming today and it has me thinking about what I can take out to make room.
Les, you could always do some editing. See how I enable you?
What a great shot of the cute little frog perched on the bloom. Your garden is glorious now. All the daylilies are pretty, but I think I like ‘Jedi Blue Note’ the best.
Oh thanks MMD. Those froggies just pose for me, the little darlings. ‘Jedi Blue Note’ is a beautiful color.
The frog was nice. Use to get those when I bought tropicals from Florida. Just received a spider day lily from a grower in georgia. It will be my first spider type, I believe its Kindly Light. yours are stunning!
Thanks Greggo. You will love that spider!
Beautiful photos, Dee. You have a very nice collection of daylilies. H.
Thanks Helen.
Wow, now that is some color. Love it. I can’t believe that glads winter over at your place. They don’t here. I would have to dig them up yearly which is why I don’t grow them. Daylilies are marvelous. I especially like the spider lily. \
In answer to your question on my blog about me going to Seattle. I am sorry to say I can’t go. sniff…
Thanks so much Lisa. I know, isn’t that weird about the glads? They have all wintered over for three or four seasons now, and in bitter cold. I wouldn’t dig them up either. I’m so sorry you won’t be in Seattle. Was hoping to see you in person again. Sniff indeed.
Wow, you have so many beautiful lilies in bloom. What a beautiful collection of them. I think the one with the little frog is such a sweet picture.
Thank you Lona.
Dee, I love your daylilies and fearless use of color! You have convinced me to try the Atomic glads, too, love the look of them with the daylilies. Bright is what we need to counteract the harsh summer sun. Annabelle is beautiful and the little visitor on Jason Salter is perfect with a capital P!
Thanks Frances. As for the ‘Atomic’ glads, I don’t think you will be disappointed. I also have some beautiful purple ones which need to come up front and center they are so pretty. :))
Dee that frog photo is wonderful! I am in awe of your daylilies…mine never look anywhere near that lush. Happy Bloom Day!
More water and Milorganite is what it takes. I learned those secrets from my daylily clubbing friends.
Loving your blooms. Awesome backyard. I know what you mean about staying home with gardens like yours. And you even have a lake too cool.
Hi Patsi, yes, I do sometimes go into the lake, but I don’t like the feel of the bottom. Ick. Thanks for the kind words.
Dee the colors are magnificent…what a show and I love that glad as well and have it in the garden…it is a hardy one for me but others are annuals that I love to plant every year especially for the hummers who flock to them…your gardens are stunning and the daylily and friend is the best