For July's Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, I want to share my visit to the daylily national convention. A region of the American Daylily Society puts on the AHS National Convention each year. Region 15 put on this year's convention, which was held in Asheville, North Carolina. Hemerocallis 'Another Day in Paradise' (Selman, 2011.) It was paradise if a humid one. H. 'Wishful Dreaming' (Selman, 2011) H. Porky Pig daylily (Gossard, 2011) H. 'Tripled Edged Sword' (Maryott 2020) It was exciting because Bill and I had never been to the national convention before. Over 500 people attended. My daylily sickness rages on, and theirs does too. If you find you love these flowers, I wrote a post about the care and feeding of daylilies a while back. First, our hotel for the daylily national convention The front porch at the Princess Anne Hotel. We've been to Asheville many times, but my...

As if it wasn't already difficult to grow roses in Oklahoma, we are now battling Japanese beetles too. Normally, I don't like to include words of war in my posts, but battling Japanese beetles is just that. War. Damage from Japanese beetles on Rosa 'South Africa.' Identifying Japanese beetles From the University of Illinois Extension: "Adult Japanese beetles are stocky and range from about 3/8 to 1/2 inch long. They are metallic green with coppery wing covers. There is a row of white spots along each side of the abdomen just below the wing covers, as well as two white spots on the back end of the abdomen." Japanese beetle adult in case you're wondering. These beetles are a menace I never saw these green and brown beetles in my garden until last year, and I'm hearing from all of you that they are a menace in your gardens too...

It's time for the June flower parade which, of course, includes our favorite daylilies. There are lots of other flowers blooming, but, in June, the daylilies always steal the show. First up are the spiders and UF (Unusual Form) daylilies There will be more UF daylilies as the season goes on. Hemerocallis 'Spider Miracle' is an older daylily, but it's having a very good year. H. 'Buddy's Wild and Wonderful,' a riff off of another daylily called 'Wild and Wonderful.' H. 'Spring Chicken' is such a soft blue pink in person. I love it. Another view of the splendid 'Spider Miracle' blooming in the lower garden. Hemerocallis 'Ninja Storm blooms in the lower garden. It is part of the June flower parade every year. H. 'Spider Miracle' and another daylily. I was deadheading, and my blue bucket got into the picture. This is the first time H. 'Buddy's Pierre' (Hall-J.,...

Let's chat about creating swathes of color. Yes, I'm spelling it in the English style as swathes because, as Anne of Green Gables says, an "e" adds just a little something. First things first, creating swathes of color isn't easy. Looking through 'Tamukeyama' Japanese maple, we can see color echoes in 'Orange Rocket' barberry, young crapemyrtle leaves, and 'Australia' cannas. Buy your plants in threes and fives So many gardeners have collections of one. One shrub here, one larkspur there, one peony here, and one rose there. The first way to create swathes of color is to buy and grow more than one plant. Three 'Royal Purple' smokebushes are the stars of this border. I cut them way down each spring to keep them full and lush. This photo is from summer 2021. If we're talking about a very special plant like 'Black Lace' elderberry, I can see buying just...