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Tuesday, May 31, 2016

MAY IS FOR DAYLILIES

With June fast approaching I realize I have not given my day lilies their moment of glory. Between the rain drops, and there have been many, there have been abundant blooms. This is partly due to the fact that last year I did some moving around, ridding the area of nut grass and transplanting some shorter varieties from the back garden to the front.
 The roadside lily, Hemerocallis fulva, was the first to bloom. A pass-along from a garden friend, this lily was introduced into the USA from China in the 1800s. Little did they know how they would eventually run amok in the ditches along US roads. They are quite tall and will need to be moved further back in the fall and I will keep my eye on them knowing my proclivity for plants that take over.


My other daylilies came from a colleague of David. We went down to Gonzales in 2000 to visit his ranch where he was breeding daylilies. I came home with a bag containing 5 different varieties and, as we were only just starting the garden, I put them in the only two places where we had soil in raised beds. One in the front and one the back, and there they stayed for all these years.



They had kindly written out the names and descriptions of the different ones. Where is that paper now I wonder? It was in the potting shed for a long time but must have been thrown out at some point (not I) so the only one I remember is Hemerocallis "Tiny Pumpkin" This was long before I started to write about my garden and even before digital cameras so I wasn't really into the naming game.

Arising from strappy, evergreen leaves the flowers are a pumpkin/apricot color. It is considered one of the shorter varieties with a maximum height of 18" so works well in the front of the bed.


But there the naming ends.


I don't really have a favorite, but I do like this wine colored one, not only because of its color  but because it is short and can be placed at the front of the bed. I divided and moved it from the back garden to the second tier of the front courtyard bed in the fall.



Behind is a peachy lily with a green throat, which is slightly taller.


It's easy to see why gardeners fall in love with the day lily family. I once went on the Austin Daylily tour. One garden had nothing but daylilies. Too many varieties to count. The couple who had collected them were moving away as it was becoming just too hot in Austin. I wonder what happened to their collection? I'm betting they took some with them.
And finally a daylily to brighten any corner of the garden with its canary yellow bloom.

10 comments:

  1. You have some beautiful ones. I'm sure that couple must have taken some with---how could you bear to leave behind a collection? I'm sure it was spectacular to see.........

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  2. You have some beautiful ones. I'm sure that couple must have taken some with---how could you bear to leave behind a collection? I'm sure it was spectacular to see.........

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  3. I love daylilies. And, I don't have many. There were quite a few in my old garden, but I didn't bring them here. I had no fence, at the time.

    I need to add more. They are so pretty, even if for a short time.

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  4. I love day lilies. I had quite a collection in my garden in Mississippi and I am now trying to get one going here in Conroe TX. Wish I could find someone local to buy them from. Yours and great. Thanks for sharing!

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  5. Oh, I do like your Tiny Pumpkin and the wine-colored one. I planted my first hemerocallis 18 months ago, which did not flower last year, nor will they this year as they have been trampled by the stone mason who just finished our patio. So, thank you for letting me enjoy yours!

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  6. I must admit I'm generally not a fan of daylilies, but the ones you've shown here in your post are very pretty! :)

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  7. I love the short wine-colored one, too. I need to move some of mine around as well. I’m not getting to watch mine open like I used to because they are outside of the breakfast room and with the remodel, I’m not sitting in there anymore. Youv’e reminded to me to make the rounds and walk over there (when it’s not raining) and check out my own day lilies.

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  8. They're all deserving of praise but I love the coral and wine-colored ones. Until we moved 5 years ago, I'd only had one daylily but I inherited a large number of a dormant variety with rusty-red flowers, and jumped in from there, trying other species and cultivars. Mine seem slow to get going this year, with only one or two flowers appearing at a time but they're a welcome addition in summer, when most plants struggle just to stay alive.

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  9. So many lovely lilies! I have a few of the common "ditch" lilies and they are only just beginning to bloom, having missed their May deadline without any apologies. I do appreciate the way the bloom stalks dance high up above the rest of the bedding plants. I divided my one large clump last year and re-distributed them out into places where they'll get better sun. I'm really looking forward to a better/longer display as reward for that in combination with the rain this year. Go lilies go!

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  10. Here there are more of a late June/July flower, but the first flower stems are already coming up.

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