Daylily Haiku Thursday

o, to only be

resilient.  brilliant.

for twenty-four hours.

YouTube Video - 2009 Region 2 Tour Photos

Each summer, hundreds of daylily fanatics and friends attend a business meeting and garden tour in Region 2 of the American Hemerocallis Society.  The meeting is rotated between the five states that make up our region and in 2009, the Chicagoland Daylily Society hosted the meeting and tours.  Among the tassling fields of corn and flowing crops, there were 8 gardens to enjoy, new people to connect with and thousands of daylilies to admire. 

My roots are in southern Illinois, and have always been enamoured with the fields of glory lining the highways and moving Illinois forward.  It was a treat to return to my home state for this tour.  At this festive Christmas time of year, when I reminisce on family and home - these pictures of lush, green foliage and bright flowers bring a smile to my face. Each day of Winter brings me one day closer to the next Spring.  I can't wait.

These are my favorite photos from this event.

Enjoy!

Daylily Haiku Thursday

rain continues to fall

despite our deep desires

to keep ourselves dry

H. 'So Excited'

P.S.  If you happen to grow this one, please send me a hunk of it.

Winter Color Inspiration

I needed some color to brighten my day today, so I pulled out my digital stash of favorite garden shots from other people's gardens on Long Island in New York.  These are from the summer of 2006, but I still enjoy them as if I took them yesterday.  The color combinations are luscious. 

First, one of my favorite combination shot - ever.  It's H. 'Desert Icicle' in its glory, showing off in front of some of those famous Long Island hydrangeas.  My friend Melanie is blogging more Long Island gardening knowledge here, along with some cool daylily stories, too.

This second photo is taken in the backyard garden on George Rasmussen, hybridizer of H. 'Island Love Affair' and H. 'Kings Golden Treasure.' 

What is amazing about this garden is that it is a pocket-sized rainbow of color.  Every inch is carefully used and there is even grass to spare.

These next two show some real hot combinations.   Click on them to enjoy them one at a time in a larger size. 

I have never seen hydrangeas grow like they were on Long Island.  The spectrum of color was unbelieveable!

This next one is from Paul Limmer's yard.  What an awesome collection of daylilies!

This last photo is one of my favorite color combinations in the shade.  I keep saying I'm going to replicate it in my yard, but something else always grabs my attention and I forget I wanted to do it.  Then I see this photo again and try to remind myself to do it the following year. 

That "garden ADD" really kicks in sometimes, doesn't it?

Enjoy the color on this gray day...

Daylily Haiku Thursday

fall into the throat

of bright beauty that calls you-

deeply. madly. down.

H. 'Florida Scrub Jay'  and  H. ' Seven Angels'

Share our similarities...celebrate our differences!

There are over 60,000+ (yes, that’s sixty THOUSAND) daylilies registered with the American Hemerocallis Society, and since my garden space is currently finite, I have to choose very carefully which ones I will display in my gardens.

When I see daylilies for sale, I run through my current collection and think about similar looking daylilies that I already own. If my mind's catalog can see a daylily in my collection that looks similar to the one I'm considering purchasing, I ask myself – "Is this new one a better example of these traits than the one I already have?" If the answer is yes, I buy the new one and plan to cull the old one at a sale, in a trade or as a gift to another gardener.

In general, of the 250 registered daylilies I grow, none are very similar. I don’t have too many orange doubles, or too many pinks with thick gold edges, or too many dark purples, or too many yellows with bright green throats, or too many patterned eyes, and so on. In my collection, I like to exhibit ALL the daylily has to offer its public in terms of color, form and characteristics and to do that in my limited space I cannot have too many duplicates. When (not if) I have acres to garden on, I will change this philosophy, but for now, space is my limiting factor.

In my opinion, all daylilies that are registered and introduced into commerce should have some distinction over those already on the market. I have no doubt that distinction is a trait that is both subjective and objective, so Im not sure there is a wrong answer to the following question:

What makes a daylily distinct?

If I were a hybridizer who grows daylilies with the hopes of registering them and releasing them for sale to the public, I would make sure that my introductions did not look and/or perform like 10 other easily-recognizable and widely-distributed plants. (and that is sure hard to do with 60,000+ registered daylilies and millions and millions of unregistered ones out there…) Why would I waste my time and the buying public's time (and money) with a plant that looks like something else? Is distinction in the eye of the beholder?

Here is an example of my thought process regarding distinct daylilies in my collection.

In 1994, H. 'Chance Encounter' was introduced by hybridizer and daylily icon, Patrick Stamile. It is registered with a 6" flower, standing on 25" scapes and is a dormant tetraploid.

In 1997, two children of H. 'Chance Encounter' were introduced by Patrick, H. 'Big Sur' and H. 'Absolute Treasure.'

H. 'Big Sur' is registered with a slightly larger flower at 6.5" (an improvement), standing on 30" scapes (another big improvement) and is a semi-evergreen tetraploid (not much an improvement for me here in the north.)

H. 'Absolute Treasure' is registered with a flower size of a whopping 7" (a major improvement) on 32" scapes (another great improvement) and is an evergreen tetraploid (definitely not an improvement for me here in the north.)

(left to right: H. 'Absolute Treasure, H. 'Chance Encounter, H. ' Big Sur')

As you can see from the picture, these three daylilies look basically the same. There are beautiful nuances to each one, but overall, in the big garden picture, these are three pretty pink daylilies with yellow throats and wonderful undulating waved edges. To the eye of Jane Q. Gardener, they could be the same plant if viewed as a specimen.

I grew H. 'Chance Encounter' for years and loved it. It was prolific, floriferous and commanded attention in the garden. Then I saw H. 'Big Sur' the year it was introduced and fell in love. I couldn’t afford it until 4 years later, when I sold off my large clump of H. 'Chance Encounter' and bought H. 'Big Sur.' THEN, I saw H. 'Absolute Treasure' in a tour garden on Long Island in the summer of 2006. My heart skipped a beat at its size and height. I asked myself that question of "Do I have one similar, and if I do, is this one better?" The answer was yes, I do have one similar, but H. 'Absolute Treasure' is bigger, has greater substance and opens flatter than H. 'Big Sur.' These two are an exception- two similar daylilies both worthy of real estate in my small garden. The distinction is the flower size and height…and hopeful wishes that H. 'Absolute Treasure' can win me a purple ribbon in the extra large section of the exhibition show next year.

So what do you think?  What makes a daylily distinct?  I'd love to hear your thoughts in a comment; all opinions are welcome!

Thank you to Patrick Stamile for decades of forward contributions to the daylily world. We are all grateful of your dedication and eye for beauty!

Daylily Haiku Thursday - I miss Summer Already...

long summer evening

fleeting moments in orange

come back to me now

H. 'Mohican Summer'

arguably pink. (both me and my daylilies)

A late night conversation last night revealed I am predictable when given a choice of color.  I always choose pink.  And, as late night conversations go, this revelation sparked an internal discussion with myself about the color pink. 

I have always rebelled against the social notion of being a "girlie girl."  I think I rebel against it because it's what I'm supposed to be according to someone else.  But, for those of you who have known me from grade school and high school and college and post-college existence, know that I am a spoken paradox of bows, earrings, hearts, ruffles, flowers and fluff.  Thank goodness my only child is a son, who helps me channel my tomboyish ways.

Pink is a girlie color.  Without me really knowing, it has also become the prominent color in my daylilies.  (And for the record, my all-time favorite daylilies are not pink and my dream daylilies are not pink, either.  They are screaming-hot-orange and deep, sensual royal purple- hopefully both on the same flower.)

Baby ribbon pink, bubble gum pink, cake icing pink, frosted pink, hot pink, cotton candy pink, dusty pink, carnation pink...these descriptions all evoke a different visual of what pink is.  Pinks are all different, much like the girls who admire its place in the box of 64 Crayolas.  (my favorite is still 'Thistle' which was retired after almost 50 years in the box.)  The first daylily to be introduced and dedicated to me is pink. It is named H. 'Dyna Girl' and can be seen here. Cool flower hybridized by an even cooler guy.  Fitting that it is pink.  Yay!

Many-a-daylily-collector has tried to create a "pink garden."  Notice I say tried.  As much as I love pink, the hues cooperate with one another as well as a gaggle of girls in a small bathroom on prom night. 

Some pinks look blue.  Some look purple.  Some lean grey or red or even beige.  Putting them together in one garden tends to bring out those hidden tones in some not-so-complimentary ways.

Even looking at these four pictures, when viewed together, muddle our collective impression of pink.  One looks more lavender, one looks more salmon, and so forth.  And although beautiful indivisually (my new word - you heard it here first) they are not necessarily pleasing as a foursome.  Which is why we should be aware of the conflicting color energies when placing pinks next to each other in the garden.

According to some gemologists, the quality of energy in pink is determined by how much red is present. White is the potential for fullness, while red helps you to achieve that potential. Pink combines these energies.

Deep, huh? 

Other favorite pinks of mine:

- H. 'Spring Formal'  (a daylily introduction from Dan Trimmer at http://www.watermillgardens.com/

- H. 'Hotta Pinkie' (a daylily introduction from Paul Owen at http://www.slightlydifferentnursery.com/

- 'Hearts and Flowers' (above) found at http://www.daylilyworld.com/

- mostly any of the pinks found at http://www.daylily.com/ (an auction site dedicated to daylilies!)

So, if you are planning on buying me any daylilies for my birthday this Sunday, you know what color to buy. 

My Pick of Peck Daylilies

A recent discussion on the AHS E-Mail Robin was of Virginia Peck, and her contributions to the daylily.  Sydney Eddison's book, A Passion For Daylilies calls her "one of a kind."  I think that phrase describes her daylilies to a tee.  Eddison goes on to mention, "in almost every color category, there are distinguished Peck introductions."  I agree wholeheartedly.  Among the many, two Peck daylilies that I adore and would recommend are:

WIDE WIDE WORLD - a 7" raspberry fuchsia with a radiating peach throat. This one has wonderful foliage all year and multiplies fairly well. The branching for me is among the best in the garden and it is a beacon of "different" color with its tangerine-ish throat.  (and remember, its 7"+)

and


AS WE WERE - almost the same color combination as WWW, but on this one, the throat is a screaming orange. I have never seen another daylily with this orange of a throat. All six tepals are also tightly and pleasantly recurved, showing off the bright orange throat. I first saw this one at Iron Gate Gardens following the Carolina National.

I like these two because they have a characteristic that set them apart from other cultivars. I have limited space here in my city garden, and as I have said before, each one I put in has to earn its real estate. These two do just that. Both for their truly unique coloring (if you know of others with orange throats...let me know) and one for its tightly recurved form.


Remembering that trip to Iron Gate brings back some wonderful memories. Gloria Hite and I were traveling together and on our way to the airport decided to "pop by" Vic and Van's. Well, if you have ever been there, you know you dont "pop by" at all. It was the first time both of us had the pleasure of visiting there. It was quite a treat to see Grace there, too, helping check out customers and bag plants. What a neat, neat place. Needless to say, both of us almost missed our flights, and the plane staff was not too pleased with our big, black garbage bags full of foliage knocking through the aisles of the full plane.


I did end up missing my connection in DC, and sat in the terminal with this suspect garbage bag for almost 8 hours waiting on another plane. Boy, did I get some stares. But, I did get to be a daylily ambassador to many folks who had no idea about the hybrid daylily. I was happy to yank a division out of the bag to show that indeed they do not grow from bulbs and do an impromptu lesson on dividing. I had quite a crowd standing around listening to me chat about daylilies.


You never know where you'll find a new daylily nut.

Daylily Haiku Thursday

breaking dawn, bursting

open in moments of light,

shining until (only) dusk.

H. 'Her Majestys Wizard' and my beloved Bird Girl

Daylily Haiku Thursday

pink has energy

(loudly) proclaiming its joy

quietly smiling

H. 'Calypso Bay'

[No]thing Is Free

I must depart from my normal daylily-doings to share a story I was recently reminded of...another one of karma.

However obvious the inference is in the phrase "Nothing is free," somethings you need to hear things twice before you internalize their meaning.

And sometimes you need to break out in the most horrible poison sumac on the face of the earth and be told by the doctor you could lose some skin before it sinks in.

I present to you hymenocallis occidentalis, otherwise referred to in my vocabulary as the "poison lilies" or "the clearest lesson I ever learned."

hymenocallis occidentalis

This photo was taken 15 years ago in the woods of Montgomery Bell State Park in Tennessee.  While hiking along a bubbling creek, I came across this very clump of beauties growing in the woods.  This is the photo I took that day.  I was young.  I was naive.  And I wanted these in my own yard.  I can only admit this because I know many of you reading have wielded your spade in more than one semi-illegal place, pilfering bulbs, cuttings, roots and shoots for your own gardens.  This is such a story.

The ground was soft and workable.  I dug two bulbs out easily with my bare hands, carefully packed them in my backpack and went on my muddy way after washing my hands in the rushing creek nearby.  This was the last day of the trip, and after we emerged from this hike, we piled in the car to head home.

In the car heading home (about a five hour drive), I develop a crazy itch between my fingers - all of my fingers.  No rash to be found, just itchy, itchy, itchy.  I didnt think much more of it until about nine hours later, when I awoke to stinging pain and this all over my hands.

I could see it crawling up my forearms.  I could see the blisters forming full of yellow liquid.  I could also see the writing on the wall - I should not have messed with mother nature.  It was clear that everywhere I had dirt on my hands from digging in the woods, I now had a horrible rash.  Feel sorry for me yet?  You shouldn't.

Long story short, after I mulled over the punishment for stealing plants from a state park and then carrying said plants over three state lines, I went to the ER and was told it was the worst case of poison sumac they had ever seen.  The blisters between my fingers were so bad I looked like I had webbed hands.  It was one of the most horrible self-inflicted situations I had ever caused for myself and it landed me with two saran-wrapped forearms for a week.  I couldnt work, shower or use my hands at all (don't spend too much time imagining all I couldn't do...)

I have since returned to those rolling hills in Montgomery Bell and with subterfuge, planted 50 naturalizing daffodils in the same woods where I stole the poison lilies.  I have also donated heavily to their conservancy fund.  I have also experienced theft from my own home garden this year and thought of this story.  When I realized plants from my garden had been stolen under the cover of night this summer, I shook my head at myself and told me again that I shouldn't have stolen those plants. 15+ years later, it haunts me.  Now that I know more about gardening, the gardening world, and the larger system that is my karmic world, I still can't believe I dug those bulbs.

It's not nice to (try to) fool mother nature.

Daylily Haiku Thursday

This week's haiku features my second favorite form of daylilies, doubles.  They are intricate, messy, complicated and fun - just like me.  You either love 'em or hate 'em, also just like me. 

There are many hybridizers who focus on this form solely, and I encourage you to check out their websites below.  Tell them I sent you!

Daylily World - home of The David Kirchhoff, considered by most to be the king of doubles.

Bob Scott Nursery - home of the "Top Guns" doubles.

Don Eller Daylilies - home of Don and Nancy Eller, who are really doing some wonderful new things.

The Daylily Auction - an online auction of just daylilies!  This link takes you to all doubles currently offered.

As a special bonus on this Daylily Haiku Thursday, here are a few doubles which bloomed in my garden in 2009.

              H. 'Topguns Lola Scott'                           H. 'Calico Print'

                  H. 'All About Eve'                           H. 'Topguns Anita Causey'

Daylily Haiku Thursday

New discoveries,

fresh, vibrant, clean and perfect.

New to hungry eyes.

H. 'Moon River Ripples'

H. 'Captain Nemo'

H. 'Purple Chameleon'

H. 'Jungle Beauty'

All these daylilies were seen for the first time by me the 2008 MCDS Daylily Show in Columbus, Ohio.  This wonderfully organized show is held each year at Franklin Park Conservatory.

Daylily Haiku Thursdays is a new feature that feels good to my brain.  I find it is a lot like Sudoku.  It is cool neuron-firing exercise to figure out relevant 5-7-5 metrical phrases to match a series of photos.  I hope you enjoy the new feature.  Maybe you'll post your comment in the form of a haiku.  (but maybe only on Thursdays...)

Indian (giver) Summer

It is Michigan's annual 3-day version of an Indian Summer.  There is hardly a trace of the new moon in the sky and I am quite a sight sitting on the back deck with a short sleeved shirt on and a thick blanket over my lap.

In the gardens it means warmer days with chilly overtones and jackets in the sunshine.  Where pinks, corals, butter golds and luscious purples once bloomed, there is a blanket of a different color palette...burgundys, burnt oranges and transparent golds.  It is sad and beautiful at the same time, and just enough premature hope for next season makes the sadness tolerable.  I can think of only a few other seasonal occurrences that make my heart glitter like the colors of a Michigan autumn...

The bonfires outside are probably my favorite part of fall.  I actually met someone who didnt like outdoor fires.  "They dont do anything for me," she said.  I wasnt quite sure how to respond to that and I'm sure the look on my face said so.  I could sit for hours under a blanket in my adirondack lounger and listen to the crackle of a fire. 

So, as I sat in front of one of these fall fires last night, I thought about my last post about the daylily show.

My mind then drifted to me pretending that there was a private daylily show held in my garden of only my flowers and I was the only judge.

A little background if you are interested: In an accredited AHS exhibition show, there are 10 main sections in which you can exhibit a daylily, and those sections are mostly organized by size or form. For discussions sake, the sections are:

• Extra large (blooms 7" or larger)
• large (blooms 4.5" up to 7")
• small (3" up to 4.5")
• miniature (up to 3")
• double
• spider
• unusual form
• youth
• popularity poll winners
• and seedlings.  

The sizes are determined by the person who hybridized and registered the flower with the AHS. Whatever that person lists as the size of the bloom on the flower determines what section in the show it will be placed. Clear as mud?

 

If I would have had this private show in my yard this year, based on performance, garden presence, and the standard scale of points for judging daylilies on scape, these are my winners:

H. 'Banana Cream Beauty' - extra large

H. 'Sabine Bauer' - large

H. 'Belly Button Slipknots' - spider

H. 'Siloam Grace Stamile' - miniature

 

For contrast, miniature H. ' Siloam Grace Stamile' shown sitting on a 10" bloom of H. 'Mojave Sunset'

H. 'Little Incident' - small

H. 'Fresh Start' - double

H. 'Wild and Wonderful' - unusual form

Best Seedling - love the pinched throat, pleated edges and long sepals.  It also bloomed at 40" with an average of 21 buds per scape.  This one received a red ribbon (second place) at the central Illinois daylily show.

I didnt have a Popularity Poll winner in my yard, although H. 'Primal Scream' was noted in the background of the photo of H. 'Wild and Wonderful' and it could have won if I was forced to enter it.  :)  I also do not have a youth winner, as you have to be under 18 years old to win that section and Im a couple of years past that...

If you would like to know more about exhibiting daylilies, more specifically the judging process, please download the handbook for judging daylilies here.

Is it neurotic that I'm already thinking about what to take to the shows next June and July?  Nevermind, dont answer that.

Show Off

It may very well be my favorite aspect of being "into daylilies" - yes, I am referring to "showing" daylilies. Most daylily clubs across the country host one of these shows as part of their mission to educate the public on the merits of the hemerocallis.

I have been exhibiting daylilies for about ten years, have won Best In Show twice and have been a certified Senior Exhibition Judge for the American Hemerocallis Society for five. I have chaired five accredited shows and have judged, worked or clerked more than twenty. You can say its something of an obsession. "Hello, I'm Nikki and I am an exhibitionist."

Don't be fooled by the demure and dainty sound of a "flower show." It is an intense, beautiful, tiring, exhilarating, rewarding, fun and fabulous event.

In most shows, there are two ways to enter - off-scape and on-scape. Below, a panel of judges looks at an on-scape exhibit, which means the flowers are displayed still on the stem, or scape. The judges are taught a standard point-scoring system and use it to award a purple, blue, red or yellow ribbons. The highest scoring exhibits in each section compete against each other for Best In Show. So, basically, if you have ever watched a dog show, its pretty much just like those.

The blooms below are in the off-scape section. In our local show, the public votes on their favorite entries, not accredited judges.


This year, I think I took about 15 on-scape entries and 20 off-scape entries. I was up and out in the garden by 5:30am the morning of the show selecting which flowers to take in. Although there is no limit to the number of scapes you can take in, I try to use the knowledge I have of judging and the points scale to score the scapes before I cut them out of the garden.

I try to only cut those scapes that I would score a 90 or more if I were judging them in the show. (I also try to bring flowers that maybe new or lesser known - sometimes that grabs the judges attention and grabs me a few extra points!)

Here is the point scale for flowers judged on-scape:

• Flower is awarded 0-50 points (color, form, substance, texture and size are equally weighted)
• The scape is awarded 0-35 points (height and strength 15 points and buds and branching each 10 points)
• Condition and Grooming is awarded 0-15 points.
  Total possible score for each entry is 100 points.

Below is H. 'Mad City Blush.' It was only distributed to attendees of the 2008 Regional Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. It is a Klehm introduction; any daylily with edges you would buy from Song Sparrow is worth having. I grow 6 Klehm introductions and want several more, but that's for another post.

Below is my highest awarded entry at this years show. Its a miniature daylily named H. 'Brookwood Black Kitten.' It scored higher than any other miniature daylily entered in the show and went on to compete for Best In Show (which it didn't win.)

This daylily was first seen by me at an exhibition show in Alton, Illinois about 15 years ago. I stood 20 feet behind the roped off area of the show and saw this tiny beacon of dark light standing out from all the other entries. I asked a worker to tell me the name and it was on my wish list for a long time. Now I grow it in a favored spot in the back gardens. Miniature daylilies that exhibit deep, saturated colors draw me in -ones like H. 'Mary Ethel Anderson,' H.'Siloam Grace Stamile,' and H. 'Brookwood Wow.'

This is my friend Elaine, who has become the new resident show chair, and is doing a fantastic job. She is a lot like me in her obsession with the show. We like the competition and have had our flowers compete head-to-head many times for Best In Section or a major award. It is fun to have someone to share competitive fun with, as she tells me how it is and I do the same for her. I share flowers that are show ringers and she does the same. Next year we plan to compete against each other in shows not only in Michigan, but in Ohio, too.

And finally, quite possibly a daylily I will always grow and can truly say that I know NO OTHER daylily in the universe that looks like this one. It is prolific, tall, huge, well-scaped, and its pattern and color combination is incredibly unique. When you think about the fact that there are well over 60,000 registered daylilies...those are winning qualities. I have very little left to sell or trade in the spring of 2010. It is hard to find and takes my breath away every time it blooms. If you are interested in price and availability, let me know. I can get you in touch with the hybridizer or can arrange to get you some of mine. It is none other than H. 'Matchless Fire.'

This is me working on the daylily floral arrangement for our new Design Section. There were seven entries, it was judged by the public, and I lost by one vote. How fun is that?! The final arrangement is below (containing daylilies H. 'Indian Giver' and H. 'Banana Cream Beauty.')

There were over 250 entries in the on-scape portion of our show this year and many I saw on display that day made it to my wish list or was added to the garden this fall. I was exhausted by the end of the day (not to mention I was up all night the night before), so much that for as much as I love exhibiting, I passed up a chance the next day in Mansfield, Ohio to exhibit again. I guess I had a feeling of contentment at the end of this day, and that was a good thing.

If you think exhibiting daylilies may be for you, check out http://www.daylilyclub.net/ for some great downloads, or just Google "daylily shows" and see what comes up!