Daylily Haiku Thursday

it's just not quite right.

avoiding. teasing. fleeting.

you're elusive, blue.

H. 'Ledgewood Calico Blues'
Hybridizers all over the world are aiming to be the first one to bloom a true blue daylily.  It seems to be one of the "holy grails" of the daylily world.   Think blue like hydrangeas, or blue like poppies or blue like iris or plumbago...real blue.  I hope it happens soon!

Giving Up but not Giving In...

A e-conversation with Cindy Dye of Homeplace Gardens daylily fame brought to mind that the reality show "Hoarders" is almost too hard to watch sometimes, but I am stuck to it like glue. It does bring some faulty characteristics to light, but like most of you who have seen the show, I have seen the error of my ways and where they might lead.

Here is a good example of "good hoarding."  The pile of findings behind an out building in a garden in Illinois.  I call this ART WAITING TO HAPPEN.  Others would call it an eyesore or a junk pile.

But....when you can generate wonderful pieces of art like the one below which was made from materials found in this scrap heap, it is worth keeping- wouldn't you say?  That's the business case I make to my husband when he asks why I save some of the stuff I save.

Cindy said, "There - I have said it. I am a HOARDER. And saying it publicly is the first step to recovery - I have seen the light. I will clear out my garden this spring. I will leave space for space. I will purge my garden of objects that are in disrepair. I will take charge and regain control. I am strong. I am WOMAN. I just heard the mail carrier. Gotta run. New catalogues, shiny color pictures, and brand new……….well you get the idea."

Wow.  What a declaration!   You took the words right out of my head!

I have a large Rubbermaid storage unit that winters most of my garden "stuff" and I must tackle that. I have three shelving units in the garage that must be sorted. I must be ruthless in my selections. I have now internalized that the reason I have so much "stuff" is that I keep buying new stuff that I love individually, but when I get it home with all the other stuff that I love individually, it just doesnt seem to make it to use. I wonder why the garden sometimes seems to lack a cohesive backbone, and I'm beginning to think it is my shopping habits that cause this garden art ruckus.

Circa 2006...Hello, Nikki- Containers Anonymous called.  They want you to be their spokesperson.  Sigh. 

On top of my compulsive shopping, I have a really small yard that is already brimming with plants!  But how can I resist that shiny new globe or that awesome one-of-a-kind hypertufa trough?  How can I pass up a sale on windchimes that I can dismantle and make even more awesome with my collection of beads and copper adornments?  Who says I cant have another birdhouse?

Me.  That's who is in charge now.

I have stepped back to look more closely at the big picture my garden displays.  This year I'll ask myself some of these hard questions:

Is there a general color theme?  

Are the visual height and weight of the structures in my garden rhythmical? 

Do I have daylilies that are similar that can be eliminated to make room for others?

I think I'll use the 2010 SMDS Plant Sale as an opportunity to sell, trade or share some of this "stuff" with visitors who come to my booth to buy daylilies.  Maybe there are some hoarders-in-training that still have room for more stuff!

Here's me trying to justify buying more plants by dividing and selling some of my current daylilies. 

When I finish writing this I promise to go to my daylily list and choose several cultivars for the sale and to head south to my mom's.  Until next time, Ill leave you with one final epiphany- storage does not equal organization.  They are not the same thing.  Not even close.  I just have to find an organization strategy that works for me.

Now go throw away/recycle/Freecycle 10 things you haven't touched in a year. 

I dare you.  ;)

H. 'Lights of Detroit' - who could resist adding more of these beautiful hybrid daylilies?  And why isnt this one listed in the parentage of more daylilies?  The form and substance are outstanding and unique.  But, that is for another post.

Daylily Haiku Thursday - reminiscing on Illinois...

drops in a bucket-

making loud sounds in my heart,

screaming for springtime.

 

 

Oh, how I miss the daylilies.  I was invited to speak to a group of about 60 gardeners in Taylor, Michigan last night about the awesomeness of the daylily and I think I was able to convince a couple of those folks that daylilies deserve a place in their gardens.  I showed 160 of my best daylily images from the 2009 season and they couldn't get enough.  Some were amazed that daylilies really only last one day, others were surprised to hear they grow from a complex root structure and not bulbs.  They were in awe of the fact that there are close to 70,000 registered varieties in all shapes, sizes and colors.  It is always amazing to see people shake off myths they have about gardening and make plans to do something new.  I handed out catalogs from my friends at Browns Ferry Gardens and Song Sparrow Nursery, along with past issues of the Region 2 Daylily newsletter.  They ate it up!

 

These are photos from a visit to Jeff and Elizabeth Gilbert's home in northern Illinois.  Their garden is an AHS Display Garden and is full of inspiration and intimacy.  The variety of form and color is breathtaking.  I think I remember Liz telling me they grow somwhere in the ballpark of 1500 daylily cultivars.

  That is a lot of inspiration!

Tucked in each bed or border are hardscapes beyond description.  Birdhouses, bells, gates, greenhouses...the "bones" of this garden are well thought out and well placed.  I found myself taking as many photos of the "stuff" as I did of the daylilies.  The window house below is on my list to create someday with some of the eight salvaged windows I have in the rafters of my garage.  I knew those things would come in handy someday.

This is surely an artists sanctuary, dotted with winding paths, painted signs, and carefully placed what-nots.  My visit here was filled with discovery and smiles and I hope to go back someday to see it again.  You should visit the AHS website and print out the list of AHS Daylily Display Gardens in your area or in areas you may be travelling to in the future.  A courtesy phone call to the garden owner will secure you an hour or so being inspired by the daylily and those who love it - you will be glad you did.

Red is matter, brutal and heavy...

"Blue is the male principle, stern and spiritual. Yellow the female principle, gentle, cheerful and sensual. Red is matter, brutal and heavy and always the colour which must be fought and vanquished by the other two."  ~Franz Marc

Valentine's Day seems to be one of the few occasions that I allow the color red to be pleasing to my eye.  My wedding was the another rare occasion, when I shocked most folks who knew my taste in flowers by choosing to carry a very traditional 2 dozen scarlet roses in my bridal bouquet 10 years ago.

Today, celebrating love, life and laughter for Valentine's Day, I went through my photos in search of some wonderful interpretations of red in my garden.

H. 'Betty Ford' (Kirchhoff, D.)  An award-winning red that I adore.

I tend to not enjoy red for the spectrum of red that it produces, much like my quandry with my beloved pinks.  Its either too brick, or too brown, or too purple, or too maroon, or too sour or too tomato-y.   So, although even my non-daylily afflicted husband has expressed his like of the red daylilies, I do not have too many examples of it in my collection.  But, going through the pictures, it seems I have more than my mind could immediately recall.

H. ' Dark Dragon' (Bennett, P.)  A stunning, veined double with saturated color.

   

On the above left, H. 'Megatron' (Gossard, registered at 10.5") and on the right, H. 'Wispy Rays' (Joiner, registered at 7.5") 

Two giant reds, whose size surpasses their color.  Note that neither one of these daylilies are registered as an unusual form and can be shown in the extra large section of an exhibition show.  H. 'Megatron' is new in my collection this year and is the largest, fuller formed daylily that I have ever laid my eyes on.  The photo above was taken in Columbus, OH.  It.  is.  huge.

H. 'Seminole Blood' (Kirchhoff)

The above example shows saturation at its finest.  It is plush and royal and has the texture of a crushed velvet smoking jacket.  I also love the throat color streaking down the sepal, a quality it consistently exhibits.  Very distinctive.

H. 'Kente Cloth' (Weston)

Another reason reds sometime get a reprieve in my garden is a unique characteristic that sets it apart from others.  H. 'Kente Cloth' is a perfect example of unique.  The polychrome stippling is very intriguing.  The stippling seems to intensify, not fade as the day passes.

H. 'Stellar Double Rose' (Brown, C.)  Amazing veining and texture here!

So, although I started off saying I didnt much care for red in my daylilies, it sure seems I have some good ones.  There were many more pictures of gorgeous reds, but I'll save those for a 4th of July "Red, White and Blue" post!

I hope this hallmark holiday of love and adoration was wonderful for you.

I hope you enjoyed my parade of red.

I hope Spring comes soon.

I just hope.

Daylily Haiku Thursday

overwhelmed by choice.

(paralyzed) by great beauty-

(haunted) by your eyes.

(H. 'Blaze Away', H. 'Bongo Bongo' and H. 'Convention Gaze')

As always, you can click on the photos to make them larger.

Three gorgeous daylilies you might not have heard of or seen.  All three are unique and worth trying out.  They all fair well here in Michigan.  Since my garden size is limited here in "the city" I have to be picky about what I give up some real estate to...  I try to pick daylilies that have distinction and a unique quality, so that if someone comes to my yard and has never experienced the modern hybrid daylily, they get a great cross section of some of the best and brightest- represented with carefully planned variety.

H. 'Bongo Bongo' is hybridized by a blogging daylily friend of mine, Lee Pickles.  You can check out his new blog here.

Winter is wearing on my rose-colored glasses.  My digital photo albums and Eureka Daylily Guides are worn out from thumbing through them.  Luckily the Region 2 Winter Symposium is in just two weeks!  Check out more information here.  This meeting will surely chase my winter doldrums away.  Where else can you see 11 daylily related speakers, get 3 meals, free internet, and the chance at 2 $500 gift certificates for less than $100?  Nowhere.  That's where.

Stay warm and keep calm, ya'll.  Spring is on the way.

Daylily Haiku Thursday

possibilities.

full of them, and full of me.

spring into action!

 

 

H. 'Magic of Oz'  taken in the Maeves Garden in northern Illinois, summer 2009

A Few Good Stats for 2010...

Daylily folks are an evolving group. Tastes, interests and trends change with the wind, and my daylily collection is no exception.  Last year I had about 40% turnover, which means that I replaced almost half of the daylilies I grew with new ones.  This summer I will see bloom on those for the first time, and I will remember why I chose to purchase those in the winter of 2008...it is a great time of renewal and rejuvenation.  My kind of therapy, for sure.

Three daylilies I really wanted, but chose to not buy this year...yes, I do have some restraint.
(L-R: H.'Greek Effect,'  H.'Almost Indecent,' and H.'What Nerve.')

One of the items from my "Winter List" of things to do is make tags for my incoming plants and update my Flower Software database of daylilies.  (this software purchase is the best $30 I have spent in my life, by the way)  While making the tags, I took note of a few statistics.  I like to identify behavioral patterns in many settings (blame my political science background for that) and turning the microscope on my own daylily spending habits was fun.

• # of New Daylily Cultivars Purchased for Spring 2010 = 29

• # of Daylily Cultivars Sold or Traded Out of my Garden = 6 (no comment)

• # of 2010 Registrations purchased in 2010 = 4

• Average Year of Introduction of new purchases = 2004

• Oldest Daylily purchased in 2010- 28 years old - H. 'Double River Wye' (Kropf 1982)

• Highest Price paid for a single plant in 2010 = $125.00 (again, no comment)

• # of new hybridizers added to my collection in 2010 = 6
(Blaney, Tassin, C. Dye, MJ Meadows, Heidi Douglas and G. Tanner)

• Most Anticipated Additions - H. 'Tempest In A Tutu' and H. 'Hippie Crash Pad' (seen below; images from Slightly Different Nursery and AHS Region 13)

Tempest is a small flower form, with gorgeous patterned sepals that make me happy.  "Tempest in a tutu" also happens to be the nickname a cherished mentor of mine in high school had for me.  It also doesn't hurt that a fabulous man named Paul Owen hybridized this 2010 daylily.

• Expected Goals to be achieved with new purchases = add size and substance, add new color combinations on flowers that don’t already exist in my collection, win the Extra large section of an AHS accredited show in the near future!

• Most 'Fun' Additions = H. 'Iron Man' added for my triathlete husband and H. 'Perseus Sandals' added because it is registered at 10" and is not an Unusual Form or a Spider.  Both images seen below from Ladybug Daylilies, where I also purchased them.

Note the one statistic I did not provide was the total dollar amount spent.  I wouldn't put that number in writing for my husband to see even if you begged me to...  I am sure my total dollar spent is miniscule in comparison to what some spend each year, but in my opinion is it a relative number.

This analysis also caused me to modify my spending behavior (i.e. HALT IT ALTOGETHER.)  I have no idea where I will put 30 new plants when only 6 are moving out.  It is time for an intervention, no, it's past time for an intervention as the space in my yard is admittedly at full capacity.  There is no more sod to be removed, no more beds to be slightly expanded, and no more new beds to build.  I could start to take over the vacant lot next to my house, but there are so many cons to that it supercedes my desire to grow hundreds more daylilies.  With a relentless shovel, as spring gets a bit closer, I shall choose at least 15 others in my current collection to sell, trade or share with others.  As seen below in two of my borders, I already need a crowbar to fit new stuff in. 

What did you buy for delivery this year?  Who are you buying from?  What purchase are you most looking forward to?  Where does your local support group meet for gardening interventions?