Day One of Ten: My Favorite Blooms of 2010

2010 has been an amazing year in my garden.  Although I have seen 21 gardens outside my own this year, I decided to highlight what I feel are my favorites in my own collection.  Some are new, some are old, all are spectacular.  These aren't necessarily the photos I fell in love with this year, that is a totally different post.  These are the daylilies that made a statement and were standouts in my collection.

I chose my "favorites" based on my own personal affinities and emotions.  There will be ten posts in this series, and I will try to highlight at least two cultivars in each post.  Of the near 300 that I grow, it is going to be quite a task to keep this list to a manageable two per post, but I will try!

On the left here is H. 'Cinderella's Dark Side.' (Apps 1995) It is a small flower (barely - registered at 3.12",  it almost could be a miniature) and it is the most perfect near-black daylily that I grow.  Every flower opened this season with clear, unblemished color.  In the evening, if the sun has been hot all day the petals and sepals fade out to reveal a dark eyezone.  It sports a high bud count and absolutely proportionate scape, which makes it near perfect as far as I am concerned.  Last fall I received 8 fans from a seller on The Lily Auction.  I split that in half, and sent 4 fans to my mom.  The four I planted here in Michigan slept nicely all winter and woke up to produce 4 new fans to replace the ones I divided off!  Now, after it has bloomed out, it is 8 fans of even size and I cannot wait to see what it does next year!

On the right is the highly anticipated H. 'Tempest In A Tutu,' a 2010 introduction from Paul Owen of Slightly Different Nursery.  This one is another small flower, and it packs quite a big punch for such a little jewel!  So much going on here for a flower that is registered at 3.25"!  The colors are so unique on this one, and the eyezone fades out to an amazing metallic-smoky-purple in the evening, which gives it some more WOW factor.  The bold sepal patterns are interesting, and I have many visions of this one winning the small section at an exhibition show next year.

While these were both new additions to the garden this year, they both earned their spot in my collection with clarity of color, great substance and despite their pint-size, have wonderful garden presence.
 

Stay tuned for the next post on my Favorite Blooms of 2010!  I will post every other day this week, and I hope you come back to see the rest of the list!