Day Two of Ten: My Favorite Blooms of 2010

Continuing the idea of documenting my favorite blooms, as seen in my garden in 2010, today I feature H. 'Ron Valente' and a seedling from Bob Faulkner.

Some daylilies are color chameleons - changing colors on the same bloom as the day progresses. In the morning the flower has one "face," and as the day ages, the face of the bloom changes as well. I like these kinds of daylilies just as much as I love the ones that look exactly the same at 9pm as they do at 9am. Both of today's favorites are chameleons.

Shown below first is H. 'Ron Valente.' (Moldovan 2003) It is a 6" stunner that is the grapest grape-purple daylily I have ever seen. This one does not slick or melt in the hot sun, it only blushes out to show these cool spots, seen in the pic on the left below. The white edge on the sepals and petals is more pronounced on hot days, and the glowing eyezone grows with intensity as the day progresses. It is full formed and very floriferous. This one was hard to find and will always have a place in my space.

The second favorite bloom today is a seedling from Bob Faulkner of Ohio. I know Ive shown a shot of this one before, but it really was love at first sight for me and this bloom, and I purchased the clump of it last summer. This little firecracker produced 50% more fans in its first year and bloomed like an explosion everyday. The colors are not complementary, but they are interesting and loud and funny. It's a happy flower and that's why I loved it every time I saw it and cannot wait to see it again next year.

Here's another shot of it in the morning, with the bright, but still very hazy and muted colors. I'd love to be able to show this one in an exhibition show.