Daylily Haiku Thursday | My pink heart...


bare toes in the dirt
soft blades of grass at my feet
the season is here!

Here is H. 'Pink Super Spider', which is not actually registered as a spider at all, but a glorious, 10" unusual form.  It was registered in 1982, by a trailblazer named Kate Carpenter.

This pink has a "white base" which clarifies and exemplifies the color.  The yellow is clear, the pink is clear and the overall presence is wonderful.  It is registered at 32", but grows to almost 40" here in Michigan. 

Looking at the progeny of this daylily on the AHS databse, only 14 other daylilies have been bred from this  one, and that is a much smaller number than I would have guessed.  It is a diploid, and I happen to think that a complex pattern would be a home run on a daylily with this clarity and consistent form.  Paul Owen's H. 'Faber Sabre' is a very beautiful offspring from H. 'Pink Super Spider.'  I have a few patterned, diploid seedlings from other hybridizers that I will certainly be considering this summer as mates for H. 'Pink Super Spider.'  Below is Jamie Gossard's H. 'Neon Pink Flamingo' (which I am still trying to find to add to my garden...)  I love this big pinkie, too.

There are no blooming daylilies in my Michigan garden right now, but this weekend my eyes will be filled with them in my parents yard in southern Illinois.  As you might remember, all my own seedlings are growing there, and they are at peak bloom right now.  The raised beds are "on fire" to quote my dad, who still enjoys tending to the daylily babies.  Ill be sure to post pics of the most promising seedlings when I get back in town next week.

I am floating "on the surface" of many wonderful facets of my life right now - my son's first real Summer Vacation from school, exciting family changes and one of my most anticipated daylily seasons ever. Some of my PTA-mom compatriots would not understand how my garden ranks next to my son's social life at the country club, but it's true. It does and I know it makes me a better mother to enjoy my own growth as much as I enjoy my son's. 

Our family garden brings us all closer together, evidenced by last nights scavenger hunt in the garden to identify the miniature hosta we grow that appear in the book "Little Hostas" by daylilians and global hosta experts, Kathy Guest Shadrack and Michael Shadrack.  If you haven't bought a garden book yet this year, do your bookshelf a favor and pick this one up.  Carter enjoyed finding the names of the little hosta in the book and then hunting around the yard to find the matching plant tag in our own garden.  He was amazed we grew something he found in a book - a magical gift of wonder I wish more of us had later in life.

Stay connected, everyone.  Stay connected to whatever reminds you that you were once full of unabashed wonder, magic and promise.  You're still that person!



0 comments:

 

5 Most Visited Posts. Ever.

The Entire Vault

My New Podcast - Click Below!