Let the celebration begin! | Daylily Blog



Schmith Seedling - 10" flower, 45" tall (I don't
generally like red, but I love this one!)

Daylilies remind me that today is a new day, and I have the opportunity to use the forces around me to create an experience of my own.  I do not have to be swayed by the external noise that swarms about; my internal compass has a direction and if I focus on it, the path is easy.  Just like the daylily.  Despite poor soil conditions, lack of water, little to no nutrient amendments, not-so-perfect sun exposure - they keep calm and carry on.  They bloom (maybe not wonderfully) and multiply (maybe not as fast as we'd like them to) but they move forward despite all reasons to the contrary.  I'm seeing this in spades since I have relocated most of my collection.

The black plastic pots have been sitting in the sun for about 8 weeks now, baking in the hot (100degreeF+) sun, with minimal water - just waiting for the beds to be ready for their placement.  FINALLY, on Saturday I was able to put the first daylilies in the ground and since then I've planted about 55 more!

Let the celebration begin!

Folks are interested in what plants were going to be the first ones in the ground, and so here is the list of the first few I planted:

H. 'Andrew Christian', H. 'Ruffled Strawberry Parfait', H. 'Raspberry Goosebumps', H. 'Mount Herman Intrigue', H. 'Let It Rip', H. 'Morningcloud Marmalade', H. 'Brookwood Lee Causey', H. 'Worthy One', H. 'Purple Eyed Pirate',  H. 'Festive Fall' and H. 'Little Incident'...

H. 'Mount Herman Intrigue', H. 'Festive Fall' and H. 'Little Incident'

It is a great opportunity to study my collection as a whole and as specimens during this garden build.  I notice immediately that the majority of my daylilies have colors that are bold and saturated - these colors do not slink on the color wheel, but grab it and spin it wildly.  Clear colors.  Real colors.  Colors like this:



fountain at Missouri Botanical Gardens

Color is the first characteristic that I notice in daylilies.  I do not notice form or size or texture first, I notice color.  A flower cannot be beautiful to me if it does not own its place in the color spectrum.  Seedlings of mine are culled immediately if color is not pleasing - regardless of other positive qualities.  No patience for "bridge plants" here.

Nicole Willis (Michigan) has an amazing seedling that is quite possibly one of the best all-around daylilies in my garden.  She shared a piece with me years ago and I am so thankful she did.  

It's tall, it blooms early and reblooms until September, it throws proliferations, it has diamond dusting unlike any other, it is 7.5", and it has great movement.  I really hope she introduces it someday.  Although it's the antithesis of color Ive talked about in this post,  its' "lack of" makes it very powerful. 

I'm finding it fun to dot my daylily plantings with near-whites to show off some of the bolder colors.  Those white edges get REAL white as the day goes on and that radiating throat (the epitome of radiating, btw) just stands out all day.  Its a hardy H. 'Skinwalker' kid that is stu-uh-nning.

Here's two more of it performing its head off in a pot after being dug up right as it started to bloom.  Even after being dug up and moved 500 miles south, sitting in the hot sun with no care for a few weeks, this daylily still put up two reblooom scapes.  Its blooming right now in its pot - laughing at the tough journey it has had to get to its current home.  The spacing of the branching is exceptional, which allows multiple blooms to spread wide open each day on each scape.  Its going to be quite a show flower...I just hope I win a purple ribbon with it before she does!  <take that, Nic!>

Enjoy some color today.  Consciously soak them in.  You can even find a way o enjoy the browns and crunchy oranges brought on by this heat.  Enjoy the sounds those colors make and the emotions they stir in your chest. 

Keep looking until you find some that do.