despite impressions
spring is not always so sweet-
the maddening wait!
This week started off with a fabulous breakfast prepared by the teachers at my son's elementary school for the classroom volunteers. Breakfast tastes so much better when prepared by someone else!
After eating way too many delicious flapjacks at the special breakfast, I took a stroll around the garden to see what was happening after several days of rain mixed with hot, muggy midwest sunshine. There are scapes EVERYWHERE! In Michigan, I rarely saw a scape before mid-May and here I am with some almost 2' tall! H. 'Bali Watercolor' is the tallest scape out there, already measuring at 22". I am sure some of the plants are still trying to figure out where they live after last fall's move to Illinois, but I am loving the action out there!
I have been shopping at the Lily Auction these last couple of months, picking up some finds from my wish list! H. 'Raspberry Ripple Cupcake' will finally grow here, as well as H. 'Art In Heaven' and H. 'Navajo Grey Hills.' The picture of the latter is at the bottom of this post. I know you will love it as much as I do! The neighbors here at our new home are still getting used to what is happening in our backyard. Many people have not seen a daylily-centric garden and I feel like many of them have been inspired to add some. They are amazed at the plant markers, diversity and the names of the plants.
I have been shopping at the Lily Auction these last couple of months, picking up some finds from my wish list! H. 'Raspberry Ripple Cupcake' will finally grow here, as well as H. 'Art In Heaven' and H. 'Navajo Grey Hills.' The picture of the latter is at the bottom of this post. I know you will love it as much as I do! The neighbors here at our new home are still getting used to what is happening in our backyard. Many people have not seen a daylily-centric garden and I feel like many of them have been inspired to add some. They are amazed at the plant markers, diversity and the names of the plants.
Paul Owen's H. 'Running for the Border' has scapes on it that look twice the width of the fans! I am not surprised that a plant from Slightly Different Nursery is a real performer. I am also very excited about H. 'Bali Watercolor,' which is new to me from last fall and not only has it multiplied and recovered nicely from a late planting, it has two sturdy scapes already!
H. 'Shy Pirouette' a wonderfully early and reliably rebloomer by Michigan's Martin Kamensky has 10 scapes on 8 fans. This flower looks exactly like its name describes. I smile every time I see it bloom. Of the near 400 cultivars growing here, there are about 25 showing scapes right now and that is very exciting!
Change of topic warning!
I see that the page on the AHS website that displays all the exhibition shows in the country has been updated! What a beautiful page! Check it out.
Soon you will see a listing on June 16 for the Exhibition Show of the Southwestern Illinois Hemerocallis Society!! The "little club that could" is ready to put on quite a show at Alton Square in Alton, Illinois. If you are within driving distance, we hope you will consider bringing scapes, or at least come to see the show. I can email you a copy of the show schedule if you like. Everyone is encouraged to enter and show the public that our daylily is so much more than they might know...
Come over to my house on June 14 from 4pm-7pm for some conversation about selecting, grooming, transporting and exhibiting daylilies! There will be some peach lemonade and cookies, if that sweetens the deal for you. I'd love to see you there. If you plan to come, email me for the address and more details.
Speaking of Exhibition Shows, if you are a judge, please read the handbook for the scoring and balloting procedures of the Ophelia Taylor Horticulture Award and the AHS Achievement Medal. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL SHOW DAY TO FIGURE OUT WHAT AND HOW THESE TWO AWARDS ARE SCORED. (yes, I am yelling, but politely as I can.) These are two very complicated and coveted awards and if you are not prepared, you are doing the exhibitor a great disservice. You need the 2012 Handbook and you can get it here. Pages 26-30 address the two awards mentioned above. Please, please read those pages BEFORE you show up to judge a show.
If you are an exhibitor, please consider making an entry in these sections. They are very prestigious and hard to achieve. Check out the handbook link above for more details on how to do it successfully.
I have yet to win either, but will keep trying!
1 comments:
Nikki, so nice to hear you have so many scapes already. Wish I could say the same, but they will be coming soon. I do have an extra early one in bloom already, a yellow gold one that is unidentified. It usually blooms beginning the last week in May, but is 2 weeks early this year, as is everything else.
You must be in zone 7. I'm in 6b here. What zone were you in when you lived in Michigan?
I love how your neighbors are getting interested in daylilies. I have only one neighbor that became interested, and she's not obsessed like I am. The rest are not really into gardening at all. They like to have a nice landscape, but they don't want to spend all their time in their gardens like I do. I so enjoy having my daylily sales at my house, as I get more people interested in daylilies. They never knew there was so much diversity. Then there are the people who only want yellow and orange daylilies. Well, I have enough of those as well, so everyone goes home happy.
I just got Bali Watercolor as a bonus this year, so looking forward to seeing it bloom, although I've heard from some people here in the northwest that it does not do well around here. We will see. Maybe it will do better at my place. =)
Karen
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