Daylily Haiku Thursday | A Visit to Roth Daylilies...


<posted July 25, 2013>  This is Jamie Gossard's H. 'Thundercat', which I first saw in his garden during the 2012 AHS National Convention in Galloway, Ohio. My daylily bestie Teresa Dillon gifted it to me after I had raved about it in Jamie's garden.  It put on quite a show here this summer and I am sure next year will be even better.  

The pod fertility on H. 'Thundercat' is high; there are nine "bee pods" on it now and I think I'll leave them to see what nature thought would be a good cross!

As the season winds down here, and the AHS National Convention is going on without me in Minneapolis...I am reflecting on the season on what we "did so far."  I've been places, we've been places and my mind swirls when I think of what has been the thus-far-Summer of 2013.  Oklahoma, Georgia, Ohio, Michigan, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois have been the backdrop of the summer story and today I thought about a daylily trip I took this year with my son.

In June, Carter and I traveled about 3 hours north to Peoria, Illinois to visit our new friend Theresa Roth and visit her daylily garden, Roth Perennials. Remember, Carter is eight and "bull in a china shop" just doesn't quite capture his general stature.  He's Godzilla in a china shop on his best day, so taking him to a daylily garden is always a gamble.  (the things I will do to see daylilies...)

Anyhoo, turns out this place was magic for him.  There were places to hide, golf carts to drive, large "fry" donuts to eat, cats to chase and plenty of sunshine to enjoy.  He pooped out just at the end of the visit, so I give him an A+ for effort- especially since there were no bribes involved from me to behave.  Here he is enjoying his first views of the garden...
  

Theresa and I became fast "virtual friends" through this blog and Facebook long before we ever met, and I was very excited to make it to her garden this year. She and I share a like for the strange and unusual and hard-to-find.  After visiting her, I see we share other tastes, too, especially a penchant for collecting.  I enjoy her very much - she's witty, pragmatic and just plain fun.

H. 'Bee's Bettie Sue' and H. 'Queen's Circle' - two unique daylilies I bought during my visit.  And two new hybridizers added to my daylily collection!


There are some real unique daylilies in this garden.  

Above, I saw H. 'Mandarin Creme', introduced by Eddy Scott in 1998. ((height 24in (61cm), bloom 5in (12.5cm), season M, Rebloom, Evergreen, Diploid, Fragrant, 30 buds, 5 branches,  Orange with white midribs and green throat.))

Below is the always awesome H. 'Jazzy Graphics' by Dan Hansen of Ladybug Daylilies in 1999.  ((height 24in (61cm), bloom 4.5in (11.5cm), season E, Rebloom, Semi-Evergreen, Tetraploid, 18 buds, 3 branches,  Red bicolor with thin gold edge above yellow green throat. (Cage × Roses in Snow.))


This next one is H. 'Lil Red Wagon' which I have seen all over the country performing wonderfully and just never picked it up simply because it's red. More on that here.  The clump looked so great at Theresa's that it really won me over.


These next four photos deserve to be clicked on in order to see them full-screen.  Theresa's garden has beautiful "long views."  The views in the garden are designed for perfect photo opportunities - providing a thoughtfully-designed (and dreamy) foreground, middleground and background.




I have been taught that great photographs, no matter the magnification or subject, all have a proportionate and pleasing foreground, middleground and background.  Look at the above two photos again and concentrate on what's in the front, what's in the middle and what's in the back - you'll see that all three "areas" of the photo have some interest, with the intentional focal point traditionally falling somewhere in the middle plane.  I like pictures that take themselves.  (that's a sign of great artistic design, IMHO.)

Theresa had to pull this next vignette straight out of Southern Living magazine.  The greens, purple and whites make this so photogenic from many angles and distances.  These next several gardengasmic photos are clearly some of my favorite sights from this year's tour season...




I like the reckless whimsy.  None of the elements match directly but indirectly create a mood of purposeful collection - intentional arrangement of modern and worn.  


This is a great candidate for another AHS Display Garden in Illinois.  The purpose of an American Hemerocallis Society Daylily Display Garden is to educate the visitor about daylily species and cultivars, their beauty, and how then can be used effectively in landscapes.  I tried to persuade Theresa to apply for this status...lets hope she does this in 2014!!


These are the kinds of vistas you can see at Roth Daylilies.  Deadheaded, labeled, weeded, organized, and blooming beautifully!


Wide, connected paths were woven throughout the garden and the rows are well-marked.  It was really hard to decide what to buy, but I settled on five while Carter tooled about in the golf cart.  As he remarked- "this isn't at all like the Wii!", I knew the joyride should be over.  ;)

It was a great visit and I had planned to already have gone back to see her late bloomers, but time just keeps slippin' by...

Thank you, Theresa for a fabulous visit to your place in space.


Oh!  You should come see me at my booth at the upcoming Central Illinois Daylily Society Plant Sale on Saturday, August 3 from 12-3!  

THAT'S NEXT WEEKEND!

Awesome plants, some hard to find varieties from my own collection, will be for sale at great prices! ANNNNND, the sale is at the beautiful Washington Park Botanical Gardens, so there is LOTS to see along with the sale.



1 comments:

Sue Ellen said...

I am amazed that she can keep so many daylilies deadheaded. Puts me to shame. Maybe if I ever get to retirement age and be at home more I can do better. I love the hen and chicks in the glass compote in one of the last photos. I will miss your photos of the national.

 

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