Great color in daylilies! | Defining what IT is...

<posted May 23, 2013>  I swear the daylily foliage in my garden this year is the best it has ever looked.  Or could it be that my eyes are just so sore for green, lush sights that I am imagining it?  Either way, it is awesome out there.  I'm dreaming of the days when the clumps of leaves are covered in an umbrella of bloom.  Dreaming of the days when I search for the sight of the day that takes my breath away - something in the daylilies that makes me whisper an "ah" upon discovering it.  If you need a chart to feel what I'm describing, here:

Its usually color that does it for me first.  Saturated, sunfast and sexy color.  Like Bill Waldrop's 'Red Sapphire.'  It means to be pink and it is PINK - not a muddy mauve - but PINK.  Here it is:

Sometimes its clarity of color that strikes me.  Below in Kimberly McCutcheon's 'Baby Pinwheels' or the classic 'Julie Newmar' I see clarity and cleanliness of color.

And again with another Bill Waldrop introduction, 'Kennesaw Mountain Hayride' there is a deep saturation that looks like wet paint.  I find that when I go on garden tours of other daylily-centric gardens, if I happen to "connect" or "have a moment" with a particular cultivar, I seek it out to grow in my own yard so I can relive that moment of excitement - that blip on my heart chart.

What I love about Tim Bell's 'Valdosta Again' (below) is not just the dependable pattern, but the chartreuse beacon at the center of the flower.  If that were more dull, if it weren't so wide and repeated on the sepals, that pattern would not be so fantastic.  This one was my gift plant for attending the 2010 AHS Convention in Valdosta.  What an amazing time that was...

And it doesn't have to be complicated color to be amazing....look at Barrie Matthie's 'Bonibrae The Freak.'  This has Richard Norris' 'Substantial Evidence' in its pedigree.  LOOK AT THAT GREEN!  This photo was taken outside at 1pm in Georgia heat when I visited Kennesaw Mountain Daylilies last summer.

Enough of this...I could go on forever.  But you should go now and think about what it is in your garden that makes your heart chart BLIP!  I'm going to continue to enjoy the hummingbirds feeding today during a light rain...

hummingbirds drinking-

the soft rain coating their backs.

they don't seem to mind.

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Come back! | Daylily Blog about Regret and Reclaiming

Posted January 28, 2013.  This is one of the last shots of my garden from fall 2012...that's H. 'Kings Cloak' still blooming in November, and its the old Munson daylily I bought while on my honeymoon in Vegas.  I carried it home, potted, on the plane.  He should have known what he was in for then...

For a recent project, I needed to comb throught he thousands of daylily photos on my computer and find some specific ones.  While carrying out that arduous task, I happened upon photos of my garden I had long forgot.  Shots from 2006, 2007 and earlier, which were of cultivars that have long left my collection.

Some of them caused me to roll my eyes and remember exactly why they no longer grow here, and others I was sad to remember I no longer owned.

For example, H. 'Gavin Petit.'  For three years after its introduction, I lusted to grow it, but couldnt afford it.  Finally I won it in an auction and enjoyed the vibrant and gaudy blooms in my garden.  I dont grow it anymore because someone visited my garden and made me "an offer I couldnt refuse" for the clump and off it went.  At that time, the high price she was willing to pay overshadowed my desire to have it among the other hundreds of daylilies in my collection moving to the new gardens here in Illinois.  Blinded by the dollar, I was, and now I wish I had that daylily back.  I love the splatter pattern at the edge of the eyezone.  I also enjoy the thick edge and unassuming sepals.  Sepals that stick out and do crazy things do not appeal to me.    (looking at this photo closely, I also see my old clumps of veronica in the background.  I miss those, too.  Left them behind at our old house...)

I also terribly miss one of the most sophisticated gray-pinks I have ever seen, H. 'Janet Benz.'

BACKSTORY: One time I was working in a garden digging plants for a club plant sale.  The hybridizer/enthusiast was donating lots of clumps to the club and all we had to do was come dig them.  As a nice reward for our efforts, he gifted each worker with one single fan of anything he was growing.  I could not believe the offer.  My choice was H. 'Janet Benz.'  I could not have afforded to buy this at that time, and it was not widely distributed, so I was thrilled to get it.  After about 7 years growing in my garden, I sold it off in about 10 double fans to clubs visiting my garden before I moved to Illinois.  I miss it.

I also miss H. 'Royal Butterfly.'  And H. 'Fresh Start.' 

And H. 'Spacecoast Tiny Perfection.'

Of the over 400 (I've lost count since last Fall) I still grow, I'm finding new favorites.  As I looked through these photos from the last 10 years of gardening with daylilies, I see the growth of my collection. Not only in quantity, but quality.  I do still have many I started with, but its easier these days to dig and sell a clump in order to make room for other possibilities.  If you like to trade, sell or buy daylilies from other daylily folks, you should check out the Facebook page for doing that.  It's a growing group of folks who are interested in making some deals.  See it and/ or join it here. Post something cool for sale or ask for something you have been looking to add.

Yes, I do miss the ones that are now growing for someone else, but I love what the future holds, too.

one of the islands in my back yard...summer 2012

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Thankful | Daylily Blog about things that matter...

I keep a traditional pen-and-paper journal in my garden toolkit and I find myself writing in it many times throughout the year when a thought hits me in the garden.  I love doodling, I love handwriting, and I love the memories it will evoke when I read it sometime in the future.  I paged through that journal this weekend, looking for a list I made of soil amendments for a new raised bed.  I found the list, and found other inspiration, too.

As an ode to Thanksgiving, here are some things inspired by my journal for which I am thankful...

ONE | Diversity.  What brought me to daylilies was the rich diversity of form, size, shape and color.  I found once I got to "daylilydom" that the people who love them are just as diverse.  This mix always provides great conversation starters!  I'm thankful that there are always choices, and if we don't like the path we are currently on - we can choose to change.  

TWO | Hybridizers. The people who choose to focus full-time on bringing us new daylily hybrids are the oil in our engine.  Their imaginations, innovations and instinct propel our hobby to new places each year.  New catalogs are starting to arrive and websites are getting 2013 updates.  My wallet has never been thinner.  If you are curious on "who" these people are, please check out this link for a real comprehensive list (by person).  

 Nicole Harry's H. 'Dust and Gravity'

THREE | Learning new stuff. Every day there is something new to learn in daylilies.  There are lots of good discussions now on e-robins, Facebook group pages and other blogs.  Right now two hot topics I'm learning more about are raised bed edging options (all of the beds in my new gardens are raised) and cheating with Photoshop to either become a better photographer or hybridizer.   Regardless of what side of the debate I am on, I enjoy the opportunity to contribute to an intelligent discussion with other passionate people.  (that last sentence was a great mix of sincerity and sarcasm...LOL!)

FOUR | Real Books.  For as much as I love my Kindle Fire HD and other gadgets, I love real, paper books.  Above is a shot of some of my recent reads.  There are so many good books about daylilies out there to chew up this cold season.  Every winter I seem to re-read Sydney Eddison's A Passion For Daylilies.  That never gets old.  Buy a copy for some of your daylily friends.  It is an enthralling and colorful story of ALL our lives.  Here is a search on Amazon showing more daylily-related books you might want to check out.

Mort Morss' H. 'Curtis Montgomery'

FIVE | Committees.  Yep, committees.  This time of year the AHS organizes its many committees for the coming year and I am excited to be a part of a few again in 2013.  I am a firm believer that if you have a beef, the best way to get some resolution is to follow the proper protocol, even if you do not believe in the politics behind the protocol.  I always try to keep skin in the game.  I join committees not because I have scads of free time for meetings and more email, but because I believe in improvement.  I'm thankful for rational, kind minds that lack ulterior motives. 

 Ted Petit's H. 'Bella Isabella'

SIX | You.  A Girl and Her Garden grows because of you.  I'm thankful right now to be surrounded by those whose lives touch me more than they will ever know.  Every time I have a crazy adventure in the garden, I think of how I will share it with you.  Every photo I shoot that takes my breath away, I race to share with you.  Because of you I strive to be a better writer, better photographer, better grower and a better gardening steward.

H. 'Carolina Pink Pinwheel' from Gene Tanner at Browns Ferry Gardens 

Click here to see the fabulous Browns Ferry website.

FYI: this was the best pink and best branched daylily in my garden for 2012.  I have never seen true 5 and 6-way branching in my garden before (Michigan or Illinois) and this one had it in spades. Registered as an evergreen, it is not phased by cold winters in my experience.  Although it comes from two parents that have not done well for me despite several tries, this daylily is amazing.   

Click here to read a haiku about pink.  And here for more pink.

And click here for another post on pink.

2013 has some wonderful things in store for this little place in the blogosphere, and I hope you will continue on this journey with me.  Thanks for sticking with me 4 years and hundreds of stories!

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Breathing Room.... | Daylily Haiku Thursday

It is fall clean-up time in the gardens.  Its also the time where I notice all those garden chess moves I said I'd make and never got to in the bloom season.

moving and changing.
the fall is falling too fast
for my summer dreams!

These are the raised beds that serve as the home to my seedlings.  They live at my parent's house about 35 minutes from here - far enough away that I cannot obsess about them every day.  My dad does that.  About five years ago he went through several very serious surgeries and we (and he) didn't think he would make it out the other side.  For a man who hardly ever went to the doctor in 60 years, smoked and drank like every night was a bad redux of a Guns 'n Roses song, eight trips under the knife in one year is enough for anyone to start looking for God.  But, he pulled through - after a long and hard recovery - and started to enjoy the overflow gardens I planted in their yard for my seedlings.

That was in 2006- and today that one original raised bed has now mutated to six raised beds that house only daylilies I have hybridized.  These daylilies do not exist anywhere else, there are none exactly like these in the world.  I didn't buy them.  I pollinated flowers, created seed, germinated the seed and POOF!  A new daylily was born!  My dad gets a special kick out of being the only one who has these particular daylilies.  He likes to be the first one to see them open.  Some of them are dogs, and some are wonderful and registration-worthy, but he likes them all.  And I like that after his forced-disability into retirement he has found something to fill his days.

After bloom season this year, I lamented about the state this overflowing bed.  The above pic was taken in June and the below pic was taken at the end of September.  You can see the PVC pipe lengths that allow me to insert the tag for better viewing above the foliage.  This also helps his ailing back when he takes pictures.  NEAT NOTE:  I also made these so that 26" sticks out of the ground, therefore, I have a quick, real measure of what height the scapes are at.  Look back at that first picture.  Now realize the pipes are 26", you can guesstimate how tall some of those seedlings are.  These clumps need dividing and culling something fierce.  So, I tackled it one Sunday this month.

First, I cut back all this foliage to about 6" and made some tough decisions about which ones no longer deserved some garden real estate.  I dug out 31, 3-year old clumps (some bigger than others) and ruthlessly culled.  

My dad said he could hear the plants screaming as I threw them in the compost.  Sigh.

After 3 years, the soil also needed some amendment and aeration.  Some of the roots had fused to the sideboards of the bed, so I knew I needed to get deeper in the bed and provide more space.  I added mushroom compost, sweet peat, top soil and a couple cups of Milorganite (yes, I am well aware that it is pelletized waste dredged from the sewers of Milwaukee) to the bed and stirred well.  I used my trusty Garden Claw and mixed by hand and hazmat suit.  I think we were able to add about 3" of depth in the bottom of the bed, too, so that will help.

The arduous task of dividing the clumps and replanting began next.  See them there in the background of the above photo?  I only kept seedlings that had future promise as stand-alone introductions.  I did not keep any of the "well, maybe someday..." or "it has potential as a bridge plant..." seedlings.  18 of the 31 got a space in the new bed.  Some clumps I divided, others I did not.  If it was 3 fans or less, I either culled it or replanted it as it was.  (IMHO, 3 fans in 3 years is not a good increaser.) 

I used my Daylily Divider (click here for the website) to divide the clumps.  That tool, with its new foot-post add-on is like a hot knife in butter.  Now that I have learned how to use it properly, I wont be without it.  My hands have a perpetually dull ache from old injuries and prying fans apart by hand is excruciating after about an hour.  I love this tool.

I planted the double and triple fan divisions in rows, replaced the PVC pipes, inserted the plant tags at the top, sprinkled with PREEN and called it a day.  My dad will mulch it after Thanksgiving to allow for the fall rains to reach the bottom of the new bed.
  
There are six real contenders for a future introduction in here and a few others that deserve just one more year of evaluation.  The bed heaved a sigh of relief at its new organization.  The plants definitely have more room to soak up sun and water now, unobstructed by overgrown and no longer desirable neighbors.

I cant wait to see what these burst into next summer.  Here are a few of the faces that bloomed in this bed this year. I kept them all.   Some parents in these crosses are DEBBIES VOWS, BUTTER CREAM, and SABINE BAUER.  (FYI- H. 'Butter Cream' and H. 'Sabine Bauer' is a major dream cross for me, and one that is doubtful to ever be fruitful...)  That second one below had 45-50 buds on it!  The highest bud count in my seedling bed!

I think you can click on the images to make them bigger.

Anyhoo, that's the biggest construction going on here now.  I have my "circle bed" in shambles right now trying to replant clumps and move hunks of low-growing salvia around.  Today the temps are in the 70's and I'm hoping for two hours of dedicated gardening time this afternoon.  If I could just keep Floyd out of the dirt and stop him from eating the mulch and attacking the shovel and chasing the rake and biting my ankles, I would be more productive.  

FLOYD!!! (he's so high fashion)

Til next time...

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Right now... | Daylily Haiku Thursday

It is officially Fall and many tasks associated with the garden are in full swing.  First, you must meet the newest member of the family, Floyd.  He is a Boston Terrier and at 10 weeks old is the biggest tornado in a cute suit that I have ever seen.  He is full of energy and curiousity about the garden.  So far he has only uprooted one plant tag and eaten a few daylily leaves.  Oh, Floyd.

This is also my favorite time of year to get all the plant tags updated and replaced so that I know what is where when the snow melts in 2013.  I went to using a new tag this year (thanks, Nic) but still love the Avery 5160 clear labels.  I run them through a laser printer and have great success.  Some tags I have had printed this way and in the garden for a decade.  I don't notice any fading in the label at all.  The trick is to USE A LASER PRINTER and not your inkjet.  In some cases, the metal stakes have rotted before the label is out of life.  This is the only label I have ever used and do not experience peeling or fading in the least.  Office Depot carries a 3M version of this label that is cheaper, and works just as well.  I bought this after my huge supply of Averys were gone.

These are the tags I needed for last summer and early fall purchases.  I really made great strides in my "one-in-one-out" rule for new purchases.  If I want to buy something, it must be better than something I already have in order to make room for it.  Although I have tons of space now, I have only been here one season and Im resisting the urge to just dig beds all over the place simply because I can. I want the beds to be mixed perennial beds that have color, texture and deliberate  rhythm.  I cant do that if Im just bailing water to get daylilies in the ground.  I am already stressed out about the 40 or so pots that are still waiting for homes.  I look at those pots and think - did I really need to buy this so it could sit in a pot and wait for a home?  Nope.  So, I regret some impulse purchases made this summer.  Some that I bought I "needed" because I was in love with a photo I had taken of it or in love with the memory of when I saw it for the first time.  From now on, Ill love the photo and the memory instead of insisting I own it.  I'm afraid some of those things I HAD to have wont make it to see Spring and that's all my fault.  "Ill try to not make that mistake next year."  (said everyone.)  But the good news is that all the plants in the ground have proper markers and are almost ready for winter.  One last application of Milorganite to the whole collection and I will be done.  Ill probably do that after Halloween, just in time for the early winter rains.

The rebloom has been the star of fall here, and I am amazed at the amount I have here this year.  Here is H. 'Spacecoast Color Scheme' blooming on its second set of rebloom scapes.  These buds have a large amount of thrip damage to them - more than earlier bloom cycles.  I'm sure the critters in the garden are enjoying the late show as much as I am.

The small circle garden I put in last year to divert some water flow and raise a low spot in the yard is already getting a a revamp.  This is what happens when you rush to do something.  I enjoyed the show in it this summer, but the colors didn't play well with one another and it didn't have enough textural contrast for my tastes.  So, as you see below, I have selected a new crop of "better" daylilies to feature in this spot and also have two upright Japanese Maples ready to go in here to add height.  Everything in here will be dug out and reset.  This bed is also where I saw the garter snake for the first time.  It slithered out from between the wall bricks and headed toward that back island.  Behind that island is where I inadvertently ran it over with the lawnmower.  :(  

Below is the photo that I have on my desktop right now, full of Fall and waiting for Winter.  So many textures and colors and flower sizes here.  The sedum (or "Live Forever" as my grandmother called it) is actually from her garden and now must be 60 years old.  I took starts from her house in 1990, 10 years after she had passed away.  My mom has photos of that patch of sedum from 1956, and it looked established then.  I love having these same flowers, not just the same kind, but the actual same root stock in my own yard.

Those hardy pink mallow in the background bloomed up to 12" flowers when it first started flowering.  I just planted those last fall, and now I am in love.  This one is Hibiscus 'Peppermint Schnapps' and it is spectacular with its red veining. 

   

I'd like a pink daylily THIS pink.  Look at rebloom on H. 'Kings Cloak' in the foreground above.  It looks almost tan compared to the pink of the mallow.  I like REAL pink.  I have H. 'Pistachio Eyes' and H. 'Cerise Masterpiece' and H. 'Cotton Candy Pink' and tons of other "pinks."  

Who's got some recommendations for THIS pink? 

In the meantime, Ill keep enjoying the photo below of the raspberry-kissed eye of H. 'Thundercat' by Jamie Gossard.  This photo below was taken in his yard during the National Convention.  My kindred spirit, Teresa gave me this as a gift this summer so I am very excited to see it bloom here!

right now is turning

into the what-should-have-beens.

jack frost is coming!

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Long Day's Journey... | Daylily Blog Archive Stroll

This is H. 'Laura Harwood' showing off an abundance of bloom.  The registration information is as follows:  (Harwood, 1997)  height 23", bloom 7", season M, Rebloom, Semi-Evergreen, Diploid, Fragrant,  Burgundy purple with a yellow cream halo and a very green throat. ((Blue Lustre × Really Lizzie) × Regal Finale)

This year she is a contender for the AHS' Stout Silver Medal and we will find out if she won in just about a month.  Garden Judges all over the country have cast their votes for the single winner and I am very anxious to see which daylily will win the highest award given to an individual cultivar.  

While looking for a post I had written on judging seedlings a few years ago, I was pleasantly distracted (for about 3 hours) reading through the archives of past blog posts.  Statistics say I have posted 266 times over the past three years and have over a quarter of a million page views in that same time frame.  That is a lot of reading done by a lot of readers.

thinking of the past

remembering crisp flowers

curling in the sun

Anyhoo, while crawling around in the "blog attic" looking for something else, I found a few past posts that I found interesting and meaty.  Maybe you'll enjoy a stroll in the past, too.

Skin In the Game - A post on "getting better."

Speak Up! - A post on presentations and the audiences who sleep through them.

Eliminating the Mediocre - A post on collections.

Collection of (for) me - Another post on collections.

A Little Bit of Strategy - A post on getting your seedlings considered for AHS awards.

What's Overrated - A post on keeping up (or not) with the Joneses.

Here is more of H. 'Laura Harwood.'  She has her quirks, but when she's good, sh's reallllly good.  Color is sunfast, which means it stays purple all day here and doesnt "melt" in the heat.  Bright, wide, green throat is just enough.  

These four photos were taken in three different states in three different zones and have not been retouched at all.  I really like this flower.  I hope it did well in the Stout Medal competition; we will find out in mid-October when the AHS Board of Directors meets and announces the winner.  Here is a list of past winners...  Last years winner was the first daylily introduced in the 21st century to win this prize.  It's on my wish list....

Til next time!

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