Daylily Survivors

After a lengthy hiatus I was inspired this week to share images and names of the daylilies in my 7b/8a garden that are blooming their hearts out without any special care at all from me. As I try to rekindle my passion for gardening it is very interesting to see which plants have prevailed amidst the weeds without supplemental water or even in many cases removal of the previous year's dead remains.

The small bed close to my deck was my first "flower bed" and has evolved into mainly daylilies and salvias which seem to make good companions.

In the above pic are Daylily 'Helaman' ~

and Daylily 'All Fired Up' with 'Wispy Rays' in the background.

On the other side of the same bed is Daylily 'Galaxy Explosion' with tiny 'Siloam June Bug' behind it.

From another angle Daylily 'Bela Lugosi' opens its ffo right next to 'All Fired Up'.

Hanging out over the edge of the same small bed is Daylily 'Let it Rip'. These are not all of the daylilies in the bed but all of these pictures were taken on one cloudy, overcast morning this week.

Kudos must be given to Daylily 'Lotsa Dots' for doing so well in the big bed in spite of encroaching Centipede grass and haphazard trimming from the lawnmowing crew.

Moving on to the newest bed that was never properly finished but has lots of hemerocallis. Not pictured but now blooming are Daylilies 'Star Asterisk','Vintage Bordeaux','Norma Jean' and 'Moses Fire' along with some unnamed plants. I have pictures of  'Bengali Princess'

and Daylily 'Kilauea' ~ both Brian Mahieu selections.

In yet another bed I have Daylily 'Chesapeake Crablegs' with a tough seedling of Salvia 'Henry Duelberg' as a flowering partner.

and stalwart Daylily 'Matt' with the weeping flowers of Blue Love Grass cascading over its flowers.

Of special note in my observations is that the daylilies do not like being crowded by the Mother of Thyme that thrives and wants to take over in my garden. So even though the gardener lost her way ~ these daylilies did not. Isn't it grand?

Daylilies 2010~ Part Four

Daylily bloom season is past peak now in my zone 7b garden but not over by any means. Although some plants are through blooming there a still others that have yet to begin. Rain is getting precious again as summer really heats up fast. I have yet to hook up the sprinkler this year but will probably break down and do it this weekend if we get no showers.

This daylily ~ Kilauea ~ from Mahieu is classified as a ufo, crispate. The blooms are large and real presence in the garden.





Dream Catcher ~ from the late Ned Roberts. I love the shape and variability of these blooms.





From Gilbert Wild~ Painter's Splash



A classic spider from Rosemary Whitacre~ Red Rain



Jo Barbre Holman 1974 is a spidery double in a clear lemon yellow. An inexpensive choice for something a little different in a daylily.



Curt Hanson's Primal Scream is well named and unmistakable. I really must plant this one but can't decide where...



Flutterbye from Frank Childs~ I love it but wish it performed better for me.



A strong performer here~ Desperado Love from Stamile



After a couple of years to settle in On Silken Thread ,a Lambertson, is really showing off. Nice and tall.



I just noticed that Tinker's Gardens Database needs one of my many photos of Twister Time~ Pyne 1995 DOR Re. I can't remember if I ordered this one or if it was a bonus but it came from a Dan Bachman at Valley of the Daylilies where I found a good selection of spiders and unusual forms that are off the beaten path.



Smaller than parent Moonlit Masquerade(in my garden) but I'm sure a much better performer than its other ancestor Cleopatra is Dan Trimmer's Egyptian Queen. She has behaved more like a dainty diploid for me than a EV TET.



Another Valley of the Daylilies find was Lillian Kathleen by Fred Manning. A great performer for me~ she is elegant and tall with a large sculptural bloom.



Hope everyone is having a great weekend ~ Stay cool:)

First and Last

I've had some firsts since my last post~ one good and one bad plus some ffo's for this year. My bad first was digging up a yellow jacket's nest. It could have been much worse since only one yellow jacket got a couple of stings in through my sweats. Having never been stung by one I didn't realize that the pain gets worse instead of better as time goes by. I proceeded to pull a few more weeds cautiously on the other side of the bed until I finally understood that I'd better look after that sting now! Ouch!

My good first ever is this bloom on a Knifophia that was shared with me by a friend who grew it from seed 2 years ago. Of two non hybrid Knifophias that I've planted this is the first to grace me with a bloom. The fancy one from Plant Delights Nursery bloomed one year but took last year off too. I love the symmetry, color and uniqueness of the blooms.



I have an abundance of Nigella- Love in a Mist- this year.



Self seeded Larkspur



Delosperma- Ice Plant



This Salvia is very similar to 'Indigo Spires' and may be but I recieved it as an unknown division.



Verbena/porterweed look alike



Penstemon- Eastern Smooth Beardtongue



New growth on Cryptomeria japonica 'Globosa Nana'- still very nana



The bright clean new growth of Illicium parviflorum- Small Anise Tree



My only rose in the garden- a rugosa from Sweetbay which I am enjoying tremendously this year.



I have a hard time getting a good shot of this Geranium sanguineum which is settling in after a couple of years in this spot. I love this plant!



And now for the "last" part of the post. I don't think there will be many more Iris pictures this year. Unless I'm shocked by a second bloom stalk these are my last blooms from 'Titan's Glory'



The Iris virginca- Blue Flag Iris is not having a very good year. This first bloom has been the only one worth taking a photo of.



I have three clumps of Siberian irises from three different sources. This is the last one to bloom. It is completely engulfed by Chrysanthemum 'Sheffield Pink' and probably needs a bit of attention. I was happy to see blooms this year as I would not have been surprised if it went on strike.




I don't know if I'll get around to another post by Garden Bloggers Bloom Day or not. I am woefully behind in my garden maintenance but I do love to play on the web!

Morning Sauna

It's been a rainy week so far and I didn't even go outside on Monday and Tuesday mornings but necessity took me outside this morning and I couldn't help but look around. Through the morning mist I could see the showy blooms calling me. I thought- of all mornings to see such pretty blooms~ such unfavorable conditions. So I took the camera out to the garage to adjust to the outside temps and left it for as long as I could while I did other morning things. As soon as I stepped out of the shelter of the garage the camera lens fogged. I had no time to waste so I decided that I would take the pictures anyway- maybe the lens would defog before I was done. The backyard sauna prevailed and these are my offerings.

The approach~





'Red Flyer' Hibiscus with a surprise bloom- just when i think it's done.

"posterized"


regular hazy image




My attempt at salvaging one of the Canna 'Journey's End' shots



Full Haze



Daylily 'Cripple Creek'~ I have one more bud after this one.





One last shot before I'm off to work. Still foggy but at least I tried.

Camera Critters~ A Dog's Day

September 11, 2001 is a day that will remembered forever for a terrible act of terrorism. It was also my sweet little dog's very first birthday. Here he is on his
9th birthday.

Chewy



The Wax Myrtles in the garden are home to Mockingbirds. They watch over everything I do out there,lol.



I took lots of butterfly pics over the holiday weekend. I like this one of a Black Swallowtail for its different angle.



And another couple of bunny pics from this AM:)

"Hiding"



What's up?



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