Daylily Closeup

Daylily

Hemerocallis cv.

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Despite one of the hottest and driest summers I can remember the Daylilies proved they are tough, hardy performers in the garden. Despite installing several new irrigation systems for clients this summer I don’t have one at my house so the Hemerocallis lived and bloomed on a little bit of hand watering and that's it.

With this kind of weather it is easy to see the faults and shortcomings of the irrigation systems at work. It is generally easy to put down too much water and that isn’t good for most ornamental shrubbery. It is also easy to see dry spots that are usually not apparent when nature cooperates with some rain. While we didn't go through anything like the drought out west our area is used to at least some summer rainfall and even the thundershowers didn't come this year. Lucky things are getting back to normal (ugh, just in time for winter) in the precipitation department and we were able to keep most everything we planted alive but I do know that plants sometimes show their drought damage several seasons down the road.

 Bonus foliage picture. These are some Nandina domestica leaves

Dewberry Candy Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Dewberry Candy'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

This daylily is from my garden. Now that I am going to be moving I am not sure what will happen to it. There are some really nice cultivars in the group, which was collected over 15 years. Oh well time to get some new stuff. This photo was shot on a super hot day with the 105mm Nikon macro lens. The lens (actually the 105mm/ 2.8 micro-nikkor) has a brilliant ability to kind of equalize the light even in harsh conditions.

Daylilies are amazing plants and probably one of the most hybridized. There are over 60,000 registered daylilies. They are extremely hardy and generally not a chore in the garden.

Jungle Beauty Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Jungle Beauty'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

While going through some old files I found a “roll” of unexplored Daylilies. There were some astonishing reds and pinks in the folder. This first one was introduced in 1990 and had a nice velvety black color. The scape had a good bud set and a strong frame. Quite an eye catcher and well named.

This second flower had a warmer brighter color. I have to admit to really liking the Woodside collection of Daylilies. Dr. Darryl Apps just knows how to breed colors that I like. He recently retired and the whole Woodside collection was moved to large wholesale nursery in New Jersey.

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Woodside Fire Dance'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Yellow Daylily

Yellow Daylily

Hemerocallis cv.

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Out of the hundreds of thousands of plants on this estate I have found one little patch of Daylilies. No one seems to know what color or the cultivar name so that is a mystery that will be solved next year. Most all of the flowers are white in the garden and I am interested to see how the monochromatic color scheme works. The landscape architects were here yesterday trying to come up with a plan to fix the most heavily storm damaged areas. We are still cleaning up but most of the mess is now taken care of and we are getting back to our regularly scheduled winterizing of the garden.

Yellow Daylily

 

Yellow Daylily

Hemerocallis cv.

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Wordless Wednesday

Chicago Apache Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Chicago Apache'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Introduced 1981 by Marsh-Klehm

This seems to be the last blooming Daylily in the garden. While a couple of the rebloomers are struggling to produce a few ragged flowers 'Chicago Apache' is full bloom. I tried to resist photographing a lot of Daylilies this year having done that to death here over the last few years. This red one was too vivid to ignore and you could see it from various vistas in the garden.  I have included a group shot of one of the whole scapes having taken a step back after doing the close up version. It seemed the Hemerocallis were especially vivid this year and I enjoyed having the private collection of various seedlings and cultivars here at the house. They also grew amazingly and need to be divided now.

White Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Joan Senior'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Introduced 1977

Rare White Daylily

Daylily Seedling

Daylily Seedling

Hemerocallis

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

This photo is from my personal collection of Daylily seedlings. It is one my favorites because it has good color, nice ruffled edges and is a rebloomer. Those are all good traits for a Daylily. The daylilies in my home garden have kind of grown wild now and need to be divided and hopefully sold at some point. It is a wonderful mix of plants but just like at work everything is starting to get too crowded and needs to be spilt up. Later this summer I am going to be dividing the big Daylily planting at the farm (which is all named varieties) and the owner has already consented to giving me a few of each type/color. It is a big job but well worth it.

I am on my own this weekend as Karen is off to see some old friends. On Saturday I will be purchasing the 40 replacement roses we need for the big rose garden. There were not that many losses from the winter but we have finally decided to get rid of some of the clunkers that have been limping along for the last few years. Grow or be gone :LOL: So expect some rose pictures next week.

Ruffled Apricot Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Ruffled Apricot’

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Wordless Wednesday

Fancy Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Barry Matthie Seedling #12'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

This Daylily is not an official cultivar just a beautiful seedling I saw out on Long Island. As I remember the day it was about 100 degrees out and I was the only one looking and snapping photos of the Daylily and Dahlia gardens. The flowers still looked fresh even under the conditions. This Daylily is like most of Mr. Matthie’s selections, fancy and a bit breathtaking. The color shading and ruffles combined to make it stand out from the crowd of other Daylilies trying to get my camera’s attention.

Well we finally got some rain yesterday and last night. It was the perfect type of rain. Hard but not fast enough to run off so the ground is soaked and it really feels like spring out there now.

Baltimore Oriole Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Baltimore Oriole'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Daylilies with this deep of a color stand out a little above the Hemerocallis crowd. The petals are a rich red and have a good structure. The flowers can measure up to six inches across and have a deep yellow throat. We are going back to Manhattan today with a load of plants to complete the spring clean up. There are several Daylilies on board but none as striking as 'Baltimore Oriole'. The garden owner goes for lighter colors so we bought some pastel and more muted types.

Our foray into the big city last week was the first time we ever worked down there and not received a parking ticket even though parking in the neighborhood has been reduced by about half due to construction. Hopefully we can continue the magic this week.

Peach Daylily

Peach Daylily
Hemerocallis cv.
(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Quick post before I am off to work. This peach colored Daylily is balancing off the cold gray day we are having here. Work has been kicking my butt but it feels good to be out in the garden again.

Daylilies are so amazing. I didn’t catch the cultivar name of this one but I remember shooting this picture on Long Island and it was close to 100 degrees out. The flowers still looked fresh and appealing. Summer will soon be here and that is a good feeling.

As most readers know my favorite Pop Star is Selena Gomez. She is filming a movie called “Spring Breakers” in Florida right now and from what I have heard it going to be fairly racy for a Sel movie. She is about to make the tough transition from Disney star to adult actress. I am sure she is going to do it with her usual grace and style. This video is 45 minutes long but explores Selena’s rise from a poor kid in Texas to the top of the pops. I found it interesting and inspiring.

Green Tarantula Daylily

 

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Green Tarantula'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

This flower is a bit of a novelty item in the Daylily Border. It grows fairly enormous and doesn’t really flower that heartily. The color is also a little novel as it is bright pretty much a lime green and yellow mix. The flowers are huge, up to 8 inches wide and often display uniquely shaped and crinkled petals. I am not sure but this variety may go into ‘spider’ type division.

Since it’s Sunday again here are a couple of random Daylilies from the horse farm. The thing I like most about the colors of these types of Daylilies is if the light is right it kind of has a nice pink/yellow glow to the whole area. These are going to have to be divided this year.

Asterisk Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Asterisk'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

This is going to be short as I am being hustled out to the theme parks again today. This Daylily not only has an interesting shape but also a very nice color scheme. The tips of the flower have kind of an orange/pink tint and that goes down to a green in the center. The flowers are also huge getting up to 8 inches across. Part novelty and part majestic these flowers are well worth growing.

Monte Carlo Red

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Monte Carlo Red'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Double Daylily

Double Daylily
Hemerocallis 'Peach Magnolia'
(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

This Daylily has been featured on this site before it hasn’t got any less beautiful since then. It has several traits that I find desirable in a Daylily. The extra flower petals are just pretty and ruffled enough to make it special. The fact this Daylily can rebloom is also nice. The huge flowers are another asset and they can be gazed upon with admiration. This hybrid comes from Joiner Gardens of Savannah, Georgia and hit the market in 1986. It has been charming gardeners and award judges ever since.

Sunday means Today’s Flowers and an extra snapshot.

Gerber Daisy
Gerbera jamesonii ‘Festival Mix’
(GER-ber-uh) (jay-mess-OWN-ee-eye)

Black and White Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Gentle Shepherd'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

These photos are from last summer. As usual when going through the garden with my DSLR my compact camera was tagging along set to monochrome. One of the reasons these came out well is ‘Gentle Shepherd’ is almost a pure white Daylily. That is a rare but not unheard of color for Hemerocallis. With just a hint of chartreuse in the throat and sometimes a tiny bit of pink shading it gives an all white appearance.

It is a relatively short cultivar (28 inches) that is very slow to fill in. I would have to call it slow growing compared to other varieties. It has skipped two dividing cycles already so in hindsight I would have planted more together at the time. It is a Diploid type that was considered a breeding breakthrough for whites in the early 1980’s.

The little P6000 camera does well with this type of shot. I love compact cameras and mine can be set to fully manual if needed. Normally these types of shots are really not “set up” properly and are generally lucky shots.

We got a dusting of snow again last night and I can’t help feeling there is a large dump coming soon. Tonight and tomorrow we are suppose to get 3 to 5 inches. We leave for Florida on Tuesday morning and I’m just ticking off the hours right now. Being inside this much isn’t good for me but over the years I have learned to manage it.

Stella De Oro Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Stella De Oro'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Synonyms: ‘Stella d'Oro’

If someone asked me to name the most overused plant in the gardening world my answer would be 'Stella De Oro' Daylily. It is remarkable how it has appeared in so many landscapes over the years. Of course this leads to kind of dual situation. On one hand it wouldn’t be so popular if it wasn’t reliable and nice looking on the other hand it becomes a bit pariah for being so popular. To me it is okay with a nice warm flower color, small stature and ability to rebloom. There are just so many other nicer Daylilies to choose from but I imagine it often comes down to a question of supply (what the local nursery has). My friend was cracking me up by referring to this flower as a “ditch lily” instead of a daylily.

I hope everyone’s Christmas dreams came true yesterday. The gifts I received seemed to be a little more useful then in past years. The music store gave Karen the wrong guitar so I have to return it today. Hopefully they will still have the closeout model I wanted. Anyone that reads this blog knows I love pop princess Selena Gomez. She is just getting over a family tragedy and I wish her the best on that. I did score two Selena movies yesterday including the major release of Monte Carlo, which I think was originally going to star Nichole Kidman.

Spiffy Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Spiffy'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

This orangey-yellow Daylily is nice to have in the garden. It’s striking color and good habit combine to make it a standout in the Daylily border. Introduced in 1980 it has been stunning gardeners for 31 years. The Daylilies in our garden have been trying to grow a little during are recent warm spells. It hasn’t really been that warm but enough to have the Daylilies throw out a few more leaves. That is going to shut down as the temperature here is 15 degrees F (-9 C) this morning. A bit nippy to be sure but closer to our normal. Winter officially starts in 2 days and it seems like it is going to be a long one. I don’t like the cold but the shortness of the days is what really gets to me this time of year.

Strawberry Rose Daylily

Daylily

Hemerocallis 'Strawberry Rose'

(hem-er-oh-KAL-iss)

Looking back in the archives I have become amazed at how many Daylilies I have been photographing. It must be that they bloom during the time when it is conducive to being outside and carrying a camera. Some of the flowers have made an impression on me including ‘Strawberry Rose’. It’s delicate color, curved petals and ruffled edges just screamed class and elegance. It arrived in gardens in 1980.

This next Daylily is from the collection at the farm. A big nursery planted it about 20 years ago. It looks like that they went through the stock of fancy daylilies at the nursery and grabbed a few of each. Of course now the flowers have kind of staked out their own claim and have their little area in the bed, which is about 25 feet long by 10 feet wide. It is a pleasure to see them all blooming with a kind of random allure. This one has a large flower that is held proudly and tall.

Just a word to the people that have signed up to follow this site, Thanks! I have a of good flowers picked out to post over the winter plus I am dreaming of visiting somewhere tropical during this winter.