Need a Little Lovin'

2011:  "Along the Way" daylily blooming in full sun and happy!

For daylilies (and most all plants) to thrive, a gardener must provide optimal growing conditions.  Plants may survive in less than optimal conditions, but the key word here is "thrive".  

I may plant an annual in less than optimal conditions and baby it all summer, but I seldom plant a perennial in conditions too far off perfect.  To do so, means they must be babied year after year, they never live up to expectations and they may eventually die.  Loss of labor and money.

2017:  Almost total shade, competing with an ornamental grass and not happy.

Conditions may change over the years - most common:

1. The bed has become covered in shade most of the day.
2. Other plants' root systems may become wide-spread taking moisture and nutrients.
3. The drainage may change due to construction or landscaping.

Generally, the perfect conditions for daylilies in Zone 5 or north:

1. Full sun.
1. Some will enjoy some late afternoon shade in the heat of late summer.  All require at least 6 hrs. of direct sun a day. 
2. Not sit in standing water.
3. Regular moisture.
4. Healthy soil prior to planting.
5. Mulch to insulate roots from too much heat and cold.

   

   2018:  Moved into full sun and loving it.

Diseases:

1. Fortunately, there aren't a lot of diseases this far north.  The nasty run of rust in areas where there is no freeze won't be an issue here.
2. Different virus can come in several ways, symptoms can mimic other things, it's difficult to diagnose and there's no cure.  If you want to do anything to have disease free plants, only buy from reputable sources and never buy a daylily if the leaves look diseased (even if they may not be.)
3. Root and crown rot are not typically seen unless the ground is too wet or the plant has been overly fertilized.

Want more?  Check out the American Daylily Society's web page:  http://daylilies.org 

Note:  The American Hemerocallis Society is changing it's name to American Daylily Society.  It means the same thing but is easier to pronounce.

Both of these pictures are of the featured "Along the Way" daylily.  The bottom one has bloomed in mostly shade; the top in full sun.  Both are pretty but the top one is stunning and all that this variety can be.  It has deep colors: the petals have subtle shimmering-gold overlaying the peach and the halo a dark maroon red.  The bud count and number of scapes in the sun example has increased over ten times.  The scapes are more sturdy and the flowers more robust.    

If you pay good money for a perennial, don't plant in less than optimal conditions and if less optimal develops over the years, then move it or amend the conditions. 

Note:  If you click on the first picture, it will take you through them in a larger format - allowing you to see all the little pretties.        

Silly Reasons - Good Results

Except for the few very disciplined gardeners (and I personally know none) we tend to have changing priorities or reasons for buying the plants we purchase each year.

• The years when we first started and bought and planted willy-nilly.
• The years where we wanted a specific color.  With my daylilies, I had the red years and the yellow/gold years.
• The years where we decided to make new beds and formally landscape things.
• The years we happen to be at a nursery and fell in love with something different.
• The years where we'd bought all of our favorite perennial the local nurseries had to offer and started going bigger and better.
• The years we started looking for new and more beautiful/unique traits on our favorite perennial. 
• The years we went on garden walks and realized there was so much more we could be doing.
• The years we totally lost our mind and you know how THAT turned out. 

I can look at a plant in my yard and almost always tell you what stage I was in when it was purchased.  

Kady in front of Bitsy before it got moved. (I love my garden
pictures that feature grandkids!)

This all came to mind when I was cleaning up my daylily records; a winter project.  I came to the daylily "Bitsy" and knew it was when I decided to make a family daylily bed.  I'd buy a daylily simply for the name.  I'd plop it into the family bed and it became a riotous mass of colors and traits.  

Twice I've had to take everything out of the bed for house related reasons.  At that time, I'd take a few of the more simple ones and move to other beds.  Bitsy, bought for one of my little kitties, was moved out to a west dry bed that I seldom managed.  (Out of sight out of mind.)  It struggled to the point of near death.  Eight years later, not one to rush a task, I moved it to a new bed that had many more favorable conditions.  In two years, it was everything it was suppose to be.

2016 - settling into new bed.

So here's the scoop on this small little daylily.  The flowers are certainly sweet but have none of the fancy traits of new hybrids.  Registered by Warner in 1963, it wasn't bred for fancy, it was bred for unique blooming traits.  A good reminder that the plant is as important as the bloom. 

There's a reason it's won five major awards; the last almost 40 years after registration.  Not a bad run for any plant.

The flowers:  1.5 inch clear bright lemon yellow with light green throat.  It's registered at 18 inches but the scapes on my plant are all of at least 24 inches, holding it high above the grassy-like slender foliage.  

2017 - Always in flower.

OK, here's the big fun stuff:  

It is one of the earliest blooming lilies (05-29-2018) but is considered a continuous and repeat bloomer.  Mine was still blooming after the first frost last year.

Note:  A light frost will not damage a daylily bud and it will still bloom.  

It branches; meaning the blooms are not all on single scapes (stalk) but have stems coming out from every stalk with blooms on each.  This makes for a fully covered plant.

It tolerates extreme temperatures and water.

I use this same 8.5 x 5.5 inch book to visually indicate
the size of the flower.  

It's nocturnal!  This is pretty wonderful for a flower that only blooms one day and usually only in the daylight.  Planted next to a place you sit in the evenings, it provides a bright yellow glow.

This little beauty is one that I consider a "workhorse" and even though it's little blooms aren't complex, I wouldn't want a daylily garden without one.   

Bitsy is an example of a phase or reason I bought a plant morphing into a much better result.  

This one shows the branching and bud count.

Case of Mistaken Identity

Life is all about choices and a small choice (in the scheme of life things) is what to do about a daylily you buy and it isn't true to the American Hemerocallis (daylily) Society's registered description.

Admittedly you have to be really into daylilies to care very much.  For those that are or want to be into it that much, let's talk about reasons and choices.

If you buy a daylily from a source other than reputable and proven nurseries, you may get a daylily that doesn't look or act anything like the name they've labeled on the package or on-line.  This would be any big box store (Those racks where they have bare root plants and a picture on the front.)  Any on-line auction or sales site such as e-bay or Facebook lily sites.  Not that they are always off but my experience is that they are most likely wrong.  They just might be the only resource that still has something you are wanting B.A.D. and your only option.  Let's just say "Buyer Beware!"

The reason these places have plants mislabeled or they don't show up as officially described when they're registered by the breeder could be any one of the following:

(1) They are simply substituting anything to get a sale - this is deliberate lying.  
(2)  They are taken from places that have bought large quantities of breeders' throw aways.  These are plants that didn't make the cut and aren't registered but are pretty and they want to get some cash from them.  Most reputable serious breeders don't do this or only sell them stating they aren't registered.  
(3)  Somewhere someone has bought the actual registered plant but then hybridized it with others but still sold it as the original registered variety.  
(4)  Someone dug the wrong plant and/or mislabeled at the time it was dug.  A mistake.

Even knowing all the of above reasons, it still doesn't help you when you get something that wasn't what you thought you were getting.  

You can return the plant although it may take a year or two before you catch on the first booms you're getting are wrong.  Chances of a refund are slim.  Or, if it's pretty and you like it, you can live with it.  

Here's my example where I learned about getting a lily so far from what it is actually described.  On the flip side, I love this daylily because it's pretty, substantial, is a robust grower and I've divided it many times to fill in places where breeding doesn't really matter.

The daylily was labeled "Bali Hai" and I bought it from a big box store for less than $5 and from a company called "Imported Holland Bulbs".

This is my "Bali Hai":

This is from the AHS cultivar database:

    You can see the problem.  The registered description reads and my plant reads: 

AHS:  22 inches tall.  Flower is 5 inches across.  Blooms Midseason.  Color:  Pink melon with raised orchid midribs and light gold throat.
DIANE:  28 inches tall.  Flower is 5 inches across.  Blooms Midseason and both continuous and reblooms.  Color:  Bright coral orange with deeper veining; yellow eye and deep red halo.  Slightly ruffled edge.

Yep, not much alike except they're both daylilies.  Bali Hai is an old daylily, registered in 1973 by Wild.  Whatever the reason Holland Bulbs sold this flower with the Bali Hai label, it was wrong.  And whatever the outcome, I have a very nice daylily that I refer to as Bali Hai but realize it's not.  

My recommendations: 

If you want to buy a daylily from a big box store or an on-line avenue, and don't care what you get, go for it.  I will warn you that some on-line sources send flowers that are so small or so unhealthy that you will never get a blooming plant in this lifetime.  Some big box store plants, including daylilies, were never meant to withstand our Zone 5 winters.  If you've been buying this stuff and it's not making it through the first winter, this may be the reason. Buyer Beware if you don't know and trust your vendor.

If you buy a mislabeled daylily from a reputable nursery (either neighboring or on line) and don't want to keep it, talk to them.  If you want a refund or exchange, let them know.  Most, but not all, will gladly make it right.  (In all fairness, customers will sometimes pick up tags and put them back in the wrong container.)  Oakes will always make things right.  I bought a lily from Hornbaker's that was mislabeled and they refused to discuss it with me.  It was a pretty lily that I told them I was alright keeping but their attitude definitely changed my opinion of their business.  

Most big box daylilies are still between $5-10 but you can go to local nurseries or places like Oakes Daylilies on-line and get healthy correctly labeled plants for those same prices.  This is especially good if you are just beginning to landscape with daylilies.  I still love the first daylilies I bought in that price range when I was starting to garden.  These less expensive lilies are great if you want to flood a flower bed with a particular color and don't really care about names or all the new bells and whistles. 

Yes, I like my little mislabeled Bali Hai and everytime I see it I break into the song from "South Pacific" (Well, in my mind anyway.)

The Homies

My 2018/19 Amaryllis

"Raise your hand if you have a sweaty butt!"

I'm pretty sure you've never heard that as the first sentence of any article anywhere.  I have this sweet and incredibly funny six-year-old granddaughter.  And the story goes:  It was an especially cold winter Illinois day and my two granddaughters and I were headed to a nearby town to Christmas shop.  The girls love the seat heaters and asked if they could have them on high.  Sure.  About fifteen miles into the trip, Kady asks the above question.  It got quiet and then we all broke out laughing and all hands went up.  Little children - love them.

Now:  Raise your hand if you've ever bought a big box store Amaryllis, Christmas Cactus or Poinsettia!

The reason I only say big box store plants is because they are so cheap.  I agree the ones from nurseries are more hardy, larger and so very beautiful.  And I do buy them some years for all those reasons.  But, then I feel so responsible for their continuing life.  The pressure of being responsible!

If I pay between $5-10 for a plant, I can almost consider it disposable.  It's less expensive than a Starbucks coffee, a fancy Christmas ornament, a  pre made bow - you get the rationalization.  If I choose to baby it for a couple of years and it actually works - great.  If I'm sick of the whole mess, I can dump it with little regrets.   If I happen to leave the bare bulb in the basement for five years - well, you get the picture.

Here are some of the beauties I've bought cheaply over the years.  They are also some of the beauties I've enjoyed exceptionally over the years.

NOTE:  If you like pictures of blooms with a dark background, take the picture at night using your flash.  This works both inside and outside.  

Life in the Fast Lane

This little cement angel was from my husband's services.

My last post was in August - what seems almost a lifetime ago.  

Very little gardening was accomplished this year because my husband was very sick and passed away in October.  Going through serious sickness, medical diagnosis, treatments and death of a loved one is similar to putting a car's gear into neutral while pressing on the gas.  You don't move along but you certainly have the engine revved up all the time.  It's hard on the engine and you never get out of the fast lane.

As my husband said when we were coming home after he was told he would not survive this third bout of cancer, "This sure makes a lot of things unimportant."  It mentally and emotionally lines up things on a list of what's important and what isn't important simply falls off the radar.  Some things are so far down on the list, it takes concentration to think of them if mentioned by someone else.  Other things become unimportant because you simply no longer have time to think of or manage them.  If you are doing five-thousand things today, the five-thousand and one thing will not happen.  My garden fell into that category.  

I have a big garden and most often it takes big work.  Not the kind of work that's a drudgery but the kind that gives satisfaction and soothes my soul.  I'd venture a guess that most people do not have big gardens and can't imagine what it takes to keep it looking like it takes no effort.  On the few occasions I looked outside at my yard, I knew what wasn't getting done but most people didn't.  

I don't resent that I didn't get to garden; it wasn't as important as what I was doing at that time.  I had sincere offers from friends to come in and trim, weed and help manage but my limit of personal resources couldn't even organize what needed to be done so I could get them started.  I was grateful a neighbor came in and mowed and for the young man who is working his way through nursing school who needed another yard to mow - both without any instructions on my part.

My comment on my gardens, when garden friends worried about the state of things, was, "I'll let winter come and take care of it this year".  And that's what I did.  

Next year I'm sure I'll have to battle even more weeds from all those pesky plants that didn't get pulled.  But then next year I'll have different priorities.  

My husband didn't garden and never indicated he would ever want to garden.  He was the muscle behind my latest "idea" and that was good enough for me.  Frankly, when I heard garden friends talking about bickering with their husbands about garden things, I was always grateful my husband was a "Sure, whatever." kind of guy.

He was the one that built the screened porch on the back of our house so we could enjoy the gardens while sitting insect free.

He was the one that looked around a room to see what bouquet of flowers I'd brought inside.  

He was the one that wheelbarrowed in load after load of old brick to where I was making a new project.

He was the one who dug out failures.  We would laugh at how he would dig up a huge bush or tree, leaving a root ball the size of a basketball and against all odds it would grow into a better plant. 

He was the one that would move the very large cement angel three times before it was in just the right place.  He was also the one that would quickly/silently drive by the discount cement yard ornament place hoping I wouldn't notice. 

He was the one that picked up, loaded and placed field stones around the yard every spring.  The stones work their way up by the freeze/thaw process and we always felt we were doing our local farmers a favor when we gathered rocks.  The grandchildren loved to help and it was an adventure.

He was the one that figured out how to tow snow sleds with kids on them up the hill in the frozen snow-covered bean fields for the grandkids to swoop down without the long cold walk back up.  

Yes, next year I'll have time to garden but it will be at a mighty cost.  

They said what?

There's nothing that ruins a new catch phrase as quickly as every news person using it in every sentence.

Absolutely!  There are very few absolutes in this world - the word is loosing its importance.

No problem!  I'm the customer.  You're the employee.  Your job isn't my problem.  A thank you is good enough.

Emojis are cute, funny and trendy.  They're not conversation.

You may feel wearing the waistband of your pants below your bum is a fashion statement but my thought was I'm glad his tidy whites didn't have skid marks (talking about you family guy at Happy Joes in Kewanee on a Friday night.)

Listening to what the other person is saying is a lost art.

The Great Midwest will only stay great as long as we keep those Midwest values.

Rock Island IL has everything it needs to be great - except - it isn't.  The rampant crime, the failed economic development, the fleeing businesses, the constant infighting of city government - its the ultimate fault of voters who continue to elect people who will not do better by the town.

Debbie Downer has taken up residence in some folks Facebook posts.

Grandchildren are God's way of helping us concentrate on something better than getting old.

In spite of the many poems, quotes and stories saying the Northern Cardinal is sent from God to communicate from our dead family members, they are just a bird doing what birds do in an exceptionally beautiful coat.  The pair that's visited outside my computer room window this year have brought so much joy I can see why some think it's almost a religious experience.

For the flowers that bloom in a very dry fall, I thank you.

Thank you Nancy Anderson for reminding me how fortunate we've been this summer to not have hail damage to our plants and crops.  Last summer was a foliage bummer.

Remember bomb alerts, weather alerts, fire alerts and what to do "in case of"?  Today I saw a breathing alert for California.  Although we're thousands of miles from the many deadly fires out west, a breathing alert is a wake up call on the ramifications of poor soil conservation, over building and disregarding the fragile balance of land, water and air.

California has always been at the front of righteous indignation regarding use of the planet by others.  Today they are sadly paying the price for "do as I say and not as I do".  And they still don't get it.

The volunteers, the thinkers, the idea people of Galva area community have really outdone  themselves this year.  It's not only helping the area, it's drawing others to our town.  Well done good and faithful servants.  

Some people ride the political pony express like it's the best and fastest way to reach our destination.   Get something new and relevant to talk about, you're not keeping up with the train.

I personally want to thank the fashion designers targeting the older consumers and the stores that carry their brands.

And "NO", I don't want the fabric that says "hand wash only" and neither does a teenager, a young mom or a guy.  If you can't find fabric that can go in the washer and dryer, you need to look harder.

For the clueless dad that still thinks kids' sports must be played like a professional:  Even if you're at every game, you're not being a good dad, roll model or team player.  Love isn't browbeating, yelling, punishing, swearing or being a jerk in front of your kid.  Get a grip!  Get a life!  Get humility!  Get a sense of humor!

Galva getting some of their badly deteriorating streets fixed this summer is a good deal for residents and the impression it makes on potential new residents.  Good city infrastructure means good government and it is one of the best economic development factors a town can demonstrate.

I don't remember a church in this area closing it's doors.  There may be fewer people and shared ministries but the faithful continue to worship and serve their community.

You know your from the rural Midwest if you get a bit teary eyed at little kids frolicking in the park, parades with tractors (lots of tractors), the Bishop Hill High Society Band and the American Legionnaires firing their Salute.

My hat is off in thanks to the Henry County Sheriff's Department's quick response to a trespasser one late night.  Pretty darn exceptional service considering the size of the department and county.

I've finally embraced Creeping Charlie as a flowering ground cover.  Soon - I may have to embrace bindweed as my new fall flower.  But I simply refuse to accept Japanese Beetles as my new family pet.

As I marvel at the beautiful field corn this year, we've been Blessed with no damaging wind.

Now that almost everyone wears a ball cap at one time or another - I can still tell a farmer by the way his/her hat sits on the head.

I knew our church was doing something right when a young guest said, "Everyone was so friendly to me and made me feel welcome."  Love one another triumphs again.        

We've had some contractors at the house recently helping us do some big jobs.  An unsolicited and unpaid ad:  Midwest Carpets, Galva - Neil Thomas PHAC, Galesburg - Schisler Plumbing, Abingdon - Cordrey Construction, Kewanee - Pete's Floors, Kewanee - Berry Spectrum Painting, Monmouth.  In the past we've had others that are good, but these folks are the latest.  They did what they said they were going to do, didn't destroy other things in the process and made having them on our property as easy as they could - nice folks doing a good job.

As a side contractor note:  If you use a local contractor and they do a great job - pay them immediately.  All of the above are independently owned, most have others they must pay and they have materials they buy prior to the job being started.  They all have horror stories about customers who don't fulfill their part of the deal.  Don't be a horror story.

Some people just don't realize there's an off switch on their jerk machine.

If you grow your own or buy from a local producer, our fresh sweet corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and more are why we have taste buds.

Just read an article on why crazy expensive organic honey is better and why.  Seriously, honey from a local bee farm is as good tasting, nutritionally excellent and at a reasonable price.  Expensive does not mean better.

Although bees gather pollen from most of my plants, they really REALLY go crazy for the ornamental gourd flowers.

The larger variety of flowering plants you have in your yard/gardens, the more beneficial and beautiful insects you'll have.

Some plants are advertised for specific insects.  The surprises are:  Hummingbirds like purple hosta flowers.  Honey bees like daylilies.  Monarchs like Cosmos.  The quiet sound of insects, when recorded on vinyl and played backwards says "Yum Yum Yum".   

The Clash of Colors

There's a lot of talk in the garden world about how to or how not to put certain colored flowers together in your garden.  It's especially talked about with daylilies.  I'll give you my take on if there are "Clashing Daylily Colors":  None - nada - zero! 

Have you ever visited a commercial daylily nursery?  Their fields are usually arranged in single rows of daylilies and go on for yards.  Putting them in single rows allows mowing between the rows where people walk and the clumps can be viewed from both sides.  I've never, ever, seen them arranged because the colors might clash.  

One of the commercial daylily nurseries I visited at the Region II Daylily Conference.

I'm way (as in WAY) too undisciplined to worry about clashing daylily colors.  Here are some of the reasons:

Daylilies bloom at different times:  Very early to Very late.  Some of them will never be blooming at the same time making color a moot point.

"Middendorfii" last blooms are by the end of May.

"Lilting Belle" doesn't start blooming until the end of July.

I've bought daylilies over many years so there's more of "where can I put this new one" rather than a grand overall plan.

As much as gardeners are encouraged to have a grand plan in the very beginning, it is impossible if you buy more daylilies every year.  At least impossible for me and the area I have to work.  

I'm in love with certain types of daylilies only to change my love every few years.  One year it was yellow/gold, another reds, then tall, another was large blooms and now crazy patterns.  I can almost  tell you what year things were planted by what I had been loving at that time.

This is from my "love them large" stage:  "Ruby Spider" measures in at 9-inches on 34 inch scapes.  

 Some of the best combinations of colors have been an accident.  I planted the glowing "Orange Vols" near some hosta.  They never bloomed at the same time until the last few years.  Now I have orange and lavender flowers at the same time and it's beautiful and totally not a typical color combination.

"Chicago Star" and "Blue Diana"

"Orange Vols" & Hosta Flowers

I've put the beautiful orange/blood red "Oriental Ruby" next to the deep purple velvet "Wayside King Royale".  Should not work but does.

There is also the seasonal factor where a daylily will look different from year to year depending upon weather, moisture, early/late spring and a million other factors including "who knows why".  Along with this is the plant you put in your garden may have looked one way at the nursery or in their catalog but seems much different in your zone, soil or care.  

I grant you it's difficult for people who must have things perfect or must control.  Gardening isn't a finite hobby and it's seldom in our control.  

My advice is to discard any and all worries concerning colors that might clash. 

The only advice on color I might offer is to add near white (there is no pure white daylily) here and there to provide escape and balance.  And put short scapes towards the front or they will not be seen and may die from being in the shade of other perennials.       

The mish-mash of colors has been going on for ages and is captured in the Claude Monet painting "The Water Lily Pond" aka "Japanese Bridge2".  Seriously, if Claude embraced it, who am I not to love a riot of color!