Dazzling First Daylilies

As a child of the fifties growing up in Newfield, N.Y., walking to school placed me close to sewage in the roadside ditches.  In areas where only the moisture gathered, orange Daylilies grew in great numbers.  Clever children that we were, they were named sewer lilies.  As an adult gardener, I had no interest in placing sewer lilies among my coveted plants.  Susan of Afton needed to clear out some of her plants and three different varieties came home with us.  Their varietal names have long ago been forgotten but their mixed coloration made Daylilies worthy of a second look.

Destined To See was the first fancy lily purchased.  The simpler structure of the single flowers resulted in their widespread presence at Stone Wall Garden.  Ruffled edges and pleasing scent are considered necessary characteristics for new purchases.  This plant has been divided once and if the new ground is ready next spring it will be divided again.  Many winter hours were spend with plant catalogs considering which would be planted here and our first choice remains among the plants we truly treasure.

Aurora Raspberry displays the coveted characteristic of pie crust edging.  It is hard to believe that this beautifully complex flower will last for only a single day.  Many find the dead blossom remains prohibitively ugly and therefore do not grow these plants.  We find a mid-morning walk among the flowers peaceful and snapping off the spent flowers is simply another reason to sample the scent and sight of newly opened flowers.

Molokai is perhaps the most vigorous of out many varieties.  Planted in a bed that was taken back by the quack grass, Molokai fought the invaders and relished transplantation.  Twice divided, the hardiness and clear bright yellow color make this a favorite here.  Once again a ruffled edge completes a beautiful picture.

Chicago Arnie's Choice is another early purchase.  Its hardiness alone makes it a candidate for division.  Now we understand Susan's need to find new homes for plants that are overcrowding their allotted space.  Several people have expressed their willingness to take our extra plants if we dig, divide and deliver them.  Somehow working with plants that will remain here seems a better use of our time.

Lazarus Lilies

As winter gave way to spring here, our weather experienced extreme shifts.  Daytime temperatures can range across seventy or more degrees on consecutive days.  An early appearance of a strong warm system from the south tricked many of our plants into early robust growth.  Then an equally powerful cold northern air mass changed everything.  Overnight temperatures fell perilously close to ten degrees.  This was way beyond a simple frost.  Our plants were hit with a hard freeze.  New daylily leaves that were nearly one foot tall were transformed into yellowish limp slime.  We were certain that all of the daylilies were totally dead.  Not knowing how to deal with the mess, we simply turned away to other tasks in other parts of the garden.  After more than four days had passed, new growth began to appear above the rotting slime.  Nearly normal leaf growth finally produced properly appearing plants.  Relieved that our plants still held life, we tidied up the bed, but expected no flowers from them this year.  These pictures show that we had seriously underestimated the strength of these plants.  We love the colors of this variety but hate its name, Indian Giver.

Molokai was poorly placed near the field grasses.  Quackgrass rhizomes have pierced the crown of this daylily but its leaves prevented the deer from finding and eating flower buds.  When a more civilized area is ready for desireable plants, Molokai will be moved to a better spot.  Big yellow and beautiful, this flower can be easily seen through the heavy rain from inside the house even though it is at the far end of the garden,

Chicago Arnie's Choice displays the moisture from early morning rain.  We have watched moisture laden systems pass north or south of us for months.  Today we will likely see measurable amounts of rain all day.

Ivory Edges sports small flowers with rather flat petals.  Shades of purple marked with white is a favorite combination here.  Safe inside of a fenced area, yesterday's flowers are beyond my reach.  Sliding my hand through the 2 inch by 4 inch openings would allow me to snap off the spent flower but then the back of my hand would have spots of color similar to the purple of the flowers.

The storm clouds have opened and bright sunlight now fills the air.  We will be drawn outside to work knowing that the rain will return and we will be soaked before we can reach shelter.  This is how July in the garden is supposed to be here.  The gardeners don't look nearly as pretty as the daylilies when drenched with rain, but we are enjoying the rain just as much!

New Arrivals

At this time of year it is more common to clean up the dried stalks of past flowers than it is to find new blossoms.   This Chicago Arnie's Choice was newly purchased this Spring.  It has had a good year and is rewarding us with a flower and a bud.  For the past several years this plant was considered for purchase but never made the final list.  It is here now and from the looks of things it intends to stay.

None of the daylilies in our collection are red.  That oversight has been corrected with this Roots and Rhizomes exclusive Flash Fire.  A different red and yellow plant was twice considered but its $50.00 price tag kept it off our order.  Flash Fire is bright and eye catching and we are pleased to have it.

Our onion plants are ordered new every year so technically they are new arrivals.  Red Marble is the varietal name of these cippolini onions and this year's weather favored them.  Our soil is contaminated with red root rot.  The recommended three year crop rotation has failed to eradicate this pest.  Our onions grow with only a few roots.  They store all Winter and taste great.  Perhaps the hardship of our contaminated soil produces a strong plant.  Next year I plan to sneak a few onion plants in among the flowers growing in the new bed down by the road.  We would like to see the size of these onions grown without the root rot.