Zoomin Blooms - A Daylily Blog

Daylily Display Garden Plan | Daylily Blog on Travelling

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 19 Jan 2012 11:00:00 +0000

One of my short-term goals is to obtain "Display Garden" status for my new gardens here in Illinois. The American Hemerocallis Society bestows this designation on gardens that exhibit the daylily in its various forms in wonderful ways. Specific criteria can be found here.

Carter (my precocious six-year-old) made the announcement at our New Years Eve Dinner that he wanted to do some daylily traveling with me in 2012. There was never a more obvious opportunity to instill the love of gardens and gardening people than this one! Carter and I decided we would plan a set of trips this summer to see all the AHS Display Gardens in Illinois - just he and I.

There are over 70 in our region, and about 15 in Illinois, so I think we can see all the ones in our state this year.

Will he have good garden etiquette?

Will he be patient in the gardens?

Will he enjoy the sights?

Maybe he will take his own camera and capture the journey...

I'm already excited.

Here are some memories of my visits to other daylily gardens in our region. The large picture below is Daylilies by the Pond, which is a great mail-order source and a family owned business in Ohio. I visited there on tour in 2010 and they have an amazing website with tons of information and reasonable prices. I placed my spring order today for 4 FAB daylilies I saw there when I visited.

So, Carter and I will set out together this summer on a two-person journey to see Illinois' daylilies. I hope that in the future someday he will remember this trip and have good stories to tell his own kids about how he and his mom hit the road and invaded other peoples gardens.

Its bound to be a trip full of stories and texture. I will post our proposed route soon- maybe you want to caravan along!

I love the "big-picture" I find on these trips into someone else's green universe. I like to see how established clumps contribute to the landscape, how hardscapes are used to accent the daylilies, how mono-cultures are kept interesting and beautiful and how these garden jewels shine in others lives.

Here is a list of all the display gardens in Region 2. We have lots of good stuff to see in this part of the heartland, and I hope you'll find someone near you to share the sights!

going, going gone!

silky petals wither too soon -

making way for new.

A Tale of Two 'Bella Sera' clumps... | Daylily Blog on Experiments...

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 20:57:00 +0000

mysteries abound!

unraveling in the dirt -

twisting our green thumbs.

This is a tale of two H. 'Bella Sera' clumps. One clump bought four years ago and raised in Michigan and the other raised in Illinois for the same amount of time. Now they both live in the same garden. They were both transplanted from their original homes in August of 2011 and planted in one of my new beds in early September. Both clumps contain at least four fans and are guaranteed true-to-name. I planted the two small clumps about 8" apart and kept the crowns and root systems intact.

That was four months ago.

Those are the details you will need to help with this mystery. You'll also need this photo and the following definition of foliage habit...

H. 'Bella Sera' is registered as an evergreen daylily, which, by definition means:

The foliage habit of daylilies that retain their foliage throughout the year. In cold winter climates, evergreen daylilies over-winter as a mound of frozen pale green foliage. Evergreens may resume growth during a mid-winter thaw in mild climates. Evergreen daylilies do not set resting buds.

(That definition comes from the Daylily Dictionary on the American Hemerocallis Society website. Check it out if you want to learn a few new vocabulary words today!)

This week - yes, it IS January - I was out in the garden on a sunny 50 degree day and noticed something peculiar about the two clumps. One looks dormant and one looks evergreen.

I'm betting that the one on the right comes back as thin, puny fans and will not produce flowers. I'm guessing the one on the left will look as though it was never disturbed and will bloom fine. However it turns out, I do not think they will bloom or grow the same this year. What do you think?

I wonder if their blooms will be as different as their foliage. Can you guess which one has lived in Michigan for the past four years and which one was already here in Illinois? Can't wait to see the blooms.

Here is H. 'Bella Sera' in all her glory... A Google Image Search for more turns up some good ones, too. This daylily is widely used as a parent and its easy to see why.

I love the white edges and bright halo. I enjoy this flower best early in the morning, when the halo is almost silver against the royal purple segments.

It just glows...

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Daylily Blog of Great Garden Tour Memories

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 14:31:00 +0000

I miss Long Island. In 2006, they hosted about 500 daylily fanatics for the AHS National Convention and my mind has not let go of the images I encountered while visiting those unforgettable gardens. What I remember most, especially at this time of year when the night sky is so many stirring shades of blue and purple, are the hydrangeas....

revealing color-

heavy heads flop gracefully.

you're full of promise!

There were at least twenty different hydrangeas seen on the Long Island Garden Tour - different leaf shapes and configurations, each one more fabulous than the next. The flower heads burst with color not seen in such volume before! Purples, pinks, magenta, blues, and even turquoise heads bobbed in the breeze off the Atlantic that weekend and I was mesmerized. Wow. That was six years ago. So much has changed since then...some of those gardens no longer exist, some of those people have passed on, and some of those families do not live as one anymore. I've been to four National Conventions since that one on Long Island and each one has different memories, but from this one, I remember the gardens the most.

The relevant point about hydrangeas is that their form and structure wonderfully contrast the daylily in many ways. The hydrangeas are loosely "round" in growing habit, leaf shape, flower structure - which sets off the sword-like, arching foliage and tall, erect scapes on the daylily. I think the two are an unlikely yin and yang in the garden. The daylily blooms pop against the lush, green foliage of the hydrangea and their bloom times (depending on variety) are complementary as well.

It felt good to remember my Long Island friends today - the people and the hydrangeas!

Change, Challenge, Create

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 18:10:00 +0000

There are three words that will guide my journey for 2012 - Change, Challenge, and Create.

I spend the winter months bottling up inspiration, enthusiasm and grandiose plans - only to unleash them the following year in the spring and summer.

My inspiration always begins at one of the cool daylily meetings in January and February. These meetings are for everyone. There is always a seat at the table for anyone who wishes to come, and I hope you will consider coming to one of them if you are passionate about the daylily and people who grow them. For the most part there are no dress codes, no requirements, and no expectations. You pay a fee to hear several speakers on diverse topics, usually the fee also includes a meal (or two) and a live auction/entertainment of some sort. This is how I always kick off my year!

2012 will be no different and I am so excited!

Two that have become somewhat of a tradition to me are the Region 10 and Region 2 Winter meetings.

I will be speaking at the Mid-Winter Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee on January 20-22, 2012. You can see the schedule of events and register here.

My own region hosts an amazing winter getaway meeting near Cincinnati, Ohio on February 24-26. Get more details here. Here is a video invitation to this event:

Great job, Charles Dorsey (of Daylily Addict fame) and team!

Get registered for at least one of these events ASAP! Make your plans and Ill see you there!

I'll have more on the details of Change, Challenge and Create as January comes on. Its a great way for me to focus my energies and get more done in 2012.

I hope you plan to plan to have a great year! Maybe you can change, challenge and create your way into some wonderful adventures...

Christmas Daylily Haiku | Daylily Blog

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Sat, 24 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

a wreath on the door,

sparkling trimmings on the tree.

spring! please come soon!

Here is one of the few red daylilies that I enjoy. It is H. 'Springfield Clan' by Jane Trimmer. I just counted fourteen photos of this daylily in my files, and they were all taken during the 2009 National Convention in Orlando. I enjoy the very long filaments on this one. They are long, unruly and a fabulous punctuation to this daylily.

I want to wish you a happy and healthy holiday season. May the gardening gods smile down on us all in 2012 and reveal to us beautiful blooms and blue skies!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Reconstruction Recap | The 2011 Adventure

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:50:00 +0000

NOTE: Daylily Haiku Thursday moved to Saturday this week to celebrate the holiday!

I've been holding on to the last days of 2011, grasping at the months that swirled by in a tornado of black nursery pots, dirt, and concentration.

This is how the southeast corner of our back yard looked the week after we moved in - bare, dry and flat. Note the stakes in the ground indicating where the dirt would be dropped. I changed this configuration about 4 times before I settled on a shape that was both pleasing and functional for a large planting of daylilies for display. 250+ of my potted daylily friends took up residence here in the blistering sun for almost a month while I recovered from pneumonia in our new home. It was terrible to be stuck inside for weeks designated for gardening.

But once I recovered, the first call was to a top soil supplier to deliver 30 yards of dirt to raise my island beds. The trucks came and went, dropping clumpy river-dredged dirt as the drivers shook their heads at my grandiose plans. One has been back (driving 50 miles one way) to see what became of those dry piles of dirt and dreams.

I just needed a base to get started; I planned to add yards of compost on top of this. I needed the top soil for the bones of the bed. Three big piles of about 10 tons each needed to be spread and shaped. Steve and I often pushed around dirt by moonlight. My cough was still pretty bad and the heat was really unbearable through all of August and into September, so it was the only time I could really put some effort into working the dirt.

Once it was all spread out, I had to re-evaluate the drawings I had planned for the space. I was pleased to discover that I had about 10 extra feet of gardens than I had planned for, so I was able to pull in more daylilies and a few other perennials from the stock I brought with me from Michigan. Having "stock" to choose from was the most fun element of this reconstruction. I certainly got to know my daylily collection a lot better during this move.

I knew I wanted a flowering tree for the corner focal point of this island. The Eastern Red Bud finally won out and it was the first thing planted. The shape of the tree is what finally won me over. It is very symmetrical and I'm very excited to see it next year! Once the tree was in, I started plugging in daylilies in a large swath across the bed.

Then the rains came.

And so did "Lake Schmith." Oh no! I had created a dam.

Damn. Read more about that here.

So, a little drain installation and lots more top soil later, the renegade lake was mostly conquered.

Sigh.

We grated the space again and I got back to planting.

I fit in 49 more daylilies than planned for in this bed! That's awesomeness. It was even more exciting for my husband who didn't have to remove sod for me to get that much more growing space like in our old yard.

Each daylily planted was selected just for the spot it got. I carefully considered all the neighbors before placing any daylily, so the doubles, miniatures, and unusual forms are all sprinkled about the garden in just the right amounts. My most promising seedlings are placed in with other well-loved cultivars, just to see how they perform and are judged among the proven introductions. I hope to hear some comments from visitors next summer about the seedlings. Maybe they might even outshine some of their more famous neighbors!

These are some of my seedlings - the hidden gems. The third one measures 10" consistently. What do you think?

After it was all said and done, almost 200 daylilies fit in these first two beds, and the grass started to come in wonderfully - all in less than 90 days. Most of my collection is planted and the rest has been stored for winter under the decks, ready for planting next year. I had a personal goal of getting this one big bed done this season and I DID IT! It feels great and I have a lot more peace than I thought I would going into our first winter.

2012 will be quite a show. Although it really is only one island bed (and there are many more to come) I'm not sure my neighbors know what they are in for...

picture taken October 18, 2011- the last official day of planting (when I planted the daylilies I brought home from Atlanta!)

Weather Effects/Affects | Daylily Haiku Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 18:35:00 +0000

It's dangerously warm today; one of those winter days when the swollen, grey clouds are filled with snow, but the sun refuses to give way to Winter. Sixty-degree weather in December is borrowed time and I am gleefully stealing every last minute I can today with the windows open and the Christmas tree lights on.

Here is Jamie Gossard's H. 'Heavenly Doppler Effect' to celebrate the weather gods losing their minds...

My feet itch to be in the grass again, and as I stood on the deck overlooking the new gardens, it was hard to not take off into the muddy yard to do "something." I remembered that I have a terrible case of Gardening OCD, so "something" would certainly turn into a lot of "somethings" before I could even slide on my muck boots. It was much safer to come back inside. Sadly, I have come to terms with the fact that gardening outside is over for this year.

So as the bare tree branches turned black against the pink of the evening sky, I said a little prayer for sleeping daylilies and for the Spring to come.

Minutes count the life

of a fresh daylily bloom.

Short...satisfying.

Here are a few websites that have added their 2012 introductions and price lists. Check them out and see whats coming for 2012.

Slightly Different Nursery

Valley of the Daylilies

Also, here are a few daylily-focused symposiums that are happening in early 2012 that you absolutely should consider attending:

Mid-Winter Symposium - Nashville

Region 2 Winter Symposium - Cincinnati (info coming soon)

Winter Gathering of AHS Region 11

Pollen Dabbers - Iowa

Enjoy the days before the holidays...do what matters most to you and leave out everything else!

Speak Up! | Daylily Blog on Improving for 2012

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:26:00 +0000

“Advice is seldom welcome. Those who need it most like it the least.”

– Samuel Johnson

Becoming a great public speaker does not come naturally - for anyone. Speak up. Don’t fidget. Say this. Do that. Make eye contact. Stand up straight. Smile. Its a lot to remember on top of the content you are presenting. As “daylily symposium season” approaches, I am thinking of the many presentations I will hear over the next three months and part of me celebrates while some of me shudders. I will hear awesome presentations that enlighten and entertain, and I will hear others that make me want to flee the room. Why? Because the speaker is terrible.

There.

I said it.

The road show is more prevalent than ever, and, yes, I agree (and support the thought) that everyone has a right to take the podium to present their wares. However, the podium can be a weapon of mass destruction on your audience if you simply walk up there and "wing it."

I write this post because following a presentation, rarely does a presenter hear:

“Wow, Bob, that speech was painful to listen to. Too busy to practice, huh?”

“Thank you for boring us to tears, Sue. Sorry I fell asleep, but you really sucked.”

No one says that, because we are supportive and encouraging and kind. These are our friends. Our proteges. Our mentors. I am not suggesting that everyone sucks and I have all the answers - in fact, most presentations are very successful - wildly successful! But there are many who are up there to “get through” their daylily presentations, rather than looking forward to them. And those folks aren’t hard to spot. These are the ones who have flashy Powerpoints that they don’t fully know how to use (because someone else created it for them) and they are the ones gripping the podium, screaming from the inside for someone to save them from this pit-of-vipers public speaking experience. Here is the good news if you suspect this might be you...You can get past that fear. You can be an amazing public speaker, and this post is for those who wish to improve.

Many presenters never improve because they do not commit to improving. They just slap a Powerpoint full of pictures together and shuffle to the podium expecting their narration of said Powerpoint to do the job. They use each (PAID) speaking engagement as another shot to get it right, and the audience is left to suffer through another practice run.

Every presentation counts. There has never been a more important time to possess exceptional public speaking and writing skills. The economy is competitive. The market is saturated with daylily buying opportunities. You need an edge. And if you have been lucky enough to be invited to present your “life’s work” to a group of paying and interested folks, you’d better respect them enough to give it 100%. If you don’t, let me assure you we know the difference.

What can you do? How can you get better? And if you are already great, how can you become amazing?

1. Be prepared. The sage advice of: Tell me what you are going to tell me – tell me – then tell me what you told me and what I should do with this new information never fails. This is the skeleton of every presentation. Write a loose outline to the tell-tell-tell approach. Practice the first two minutes of your presentation over and over and over. The average adult attention span is 12-30 seconds, so you shouldn't be that petrified. It's not new news that most folks would rather remove their own liver with a rusty spoon than stand up in front of an audience to speak, but in reality, every time you have a conversation with someone other than yourself, you are presenting. You're doing it every day! The podium isn't that different. Just imagine you are having a conversation with your audience. What would you say to them if you were speaking one-on-one? You got invited to speak, so you already know these people want to hear what you have to say and show. Prepare what you are going to say and present with intention. You owe the audience that much.

2. Do not let the PowerPoint speak for you. A flashy PowerPoint presentation is no replacement for poor speaking skills. And if you plan on standing up there and reading the entire presentation, just stay at home. We don’t want to spend another 45 minutes of our life that we wont get back listening to you click through photos and tell us how the projector is skewing your otherwise perfect images.

OK. I hear you screaming loud and clear. “I'm not a public speaker. I'm a gardener! I'm a hybridizer, you jerk, Im not an orator.” That couldn't be further from the truth. The moment you take that stage, or stand behind that podium, you ARE a public speaker and the audience expects you to take that seriously. We can smell a “PowerPoint Crutch” a mile away and it reeks.

3. Take every point you are making in your presentation and ask “So What?” If you cant answer that question than your audience wont care much either, and your credibility shrinks with every word that fumbles out of your sweat-filled face. Make the presentation relevant to your audience – not to YOU. Don’t tell us a joke that doesn't directly relate to the topic at hand. Don’t tell a story laden with inappropriate humor just to “break the ice.” If what you are saying doesn't have a good answer to “So What?” then we don’t really need to hear it. Speak to the interests of your audience, not your own ego. Your presentation has to have a message. A theme. A point. (I explored that point in a previous post HERE.)

4. Don’t let technology ruin an otherwise pleasant experience. The 20 minutes before your presentation should not be spent pounding the keyboard, shuffling papers, realizing you have brought the wrong presentation, fumbling with an incompatible storage device or trying to connect the projector to a laptop that doesn't know what HDMI means. Even 30 seconds of down time due to technology can derail the mood. KNOW THE TECHNOLOGY, OR KNOW SOMEONE WHO DOES. Do not spend the 20 minutes before your presentation fumbling with technology. Plan ahead. And plan ahead for mishaps- they occur (a lot.) A wise person once told me to be in the room 60 minutes before I am scheduled to speak. Spend the first 20 minutes setting up and then spend the next 40 minutes getting to know your audience.

In summary, if you are not working on continuously improving your delivery and style between engagements, your effectiveness will not change and your sales will not improve. Further, if you do not think that working on your presentation skills is critical, keep your fingers crossed that your fellow hybridizers (and competitors for our shrinking discretionary income) share the same lax attitude.

Giving your audience a spectacular experience means you will hold YOURSELF accountable for the success or failure of your presentation. Not the audience, not the time limit, not the technology- YOU.

With preparation, practice and a plan for pleasing the audience- success will come easier than you think.

Daylilies shown in this post - top photo is H. 'Water Dragon', second is a scene from Fran Houghtlen's Ohio garden and last photo is H. 'Reagan Kate.'

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Celebrating my Birthday with a treat!

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Sat, 03 Dec 2011 01:05:00 +0000

drowning in a sea
of blinding color and light.
still looking for more!

Oh, these grey days of fall/winter, when the view out my window is deceiving. The bright blue skies look like they belong in June and not in December. Stepping outside to get the mail, I am quickly reminded the year is almost over and winter is coming soon.

We've just returned from the desert - to enjoy a vacation to celebrate the first anniversary of my 39th birthday. I turn 40 today and life has never been more clear. I'm entering a new decade in a new home with new gardens and new priorities. Its all-around awesomeness.

One thing that moving your home and gardens will teach you is how to simplify and gain focus on what is necessary. As I went on installing the new gardens this summer, I found a niche for the doubles in my collection. Some folks do not enjoy the "unnecessary" extra petals in a double, but I do. More is better in most cases. There are many forms of doubles, and they are not created equal. Their scapes are not always sturdy enough to hold the weight of the big, full blooms, and sometimes these petalicious beauties do not open completely, but these bad hair days are not enough to exclude them from your collection.

From the top left and going clockwise, the double cultivars you need to have are H. 'Cluster Muster', H. 'Almost Indecent', H. 'Double Breakthrough' and H. 'Stellar Double Rose.' These were photographed at the 2008 AHS Region 2 Summer Meeting in Madison, Wisconsin. I bought all four after seeing them on tour. H. ' Stellar Double Rose' is very unique with its deep red veining and crisp white edges. All of these are almost 100% double, too.

So, today is my birthday and true to tradition, I will go to the Lily Auction and buy myself one daylily from my wish list - any one my heart desires. Many years ago I started this tradition by buying a clump of H. 'Destined to See' the year after its introduction at a price I will never admit to - but for a birthday treat was priceless and necessary! ;)

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Learning something despite the circumstances...

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 17 Nov 2011 17:33:00 +0000

wet indifference.

blooms soaked in heaven's kisses -

still bright with color!

H. 'Spanish Fiesta'

While listening to a friends story about a recent vacation gone wrong, I got to thinking about my own vacation mis-adventures. The 2009 AHS National Convention in central Florida immediately came to mind. We decided to piggy-back on the trip for the daylily event with our first family trip to Disney World. <shakes head>

Anyhoo, the event was two days of garden tours through some of the most experienced hybridizers gardens in the country - this part of the state is known as "Daylily Mecca" in some circles and I am so thrilled I got to attend - despite the deluge of rain (state records were set) and a family-wide sinus infection.

It rained for seven days straight. It rained every day we were at Disney. It rained every day on the tours. It rained at night. It rained out a white linen lunch at Frank Smith daylilies (see below). It flooded the garden paths. It leaked in our car, soaked our shirts (see Brenda Macy below right) and challenged our sunny resolve.

The daylilies did not disappoint. Their substance and texture rose to the beating of the rain. We saw what they could do under adverse circumstances, and we saw what WE could do despite less-than-comfortable circumstances. (52 waterlogged gardeners with dirty, wet shoes sardined in a charter bus does not smell good, by the way.)

I am glad I went.

And I'm glad it rained.

We wouldn't have learned all that we did if it hadn't.

H. 'Much Ado About Magic' - I love the erect edges on this one. That is distinct!

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Pink!

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Fri, 11 Nov 2011 13:39:00 +0000

The meaning of the color pink is unconditional love and nurturing. It is a softer, non-violent red - the sweet side. Fiery red is diluted with the innocence of white to make our pink. It is baby girls and cotton candy and bubble gum all rolled into one estrogen-laden hue. Prisons use it to clothe its most hardened inmates and sports teams use it to paint the visiting teams locker rooms - both tactics to dilute passion and emotion. It is a romantic color, and some say that for women who are often overworked and overburdened, an attraction to pink may speak to a desire for the more carefree days of childhood. Hmmm.

H. 'Something Lovely' - note the black punctuation on the filaments!

In Japan, pink is somewhat of a mystery. It is referred to as a masculine color - nodding to the masses of spring cherry blossoms which signify the young Samurai warriors who fell in battle in the prime of their lives. But...it also has a more provocative, feminine meaning in Japan that I won't discuss here. <I'm blushing pink right now.>

I have fought my own battle with the color pink - you can find that tale in the "arguably pink" entry here.

H. 'Mandarin Seas' - a little more tangerine-pink

Pink does get its name from the garden- the dianthus to be exact. The name derives from the frilled edge of the flowers - the verb "to pink" dates from the 14th century and means to "decorate with a perforated or punched pattern."

I still don't know what my fascination with the color is about. I'm surely not romantic, dilute, or very soft. Certainly not always girlie or unconditional. But, my purse is pink, my phone case is pink, I have at one time had pink pinstripes on a car I loved and I have more pink highlighters than should be legal to own. And, today I noticed I have a ton of great photos of pink daylilies!

Read more fascinating facts about pink here. There are some wonderfully sinful potential daylily names to be found there- check it out.

red is diluted

with the innocence of white-

bleeding. fading. pink.

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Celebrating Death

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 16:25:00 +0000

when spirits unite

on a bright and pleasant fall day-

taking death's journey.

H.'When Spirits Unite'

I raised a glass of one of her favorite wines when I heard of her passing this week. I drank it with vigor and smiled that she was no longer waiting.

Here's to you, Jane. May you look down upon us and laugh wildly because you now know the real truth.

Godspeed.

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Embrace Grace

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 27 Oct 2011 15:19:00 +0000

Petals gently roll -

Sepals curl and hide coyly

Surprise! It's distinct!

All three of these daylilies are Karol Emmerich introductions. She is a hybridizer from Minnesota and one of the classiest people in the game. I don't travel anywhere without at least a portion of the people in attendance who hybridize count her among their mentors. She's a lady who has embraced her daylily calling after a successful corporate career and she handles her business with style and grace. Those kinds of people always deserve more than they get back.

I just wanted to send her a virtual pat on the back today and share some of my favorite photos of some of her beauties.

Maybe you want to visit her website and see some of the other 100+ introductions she has available.

Photos: (top) H. 'Handwriting on the Wall', (bottom, from left) H. 'Woman at the Well' and H. 'Cast Your Net'

Skin In the Game... | Daylily Blog on Getting Better

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 18:19:00 +0000

I think I've told you, (about nine-bajillion times) that we recently moved to a new part of the country. Not only did I relocate my entire family and all of our earthly belongings, my competitive spirit and love of the flower exhibition show came with me. I love daylily shows. Period. I sometimes make purchases of plants solely because they are great show flowers. My fledgling hybridizing program focuses on purple-ribbon winning qualities. I became a judge to learn how to be a better exhibitor. Winning Best In Show two consecutive years is one of my favorite daylily stories to tell. I simply love shows. Love. Love. Love.

Around this time of year I'm usually washing out my floral design containers and taking inventory of what "show-worthy" flowers I must consider exhibiting the following year. This year, my containers are still packed safely in boxes from the move, and most of my flowers are either in pots or are recovering from recent planting.

But, I'm still thinking of those darned daylily shows.

In this new area I am lucky to have not one, but four local daylily clubs to visit and have joined three of them so far. I know that no club in this area has held an accredited show in a while, and know that contentions toward shows exist in some clubs. At two club functions last month, I asked some of the local members "what happened to the show?" Or, "are you going to be doing a show again?" From the looks on their faces, you would think I asked them if they had done any naked ice fishing lately. The thought of having a daylily show was clearly not a pleasant one - and not only at just one club, but two.

Hmmmm. That's not going to work for me.

So, I got to thinking why these sour feeling exist and began to hatch a plan to repair them. I recently did a presentation in Atlanta where I spoke very candidly to a very show-experienced audience about shows and how to improve the overall experience. After the presentation, a few folks who have lots of show experience took a few minutes to give me some feedback and we came to one conclusion (among many):

Most bad feelings folks have about daylily shows stem from actions taken (or not taken) by AHS-accredited Exhibition Judges.

Okay...that stings a bit, doesn't it?

Judging (and the simple fact of being deemed a judge) does not happen in a vacuum. Although the core curriculum has not changed drastically, what judges learned five years ago is not completely relevant today. Advances in form, technique and culture have greatly altered the landscape of the daylily exhibition show. For example, the multi-form changes are still not fully digested. Recent official additions of the sculpted and patterned definitions should be studied and understood by judges (although no changes to show classification will be done for 2012.) Recognizing distinction in seedlings is a skill that is only honed with time and experience.

All exhibition judges can do themselves and the shows they judge a great service by:

Brushing up on current trends in the daylily.
Visiting gardens and being familiar with a wide-range of cultivars.
Growing a collection of their own.
Exhibiting in shows themselves.
Attending refreshers or informal pow-wows with other judges.
Going to nationals or regionals to see gardens and attend clinics.
Owning a current copy of the handbook.
Being prepared to judge Ophelia Taylor or AHS Achievement Medal.

If you are an AHS-accredited exhibition judge, re-read the above points and ask yourself WHY doing these things is important for a shows success.

WHY is it important that you visit gardens?

WHY is it important that you exhibit in shows yourself?

These basic points are explained in the Judging Daylilies handbook and are requirements for judge certification.

Download the 2010 edition here.

I never make a "Call to Action" without putting some of my own skin in the game, so here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to make it my personal mission to organize a daylily show in this area in 2012. I think I will approach two of the four clubs in the area and ask them to put on a show together. I will offer to chair and will donate all the prizes for the head table. I know people will both love it and hate it, BUT the point will be made that its important to show the public what our favorite flower can do - despite our personal feelings about competition. If you are in my area, or even if you're not and still can help in some way with my mission for next year, please email me. I would love your help making this happen.

In 2011, 60 AHS-accredited shows were held and over 12,000 scapes were exhibited at those shows. Although this number looks good on paper, the daylily exhibition show is becoming a dying art in many areas of the country and now is the time for us to take honest stock in why folks shy away from shows and how we can breathe new life into this wonderful spectacle. As a start, I believe judges should focus on some of the above points and bring integrity, depth and an educated eye to the show bench.

As always, please send me your thoughts here. We certainly can't move forward if we can't talk honestly about how we got to where we are now. I cant wait to hear from you!

If you are interested, here are a few other posts containing my perspective on daylily shows:

On Judging Seedlings...

Substance and Form...

Living Daringly, boldly and fearlessly...

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Common Threads

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 14:39:00 +0000

After about 10 years of studying daylilies and daylily people, I have come to the conclusion that there are some very interesting common threads that connect the people who are passionate about this flower. If I took a poll, I think the most common profession would be educator, most would have collected something else (roses, birds, horses, dogs) before getting into daylilies, many resiliently share challenges such as cancer and loss, and nearly all of them are generous beyond mention with their time and talents. Most of them credit God for their daylily successes and most all are pleasantly humble and wildly interesting to talk with (note I said "most"...LOL)

This past weekend I was in Atlanta for the 3rd Annual Region 5 Fall Fling, and it was a great learning experience. There were so many good speakers...Bill Waldrop did not disappoint (you must book him to come speak to your club...he is fabulous!) and Bruce Kovach shared his "daylily dreams" from his new location in Florida. His introduction H. 'Thanks For Last Night' was the talk of the meeting! So many good speakers...

Bill Maryott spoke to us about his massive commercial operation in California. Although I already knew him from his humor on a bus tour through Georgia a few years ago and through his wonderfully done website (which always has amazing sales), his presentation took us through all that is involved with running a successful business. He has had software programs written for him to track his pedigrees, he has inserted himself into his local post office to improve their procedures for handling his large loads of orders, and he has a great deal worked out with his wife to make time for lunch for her each day.

Nicole DeVito was there, too, and we saw her efforts at moving a huge garden and starting over. Shown to the right is her H. 'Force to Be Reckoned With' which grows in my cold climate just wonderfully. I could relate to her adventures, since we have just relocated, too, but not on a scale as large as hers. Nicole's daylilies are like sweet-sugary candy to my eyes. Click here to see her world-class website. I think its one of the best in the business. She has saturated colors, and in the photos she showed us, you can almost see the substance in most of them - thick to the touch. You could hear the excitement in her voice, and see the emotion behind her daylily creations. I'm now growing 9 of her Florida-born intros in Illinois and definitely recommend you check one or two out in your own yard.

Julie Covington, the president-elect for the AHS was in the house, teaching us to be better photographers. She is a well-respected and oft-published photographer, but she has no formal training in wielding a camera, which makes her teachings palatable and practical. Her presentation was full of examples of bad photographs, and boy did the point hit home with us. I think we spent the rest of the weekend critiquing every photo that was shown on the big screen with the new criteria we learned! She is priceless as a person and is going to be a great president for the AHS.

Tim Herrington presented on Friday night with an inspirational message about the "Wonderful World of Daylilies." His presentation was filled with quotes from daylily lovers and inspired us to remember the reason we got into this hobby in the first place. He had little raffles throughout his presentation, which lightened the mood and kept some sleepy folks awake. What fun!

Spending a weekend with daylily people is a rejuvenating experience. Although I had to miss three more wonderful presentations Sunday morning to catch an early flight out of Atlanta, I always come home with a renewed energy for my garden projects and my daylily collection. Most of the time I come home with a suitcase (literally) full of daylilies, too, so that is always a good thing.

So, yes, daylily people not only share a love of the same flower, but they share many "other" life qualities that inspire this week's Daylily Haiku Thursday...

fierce loyalty, strength.

Humorous, generous souls

with great green vision!

Picture at the top of this post is Joiner's H. 'Creative Legacy'

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Black Moon

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 13 Oct 2011 04:02:00 +0000

an evenings' jewel rising
above the chatter
adieu, busy day!

This is H. 'Black Moon,' an older cultivar that I saw for the first time this summer- and I saw it in three different gardens. What drew me to it was the clear, unmelted purple still glowing at 3pm on a July day. I love the faint halo on the petals; it is a bit blue to my eye. Its form holds no mystery and is beautifully straightforward. I'm going to look to add it to my collection. I don't think I grow anything else like it.

I'm traveling this weekend to the Region 5 Fall Fling in Atlanta, Georgia - presenting a new program on daylily exhibition shows, taking in some other great presentations, an auction (or two) and all with wonderful company. This program I'm debuting is about some of "the little things" that show planning committees should take into consideration when planning a show. It should be quite a hoot and I hope the audience enjoys hearing it as much as I have enjoyed preparing it.

The American Hemerocallis Society's Board of Directors Fall Meeting is being held in conjunction with this event on Friday, so every AHS committee I sit on will have business to cuss and discuss. What a great time to reconvene and close the loop on some outstanding items. The winner of the Stout Silver Medal will be announced as well and I am so excited to be among the first to hear the news of this years winner!

The editor of our wonderful Daylily Journal, Meg Ryan will be there and I am really looking forward to seeing her. She is quite fun, which is reflected in her printed works of art produced for this society. The fact that I get these wonderful daylily-focused magazines a few times a year is worth the membership fee alone! It's here if you want to know more...

Wish us all luck!

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Summer Sundial

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:59:00 +0000

Summer seems long gone.
Fall is already fleeting.
Still. I'm holding on.

This is H. 'Summer Sundial' by Don Jerabek. It is so perfect in its form and clear color. I love the very green overcast that shows on this one. Very simple and very beautiful...proves to me that a bloom does not need all the latest trends splashed all over it to make a statement. There is no chicken fat, triple-colored edge, no multi-ringed pattern, no complex carving. Just smooth texture, soft pie-crust edges and a high bud count are enough to make it a stand out. Don doesn't hybridize daylilies anymore, but I sure wish he did. He has an eye for the simple, but still somehow perfectly unique.

Here are a few more unadorned beauties, which have an understated beauty. It's true a daylily does not have to be gaudy all the time to get noticed!

H. 'Quiet Earth', H. 'Sarcastic Intentions', and H. 'Pink Corduroy'

The Lust List | Daylily Haiku Thursday

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 18:58:00 +0000

There is so much going on with this daylily! I must start by saying I do not own this daylily and it is one on my very short lust list. (I'll post the whole list someday.)

The lust list contains daylilies that you would pay almost anything for if you could get your hands on a piece. I won't tell you what else is on my list...I don't want the prices to skyrocket! :)

There are very few daylilies I would pay anything for; I can safely say I have never paid more than $300 for a daylily, which is not something everyone who collects daylilies can say. I have been at a daylily auctions and seen a single fan of a daylily go for $1200. And another for $1850. And yet another for $4000. It's not common on the most popular auction site for daylilies (a site I adore) http://www.daylily.com/, to see them sell for well over $200 - daily.

This daylily is from John Kulpa, out of Michigan. It was registered in honor of a woman who has been involved with many aspects of Michigan daylilies for at least two decades with the Southern Michigan Daylily Society and the AHS- Barbara Delisle. She's a fiery lady who is as detailed as this daylily appears. Bold, refined and formal.

I love it and I love Barbara. We have grown a great friendship over the last ten years and I'm glad we weathered the storms.

free me from this joy!

patient anticipation, yet-

unattainable.

So if you find this one for sale, or if you can convince John Kulpa to sell me some, do what you can for me. <wink, wink>

Daylily Haiku Thursday (Monday) | Creature of the Night

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:32:00 +0000

With crispy cool air
on my nose, I feel the fall-
Stinging. Reminding.

I took this picture of H. 'Creature of the Night' at Diane Pruden's garden just before I left Michigan for the last time. I visited there with my daylily buds Joel and Nicole on a hot summer Sunday in July - the pending move weighing heavily on my mind. It seems ages ago now. But it was just about 8 weeks...time sure flies when you are wishing for more. I'm racing against Jack Frost now and I must get most of these plants into the ground ASAP. We won't think of how many I will lose over the winter if I don't...

The progress here on Pheasant Court 8 weeks later is slower than I had hoped, but it is moving forward. We got word that the entire lot will be tilled, grated and seeded this week. HOORAY! No more dirt lawn. I really miss the lush green grass, and walking through it barefoot. Can't do that now...it's a mess out there! Anyway, 20 tons of top soil, 5 tons of compost, a ton of rotted manure, and lots of shoveling later...there are signs of a real island bed out there.

Before the trucks came with the top soil we had to till the terribly hard and baked fill dirt... then the trucks showed up! There's me wrestling the huge tiller. I'm deep in concentration- trying to not cut off a foot.

On top of the tilled ground, trucks dumped 3 5-ton piles of riverbed-harvested topsoil (shown in second picture above.) We spread those together, roughly shaped the beds and THEN, on top of the 6" of well-tilled topsoil, we put the compost and rotted manure.

The beautiful black-gold amendments are shown in the third picture, ready to be tilled in to the new bed. Also shown in that pic is the new Eastern Red Bud I picked out for the corner of this bed. I have always wanted a Red Bud, and this one had such a perky shape, I had to have it. Notice all the potted daylilies in the second picture have been moved (again) to allow me to see the "view" of the new bed. I think I've touched these pots four million times now.

All the goodies finally got spread out, tilled together and I stared at it for a few days before I started planting. I have really taken a ton of time with the plans, looking at the big picture, the short term enjoyment, and the long term growing situation. I thought I had thought of everything. I was ready to plant. I actually started planting!

And then the rains came.

My oversight was revealed to me in the form of a large lake at the crook of my l-shaped bed. A rather deep lake, actually. Oh, nuts!

I built a dam. SIGH. I didn't even think of the drainage from the house!!! We have central drainage from all the gutters in the neighborhood and apparently the grade of our house slopes right into the bed I just created. I'm glad I didn't have the boulder edging installed already, or that would have to be torn into to install the drain. So, now I'm learning to install a drain. A big drain.

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Devils Footprint

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 17:55:00 +0000

mud to my ankles-
dripping water on my brow.
bless the falling rain!

This is H. 'Devils Footprint', introduced in 1992 by (IMHO) the original master of patterns, Elizabeth Salter.

Wow. Ahead of its time for sure.

Patterns, and who reigns them, are all the talk these days - almost 20 years later. I have a hard time getting on this bandwagon in my own collection just because these darn patterns are so dependant on soil condition and overall culture (including heat and light intensity), that I just cant count on them performing in my garden as I see them in catalogs or on the Internet. Even when I have visited gardens and seen them with my own eyes, it certainly isn't a guarantee how it will look in my own yard. I think that's why I'm a sucker for a luscious polychrome or a sensuously saturated blend - I can always count on them to look exactly as promised. Now that I'm more south, and almost a zone warmer with a summer that's about 30 days longer than I'm used to, maybe I'll add more to my collection. They certainly are enchanting.

Enjoy Thursday...

Let the celebration begin! | Daylily Blog

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Wed, 14 Sep 2011 15:08:00 +0000

Schmith Seedling - 10" flower, 45" tall (I don't
generally like red, but I love this one!)

Daylilies remind me that today is a new day, and I have the opportunity to use the forces around me to create an experience of my own. I do not have to be swayed by the external noise that swarms about; my internal compass has a direction and if I focus on it, the path is easy. Just like the daylily. Despite poor soil conditions, lack of water, little to no nutrient amendments, not-so-perfect sun exposure - they keep calm and carry on. They bloom (maybe not wonderfully) and multiply (maybe not as fast as we'd like them to) but they move forward despite all reasons to the contrary. I'm seeing this in spades since I have relocated most of my collection.

The black plastic pots have been sitting in the sun for about 8 weeks now, baking in the hot (100degreeF+) sun, with minimal water - just waiting for the beds to be ready for their placement. FINALLY, on Saturday I was able to put the first daylilies in the ground and since then I've planted about 55 more!

Let the celebration begin!

Folks are interested in what plants were going to be the first ones in the ground, and so here is the list of the first few I planted:

H. 'Andrew Christian', H. 'Ruffled Strawberry Parfait', H. 'Raspberry Goosebumps', H. 'Mount Herman Intrigue', H. 'Let It Rip', H. 'Morningcloud Marmalade', H. 'Brookwood Lee Causey', H. 'Worthy One', H. 'Purple Eyed Pirate', H. 'Festive Fall' and H. 'Little Incident'...

H. 'Mount Herman Intrigue', H. 'Festive Fall' and H. 'Little Incident'

It is a great opportunity to study my collection as a whole and as specimens during this garden build. I notice immediately that the majority of my daylilies have colors that are bold and saturated - these colors do not slink on the color wheel, but grab it and spin it wildly. Clear colors. Real colors. Colors like this:

fountain at Missouri Botanical Gardens

Color is the first characteristic that I notice in daylilies. I do not notice form or size or texture first, I notice color. A flower cannot be beautiful to me if it does not own its place in the color spectrum. Seedlings of mine are culled immediately if color is not pleasing - regardless of other positive qualities. No patience for "bridge plants" here.

Nicole Willis (Michigan) has an amazing seedling that is quite possibly one of the best all-around daylilies in my garden. She shared a piece with me years ago and I am so thankful she did.

It's tall, it blooms early and reblooms until September, it throws proliferations, it has diamond dusting unlike any other, it is 7.5", and it has great movement. I really hope she introduces it someday. Although it's the antithesis of color Ive talked about in this post, its' "lack of" makes it very powerful.

I'm finding it fun to dot my daylily plantings with near-whites to show off some of the bolder colors. Those white edges get REAL white as the day goes on and that radiating throat (the epitome of radiating, btw) just stands out all day. Its a hardy H. 'Skinwalker' kid that is stu-uh-nning.

Here's two more of it performing its head off in a pot after being dug up right as it started to bloom. Even after being dug up and moved 500 miles south, sitting in the hot sun with no care for a few weeks, this daylily still put up two reblooom scapes. Its blooming right now in its pot - laughing at the tough journey it has had to get to its current home. The spacing of the branching is exceptional, which allows multiple blooms to spread wide open each day on each scape. Its going to be quite a show flower...I just hope I win a purple ribbon with it before she does! <take that, Nic!>

Enjoy some color today. Consciously soak them in. You can even find a way o enjoy the browns and crunchy oranges brought on by this heat. Enjoy the sounds those colors make and the emotions they stir in your chest.

Keep looking until you find some that do.

Looking forward... | Daylily Blog on Doing!!

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 18:21:00 +0000

I am so excited to get started on the first garden at the new house and I am sure by Fall, you will be so tired of hearing about the new gardens at the new house. The first loads of top soil arrived today!!!

I'm calling it a SuperBed (note the creative capitalization) and I hope to have it finished by the time Fall falls. It is a SuperBed because it is a huge loose-L-shaped island bed that will hold about 200 daylilies, at least three Cleveland pear trees and boatloads of other perennials. This bed will also have several 'Black Knight' buddelia bushes (my favorite variety) and I will leave room for a few large container plantings next year. Here it is:

This photo shows about 250 potted daylilies brought from Michigan and on the right and across the top, you can see the stakes for the SuperBed. Again, its about 11' deep, 35' out on one side and 30' out on the other. The left side of this bed extends about another 18' off the side of the picture. It's the biggest, single garden bed I've ever had. The dump trucks are driving right into the back yard and will dump right into this area today. HOORAY!

I can't wait to see about 200 of the most delicious daylilies in my collection gathered in one bed, purposefully planted, intentionally chosen. (That is a big change from my usual way of bed creation - purchase way too many daylilies and then go home and decide what sod to tear up to shoehorn in more plants...) I pulled out the Dream Garden Binder and have made the first sketches. The neighbors aren't going to know what to do...but the 15 tons of dirt should tip them off to what is in store. ;) Here are three daylilies that will certainly be in the SuperBed.

(H. 'Destined to See', H. 'Madiba Magic', and H. 'Ninja Storm')

Aside from really looking forward to the construction of this new SuperBed (and maybe I will wear a cape while working on it) I'm looking forward to a few other things in my new green space.

1. Enjoying daylily gardens in the true midwest. There is a dry, sultry sting in this Illinois summer heat that will certainly be a contrast to my cool, Michigan mornings and brief kiss of summer. The daylilies will have to adapt and my collection will expand and contract as I learn more about how substance and texture (my two favorite daylily qualities) fair in south/central Illinois.

2. Starting over. It is wonderfully terrifying that I get to start from scratch. I feel so blessed to be given the opportunity to build a garden from the soil up. Here is a photo of the contrasting soils. The lighter "dirt" is what I have in the new gardens. The rich, black stuff came out of a pot I brought from my Michigan gardens. I have a lot of soil improvement to do... This digging up and starting over is life changing. Hopefully I have enough Xanax.

3. Gardening in private. We moved FROM the corner of a very busy, urban crossroad. It was city all the way. City spelled with a capital 'c'. In fact, it's SO city that the occasional monarch butterfly or yellow finch sighting causes a ticker tape parade around the garage. You get my point. We moved to a spacious lot in a town of just 900. It feels so good to spread our wings. (and see the wings of other creatures!) Here is one of the female hummingbirds that has been frequenting the new little feeder...I put these dried willow fronds in some containers planted near the feeder and they rest there as they are surveying the feeder and the other hummingbirds. My son thinks they look like alien birds and float like spaceships. I kind of do, too. Cool.

4. Gardening in a neighborhood that cares. Contributing to the overall landscape of an already gorgeous place challenges me to stretch my design and plant choices. Each house on the court has unique, intentional landscaping that is pleasing. I'm thrilled to join in on the fun, and not be the only one on the block keeping my yard clear of 6' thistle and feral goldenrod.

Amen.

Making It Happen | A Daylily Blog

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 19:44:00 +0000

starting new, its here!

a time to breathe and to dream

about what's to come...

Yes, "Make It Happen" has been said around this house more times in the past month than ever.

I'm not quite sure what vortex sucked up the last 30 days, but they are gone...lost to a flurry of packing boxes, potting plants, planning the big move and life-stopping pneumonia. In my life, I have never experienced "empty." My gas tank always has a reserve and my cylinders always fire- until pneumonia settled in my lungs and hasn't let go for almost 4 weeks now. Another trip to the ER for IV fluids, IV meds, breathing treatments and a lecture from a McSteamy ER doc last Friday seems to have sent me on the mend.

This week someone special asked me for a daylily picture or two and the request inspired me enough to find the energy to fire up the computer and enjoy some color for the first time in a month. And boy have I missed the color. I'm sure you have, too, and I'm thankful you came back after my little hiatus.

So, to recap, we have moved from Michigan to Illinois, and most of the garden came with us. This is what it looked like as the move out of Michigan progressed...there were lots of stacks of pots (thank you, River Bend Gardens) and lots of pots in rows waiting for travel. In the days before I moved, several garden groups came by to see the garden and me for one last time. Many daylilies were sold and gifted to new homes. It was a bittersweet time seeing people and this garden in its final days. I think I sold and gave away as many as I took for myself.

Here is Steve, starting to work diligently to pack them all in the 24' moving truck we rented just for plants. He was such a trooper throughout this whole process, and never crabbed once abut the number of plants or the cost to move them. He even built shelves in the truck to haul more plants (and only rolled his eyes a few times.) I owe him one (or two.)

There are now hundreds of potted perennials waiting to be planted in the new gardens. As I mentioned before, I have about four times as much space as I had in Michigan and it is all bathed in bright, hot sunlight. I am so excited to take out my "Dream Garden" files and start creating the flowing, free-form beds I have been dreaming about for years. All the great ideas I have fallen in love with when on garden tours, daylily conventions and while perusing gardening magazines will be implemented in my new space.

This week I ordered 15 tons of topsoil/compost mix for the first daylily display bed. The plan is to complete one large display bed before fall, which, if it goes according to plan, will hold about 200 of my favorite daylilies and assorted other perennials. I have been shopping for trees, too, as this new yard has none. The new bed is informally L-shaped, approximately 45' X 11' on one leg and 25' X 12' on the other. It's big, to say the least, but this is my chance to have my "pie in the sky" garden and I'm doing it right the first time. Since getting here on August 6th, I have counted 21 different butterfly/moth varieties and even had several hummingbirds! That may sound commonplace for those of you who garden outside the city already, but take my word for it, this city girl hasn't seen a single type of butterfly in her garden more than 21 times in 10 years and I have NEVER seen a hummingbird in my own garden, so for me, it is monumental. Ill be sure to plant lots of interesting plants to cater to my new flying friends.

I cant go without showing you a few beauties that bloomed in Michigan before we left. Below are four eyed daylilies that put on quite a show. On the top is H. 'Unforgettable Wonder' from Herbie Phelps and H. 'Heron's Cove' from Pat Stamile. H. 'Unforgettable Wonder' was one of the first to bloom in late June and I cut a rebloom scape off of it when it was potted to move. This was its first year in my garden and I love it. The edge is so tightly pleated it almost looks like a red zipper. Yum.

Below are H. 'Michigan Nikki' and H. 'Jacki Kropf.' Two Michigan ladies with a lot of personality. Dan Hansen's H. 'Michigan Nikki' was even bigger than last year! Most blooms were 8"+. It's a delicious banana smoothie yellow, and has an edge that is so interesting. Grab it from Ladybug Daylilies if you can!

Mort's H. 'Jacki Kropf' was a Lily Auction purchase last fall and it didnt look too good when it emerged this spring. BUT, once it came up, it added a fan and put up a scape that was very well budded and branched. The blooms never had the same shape, which I enjoyed. That "twinkle midrib" did though, and so did that black-purple edge. Very cool contrasting colors, seen on many daylilies but not always done distinctively.

Okay, if you insist, I will post four more from the Michigan gardens. Its been so long since I posted, you deserve them! Below is H. 'Angelique Fringes' from Klehm and H. 'Creative Legacy' from Joiner. H. 'Angelique Fringes' was one of the most anticipated daylilies this year and it did not disappoint. It is hairier than any daylily I have ever grown. HAIRY, I say! H. 'Creative Legacy' took two seasons to catch on in Michigan and it was worth the wait. VERY distinctive bloom, VERY sunfast and VERY floriferous. Both of these made the move to Illinois.

Below on the left is H. 'Wild and Wonderful' and it is one that gives 100% every season. It always has multiple blooms open and makes for a wonderful show flower. I have seen it win Best In Show more than once. On the right is H. 'Bluegrass Music' and it lived up to the hype. WOW, was this one nice. I shy away from trends and bandwagons, so it took me a while to buy this one. It bloomed in the pot, stressed out, and the blooms were delicious. I cant wait to see what it will do in the ground in hot-as-Hades Illinois.

If you are interested in joining a group of people who are also passionate about daylilies, you must consider the American Hemerocallis Society. Even if you arent a "joiner" of societies, they are offering a Trial Membership so you can see what it is all about for very little cost. The stunning daylily magazine they publish is worth the membership cost alone and I'd encourage you to try them out. Check this out for information on the $15 trial membership offer.

Well, thanks for coming back after the hiatus. I am looking forward to blogging about daylilies again regularly and sharing my passion for these wonderfully fun and fabulously diverse flowers.

What I leave behind...| Daylily Blog on relocating the garden!

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 21 Jul 2011 15:36:00 +0000

As my garden comes to life, we prepare to start our new one. There is no haiku today - I have big news to share instead! Enjoy the photos I've inserted of Nicole Harry's infamous H. 'Glamoureyez' - which is reblooming in Michigan right now...

I’m done wading along with the current, enjoying the scenery, splashing about fabulously, but not really MOVING FORWARD in any particular direction. There was a moment in January of this year where I found myself in the same conference room at work, looking at the same people, discussing and cussing issues we did in that very room seven years earlier. Not much had changed. Us or them. At that moment I realized it was going to take a big move to do big things. Current state holds with it certain boons that prevent growth in the direction that I envision for my family. This type of revelation comes with turning 40, I can only assume.

It's time to rip the band-aid off and tell everyone that we are leaving Michigan. On August 5, we are pulling out of Michigan and headed to southern Illinois – Worden, to be exact. Our new home is being built as I write this, on a piece of sunny, breezy, flat, fertile farmland that I have imagined for years (which is also four times the land-size I garden on now!) I hope you will come visit someday.

Oh, yes. What will come of my gardens and daylilies?

It will be a monumental and perfectly fabulous/masochistic task, but I will remove every perennial, container, succulent and rock that my heart desires from these gardens. No man left behind! At last calculation, that’s about 700 potted plants - 240 of them already potted and waiting for transport. The pots are arriving daily. And being filled daily. One 16-foot U-Haul has already carried a load to the new house. If you want to come and help dig, bring your gloves – I’ll have the lemonade and BBQ. And most definitely ice cold cocktails.

We will rent out our house here in Michigan and someone will enjoy what gardens I leave behind.

WHAT I LEAVE BEHIND. I’ve waited a long time to say that.

There is a certain sense of freedom that came with the decision to move out of this state, relocate back to Illinois near our families and start the rest of our lives.

Wow. Thirteen years we have been in Michigan. Ten in this house. Six with a son. All of them a wondrous, winding journey to today. We’ve always said Michigan was not our final stop. Seems most folks have a tour in Michigan these days. There’s someone in every crowd who “used to live in Michigan” and illustrates said location with a flat palm and a pointer finger somewhere on the hand-mitten. Yes, we’re really leaving and just saying it causes me to flinch a bit – but the time couldn’t be more NOW. Carter just finished kindergarten and he’s on to first grade in an amazing school district. Steve’s job allows for great flexibility in work location, and me, well, it will all work out somehow.

It always does.

There are souls I will miss here in Michigan, souls that have touched my heart and filled/focused my green spirit for gardening.

Words are sometimes hard to say and easier to write, and despite all evidence to the contrary, I really am an introvert. It feels good to let the cat out of the bag and breathe more deeply and authentically about the whole thing. So, if during the fall it takes me a bit longer to respond to your email, Facebook message or return your phone call, you know why. We’re starting our forever and I may be a bit distracted, but I'm still just a click away.

In the meantime, I'll relish my last July here in this summer-starved and fall-focused state – soaking up as much of it as I can before the last proverbial train leaves for back home in Illinois. CHOO! CHOO!

No day but today. Wish us luck.

Daylily Haiku Thursday | Just being...

noreply@blogger.com (~the girl) — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 15:49:00 +0000

be in the moment,

soak up the morsels of life-

smiling all the way!

Every day I write posts in my brain, or have an experience that I think would make a great blog post, but they just don't make it here. And that's because I'm busy exploring, engaging, experimenting, baking, laughing, planting, working, creating, mothering, living and best of all, being just being me...finding my laugh again.

Daylily season is taking off here in Michigan - finally! About six or seven daylilies are blooming now, and last night I deadheaded in my own garden for the first time in 2011! WOW!

We traveled to my parents house last weekend in southern Illinois, where my seedlings are growing beautifully. I had so much fun discovering daylilies I had forgotten since last summer and seeing new ones for the first time. Five of my favorites are shown here. The first one up there on the left is from MOMENTUM X BITTERSWEET HOLIDAY. It will certainly be introduced soon. Bud count was at least 24 on each scape and it grows 32" tall. I divided a clump of 36 fans into smaller divisions last fall to see how it made it through the winter after being divided and it passed the test with flying colors. The smaller divisions could even use dividing now! It is so prolific! I really enjoy the very pronounced stippled sepals, too. The color dilutes as the summer day matures, much like the ice in a glass of whiskey mellows out the color in the sweating glass. This one is named in the garden "Another Shot of Whiskey" and I'm sure that name will stick if it ever gets registered. I am growing this one in Michigan, too, so I can see how it does in our winters. The scapes here are still weeks away from blooming. Seems to be about 3 weeks behind the divisions in southern Illinois.

Three of the crosses below involve H. 'Sabine Baur,' one of my all-time favorite eyed and edged daylily. The top two below are from that cross and the one on the bottom right is, too. Some very diverse children coming from that daylily! The daylily on the bottom left is not from h. 'Sabine Baur' but is one of my favorite dream crosses ever made, and that was GRAND OLD FLAG X GOLDEN TENTACLES. That flower is 9"! The edge is ruffled and toothy, and it is a creamy, dreamy mix tropical colors.

The seedling shown on the right above measured 9.5" and really showed its stuff as the day went on. It was gargantuan. Here is a close up:

I noticed a funny thing happening with my seedlings, too. Bi-colors (of any sort) and red daylilies are not two types that tend to like, and yet I saw five red and two bi-color seedlings that were stunners in my own crop. How in the world does a person who doesnt like red daylilies get five red seedlings that she loves? Seriously, those five really caught my eye and I actually am thinking about introducing some, but I know I will never live it down if I put out a red - seeing as I have soapboxed about my red-aversion many times before. I'm almost embarrassed to admit I like them so much. I'll show you those later to see what you think.

Who would of thunk it?!

ON ANOTHER NOTE: If you dont have any plans for the weekend of July 15, you should plan to come to Michigan for a major daylily event. All are welcome to attend the bus tours of 8 area gardens, enjoy 5 catered meals and partake in all the fun! Full details can be found at the Great Lakes Gathering website. There are still 22 spots left - but I am sure they will go fast. You can pay your registration fee with PayPal on this website and get your spot reserved. Gift plants abound for guests, and garden shopping opportunities are amazing! Go to the website above to get a registration form and get your questions answered. I hope to see you there.

I'm headed to Northern Mecca (google it) on Saturday to enjoy some fellowship and see how southern Ohio is doing daylilies. I plan to be at River Bend Gardens, also the home of Pretty Petals, all day soaking up the sun and fun in the fields.

Another season is here. I am so happy to be a part of it!