Winter in the Garden

On hiatus.

Winter in the Garden



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Autumn in the Garden

Here is my garden in autumn.

Moonglow Rebloom


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Not much good having a yellow flower surrounded by so many yellow leaves fallen from the Honey Locust tree above. It gets kind of lost.

Red October


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True to its name, my hosta 'Red October' is blooming quite happily.

Autumn Entrance


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The Buddha head surrounded by ivy is now surrounded by a carpet of tiny yellow leaves.

Dandelion


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This is another yellow flower taking the opportunity to rebloom in my garden. This one is not quite as welcome.

Rozanne Hardy Geranium


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The bees are still out, but they are slow and even more bumbling in the cooler weather.

Japanese Anemone


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These late bloomers are beautiful in the autumn garden.

Autumn Vine


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Well, my neighbours didn't kill it all in July. A couple of tendrils survived to grow up the wall of the shed. The colour is just starting. In a couple of days the red will really pop.
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New Daylily Bed

Well, with all the new (and a few existing) daylilies I have bought this year, I came up with a great idea to deal with the Eco-Lawn disappointment. We've made over the area where the grass was into a new daylily bed.

New Daylily Bed


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Mr. Wonderful removed all the dead Eco-Lawn grass (that's right, it ALL died) and amended the area by double-digging in some nutrient-rich triple-mix. Then he planted the daylilies where I arranged them. (I'd have helped with the planting, but I'm still recovering from surgery, so I can't overdo it.) At the moment, everything is covered in plain cedar mulch, but in the spring I'd like to set off the daylily bed with black mulch. Also, as soon as it's time for planting bulbs, I will put down lots of tulips and daffodils among the daylilies so I have both a spring garden and a daylily garden to look forward to.

I haven't quite decided what to do with the empty area in front of the elm tree yet. I don't know whether to make it a focal point with a bird bath, statue, stone bench, or fountain (although the electrical cord to run a pump would be distracting, I think). Another possibility is creating a seedling bed there; however, I'm reluctant to use prime visible space for something where the results would be a complete unknown. It might be next spring before we truly figure out what to do there.

Anyway, one daylily I couldn't show you earlier because it didn't have blooms at that time is Coal Miner. Here it is now.

Coal Miner


Philosophical Karen © all rights reserved

This is one my husband picked out. He likes how the bright yellow jumps out of the dark purple. I must admit it's quite striking. Of course, I've yet to see any dark purple daylily that I didn't like.

Here is another striking pair. You've seen Green Eyes Wink in a previous post, but the white one is Tuesday. Tuesday was only registered in 2003, and there are not many photos of it out there. (Of course, try doing a search on the name "Tuesday" and getting a photo of a daylily. It's a difficult thing to do with such a common word.)

Green Eyes Wink (left) and Tuesday (right)


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The thing about Tuesday is that it's a small-sized, ruffled and recurved beige-white self with what looks to be prolific blooms. It's registered as mid-season, but the fact that it's still blooming indicates that it must be mid-to-late, at least in this climate.

Oh, and in planting the daylily bed I had a bit of a disappointment. When I looked closely at Tang Dynasty it turned out to have two plant tags in the pot. The plant we picked up is not a dark purple daylily (as Tang Dynasty is supposed to be) so we have come home with the wrong one. I need to get in touch with Betty so I can fix this. Tang Dynasty is one of the daylilies I really, REALLY wanted.

But I'm not complaining.

Anything for another chance to visit the daylily farm, right?!
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Catching Up with Garden Stuff

Well, the other day I realized that I had one more daylily to show you that hadn't yet bloomed in my garden, Royal Palace Prince, whose first bloom was on August 14, very much later than usual for this daylily.

Royal Palace Prince


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Yesterday we visited my favourite daylily farm, Floral and Hardy Gardens, to see what late-blooming daylilies they had available to add to my collection. Here is my favourite shot of the AHS Display Garden on site (although I took many photos of this beautiful garden).

Daylily Display Garden


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And when I went shopping for my garden, there were so many daylilies to choose from! I was sad when it came time to pay for my choices that I had to give up some of them which the farm needed to keep for restocking. A beautiful healthy purple spiderform that would have looked lovely in my garden had to be abandoned at the till. But I still came home with plenty. Here are some of my purchases, waiting to be planted.

Some of My Daylily Purchases


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Here are a couple of blooms shown in a bit closer view.

Green Eyes Wink (New Purchase)


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Stoplight (New Purchase)


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I have what may seem like a long list of new daylily purchases from this trip, but this year I have made fewer trips, so over the length of the summer this is no different than in previous years. (Well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.)

• Bama Bound
  
• Coal Miner
  
• Green Eyes Wink (see above)
  
• Ivory Edges
  
• Little Red Spring Song (blooms early June)
  
• Lucky Catch
  
• Spiritual Corridor
  
• Stoplight (see above)
  
• Strutters Ball
  
• Sunday Gloves
  
• Tang Dynasty
  
• Thomas Lee
  
• Tuesday (Klehm, 2003 -- no image currently available)

Other stories I'm sticking to: my husband and son helped me shop. They are the biggest enablers on the planet.

You might recognize some of those daylilies from a list I made last January. There would be more from the January list, but some I was unable to get on this trip because we couldn't find them, or they were sold out.

I also took the opportunity to pick up some more Postman's Pride sedum, and a new sedum called 'Xenox' which is a most intriguing pinkish-purple colour. It was a MUST HAVE for my garden.

Xenox Sedum


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We have already started on the big rearrangement in the garden. Since the Eco-Lawn grass was such a nightmare we are tearing it all out and I am making a daylily bed instead. We have also torn out the overcrowded evergreens and overgrown shrubs (well, I say "we" but Mr. Wonderful did all the heavy digging -- I just chopped branches). A westward view of the maple garden now looks like this.

Garden Looking West


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I don't know if you can see in the above photo the toll that the rainstorms have taken on the slope this year. There is almost no mulch left, and the water is starting to erode little channels through the dirt. Whereas normally in August we would say the dryness is killing the garden (unless it is planted with drought-tolerance in mind) this year it seems the water falling from the sky is damaging roots and leaves and killing off certain plants, while causing others to flourish beyond the means to control them. (Periwinkle is a case in point.)

Anyway, to get a better idea of the "cleared" look of the maple garden above, here is the same view at the end of July, 2006. You can see how the evergreens were already overcrowded at that time. Now that they have been removed, the garden has more room to breathe.

Maple Garden 2006


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Oh, and just as a follow-up to something I said in a post about how the goldfinches like the sunflowers that have grown up around the feeder. I thought I would fill people in on what the goldfinches do. You see, to get to the seeds, they perch on top the sunflower and pluck the top petals off. This allows them to get a better foothold and bend down from the top and peck out the seeds. It results in a messy-looking collection of droopy, dismembered flowers. (It's totally worth it though.)

Food For Goldfinches and Squirrels


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At this point, some of the flowers have now drooped so low they are lying on the ground. Along come the squirrels to solve this problem. They chew through the stem to remove the flower and then carry the entire flower off to hide it somewhere.

Personally, I wouldn't mind if it ended up somewhere in my backyard neighbour's flowerbed. Only because of what they did to my vine. (I'm just sayin'...)
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We've Got Stinkhorns!

Enough. Said.


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EDIT: Hmm, maybe I didn't say enough after all. These things are weird fungi that grow without prompting from out of the mulch. They have a strange odour, an even stranger appearance (those orange stalks poke out of puffball-like "eggs" that emerge out of the ground), and they are really good at attracting flies. Just one big "Ewwww" if you ask me.
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My Hope

I can't believe I said that My Hope wouldn't bloom. Well, I can believe I said it, but I can't believe it bloomed anyway. Its first -- and possibly only -- bloom this year was on August 10.

My Hope


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It's almost mystical, in a way. There were no scapes coming from this plant at all, but sometime around the beginning of August I rearranged the garden a bit and returned the Grey Buddha to its accustomed place under the elm (right next to the 'My Hope' plant). As soon as I did that, a scape appeared -- seemingly overnight.

However, this smallish yellow flower with barely a hint of pink is a far cry from the plant's heyday in 2006.

My Hope, August 7, 2006


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One notable thing about the daylily My Hope is that it has a lovely fragrance. This is definitely a plant worth saving and I am planning on dividing and moving it to a more favourable location this fall.
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Garden Joys

I'm so happy that Highland Lord finally gave me a double flower.

'Highland Lord' Double Flower


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This daylily is registered as a double, so I was really expecting to see more double flowers from it than I got this year.

Other dashed expectations: My Hope did not bloom this year. Something knocked all the buds from All-American Plum. And my neighbours "trimmed" my vine from their side of the fence, killing the entire thing except for one small strand. In mid-July, it looked like this.

Sunflowers and (Former) Vine


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The great news is that the sunflowers (seen at bottom right) are all blooming now. I left the sprouts from winter birdseed to grow into a large clump surrounding the feeder. I am really happy with the effect, especially now that the goldfinches are always coming by, landing on the sunflowers and happily pecking out seeds from the centres. It really is a joy to behold.

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Scatterbrain Comes to Life

Two new first blooms today:

All-American Baby


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Scatterbrain


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Scatterbrain hasn't bloomed since I bought it in 2004. Finally last year I moved it from where it was being overwhelmed by periwinkle. Lo and behold, it bloomed!

I know I haven't been showing garden long shots this year as I have in the past. It's very hard to keep the garden tidy with all the rain we've had (at one point we got a whole month's worth of rain in only three or four days). But if we get a break with the weather this autumn, I'll have a chance to work on things then.

Anyway, here is a view of the side garden bed with lots of daylilies blooming. It's not a true long shot, but it's a bit longer shot than I have been showing lately.

Side Garden Bed with Daylilies


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A little story: I used to dislike Strawberry Candy (the daylily with three blooms at front right) because I had unwisely planted it next to a lavender-pink variety with which it clashed horribly. Last year I moved it down to the side bed, where the slightly apricot-pink looks absolutely gorgeous next to a tall, dark sedum. Honestly, if you are looking for a knockout colour combination, you really should try this. (I have taken many, many photos in an attempt to show off how well these plants look together, but somehow the camera can never capture it properly.)

In other news, I did finally get a fully open Peach Magnolia flower, even though I thought they'd all be half-closed this year because of the shape of the buds. So, here it is.

Fully Open Peach Magnolia


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And finally, to give everyone a break from daylilies on this blog, here is a photo of some rudbeckia by the front porch.

Rudbeckia


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The Thymes Gardener Collection

This is my 400th post, and since I don't have any new daylilies to show today, I am going to do something a little different: a product review.

I received a complimentary sample of products from the Thymes Gardener Collection. Gardener is one of the classic Thymes Fragrant Living Collections, and as you might surmise from the name, it's designed to appeal to women who spend time getting their hands and fingernails dirty looking after a garden.

Deep-Cleansing Hand Scrub and Cuticle Cream from the Thymes Gardener Collection


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For the review, I received two sample products from the collection: the Deep-Cleansing Hand Scrub, and the Cuticle Cream.

Of course, one of the first things I noticed was the detail of the packaging. Each cardboard folder had a little metallic tag that says "Grow" on it, a finishing touch that gives added polish. Of course, as gardeners many of us are concerned about the environment and would probably prefer not to add unnecessary packaging to area landfills. But the metal tags are easily removed so you can add the cardboard to your recycling box, if you have one.

The hand scrub comes in a plastic squeeze tube with a flat cap that easily stands upright next to the sink. When I tried the hand scrub it was wonderful, leaving my hands soft and smooth, even the area of my right index finger that tends to get dry and rough from pulling weeds. And here is a little tip from me -- they don't put this in the marketing material -- you can use this scrub on your feet, too. I tend to wear crocs or open-toed sandals in the garden, and my heels and toes get a little rough from the wear and tear. Using the scrub I was easily able to reverse some of the damage caused by my garden footwear.

That's where the cuticle cream came in. It's called cuticle cream, but again you can use it on other areas that need extra pampering. It's wonderful stuff. It has a different scent than the scrub. The scrub has a light, fresh "green" scent that instantly transports you to springtime in the garden. The cuticle cream on the other hand has a soft herbal scent that is more healing than medicinal in its overtones.

There are more products available in the Thymes Gardener Collection, including some lovely gift packages for your gardening friends (or treat yourself!). Thymes products are available in specialty stores throughout North America (Chapters sells some here in Canada), but you can get anything you want online at the Thymes web site.
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Three New Ones Today

Royal Mountie


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Back when I first got this daylily, bright red blooms were not to be found in my garden. My how things have changed, with Highland Lord, Executive Decision, and Justin Miller.

Light Years Away


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Light Years Away has a thick "piecrust" picotee edge. When this flower looks good, it is gorgeous (but when it doesn't, it's really awful). Today's example is definitely more good than awful.

El Desperado


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I moved El Desperado last year when I rearranged the front garden to make room for several new daylilies I bought at Floral and Hardy Gardens. The blooms seem smaller this year than I remember, but then again a lot of the daylilies are like that. It could be because we've had so much rain and quite a bit less sun than usual.

By the way, here is a second look at Peach Magnolia.

Peach Magnolia


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I think all of its blooms are going to be this way this year. (It's one of the plants slated for dividing in the autumn.) These double blossoms look more like peonies or roses than the typical daylily.

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Two New Blooms

Today's first-time bloomers:

Grand Masterpiece


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David Kirchoff


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Check out last year's versions of Grand Masterpiece and David Kirchoff. David Kirchoff is right on schedule, blooming on this same day, July 24, last year.
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Dreaded Deadheading

At this point in the summer, the midseason daylilies are slowing down, and the late season bloomers are not yet coming into play. I am talking only of first blooms, of course. Collectively, the daylily plants in my garden are blooming their hearts out.

Wayside King Royale Has Four Blooms Today


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With all those flowers, it soon becomes very important for the beauty of the garden to make sure the spent blooms are removed. This is called deadheading. Deadheading is a sticky, messy job, especially with the record-breaking rainfall we've had this summer. Even in a dry year, spent blooms can be gooey, but this year picking off the day-old flowers is slimy business. Every last one is waterlogged. Ugh!

(Note: I have previously written about deadheading here and here. You can see how things change over the years.)

Daylilies Need Deadheading

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Squishy, Gooey, Spent Daylily Blooms

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Yesterday we had another big storm (sadly, they are all too common this summer) with buckets of rain and hail and other silly stuff coming out of nowhere and dumping on us. I'm surprised the flowers survived as well as they did. Here are a couple of new blooms today.

Mariska


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Joan Senior


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I'm not sure what to say about Peach Magnolia. I think it's trying to bloom, but I'm having trouble figuring out what to call this. It's past being a bud, but do I count it as a first bloom or not?

Peach Magnolia


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We're in for another storm this afternoon, so I don't know how it will fare. I hope it survives the rain and actually opens up later.
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The List

One first bloom today:

Sweet Hot Chocolate


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Yesterday's post was titled "The Height of the Season". This is easily demonstrated by listing all the daylilies that are also blooming in the garden today (the ones in italic appear in the mosaic below):

• Always Afternoon
  
• Barbara Mitchell
  
• Bela Lugosi
  
• Bonanza
  
• Cassadiana
  
• Chicago Atlas
  
• Cimmaron Knight
  
• Country Melody
  
• Cricket Dance
  
• Dad's Best White
  
• Daveo Holman
  
• Destined to See
  
• Elegant Candy
  
• Executive Decision
  
• Frans Hals
  
• Grecian Gown
  
• Highland Lord
  
• Justin Miller
  
• Lavender Rainbow
  
• Little Business
  
• Luxury Lace
  
• Mini Might
  
• Moonlit Masquerade
  
• Moristar Mix
  
• Night Beacon
  
• Nile Crane
  
• Pandora's Box
  
• Persian Ruby
  
• Purple d'Oro
  
• Razzmatazz
  
• Russian Rhapsody
  
• Sabine Baur
  
• Siloam Doodlebug
  
• Siloam Plum Tree
  
• Snowy Eyes
  
• Strawberry Candy
  
• Summer Wine
  
• Unnamed Seedling
  
• Wayside King Royale
  
• Woodside Rhapsody
  

At this point in the year I usually find a way to manufacture a collage of my daylily photos. Here is one created with Flickr photos:


Philosophical Karen © all rights reserved

1. Bonanza, 2. Lavender Rainbow, 3. Siloam Merle Kent, 4. Frans Hals, 5. Razzmatazz, 6. Pandora's Box, 7. Justin Miller, 8. Elegant Candy, 9. Always Afternoon, 10. Wayside King Royale, 11. Mini Might, 12. Chicago Atlas, 13. Dad's Best White, 14. Barbara Mitchell, 15. Russian Rhapsody, 16. Nile Crane

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

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The Height of the Season

Today's new blooms:

Snowy Eyes


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Root Beer


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Catherine Woodbury


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Siloam Merle Kent


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Strawberry Candy


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Switching topics from new blooms to existing blooms, here is a photo demonstration of the Sabine Baur/Alaqua twins, as originally discussed here, and more recently (that is, within the past few days) here. To summarize, I bought these as two separate plants. Alaqua is supposed to be neat and petite, but came out big and relaxed. So now these two are unintentional twins.

Sabine Baur


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Alaqua


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***
EDITED TO ADD: I missed one. I think I can guess how I missed Daring Deception. My photo came out a little blurry and I probably meant to go and take another one, but forgot. Oh well, here is the photo anyway. I made it small so the blurriness doesn't show as much.



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