Anticipation

Well, I am excited in anticipation of daylily season. There are many plants where the buds are large and starting to gain colour, so hopefully they will be opening over the next few days. (Unfortunately the forecast is for cloudy skies and rainy weather. Oh well, cloudy days make for the best photographs.)

One daylily opened its first bloom today, 'Dad's Best White'.

Daylily 'Dad's Best White'


Philosophical Karen © all rights reserved

Here it is in a longer view, accompanied by some Lamb's Ears.

Daylily with Lamb's Ears


Philosophical Karen © all rights reserved

Before I got 'Little Red Spring Song' (seen in the previous post), my earliest daylily and harbinger of the season was 'Moonglow'. Now I take poor 'Moonglow' for granted it seems, as it has been happily blooming away for several days now. Well, not exactly for granted. Only in terms of blogging, I guess. These were the very first daylilies I ever bought, and for that reason they will always hold a special place in my heart. Surely every gardener must have a plant like that in their garden.

'Moonglow' Daylilies


Philosophical Karen © all rights reserved

And just to prove how special they are, here is another shot of them, from afar this time, because my eye was struck by how the yellow daylilies contrasted so nicely with the neon pink zonal geraniums.

Yellow and Pink


Philosophical Karen © all rights reserved

The delphiniums are struggling this year, due to my lack of attention. They are planted in an area that is now overrun by vines. One of my spring tasks that I never really thought twice about has been to keep that area under control by ripping back the new growth to manageable levels. Unfortunately, my surgery has kept me from that task at the same time as wet weather has allowed the vines to flourish. So the result is some pretty spindly delphiniums. Still, what few flowers there are are beautiful as always.

Delphinium


Philosophical Karen © all rights reserved

One plant that is finally coming into its own this year is my 'Hokus Pokus' cranesbill (hardy geranium). It's actually blooming. Compare that to the story last year.

Geranium praetense 'Hokus Pokus'


Philosophical Karen © all rights reserved

My favourite thing about this plant is its beautiful dark foliage.

And speaking (as I was earlier) about neglected garden tasks, here is one that heuchera lovers may or may not be familiar with. There are (for me) two types of heuchera out there. The ones with beautiful flowers, and the ones for which the foliage is the show. When the foliage is the show, I (used to) make a point of cutting off all the scapes, because some of the plants are quite messy. I didn't realize what a service I was doing to my garden until I noticed what happens when I don't cut the offending scapes.

A Sea of Scapes


Philosophical Karen © all rights reserved

The garden under the maple is supposed to be a showcase for leafy heuchera foliage. This year, it is just a mess of ugly scapes. Well, by the end of August I am hoping to be cleared to do all the bending that gardening requires. I will just have to steel myself against the ugly views until then. (Argh! It's maddening.)

And if you don't think that the photo above is ugly, keep in mind that I am comparing it to my original vision from 2006 in the photo below.

Maple Garden, 2006


Philosophical Karen © all rights reserved

...
Copyright © all rights reserved. All text and images in this post belong to kbgardenblog.blogspot.com.