June....Racing By Much Too Quickly...

June is such a full month, isn't it? I'm just going to jump in and share some pictures from today.

Rose of Sharon, Blue Bird (Hibiscus syriacus)...although I removed almost all of the Rose of Sharons in my yard, I saved this one (it would be hard to get it out plus, I like the color) and a double one.


An Orienpet, Silk Road:


Monarda didyma 'Raspberry Wine' blooming at least two weeks later than everyone else's around here...I suppose that's what you get when you plant it in less than full sun...


The seed pods of the hardy cyclamen I showed you a couple weeks ago have opened...and the cyclamen are finally deciding to go dormant.


One of my favorite summer perennials, Helenium 'Mardi Gras'...it just looks like a party going on to me...and never fails to cheer me.


A reseeding annual (an understatement if you have this!), Balsam or Touch Me Not...


Another view inside a Magnolia Grandiflora bloom, courtesy of my hanging branch...today I got there before all the pollinators and after I took this picture, I cut it and brought it inside. They only last a day...and the fragrance is light, sweet and oh so pleasant.


The daisies are blooming away


A Summer Daffodil or Peruvian Daffodil, Hymenocallis festalis:


Okay, even though I have hundreds (not kidding) of daylily photos to share (I have to organize them first...and who has that time in the marvelous month of June, I ask??!)...I'm going out on a bit of a limb and am going to show you where some of my daylilies grow. I'm not a big weeder, so no comments on those, and yes, I could use hardscaping (slowly, but surely I am working on that)...but, hey, is a garden ever done?? Is there ever a time when all the chores are done (not here)? So, I ask you to ignore the imperfections....here we go...

If you were standing in front of my home, this is what you'd see on the left side of the front yard.


Other than my seedlings, there isn't an area that just has daylilies. There are always lots of other things mixed in with them. If you look at the back of the above picture, you can just see my fence. Here's what's in front of the fence.


That's my neighbors' home on the left. I am so lucky to have neighbors who appreciate the flowers and are just the nicest people. On the right side of the circle...


The middle or back


Looking across on the upper right side


This is a tiny sliver of a look on the other side of my front yard (garden is all over)...my other neighbors are also very nice, but have a dog that likes mulch, so the fencing and all is well...


We're kinda skipping around, but you can at least see some things. We're in the backyard now.





That's all for now. Wait until you see some of these daylilies up close! Some were having quite the day, today, and I can hardly wait to show you...but, I have to do some other things....I still have about four gardens to show you that I've seen...who knows when I'll get to that...maybe winter??!...and I'm off tomorrow to tour two daylily gardens that will be open. Are you ready for July?? It's almost here...is it just me, or is this summer just rushing by?

Seedlings Update

As you might guess, I have a backlog of daylily pictures which grows daily. Eventually, I'll sort through them, so more to come! But, for now, here's a look at some seedlings I'm seeing. Remember, they're brand new and so not really strutting their stuff, like they will, hopefully, next year and beyond. I think they're pretty interesting!


A very pale pink...Chartered Course x Moment in the Sun


A huge 8 inch bloom! Women Seeking Men x Bear Claws


Nice edge developing....Golden Tentacles x Moment in the Sun


Showing promise...can't wait for later blooms, Restores My Soul x Alexa Kathryn


Wonders Never Cease x Crystelle's Love


A where-did-you-come-from out of (maybe) Snow in Autumn x Wonders Never Cease....but, I like it!


Another peek at the one that started them off this year, Ed Brown x J T Davis...has a pod, so we know it's pod fertile.

It'll be fun to follow their journey...who knows what the future holds...Next year, I'll, hopefully, be linking back to this post to we can see how they develop.

RADS Daylily Show 061607

Driving down to Richmond, I was excited about the prospect of entering my two daylily scapes. Having attended the class on scape grooming, this would be my first foray into actual competition. I wasn't sure if I would like it, to tell the truth. I don't think of myself as competitive.

Unfortunately, traffic stopped suddenly and unexpectedly on I-95 and with that stop, I instinctively reached out and...yes, you guessed it, hit one of my daylilies with my hand. I couldn't believe it! All that careful selecting and planning and in an instant, doom. Sigh.

As I pulled into the Lewis Ginter parking lot, I was sure it just wasn't worth my time to take the scapes in and groom them for the show. Luckily for me, I ran into Michael Miller who peeked at them and told me to enter them anyway. I was going to just donate them to the designers busily working on flower arrangements.

So, I went into the room set aside for grooming and it was bustling with activity. At the very first table, I made a new friend who kindly shared her space with me and offered encouragement. To say I was nervous was an understatement. I managed to groom both of mine and get them to the designated table for entry in plenty of time.

I had volunteered to help and was given the task of handing out the People's Choice Award ballots, but wouldn't actually be needed until the show opened. After all the scapes are checked for registration, they are placed on tables inside the show room where they will await the judges views. The room is closed for several hours while they do their work. Upon completion, the doors are opened and everyone can stream in.

I should mention that this is a particularly thoughtful club to belong to. There was a RADS Cafe open down the hall that supplied food and beverages (both breakfast and lunch) free to participants and members attending. With time on my hands, you can guess where I went! I was off to explore the gardens of Lewis Ginter which, from my many posts, you surely know I love. I thought this time I'd try to get over to the shade gardens.

I returned shortly before the doors were due to open (Yes, I took lots of pictures of the gardens and will put those up in a post shortly!). After a little delay, I was allowed in early to take up my position and get the ballots ready for distribution. Having never participated in a show, everything was new and interesting to me. I discovered there's quite a bit of difference in just attending, looking and admiring....vs entering and helping. It's like seeing it with new eyes.

Here's what I saw upon entering:


Very shortly, it would look like this:


Entrants eagerly looking to see how their daylilies have done and attendees eager to see all the daylilies!

Here's what the program looked like:


Enough of being rather blase about it all, I could hardly wait to see how my own two humble entrants were judged (I hoped they were kind, at least!). Here's what I found:


!!!!! I was so excited!! My damaged one got the red ribbon, which I thought was something considering....then I thought, drat! If I hadn't damaged it, imagine how it would have done! But, the shocker, was that my second flower did as well as I could have hoped (short of moving to the head table...which, let's be real, I didn't think I'd have that kind of beginner's luck...although, I must brag on one of our little scape grooming class members...he did have a daylily that won big!).....a first place ribbon and a purple indicated it scored 95 or better (out of a possible 100 points). Yes!

Here are my entrants...first, my "winner":

Hermitage Newton, having a particularly fine day:


And, the damaged Wineberry Candy:


I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn't get a good picture of the head table with all the top winners, including Best in Show....can you believe that! Well, I was distracted with my little job of handing out ballots...that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!

The daylilies are also exhibited off scape, single blossoms. Here's one I was interested in:


If you can't read the tag, it's Moment in the Sun...a famous daylily and a parent in some of my daylily crosses.

I did get a few pictures of the incredible arrangements.



Did mention there was a plant sale? I wasn't going to buy anything, but did find four...somehow. I guess I'll just have to move four out of the garden! But, that wasn't all. There were a couple of raffles...and I won a plant! I won Michael Miller's Small World Alli, which you might remember from my post of visiting their gardens. If I could have chosen one out of that particular raffle (there were three daylilies in it), that's the one I would have picked! I felt extraordinarily lucky! Hmmm, maybe I should have played the lottery. Too late now.

Clean up was next and there were enough of us that it went pretty quickly. I learned a bunch of things, not the least of was that competition can actually be fun. Who knew!

In case you forgot, here's what I wrote about last year's show.

My First Tomato of the Season!

Sungold, an orange cherry tomato...as pictured yesterday



...shortly before it was consumed! Yum!

A surprise harvest of garlic...garlic that I didn't plant last fall but rather, apparently, didn't harvest last summer...uh oh...but, hey, it turned out pretty well considering....this is early for garlic here...



Another Dahlia:


Plant your Easter Lilies, do you? Me, too...and now they bloom:


An annual poppy...much darker purple than this picture...I'm always happy to see them each year...and each year I fret that they won't return...but, so far, so good.


Alstromeria 'Sweet Laura'


Daisies, just beginning


A bellflower and geranium 'Rozanne'


Rudbekia, seeding around...this time in a minature rose


Coreopsis, peeking out from daylily leaves



Echinacea purpurea 'Kim's Knee High', a carefree plant


We've seen these before. They just keep pumping out the blooms...Dianthus 'Siberian Blues'


Ever want to see inside a Magnolia Grandiflora bloom? Most of mine bloom way above my head, but there's branch that is broken (and needs to be removed) and there was this bloom...wish I had caught it a bit earlier as this was late in the day (and they only last a day)...nicely fragrant


Trumpet Lilies:


They're here...disgusting things...Japanese Beetles


See, there are things going on here besides the daylilies! I do have lots to share...just not enough hours in the day....hope you're enjoying June.