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| Hemerocallis 'Apollodorus': I think this one's a keeper. |
She brought her favorite daylilies with her, but it just wasn't the same. The magic had gone, but she didn't realize it yet. Then, one summer she noticed she had too many different daylily cultivars that all looked the same, so she dug up most of them and gave them away to good homes.
The years passed, she added a couple new daylilies to the mix, hoping to capture some of the old magic. The new daylilies were of the purple-eyed variety.
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| Hemerocallis 'Druid's Chant' |
They were very pretty.
Fast forward to today. The gardener looks on her daylilies and no longer finds them pleasing. The problem is with the complex and changing colors of the blooms. The darkest, solid maroon blooms aren't jarring,
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| H. 'Grape Velvet' |
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| End of July, H. 'Super Purple', with coneflowers and 'Black Beauty' lilies in partial shade. |
but the others, especially the eyed-varieties, just don't sync with the rest of Squirrelhaven's summer blooms.
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| Hemerocallis 'Druid's Chant' looks awful with Phlox maculata |
In the morning, the colors are just fine,
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| Hemerocallis 'Pink Lavender Appeal' in the morning |
but by afternoon, they have faded to a sickly peach.
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| 'Pink Lavender Appeal' the same evening |
Just pathetic.
Then there is the issue of deadheading and the unsightliness of large, faded blooms.
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| One day after blooming H. 'Woodside Amethyst' bloom: do not adjust your monitor, it really does end up this color. |
Because daylilies bloom for only a day (hence the name), deadheading must be done everyday, or the new blooms are marred by the sodden mess of the old. What is a gardener to do?
I could remove all the daylilies, but there isn't much else blooming in partial shade in July. Daylilies are extremely tough, shrugging off temperatures soaring to 100 degrees, and they are drought tolerant. Maybe I should rip out all the large flowered cultivars, or maybe just the fade-to-peach ones, and replace them with small flowered dark blooming cultivars, such as 'Little Grapette'.
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| Notice how none of the supposedly "purple" cultivars actually are purple. |
17 comments:
It's a tough decision. I've gone with the Susans, River Misting River Oats and species phlox~I adore the various pinks that phlox offspring come in especially when they cross with 'David'. gail.
Daylilies are not as carefree as people think! If you want them to look nice you need to remove the mushies and pull out the yellowing leaves. Some require less deadheading in that their spent blooms shrivel rather than go into mush, Miss Amelia, Ice Carnival, Tetrina's Daughter.
You are right that some are a totally different color at the end of the day. Dark Ruby stays the same color all day but it is dark. The oranges, golds and yellows stay true to color.
You have some beauties growing.
Eileen
My friend thought I was nuts, but I dug up a ton of different daylilies and gave them to her this summer. I had the same feelings about some of them. I had all kinds of reasons for not liking them: I just didn't like the color, realized I had way to many maroon ones, didn't like any of the oranges because they looked too much like "ditch lily", too many spider type lilies, etc.
Now I am on to my hostas, I figure they have been there for years and if they do nothing for me- they need to go.
I used to adore Daylilies...but after a few years, got tired of deadheading and the sad foliage after they were done blooming. Every once in a while, however, I will see one if flower in another garden and suddenly, that old love is rekindled! Anyway, regardless of your Daylily woes...that shot of the Echinacea with 'Black Beauty' is stunning...a winner for sure!
I've had similar issues with the purple ones here. Too much sun and they fade to a sickly shadow of their true color.
Dear MMD, while our ideas of awful are quite different, I agree that the dark eyed daylilies can be difficult to blend into color schemes. Good luck in your search for the pleasing color mix.
Frances
One time I saw a list of daylilies that fade cleanly (or drily, as Dee said). If I ever find it, I'll share it with you.
The ones you have pictured look beautiful to me. I love the Grape Velvet and Apollodorus. My problem is going by pictures in catalogs planning where to put them and then have them clash because they are not the right colors after all.
I believe every garden should have a least of couple of dayliles...hope you find a happy ending to this story.
I too have been through the daylily desires. Some now languish in the front garden where I rarely go or see them. I should be brave like you and dig them up and give them away. Sometimes it is difficult to let go.
I'm still infatuated with daylilies and don't even mind the clash of colors. But I did notice this year that some of the colors weren't as intense as usual--I wondered if the high temps we had in July had something to do with that. I do think, though, the darker ones look good in your garden.
I'm smitten with one of my cultivars, the Chicago Sunrise, it is lovely, although this year it seemed more washed out and pale. I also have a buttery golden yellow that I find pleasing off by itself which was stunning this year. I have several given to me by a neighbor, similar to the ditch varieties that have to be moved to a ditch somewhere, as the orange bothers me. I have a lot of purple in my garden and thought I might like a little Van Gogh contrast, but I was very mistaken.
Lovely post and lovely photos.
sitting on my patio glass of red in hand looking at your beautifull photos great blog thankyou
I didn't see any of the yummy yellows, like Hyperion, which is my absolute favorite, a nice clear yellow that seems to go with everything. Also, I've recently fallen in love with an orange tetraploid single - huge flowers, blooms for weeks, great with purple - can't find the tag, but I'm sure it's available. There are a lot of muddy looking cultivars out there, maybe not worth the gardening space, but don't give up on hemerocallis!
Keep looking... you already know the varieties are "out there!" :-) BUT don't throw out any of those... someone very nice (me) would love to have one or two!! ;-)
Have only just discovered day lilies for some reason so your post has given me food for thought. I hope that you find a solution, Congratulations on your fifth blogaversary - long may your blog flourish!
I'm with you on the daylily with the ring around the eye-I have a very similar one that is a terrible clash with its lily and rose neighbors! Must go! I have been on a search, however for the deep purple blooms you have several of; I've written down the names, I'll be looking for them. They look great in your garden!
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