The experts (the pollinators) have spoken. And they definitely have a “voice”. And bragging rights.
For example, Equal Opportunity (one of my own seedlings, but from South Seas self-seed) has three different looks from three different scapes this year. Last year was similar. The seedlings all come from the same year’s South Seas self-seed, yet the variety is amazing. And I didn’t do anything to get that variety, or the beauty per bloom. I just let the self-seed pods mature and then at harvest started my normal process.
On this pic the differences are very pronounced.
Doing a cross between Equal Opportunity and Hello Yellow was on my list this year.
Hello Yellow
Hello Yellow is one of my own seedlings as well. It is an extended bloom, absolutely gorgeous, tetraploid (so no it is not a Stella De Oro) and it has been very stingy with pollen and very stubborn with being a pod parent. But it crossed with Equal Opportunity and has a pod. And another same cross pending results.
This morning I got to thinking. I really like what the pollinators accomplish. And I have a garden full of seedlings from new (intentional) crosses I did last year. Full. And the crosses I wanted to do this year are already done. And I don’t want to tax those daylilies with too much drain going into a volume of pods I really don’t “need”. I can be a good collaborator with the pollinators. I can stop getting in their way. And I can be done doing crosses for this year. One (week of crosses) and done.
I made the decision, even though today was crazy good for options, that enough is definitely enough, and I’m done doing crosses for 2026. Now I can sit back, watch the pollinators, enjoy the very full garden, and relax. Just do maintenance. Until harvest time. Crazy good thought 😉
Today is an exceptional day for the daylily blooms.
Enjoy!
Carpenter’s ChoicePeach – I think it is Romantic RosePink TirzahAutumn RedPink China DollJust Plum HappyIn the front, my own intentional cross – Marque Moon x Pink China Doll that I am calling Pink Moon, at least for now 😉 Yes, it looks an awful lot like the Purple De Oro in the background. In reality it is taller, and the foliage is very different. And Purple D’Oro is a diploid. Another bloom of Pink Moon today. Yep, an even different look 😉
We’re in the thick of daylily bloom season now. Every day there are quite a variety of daylilies blooming all throughout our gardens. Morning walkabouts are such a treat! And at the same time, I am butting up against my humanness. I am reminded that I can do all the intentional crosses I want and harvest all the self-seed I want and do all the organizing and labelling and storing and planting and watching I want, but at a much higher level, all of this is God’s creation. I can work with it, and work to understand it, but it is still His. Very humbling!
So I was loving the blooms, and making some new crosses, and enjoying lots of time in the gardens and then Thursday night came and I realized Pink Moon was starting to open its first bloom ever. Pink Moon is the first intentional cross to bloom in my gardens from parents I am certain of, and have replicated to seedling. I was so excited! I was watching for this!
As it began to open in the evening my first thoughts were along the lines of, “So it is another extended bloom.” And then, as it looked way more purple than pink, I went online and read that getting to pink often involves working with purple. So that was normal.
I also had a little concern about how tall it was and how the sprinkler might get it. But in the end, daylilies are plants. A very fun and challenging hobby, but not people. And I am a person 😉 and need sleep. So, I decided that was the best choice.
Friday morning, I was out in the garden, very early, very thankful it was not so tall the sprinklers got it, super excited to finally see Pink Moon. You see, I named it when it went to seedling. I thought that would be great to keep track of, never imagining it would not be pink when it first opened. As I watched it throughout the day, yes, on and off, it did color morph. Not really pink, but something like mauve. And I reminded myself that maybe it is not good to name a cross before it blooms.
Pink Moon – July 10, 2026
Imagine my surprise this morning when a very different “Pink Moon”” bloom from that same cross welcomed me.
In fact, after quite a few hours it began to look an awful lot like the Purple D’Oro bloom right next to it, only larger, and on a sturdier scape, and with quite a different shade of green for the foliage.
Well, welcome to the garden, new daylily bunch I thought was all the same cross! We will watch what God does with Pink Moon as it matures.
Today is a rain day. It is also the first day of bloom for three much awaited daylilies at the townhome gardens: the Purple D’Oro (which was transplanted in fall of 2024 so was skimpy on blooms in 2025), the Cedar Waxwing (which I overtaxed in 2024 and did not send up scapes in 2025), and the Red Volunteer (which had success as both a pod and pollen parent in 2025 and will rest except self-seed this year). Hello Yellow, Equal Opportunity, and Pink Tirzah are also blooming, so there were a few planned crosses in the mix. But it is a very nice long rain, and I’m sure the pollen is ruined, so today the message is, “Just Enjoy”.
That I will.
This poor bloom either had a malfunction, or it had a run-in with the sprinkler.Purple D’OroHello Yellow is an extended bloom so it also got the overnight rains.Red Volunteer is shy and facing the house today.Cedar Waxwing
The garden was exceptionally wonderful this morning. One of those days where a hummingbird comes in, squirrels come through, a bunny stops by, the sun breaks through. Absolutely beautiful. There were definitely other daylilies blooming today and even crosses with those daylilies, but Pink Tirzah gets the limelight today. The pictures of Pink Tirzah best capture the early morning today, and then later full bloom.
Pink Tirzah in early morningPink Tirzah in early morningPink Tirzah in early morningFull bloomFull bloom
Today is Move It Monday in the townhome gardens. Now that it is daylily bloom season, I want full and easy access to the daylilies that I hope to use for crosses. Cloches are off of all the seedlings now and today it was moving day for the remaining two pots of seedlings – the ones that will eventually go to the historic cemetery. The pots are now on the patio, and I am considering when they should be planted at the historic cemetery.
My original plan with the seeds in those two pots was to direct sow them, but last year I noticed seedlings did not do well at the historic cemetery. I am thinking that maybe they will be ok to plant soon but there is no sprinkler there so anything that is planted needs to be watered by hand, daily, and call me lazy, but that is not my favorite. Not talking hose here, but rather, carrying gallon containers of water in the heat. So, the seedlings will stay on the patio, probably until fall planting.
I also want to pull more of the forget-me-nots in that area, but not too many. Besides liking their look, in moderation, I have noticed the bunnies and squirrels do not seem to like Forget-me-Nots. If I were to venture a guess, I would say it is because they have a habit of sticking to things. I don’t like that, and I can imagine they don’t either. So, some Forget-Me-Nots will stay, but a lot will be pulled.
Back to the historic cemetery topic, it has been a fun season so far to see things that were planted a few years ago start to shine. One of those is the Purple D’Oro divisions. Yesterday Purple D’Oro bloomed for the first time there. I had a feeling it would. So glad I got to see it!
Purple D’Oro bloomed for the first time ever in the garden at the historic cemetery.
So, with the daylilies in bloom in all the gardens, and opportunities for crosses beginning, I am reminding myself of my self-imposed limits. Here’s the story:
Last year I way overdid it with daylily crosses. I was doing a bucket list experience, and doing the crosses was incredibly fun. I was imagining wonderful gardens down the road – chockablock full of gorgeous daylilies in the years ahead. I was even toying with the idea of something beyond that, but I wasn’t decided on anything for sure. Without a serious plan, and having a wonderful time, I got myself ahead of my skis. I knew the process to cross the daylilies, and I had just enough years under my belt to get a lot of crosses successfully to pod and then to harvest. A lot. The crosses were very successful – in variety and volume. Pods were abundant, and the harvest went well into October. It bit into my planned fall activities and then kept on biting through to labelling and recordkeeping and proper storage and most of all planting (x 2 because I did not do direct sow). I learned my lessons. I have parameters this year.
I can do four new varieties of crosses that go to pod this year, but with the additional requirement that it has to have at least one parent that is one of my own seedlings. A little extra challenge.
I can do one repeat cross that was successful in the past.
I can do retries of previous fails. There are only a few this year because two of my legacy daylilies are either aging out or just taking a rest this year.
I can only do crosses until July 23 this year.
And that’s it.
Enter the first opportunity for a cross this year.
This is Carpenter’s Choice.
I like the colors. The raspberry is what I originally bought it for. And although it does kind of color morph as the day goes on, which is normal, it starts the day way more to red. That gave me pause yesterday as I considered a cross with the other available tetraploid – Equal Opportunity.
As I pondered the decision, I considered some additional attributes I like about Carpenter’s Choice:
I like the way the back petals (I should say sepals 😉 ) increasingly curl as the day goes on, similar to Autumn Red’s habit.
One of Carpenter’s Choice’s parents is lavender, which I would like to see in a cross with Equal Opportunity.
It did take me a bit, but I eventually decided yes to the Equal Opportunity x Carpenter’s Choice cross. Something about the lavender was the deciding factor. And:
I have capacity within the four new crosses.
Equal Opportunity is one of my own seedlings, a self-seed from South Seas.
I am definitely within the timeline.
So that was decision one. If I get a pod, it will be counted as #1 of 4 new crosses this year.
Here’s a couple additional pics of what’s going on in the gardens.
Pink Tirzah is gorgeous, and prolific again this year.Hello Yellow is gearing up for another bloom.
This new bloom at the historic cemetery was a wonderful treat as I walked the gardens before beginning to putz (deadhead, weed, trim). I believe it is one of the Lullaby Baby daylilies I planted in fall of 2024, but I am not absolutely certain. Either way, it was definitely a Fantastic Find.We have a lot of Stella De Oro daylilies in the historic cemetery gardens. They bloom profusely and look very cheerful. Stella De Oro daylilies at the historic ccemeteryThe Asian lilies in this bouquet bloomed, and the Purple D’Oro will soon bloom there for the first time. The Asian lilies have bloomed, and now we await the first Purple D’Oro blooms at the historic cemetery.YarrowMy primary work of the day was to remove the seed pods from the Stella De Oro daylilies so we hopefully get rebloom. This year I will not harvest Stella De Oro self-seed. We have plenty to divide 🙂This daylily, and the milkweed, and the hosta are a beautiful picture of what a public garden can be with community care and contribution.A “donut” in the historic cemetery garden. There are lots 🙂More Stella De Oro dayliliesBack at our home gardens – So much here – mature daylilies, seedlings with first year scapes, year old seedlings, new seedlings, mature hostas, and our Malva Zebrina Hollyhock seedlings from 20 year old seed.Some of the Purple ShamrocksOne of the Blue Mouse Ears hostasEqual Opportunity is soooo ready to bloomThe bird drop currant in the front. The hollyhock seedlings in the back.One lone Asian lily remainsThe cloches are gradually coming off the seedlings 🙂
Blessings to you and, in America, wishing you a fantastic 4th of July celebration – 250th Birthday!
These Malva Zebrina Hollyhocks were grown from 20+ year old harvested seed from the gardens at the house we raised our kids in. I kept on passing them up to try for germination. This year they got their chance. When they didn’t look like they were doing anything, I wasn’t surprised. It was a long shot.
I reused the soil when I planted the 2025 harvested daylily seeds and didn’t give any thought to the possibility that they would germinate along with the daylily seeds. Imagine my surprise!
I planted them in the garden as tiny seedlings, and they are doing very well!
Yesterday, when it looked pretty certain the forecast for today would hold for mid 90 degrees Fahrenheit with a heat index well over 100 degrees, I got at planting the last two new varieties of daylily seedlings. All the daylily seedlings for the townhome gardens for this year are now planted. All 🙂
So, where did we land with the seedlings finding homes?
Well, the gardens are at capacity, for absolute sure. I like the look right now, and I know I will like it even more in a couple weeks as color from our mature daylilies starts to pop, but I was struggling towards the end of the planting to make it look nice, both now and hopefully for the longer term.
Tucking seedlings in to very accessible planting spots was tempting. Thinking about 3 years from now – a bit more of a challenge. I reminded myself I don’t like to move things around a lot. I thought about things quite extensively, especially for those last two pots of seedlings. And although I originally had planned to put them in another spot, the far corner of this pic is where they landed. That corner needed love that I hope the pair will provide. They have the same parents, just in reverse.
Then, with all the daylily seedlings planted, I turned my attention to cutting back the Asian lilies that wrapped up, so they don’t go to seed. And after that I relaxed for the day.
Today I am still doing gardening work. It is just indoors – going through the spreadsheet, finishing the 2026 seedling planting documentation, and getting straight on the next steps for 2026. The bird baths need some love, the shrubs need haircuts, and the forget-me-nots need their annual reduction. The forget-me-not reduction process is always painful, but if I pull them before they go to seed, as they are winding down, things stay manageable.
And, manageable is a key word for the daylilies too. Space is the new key now. The days of smorgasbord crossing is done for me. Space planning within my wishlist is essential. But I seem to have help this year. In a kind of funny plot twist, two of my key varieties for this year’s plans don’t have scapes, at least yet. Scapes hold blooms and blooms are needed for crosses. The blooms need to coincide, the same day, unless one saves pollen, and that is way beyond my current level of skill. So, with no scapes on two of the key varieties, half of the plan is probably off the table due to timing. I could be super bummed, or I could take that as direction. I am taking it as direction 😉 We not in any way at a shortage of seedling or daylilies. We will be fine.
(Pay no attention to the seedlings in large pots. Those need to go to the historic cemetery this fall, when they don’t look like grass to be weeded lol.)
I am I am being thankful. I have a seedling with first year scapes, and a whole lot of other daylilies with lots of scapes. Those are, mostly, to enjoy. Yep, a theme 🙂
I am also at the time where I am planning fall divisions and transplants. The second daylily in on the right is #1 in that category. It is an Autumn Red. And way too big for that space. (We like to use the path ;))
The Asian lilies are waning. The daylilies are ramping up.
This morning was a cool, dampish sort of morning. I was feeling like taking the day to rest. But, as the day started rolling, I changed my mind. We have some pretty warm weather forecasted starting next week, and I would much rather relax on those days. I made the decision to get at planting the remaining daylily seedlings today. Even the remaining seeds that did not germinate got planted as a last chance, direct sow style. There are now just two daylily seedling varieties left to plant in the townhome gardens, and for that, I am very thankful! Even on a warm day I can get those last two done.
This year September will be a bit different. Because I planted the seedlings by the end of June, my fall daylily work will be primarily divisions and transplanting. That will be a pleasant change. Planting seedlings in September heat is not my favorite.
Today I saw one of the South Seas seedlings I divided last year has a scape coming up. I was a little worried I might have divided it too early after only one year of bloom, so when I saw that scape starting today I was very thankful.
Of course, as the Asian lilies fade, I am a little sad. I am thankful we had such beautiful blooms from them this year. They can start to rest now and build up for next year.
And I took time over the past few days to reimagine that area by the Linden. There is a lot of shade, and I plan to add more Blue Mouse Ears hostas, but alongside the Asian lilies there may be enough sun to also entice some Autumn Red seeds that did not germinate to break out. Worth a try.
The Pink Asian lilies are winding down. I am waiting for the older daylilies under the Linden to get scapes. And I planted some daylily seeds alongside the Asian lilies.
Speaking of the Blue Mouse Ears hostas, they are ramping up color all over the gardens. I will definitely send more pictures of them as they go into full bloom.
This is one of the Blue Mouse Ears hostas under the Linden. They will start to show much more color over the next few weeks.
The Blue Mouse Ears are gradually getting more color.
So tonight, as I wrap up the day, I have a good sense of accomplishment, and a lot of thankfulness, even for the challenge to just get going and get stuff done before I really don’t want to do it 😉 It was a great day to play in the garden.
