Tall cream colored daylily bloomed her last of the 2023 season today.

Tender Love bloomed solo yesterday and has some buds remaining.

So, for the life of me, I cannot remember this daylily’s name.

I think it might be Naomi Ruth, but I am not absolutely certain. Naomi Ruth is a diploid. If I cross tall cream colored daylily with Tender Love, and get a seed pod, I will get closer to certainty. Bloom again soon please, Tender Love, before tall cream colored daylily finishes up blooming.

Tall cream colored daylily also threw a lot of pollinator or wind or whatever created seed pods this year, so maybe in 4-5 years, lol, I could see the parentage. Yah … or not. Those pollinator created seeds that do grow seedlings take FOREVER to bloom. I could have great-grandchildren by then. Ok, a bit of exaggeration maybe, but seriously, bloom or become deer food. Oh, that is another post, for another day.

For now, tall cream colored daylily suspected to be Naomi Ruth.

We are down to one daylily bloom per day. After Marque Moon bloomed her last, hanging out a bit with Coral Majority, things really slowed down.

But then there is Tender Love.

Tender Love is a very later bloomer. And one of my new favorites. I would not change one single thing about her. In fact, I would like more. She is perfection. And she is ever so slightly fragrant. She is also a diploid, and she would be wonderful to cross. But I do not have any diploids that are still blooming. Maybe need to fix that.

Saturday the last red daylily bloomed.

The difference sun makes to daylilies. The top two daylilies were last year’s seedlings. The next one is this year’s but broken off by those naughty squirrels digging. The fourth is this year’s and not broken off by the squirrels. The 3rd and 4th were grown in full sun almost all day. Hopefully transplanting them to a little less sunny spot will be ok. If not I will move them.

At the townhouse I have, for the past five years, harvested our unintentional crop of daylily seeds, grown them to seedlings, and planted them in our gardens. I made a seedling bed that then got overshadowed by our new grill and the seedlings are not sending up scapes. They need more sun.

I also finally got my stuff together this season and found an online site that shows ploidy (and parentage). Glory! My nerdy self is going gonzo trying crosses! And I am getting intentionally planned seed pods! Now whether they are successful to bloom, we shall see. But – I need to make room, here.

For years we have done a delicate dance. Hubs loves to have townhome services. I would love a back yard I could convert from a chemical and water needy space to a daylily, hosta, and sedum oasis. But that is not our reality. So, I am working within the container I have now, and continually working to optimize it. Oh wow! Did I just combine minimalist, decluttering, and optimization principals all in one sentence? What has become of me? Is there any hope left? JK 😉

Anyways …

I have daylily seedlings in the ground, daylily seedlings in pots, and daylily seeds being made. And I want to see what they ALL do. Not have the deer eat them up north. Or have them dry up for lack of watering while we are not there. Plus, I want to re-buy the daylilies I bought and then planted at the little house up north we sold last year. Not many. 5 or 6. May as well make it 6.

YIKES!

I’m sure I will figure SOMETHING out. At least a next step. For the need this year. Directionally correct, gradual progress, and all that …

Our gardens are not tiny, but they are small enough that I notice bloom “lasts” for the season. Rain is coming, but thankfully it held off until mid-morning so I could enjoy a couple more “lasts”. Tirzah bloomed her last today, as well as Cedar Waxwing.

I am hoping Tirzah’s baby sister gets to be as tall as she is in the next couple years. She is truly strong enough in her presence to only require one in a space. I cannot find her ploidy, and I have not been successful with crosses. She just may not want kids scattered about!

But she is one of my faves. I will miss her.