Today our last daylily of the 2018 season bloomed.
I was fortunate that none bloomed while we were up north. Yesterday none bloomed either. But the inevitable day came today. I wished it was Saturday so I could have enjoyed it all day, but alas, it was a work day. Still, it was a gorgeous night – just on the edge of brisk. We grilled out, watched the birds, including a hummingbird who absolutely loves our hostas that are blooming (more on that tomorrow), had a squirrel stop by, and I took plenty of pictures of our last daylily of the season.
Today the last ‘Just Plum Happy’ daylily bud of the season bloomed. We are going to miss them. They are so cheerful!
All that’s left now of the daylilies are a few ‘Purple D’Oro’ buds and about a dozen ‘Marque Moon’ buds.
There’s been just a tinge of “fall’s coming” in the air the past few mornings. The air here was hazy for a few days due to the Canadian wildfires, but has now cleared. Our thoughts are with all who have been affected.
I cherish and protect my Saturday mornings in the garden. The work week may be hectic and even stressful, but come Saturday morning, it’s garden time. I may go to the farmer’s market, and/or go for a walk, but I need Saturday mornings as down time. And today is Saturday!
I have come to like a tidy look. It’s not everyone’s preference, but for a modestly sized garden like ours I can keep up with trimming daylily stems and hosta scapes. This morning there was a bunch of that. And then there’s the inevitable weeds and tree sprouts. “Pampering the Garden” is a lot of fun, but the best part is when it’s done. There’s nothing like sitting in a peaceful garden.
Soon I also need to decide whether to harvest the hosta seeds from the Aureomarginatas.
I’m leaning toward no, and just trimming them. Despite losing 5 hostas this spring, I don’t have much space to spare. It was a bit crowded in the back and side gardens last year.
We’ll see. Maybe give it another week to decide. I’m definitely trimming the other hostas as soon as they are done blooming 🙂
Do any of you have experience with harvesting and growing hosta seeds? How did they turn out?
Our ‘Marque Moon’ daylilies had three sets of what I call “twins” the other day, four sets yesterday, and more again today. It’s by no means a technical term, but when there are two blooms on the same day on the same scape, I call them “twins”. Just a little extra fun.
I bought the ‘Marque Moon’ fans on clearance (online) through Wayside, I think about five years ago. I didn’t expect much. I just put them in the ground and waited to see what would happen. I was not disappointed! They just get better each year!
Today the last ‘Hush Little Baby’ bud bloomed, and the last ‘Purple D’ Oro’ daylily on one of the 3 plants bloomed today as well.
It happens every year. I’m not surprised. But once again, I’m not quite ready. The daylilies are winding down. I already miss their profusion of color, even on the same bloom.
This time of year, especially, I have to remind myself to stay in the moment. The lilies are still blooming. They are not done yet. Then there will be the gorgeous ‘Rainforest Sunrise’ hosta scapes, and the sedum’s slow progression of color, and if we’re lucky and get a long fall, the hosta leaves will even put on a color show. But for today, lilies. Gorgeous lilies.
My father (unknowingly at first) got me going on hostas. I was at their house, doing “garden stuff” and he decided that he wanted to remove the over-crowded orange daylilies from the side of the house. We dug them out, gave them to the neighbor (who made a wonderful experience planting them with their young daughter) and we were cleaning up when I saw a few tiny hosta bulbs. I admit, my huband had just declined free hosta plants, but I couldn’t resist. I thought I could just do an “experiment”. You know, just see if they grew in our garden. So I tossed them in one of the plant pots my Dad was giving me. And I brought them home. And I planted them. The next spring – Lo and behold! – hosta plants came up. 😍
My husband was skeptical. No, more accurately, he was a tad concerned. You see, at our house in which we raised our children, I was known to create a new garden area at will … sometimes against his wishes … while he was out with our children … buying my Mother’s Day gift. So he was rightly concerned. We now, by intention, had a very manageable (town)home and yard and garden. But the garden was growing.
The spring after we moved into our current home, I petitioned the association to be able to “improve the property” by putting in some bulbs. We got approval. I proceeded to do that abundantly. A few years went by, and I, with the agreement of my husband, petitioned the association to expand our garden. My petition was approved and we proceeded. (We used the contractor who was familiar with our sprinklers … so no problems there.) The next year, the lawn service was chewing up the trunk of our Linden when they weed whipped, and making ruts in the lawn around it with the mower. I, with the agreement of my husband, petitioned the association to expand the garden again, to go around the tree and farther out into the yard. We got an immediate approval, and during the work, the association president came over and said it looked very nice. And my husband said … “Now you are done expanding.” Why? Well, not all those gardens that I created at the house we raised our children in were well maintained. I loved them. I had every intention of keeping things under control. But we had children, and activities, and dogs, and jobs, and …. They got away from me.
So back to Dad’s hostas. They flourished, and I fell in love. Soon I was adding carefully to our garden, ones that had meaning, ones that were meant to be smaller (I have an entire “ring” of ‘Blue Mouse Ears’ – I love love love them!) I found out about the Hosta of the Year and bought some of those. (Oops! some are quite big!) My Dad met a Hosta Masta (Master) and bought me a couple from his annual sale. The next year we toured his garden and I was in awe! It was incredible!!! And he had very tastefully integrated daylilies in with his hostas. So … I started an “experiment” of my own … We already had a few daylilies up close to the house, but what if I added some throughout the garden. And that is where I still am still today. To keep things simple and under control, we have hostas and daylilies and asian lilies, and sedum (but that is a blog for another day).
That is the story of how Dad’s few little hosta bulbs greatly influenced the garden I have today.
My husband is now the association president (not kidding!). He will not approve any further expansions. So I give divisions to my friends and family and neighbors. It’s all good!
There is so much going on at once right now in the garden. The last cream daylily bloomed today.
“Twins” are abounding. (More about that and pics in days to come). I saw a very young (probably a baby) cardinal in our Linden tonight. Both white squirrels showed up this morning. (I only could catch one in the pic below, through the foggy window this morning.)
The last bloom of the two ‘Just Plum Happy’ daylilies in one area bloomed today. (Still more blooming in another area.) The ‘Patriot’ hostas have finished blooming. Some of the daylilies have started to set seed. (More about that in an upcoming blog, or two.) The Weigelia is reblooming.
But the best part of today was that it was my Mom’s birthday. I took the day off work and we spent the day together – coffee and pastry at Caribou, shopping, a movie, more shopping, and dinner. The movie we saw was Christopher Robin. We both absolutely loved it. It brought back so many memories. And the line we both loved most was “Because sometimes doing nothing leads to the best something.” That’s how a good garden day feels. Just enjoying “being” in the garden, and then you see this, and that, and putter around, and before you know it you are quite content.
Yesterday two of our few remaining red daylilies bloomed. Today our last one bloomed. I bought them about ten years ago, and honestly, they took a while to get established. But now they sit as as a beautiful backdrop for the more showy and the shorter daylilies (and hostas) in that part of the garden. Their show goes on for about a month. At the end of the day, when the sun comes around through that part of the garden, they are magnificent! It is especially wonderful when a number of them bloom all at the same time.
I don’t even know their proper name, but I think it might be ‘Autumn Red’. They remind me of unsung heroes.
Tonight I was going around the garden, and I noticed what looked like grass growing in the rock. So I pulled it out. Oops! Upon closer examination, I think it was a volunteer from the ‘Marque Moon’ daylilies. Cool, but bummer! I couldn’t bear to toss it out, so I planted it again, but in a better spot 😍 We’ll see what happens.
“Twins” are abounding. (More about that and pics in days to come). I saw a very young (probably a baby) cardinal in our Linden tonight. Both white squirrels showed up this morning. (I only could catch one in the pic below, through the foggy window this morning.)
