Daylily Bloom Season Begins

Hello Yellow is one of my seedlings. It has an extended bloom habit, so it began to open late yesterday afternoon. More info on Hello Yellow tomorrow.

Wishing you a wonderful day!

“Making Me Think” Monday – Hit My Threshold

Direct sow daylily seedlings like this are popping up when they refused to germinate in pots – Go figure

Well … I now have all of the daylily seedlings out of the seedling boxes, and most of the daylily seedlings planted. There are some seedlings that are still kind of small, so they are still in pots, under cloches, and awaiting a future planting day. But most of the seedlings are in the ground now. I cannot tell you how glad I am. And how much I got really tired of planting. I learned my threshold. One or two seedling boxes full were fun, even cute. 4 boxes taking up a corner of my relaxation place – reminding me of all the work I still needed to do – no. Just no. Too much.

And simultaneously, my most stubborn seeds this year, the ones that didn’t germinate in pots, the ones I tossed into open spots in the garden – seeds and soil and loosely put rocks over the top, not even covering them with cloches – are germinating. Even, it seems, one I would have given very minor odds – a cross with Hello Yellow. That got my attention big time, because Hello Yellow seed has been hard to make, and has never germinated.

So, everything smooshed all together. I started seeing direct sow seedlings popping up, I saw my Hello Yellow seed germinate, I was wrist deep in mucky mud, seedlings flopping over in holes, and I was running out of my 20 cloches to cover up my newly planted batches of new varieties of seedlings.

I seriously, seriously love to garden. I seriously, seriously love daylilies. I seriously, seriously love propagating dayliles, And I am seriously, seriously, seriously thinking about downsizing the whole practice of germinating daylily seedlings in pots. It might be time. 2027 might be the perfect time.

The townhome gardens are full, full, full now. Like really, really full. So full that I am removing the Autumn Reds in back this fall to make room for new crosses that succeed next spring.
I am doing very few new crosses this year – only four new ones, and two of those are a reverse of a success, just for giggles.
I am doing one replication, in case I ever want to register it, and
I am retrying four failures, just in case they would finally work.
Any other daylily seed harvest will be self-seed.

My previous fails at direct sow germination of daylily seeds did not include stratification or planting them with good soil. This year’s successes included those practices. By accident, admittedly, but worth considering. And the new and replication crosses would hit my enjoyment threshold for germinating in pots (5). Anything after that could be direct sow.

So, I am thinking, seriously thinking. Life in daylily planting-ville was a lot this year. My threshold is now very known. Using wisdom 😉

And what of the extra planters? Well, someone I know and love is trying his hand at growing hot peppers again, and enjoying it, so far. He really likes to cook, and he likes hot sauces. We have some canning jars from when I thought they were adorable and could be made into little candle holders lol (never did). Homemade hot sauce? It could be a project. For him. I don’t eat that stuff. No siree. And maybe just one planter full of peppers to start 😉

Fantastic Find Friday

The forecast today was for rain on and off throughout the day, so I planned a stay-at-home day. On days like that I can get some planting and weeding done and if it starts to rain, I can take a break in the house.

As I was scoping out optional planting space, I was thinking about planting over a space where I had put daylily seeds that hadn’t germinated in seedling pots. Well, above is what I found. A very nice surprise!

Later, hands full of slushy mud, moving rock carefully back in place so I didn’t crush the baby daylily seedlings, I thought to myself that perhaps the way to go is direct seed after all. It hasn’t been successful here in the past, but maybe I should consider it again for next year.

Thankful Thursday – Day to Rest – Down to One (Partially Full) Seedling Box – Rain Has Been Wonderful – Lots of Visiting

Happy Thankful Thursday!

This morning I was reminded that our bodies don’t always do what our minds have planned. It was a day to rest.

I am thankful for that opportunity, to be able to take time to 0rejuvenate, and to know what to do to rejuvenate, body, mind, and Spirit.

In the early afternoon there was a little gardening capacity back in my tank, so I got the seedlings I want to plant next out of the seedling boxes and into their locations. They are now sitting with cloches on, ready to be planted. And now we are down to just one, partially full seedling box. I am thankful for that as well.

And I am thankful for the room I need to get everything planted. That was a bit of a concern.

I am also thankful for the beautiful blooms of the Asian lilies right now, and the way the daylily scapes are starting to show bloom buds. The promise of more color ahead.

I am thankful for the simplicity direction I am continuously hearing from God regarding this year’s gardens, and that things don’t have to go at warp speed. I can take time, enjoy the journey, and then enjoy the results.

I am also thankful for the very nice rains we have been having. The plants love it.

But most of all I am thankful for the visiting we are getting. Time with family, near and far, and time with friends to relax on the patio and just enjoy long summer days.

Blessings to you!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

What’s Up Wednesday – Asian Lilies Blooming All Over the Gardens – Daylily Seedlings Going Into the Ground – Daylily and Hosta Scapes Coming Up All Over – Historic Cemetery

Happy Wednesday!

As we move into official summer, the look of the gardens is starting to change. The Weigelia has shed its blooms, save a bit of remaining color, and the Asian lilies are now in full swing.

We will have a couple more weeks of Asian lily bloom and then daylily season will be upon us.

But before we get there, last year’s daylily blooms that made seed and went to seedling are starting to join our gardens. A lot of seedlings. They are getting tucked in between existing daylilies until they reach the bloom (daylily) status.

For a while I was wondering how much we would really end up with for seedlings. This year’s seedlings took longer to germinate than I am used to here. But in the end, the germination ratios proved to be consistent with previous years. This year’s success ratio by new cross/variety is now at 82%. The success ratio for self-seed germination by variety (which I track separately) is at 71%. And then both replications of previous year’s crosses were successful, so 100%. All that work over the past year has come to a blessing. Of course, bloom is years out, but they are on the way.

Now on to the 2026 daylily season. Most of the established daylilies are starting to get scapes. It looks like we will have a colorful July and August. And it looks like I will have pod and pollen parents for the few crosses I plan to do this year. Much less than last year. As always, I will also allow self-seed. But mostly I will enjoy the blooms. Maybe even a few new varieties of blooms from 3+ year seedlings.

Speaking of self-seed, I had a Just Plum Happy self-seed germinate yesterday morning, the first time ever for that long time daylily in our gardens. That was such a pleasant surprise. Hopefully it will survive and eventually go to bloom.

As for the hostas, they are also scaping out now, both here in the townhome gardens and at the historic cemetery. The hosta below and the Blue Mouse Ears are already starting to show the start of color.

While I do not propagate hostas, I do divide and transplant them when needed. And here comes story time 🙂

A few years ago I began to move some of the Blue Mouse Ears hostas out of the sun (in what is now “Sandy’s Corner”) and into the shade along the path by the Linden. I also planted some Blue Mouse Ears divisions at the historic cemetery. The divisions did very well in both locations.

This year I need to do more division of the Blue Mouse Ears hostas. I am considering planting those divisions under the Linden where we lost so many hostas last spring. The look will be much different than the large hostas we lost last spring, but I actually think they will be an improvement. Regarding aesthetics, they are very compact, and bloom beautifully for weeks. Regarding maintenance they are a dream. In the fall if I wait until the leaves turn deep yellow, the leaves pull right off.

On to more story time.

At the historic cemetery:

The Asclepias (milkweed) are blooming. Full disclosure, they are not my favorite. I know, gasp, even blasphemous! What kind human, much less a pollinator loving gardener would not want to help out the Monarchs. Well … They get very tall and then start to fall over in a not so wonderful way, and, even though the main reason to have Asclepias is to provide a home for Monarchs to propagate, I have never seen eggs, let alone chrysalis on the Asclepias there. But they are a popular plant amongst the walkers and visitors, and they garner a fair amount of support, so they stay – in moderation. (They are invasive, so I do pull judiciously.)

The Stella De Oros are looking very healthy again this year, and their 2025 self-seed has germinated 20 seedlings so far this spring. Those will eventually get planted right back at the historic cemetery gardens. I was doubtful the seeds would do anything, but now that I see those beautiful seedlings popping up, I am hopeful to see those blooms in the years to come.

The Yarrow is hitting full bloom, and that brings me to the topic of the uniqueness of public gardens, and how the historic cemetery gardens continue to surprise me.

For the Yarrow in the historic cemetery gardens, I am seeing some fairly decent stands of a new color (pink) this year. Wild, white yarrow, which we have at the historic cemetery, blooms true from seed, which I have direct-sown, and it readily spreads as well. Meaning, the Yarrow we have had would not produce pastel pink blooms. I am wondering if we had some pink Yarrow plops (anonymous gifts that got planted).

I used to be a bit thrown by plops, but now they bring a smile. You see, the historic cemetery is a public place, and the fence garden is a public garden. And it is becoming quite loved 🙂 Yes, there are some things like wrapper and beverage tops that show up, but, at the same time, it is my absolute pleasure every time I am there to hear thanks over and over again for the transformation from 4 years ago.

I also know the community contributes as they walk by. We definitely have some consistent phantom weeders 🙂 I have witnessed their work as I arrived, talked with them, and in turn thanked them for all they are doing.

All of that makes my heart incredibly happy.

That being said, back to plops, if a plop fails, I have no problem pulling it and putting it in compost, and if a plop gets invasive it also goes out.

But the vast majority of plops become a loved part of that very public garden, for all to enjoy. In fact, we have a couple daylily plops that went to self-seed last year, which I harvested, and planted to germinate this spring. The seed did germinate, and when those seedlings get big enough to be easily recognizable as daylilies, so they do not get accidentally weeded, they will go right back into the historic cemetery gardens. In addition, one of those daylily plops already has a plethora of scapes again this year, so we all will be treated to its beautiful blooms again soon.

And finally, the plant below (tall stems coming from very green leaves) at the historic cemetery was either a plop or a bird drop. I think it is a Figwort.

Full disclosure, I do not love it. But a few other people do. One sweet walker even carried a bottle of water every afternoon to sustain it when it looked droopy a couple years ago after I moved it.

What do you all think of it?

For now, it stays, but it may go into a new area this fall where the look will be more toward wildflower. Probably right along with the Stella De Oro it is overtaking 😉

I believe that is it for this What’s Up Wednesday.

Blessings on the rest of your week!!

Thankful Thursday – Asian Lily Blooms in the Gardens – Rain and Rest

Today I am especially thankful for the very nice, and very gentle, provision of rain we are getting. I do love to be out in the gardens, enjoying them, pampering them, tending to them, but balance is also important, and gentle rain days are always a two-fold gift for me. They bless the garden, and they bless me with an indoor day.

So today the newly planted hostas at the historic cemetery will get a good gentle rain soak, and, as I have been reminded yesterday, with that “still, small voice”, that the inside of our home needs pampering 12 months of the year, I have been provided an indoor day to encourage me to do that. I could fill up my day with other busyness, but those would be opportunities I would be seeking out, and not what has already been provided for me.

But, before the rain started, I saw even more of the peach Asian lilies are opening. Thank you, Lord, for the lilies!

And in my morning walk about the gardens, I also noticed that Equal Opportunity (one of my daylilies from seed) has its first scape of the season, and Pink Tirzah also has a scape. Thank you, Lord, for those! I have been checking for those. I have done my part, and I was waiting patiently on Him for the next provision (for blooms) and confirmation (for the select crosses I want to do).

I am constantly reminded we are all here for a reason, and in order to fulfill that reason we need to have a deep abiding relationship with our Lord, so we can hear His will. I can do my will all I want. He lets me do that. But my most peaceful outcomes are when I am in His will.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Be Blessed!

What’s Up Wednesday – Asian Lily Blooms Starting – Daylily Seedling Box Countdown – Seedling Germination Successful – Garden Fun and Surprises

Happy Wednesday!

We are now coming into the latter part of the daylily seed germination watch and moving into the bloom season for the Asian lilies.

Two seedling planters remain.

As I sat on the patio this weekend, relaxing in my rocker after reducing seed plantings, I looked over at the two seedling planters and realized that is what I want next year. Enough capacity to be creative, but also a nice limit. 32 of the silicone base medium seedling pots I love to work with fit perfectly in the grey box, and 4-5 medium plant pots fit in the cedar box.

I am thankful for the expanded daylily propagation experience last year. Doing all the crosses in 2025 was a boatload of fun, something I had to try. And I am grateful for the result of that harvest as well. I still have a few stragglers so there may be additions, but I currently have 15 new daylily seedling varieties from last year’s work. Lots of potential to work with in my future daylily crosses – when/if they bloom in the years ahead. That’s good.

My garden thoughts and my garden words and my garden pictures are now shifting into well-worn territory – with a few surprises, but nothing too crazy.

This week the Asian lily bloom season started. The peach ones are consistently first, but this year, the pink ones under the Linden have returned right along with the peach ones. I thought they were in decline in our gardens, but I got a happy surprise this year. They were just rebuilding.

A couple years back, on a very hot September day, I sat with a plethora of Blue Mouse Ears hostas I had divided and needed to transplant. I had an idea. The pink Asian lilies under the Linden had been fading to almost nothing over the previous years. The Linden provided some nice afternoon shade. The Blue Mouse Ears hostas might look nice along the path at that corner! But I was whooped. Like getting dizzy whooped. My husband agreed to help. As we dug the holes for the Blue Mouse Ears divisions, we removed the few pink Asian lily bulbs we found and that was that. It was time to stop. I later transplanted the pink Asian lily bulbs to the historic cemetery, along with some fans from Purple D’Oro daylilies I had also divided at the townhouse. I made a quick little note, went to water them every other day or so, and then pretty much stopped thinking about those plantings.

Last year, 2025, I did notice some Asian lily greens were returning at the historic cemetery and at the townhome some pink Asian lilies did bloom. That was nice. But when I saw the pink Asian lilies at the historic cemetery this week, I was delighted. Even more, I was surprised to see greens from daylily “seedlings” planted with the Asian lilies. Maybe there was hope for seedlings, I thought. But today as I was planting some donated hostas, I found the marker for the Purple D’Oro self-seed seedlings. Those seedlings did not make it. The Purple D’Oro divisions did. It’s all good. I am hoping to see Purple D’Oro daylily blooms at the historic cemetery this summer. Or next 😉

Additional fun in the townhome gardens:

The Malva Zebrina Hollyhocks are growing very nicely, as is the sole seedling of my experiment planting one daylily seed at a time in tiny little pots in 6 pk trays. I am equally happy to report that the wave 2 plantings of seeds from that same cross yielded much better results – see pot next to the cloche on the ground. I am not a professional propagator by any means, but, for me, multiple, same cross seeds, planted in one pot – Golden.

And we continue to get Currant seedlings. This one may not stay. I think I need that space for daylily seedlings.

But this one probably has found a home.

And at the historic cemetery:

The historic cemetery has quite a few Stella De Oros. Last year they hit their stride and then had a lot of self-seed pods. I harvested the seeds on a whim but doubted those seeds would do anything. This spring I dumped those 80 seeds in soil in one big pot, put dirt over them, put a cloche over the top, and made sure they got water. Well … they must be meant to be! They are coming up! More every day! We’ll see what the count looks like in a few weeks. Where I will put them is very much TBD. The fence garden, both sides, are getting nice and full.

And that brings me to another fun thing – we had a nice donation of a variety of hostas for the historic cemetery. Some are already allocated for a new project, but there were a few spaces on the left side of the fence garden where I have repeatedly tried to plant seeds and seedlings, and for whatever reason, they just don’t make it. So today I officially threw in the towel on that idea and used those spaces for some of the donated hostas. Amazingly, even though that garden is in full sun for almost the full day, hostas do well there. I hope the new ones follow that pattern. They look very nice in their new location!

Thankful Thursday

This morning I am thinking about all the things I am thankful for. Deeply thankful. With as much of a “spirit, but in a human body” understanding of exactly how Faithful God is.

Underpinning everything is always my faith, and my trust in the Triune God, and my salvation from eternal separation from God. That only Jesus could provide – and did. No way would I want to do life without that.

And there are so many things – provisions, answered prayers. Not always in the way we wanted, but with faith that He’s got us. In tiny little things as well as monumental. Consider the lilies. Matthew 6: 28-30

In the garden, specifically this week, I am thankful that the sprinklers are fixed. It is novel, and nostalgic to haul out the hose, but so much nicer to walk out in the morning and see the water on the ground, and the gardens.

I am thankful the new plantings are doing well. Those 20+ year old hollyhock seeds that, amazingly, went to seedling are enjoying their new home. I am excited to see what they bring to Sandy’s Corner.

I am thankful the squirrels and bunnies are leaving the shamrocks alone.

I am thankful for the bloom of the beautiful Weigelia, and how that 23-year-old has rebounded.

I am thankful for this time of year, and for time and energy to play in the various gardens, and for the physical and mental challenges the various gardens bring. It keeps me researching and documenting and analyzing … and writing.

And I am thankful for the time to just enjoy the gardens, at the townhome and at the historic cemetery. The birds, bees, butterflies, the very squirrely squirrels, and the human and canine visitors, in person and online. Wonderful!

Blessing to you!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!

Relaxing Morning in the Garden

It was a relaxing morning in the garden. Time to sit in the sun a bit, and then the shade when it started to get warmer. Just taking it all in and then doing a little putzing.

The shamrocks needed to get out to their summer spot under the Linden. Then they got a good watering and some pruning. The sprinklers will water them now until they come back inside in October.

And although we are still in a sea of green for the daylilies, we have our first daylily scape of the year.

First scape of the year – Hello Yellow claims the honor

True to schedule, it is on Hello Yellow. Hello Yellow is one of my seedlings, so that is always extra special. This will be the third year of bloom, but we still have a few weeks to go for that. Here’s a pic from last year.

Unfortunately Hello Yellow does not seem to want to produce viable seed. (Last year’s seed looked ok, but it did not go to seedling this spring.) It is however, very pretty, and a keeper. I will post pictures again this year when it blooms.

And the list for fall moves has begun. This Asian lily (in the middle left) blooms peach. It should begin to bloom in a couple weeks. I noticed, however, that it is tall enough this year to be directly in the sprinkler line. Time to find it a new home, this fall. I think I know the place. It would probably look nice filling out the corner, right by a certain frog on a swing.

And I noticed this morning that we have another new daylily cross that went to seedling. That makes 13 new varieties this year. I’m guessing that is small potatoes for many propagators, but that is the most I have ever had in a spring. It was a lot of work, and I am still in the middle, but I am definitely thankful and very happy.

Rain is coming, starting tomorrow. Between the rain and the June heat things will start to pop color very soon.

The Garden You Hardly Ever See

This year I have posted mostly about Sandy’s Corner, but there is an entirely separate garden I show blooms from, yet hardly ever post the full garden. I like that garden just as much, and it has a history just like Sandy’s Corner, but nowadays it is as much of a working garden as something with pretties in it. That garden has a lot our tried and true, purchased daylilies, a very nice sedum, a very nice hosta, some clematis, some asian lilies, some forget-me-nots, and a corner of daylilies I grew from harvested seed. There is a boatload of history in that garden, tons of fun and funny stories, and, when I look at in real life, I, as a gardener, zoom in on the individual beauty, plant by plant.

But in pictures … yah. Time for a little optimization.

That garden is exactly perfect for daylilies. It gets sun for a long portion of the day. But that area is also a bit … rough. I actually have thought about requesting to put mulch outside the border, between the pine and the pavers, because it has pine tree roots. But meh, I don’t want to replace that mulch each year.

Like Sandy’s Corner, that area has gone through multiple iterations. At one time it was half sedum. One of our previous dogs, a very precocious Irish Terrier mix, REALLY did not like bees, and would lunge at the sedum out front in the fall, breaking off pieces. Well, of course I rooted those pieces, and when they were ready to be planted, I went about it. In those days I was lining and swooping lots of multiples in the landscape, and that’s what I did with all those sedum rootings. They started out itty bitty, grew to just right, and then all of a sudden, they were huge. I kept one in place, donated a few, and relocated the rest into our other garden areas.

That area also had a trial period as a berry bush spot (failed), and for over a decade it had quite a number of tulips followed by hostas. That was in the Hostaville days. Those poor hostas. Way too much sun. And the tulips are just memories.

Eventually that garden rounded the corner to be primarily a daylily garden. As I got more and more into daylilies, and started ordering from the source I currently use, I plopped them in in the fall and waited to see what did well over successive years. I did take some care to place them for size (tall to the back) and bloom time (for appeal), and they were very definitely pretty. So pretty I ended up wanting to use some of those daylilies for crosses. Including some of the ones to the back haha! Playing hopscotch was kind of humorous in those days, but now that I know which ones I use, I want to make those more convenient.

So here we go. Seedling planting first.

The 2025 crosses that went to seed and then went to seedling this spring are doing way better than I remember in previous years, as far as growth, and they are starting to get ready to be planted. This has kind of caught me off guard, as I usually plant seedlings in the late summer/early fall when I do divisions, transplants, and additions. But I have space for seedlings in that garden, and I can start what I have been meaning to do – make “family” plantings. Planting seedlings close to their parents – or at least their pod parent.

The backdrop is already there

Unlike Sandy’s corner, I already have a long-time established backdrop to that garden. Way back when I first started the gardens I put in clematis on trellises. It was a bit of a learning curve there, too, as I put a huge trellis by the AC and learned what AC venting up high does to clematises. (It blows them apart 😥) I donated that huge trellis to a friend, along with blooming cactuses he also thought were cool (and I wanted out), and I went much smaller. Then came the day when we had two things happen at once – we replaced the AC and furnace, and we bought a very small house way up in a little mining town on the north shore (Lake Superior). We thought we would retire up there, and I was building out my gardens. Well, I dug out that beautiful deep pink clematis and pulled out those shorter trellises and brought them up to that little house and planted them there. (They took 😊) But I didn’t get it all, and a little bit remains and blooms each year, even despite a previous lawn maintenance service thinking it was a weed and yanking out what was above ground. Oh yah. The stories! Anyway – that remnant of a clematis comes back each year. Sometimes more than others. This year we only have one bloom on that clematis. It is pictured above. I am hoping that clematis remains, but we shall see.

The other clematises also have a story. When they bloom, I will share those.

And those pots on the path? They are planted daylily seeds harvested from the historic cemetery. The small pot has seedlings harvested from what I call a “plop”. As in donation including planting, with no further information. I don’t know what they are, but they are very pretty in bloom, and they had self-seed, so I harvested it. It worked, but now I have a dilemna – seedlings do very poorly in the historic cemetery gardens so … they are living here for now, until they get big enough to be obviously a daylily. The larger pot is full of Stella De Oro self-seed and … they are not going to seedling. The dirt will eventually be spread out under the pine tree.

Then in the front open space is the failed Schnickel Fritz daylily. Long live Schnickel Fritz. And the small grey planter is my seedling planter with some townhome cross seeds that aren’t germinating yet. Soon they will go up north to give those seeds one final chance to germinate in the wild. Probably not, but you never know.

The wooden seedling box stays. Another story for another day, but the kids made it for me for a milestone birthday, and my husband lovingly made repairs to it this spring.

And that is the garden I hardly ever show as a full garden. Soon to be optimized and then be named. I’m mulling that over. I’m thinking something like Worker Bee – tongue in cheek to honor our Irish Terrier, who did not love bees, took many bites to the mouth to try and remove them, and who could not understand why I would entice more lol.