Tag: Garden

Fall at the door

The daylilies at the townhome are almost all wrapped up. Fall is at the door. With the garden refresh pushed out to next year, it was time to come up with a plan to address the gardening challenges.

Here is a recap of the weekend.

Friday:

Two priorities were top of mind for me:

  1. Moving daylilies that need better sun and/or need dividing, and
  2. Finding a small spot for a seedling bed in a safe place. Well integrated, probably at the back of a cascade, away from frequent lawn maintenance activity.

Saturday:

The three red daylilies, at the back of one garden area, that needed more sun, swapped places with the seedlings, at the front of another garden area, that kept getting stepped on, “weeded”, and blown apart.

We did our own labor for this gardening project. My husband, bless him, did the digging out part for the mature, deeply embedded lilies, and I did the pulling, dividing, moving, replanting part.

I set the garden up for a look I have always wanted out front – red daylilies next to and complemented by the white/cream in the Marque Moons, and in the spring preceded by the BlueBells clematis. The red daylilies we moved are mature, and, even divided, they are still hardy. They are also super recognizable as a plant, not needing to be plucked 😉 Fingers crossed.

Then (angels sing) the seedling bed. It is safely tucked behind the mature garden of daylilies, Blue Mouse Ears, and other “blue” hostas. Noone but us sees the seedling bed, unless they are right up to the house. Noone has to worry about accidentally stepping in the seedling bed. It is not anywhere close to where grass clippings would land and need to be blown. In the fall when shrubs need trimming and leaves need blowing, it will be ready to be cut back. In the spring, for leaf blowing, the lilies will still be in the ground. I am so hoping this works.

There is also a new configuration of another front area. 3 red daylily divisions now fill the space I emptied out last fall. To me, right now, it is not very exciting. It feels like landscaping. But it could be snazzed up a bit to cover up all that rock – maybe a few Blue Mouse Ears divisions. We’ll see. That will have to be another Friday night planning session.

Their fair share, continued

When you “contract” with the baby bunnies to start doing garden cleanup.

“Will work for food”

They are “trimming” the stalks left from the Asian lilies. The Asian lilies finished blooming a month ago. I deadhead (most) and leave the stems to build strength for next year and then die back. Hopefully the bunnies didn’t get at them too soon. Time will tell.

Crosses Update bonus

VERY busy day today, that started with rain in the garden this morning until noon, but …

It looks like the last two crosses from Marque Moon to Persian Market took. The doubles. Now whether it was the crosses or if the pollinators made it there first, I cannot say. But it is promising. If it holds. I have already seen a pod fall off that lily 😦 So fingers crossed. 2 for 30 something attempts.

What do the Marque Moon and the Persian Market have in common? The both have sparkles you can see in the sun.

Note, the Marque Moons are representative. I don’t remember/can’t tell which ones I took pollen from that day. But these were from that day.

If they hold, it will be extra special because this is the daylily where I stood and watched the landscape guy blow on the buds until the most mature one flew off.

Fingers crossed.

crosses update

Of the early deliberate crosses we did with daylilies over the past few weeks, all but one failed. That cross is questionable in my mind because I cannot for certain tell if the seed pod is on the bloom I crossed.

I was also thinking another cross was successful, but then I looked at the pictures and realized the seed pod that appeared is next to the one I crossed.

Next year we need a much better method.

I did another cross, just for fun. But that one did not take either. I did enjoy the bloom tremendously. And that daylily – South Seas – has two pollinator created seed pods already.

Then I gave in and did two more crosses – from Marque Moon to Pink China Doll, and two separate days of one each – from Marque Moon to Purple D’Oro (which I didn’t even want as a combo, but hey! Who knows! Maybe!) Of those four, three are tbd. And I also did two more crosses – from Marque Moon to Persian Market. Those two are still tbd. If they all fail, I will figure Marque Moon is not a good candidate because I surely tried!

On the pollinator crosses side, there are a lot of seed pods this year. A lot! Like “plant them up north en masse next spring if even half of them are viable and germinate” a lot! They clearly did way better than us. Maybe my roll is simply to be a pollinator encourager! I do enjoy watching them move from bloom to bloom. Very peaceful!

Here is just one plant with pods.

I might need another seed starting planter. And next spring WAY better dirt.

Another beautiful set of blooms

I am growing quite fond of taking all the pictures and then sitting out with no way to take any more pictures – just walking the garden, enjoying the blooms, and then sitting and relaxing on the patio and looking some more. It is a good discipline – to enjoy the moments, to take it all in, and consider the wonderful gifts.