Blessings to you on this wonderful day of celebration! And God may God continue to Bless America as we walk in faith with Him!
Happy 250th Birthday, America!
Tag: nature
Fantastic Friday Find and Lots of Pics from Today
Blessings to you and, in America, wishing you a fantastic 4th of July celebration – 250th Birthday!
Thankful Thursday – The Beauty of an Early July Morning
The pollinators will be sure to find and enjoy them there, along with some milkwood and yarrow.
A few of them look ready for division this year.
Maybe they will find a home in the new garden. Just not too close to the Stella this time 😉
Happy 250th Birthday, America!
Be Blessed, All!
Weeding (and Trimming) Wednesday. How are the daylilies doing? What about those Blue Mouse Ears Hostas?
Today was Weeding Wednesday. It also ended up being shrub trimming day.
After two days of very warm weather, and very little garden activity, I was tired of just looking out the windows. I wanted to get more than just occasional fresh air. I wanted to get things done. This morning the weather was a tiny bit cooler. I rationalized 1) I had nothing on my schedule that was to be done away from home, so 2) Even though it was going to be warm and humid, I could just poke around – work outside a bit and then cool down inside, and do that as many times as I wanted today. Outside I went. It was time to pull forget-me-nots and trim the bushes.
I love the end of those types of days, where I can just putz, still see a nice difference. It was a warm day, uncomfortable to work for very long, but the gardens look they are spruced up and ready for the daylilies to start blooming.
Last night I also noticed Hello Yellow was starting to bloom again.
Early this morning it was already open.
And it stayed open all day.
It is so fun to have that extended bloom daylily.
I checked it a little before 10pm and it was still open 🙂 The fireflies had been out for quite some time, and Hello Yellow was still blooming. Such a treat!
And one of the two remaining daylilies I was watching for scapes (Tender Love) is starting to get at least one scape. (I am guessing there will be more starting soon.) Tender Love is a key daylily in my planned crosses this year, so I was very happy to see that. (Regrettably, Marque Moon is still holding out on scapes, so the crosses I had planned with it are probably not going to happen this year.)
There is also a daylily (Hush Little Baby) that I planted in fall of 2024 that had greens last year but no scapes. This year it looked like it was going to be a repeat, but later this evening I looked over and did a double take. A scape! I am looking forward to that addition!
On the hosta front, the Blue Mouse Ears are looking great.
I definitely have plans to divide and transplant the remaining couple clumps this fall that are in their old location. With the addition of daylily seedlings along the path, they are overdue for a better spot.
Which leads me to something I have been noticing quite a bit.
When I started building out our gardens here, I had an idea that it would be fun to have them look nice from both outside and from inside. I have really enjoyed that for over two decades. But lately I realized one particular garden is looking especially nice from the inside – Sandy’s Corner. Over the past five years or so I have been reversing the locations of the daylilies and hostas in that garden, way before I named it Sandy’s Corners. It is getting quite full now with daylilies at various stages, and now when I look outside from inside, the daylilies are the backdrop, and the hostas are increasingly back to my earliest configuration, closest to the house. I like it! Not only does it make more sense for sun exposure, but it showcases the hostas that were gradually getting hidden. It has taken time to carefully do the divisions and transplants, but I think that this fall we will be there.
And with that, I will wrap up with one final reality – gardening is very iterative. The littlest things make a difference, it doesn’t have to be fast, and even favorites might not last forever. This week, as we were sitting out on the patio, my husband tested the waters on a subject that could have gone south. Could have. But I had been thinking about the same thing. My approach to replacing some of my oldest, favorite daylilies that are fading. Am I OK with replacing them with new ones I have hybridized from those older daylilies. A couple years ago I tried to add another Marque Moon, and it failed. South Seas is starting to fail. I will be dividing it this fall and transplanting, but if it doesn’t do well I am questioning if I will be OK with not having a South Seas daylily is the garden. Do I work with what is already doing well and let those old favorites go? I am reminded that I didn’t replace all those hostas we lost a couple years ago …
Just something to think about. Gardens are definitely iterative.
July Heat is Here. The Daylily Seedlings are All Now Planted. Space is the Operational Word Going Forward.
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 ;))
Thankful Thursday – Beautiful Days
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.
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.
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.
I hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead!
Be Blessed!
What’s Up Wednesday – Daylily Bloom Season has started – Update on the Direct Sow Seedlings – The Asian Lilies are Continuing to Bloom – Sedum Donuts – Update on the Bird Drop Currant
Happy Summer!
There’s a lot going on in the gardens right now.
Top of mind, the daylily bloom season has started in our townhome gardens.
Hello Yellow was the first daylily to bloom in the gardens this year.
It was such a wonderful few days to see that first cheerful Hello Yellow bloom again!
Hello Yellow is one of my own seedlings, harvested from seed from our daylilies. The seed was from the 2022 harvest, with a 2023 seedling and a 2024 first bloom. This is its third year of bloom.
Hello Yellow is an extended bloom daylily, so it begins to bloom in the late afternoon and blooms all the next day until evening when it starts to wind down. That means that we get to enjoy the full cycle of each bloom for two separate days. It also means that Hello Yellow has been challenging to work with for propagation. Hello Yellow only seems to want to be a pod parent, and it only seems to like Just Plum Happy pollen. Last year I had a successful cross that went to seed, and it looks like it has now gone to seedling. The seed would not germinate in a seedling pot, but one seems to have germinated in the ground. I am cautiously optimistic, but it does look kind of weak. I am watching it, but so far it is hanging in there. As encouragement, I have had seedlings die back but emerge the next year. We will see what happens.
Even though Hello Yellow is one of my seedlings, it is still a bit of a mystery as to parentage. My documentation during that time period was not what it is today. I was just getting started with crosses, had very little research into it, had many other irons in the fire, including rehabbing an old home on the north shore of Minnesota (Lake Superior) four hours away that we thought we would retire to, and I was also still working, full time, and had volunteer stuff going on. Yah. It amazes me that all was happening at once. By the grace of God, we got all of that sorted to what He had in mind for us longer-term, and we are in a much different time now. With many fruits from that time. One of them is the start of my daylily propagation work.
I may never be able to say for certain what Hello Yellow’s parentage is, but I only had five seedling pots going the year I planted those seedlings, and I have a few notes, so I am trying to replicate it with those clues. I have a 3-year seedling with first year scapes that may provide clues this year, and I am very excited about that. The most important thing, though, is how much we enjoy Hello Yellow. Hello Yellow has provided so much beauty and so much educational prompting. I am thankful for Hello Yellow.
On to a requested update –
Our beloved direct sow daylily seedlings are doing well. They are claiming spots in the gardens, and I am checking them daily. What a wonderful development, and a great new avenue to explore! I think there is also some sort off message in “1” this year. I have had multiple occasions where I had one seedling, thought that was it for the new variety, and then capped off those efforts by planting the one seedling with the dirt and seeds that were in the pots, only to find the seed preferred direct sow. I could expound on things like not every child has the same needs, each child makes their own path, sometimes you just need to try something new, patience is a virtue. All of that. And I definitely now have a renewed option that I had previously written off. But bottom line, I am not sure what’s going on with the “1” thing and the direct sow thing this year, but I’m listening, and I’ll follow the breadcrumbs and see where it takes the gardens, and me.
Let’s see. What else? The Asian lilies continue to have one of the best years in a while. This single looked like it was waning last year. Glad to have it back.
The Sundazzle sedum out from are starting to make donuts again this year. It makes me smile. I do love a good (real, yummy) donut. But, I know, the proper thing to do would be to divide the Sundazzle sedum and then transplant. Maybe. We’ll see how busy the fall gets.
Our little bird drop Currant has a lot of green, but no berries yet. It is starting to take up more and more space. We shall see if it stays there long term. I did weed the two others that popped up a few weeks ago. I love the thought – but one is enough, in the case of Currants in the daylily areas.
Wishing you a wonderful rest of the week!
Be Blessed!
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.
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!
Susan's Daily Garden 