What has been the best plant in your garden recently – here it has definitely been the day lilies or hemerocallis. They carried on flowering while we were having our heatwave, they carried on flowering when we had rain nearly every other day, nothing seems to stop them and they bring such a welcome splash of colour to the garden for more than 6 weeks. This first one is H. Moonlight Masquerade.
Most of my daylilies were bought before I knew that one day I would be writing a gardening blog, so unfortunately most names have got lost. I’m not sure of this one’s name, maybe Joan Senior?
A lovely daylily, growing to about 4ft.
A smaller variety, growing to about 2ft tall.
A middle sized variety, this one grows to about 3ft.
Good old reliable H. Stafford. This one increases really well and soon makes a sizeable clump, this is a tall variety.
A medium sized variety growing to about knee height.
Another tall one like Stafford, about 4ft tall. I think this one is Jane Phillips.
A medium sized one in the brightest orange, it certainly shines out from the semi shade where I have it. About 3ft tall.
Quite tall at about 4ft, a really pretty daylily.
Tall like Stafford, 4ft, a lovely flower verging on the blue/purple.
A lovely small variety, only about 1 ft high, this has now formed a large clump, so in the autumn it can be divided into three, good for the front of the border.
Covered in rain drops is H. Pink Damask. This was the first one that I bought many years ago and has been divided and given away so many times. Quite a tall variety and a good “doer”.
I’ll finish with my favourite, very similar to the first one, Moonlight Masquerade, but with a more frilly purple edge. This one is H. Canadian Border Patrol bought to remind me of the family that we have in Canada.
There is still room for more in the garden, areas that need a bit of colour at this time of year, so now it’s on to the ” web ” looking for the sites of Day Lily nurseries. If I am tempted to buy some more, I promise I will keep a note of all their names!
You have a lovely selection there. I just have some orange ones that put on a great show all through July, but the heat got to them in the end! I think I like the dark orange ones best.
Thank you Cathy, If I find something that likes my heavy clay, then I tend to buy other varieties of the same plant, and day lilies are certainly happy here. They seem to be the one plant that has carried on flowering, no matter what the weather was doing, other plants just seemed to stop when the sun was so hot a while ago.
Some beauties there Pauline – I could fall for the pink (10th photo down). I’ve only been growing them for the last four/five years and have been lucky to have been given quite a few by a friend. I’ve mislaid some labels already 🙂 They have done brilliantly this year. I bought some last year from a nursery that sells via Ebay. Will come back later with the name if I can find it.
Thanks Anna, lucky you to be given some, even though you’re like me , losing the labels! I’ve found a nursery , Swallowtail Daylilies,www.hemerocallis-daylily.com which has a wonderful selection, I think I might be tempted!
You have many lovely daylillies. I too have fallen for them and this year they certainly have performed well. I think that next year I can divide some of mine. I am also on the lookout for more lovely specimens.
Thank you Gitte, its nice to have something you can rely on to perform, no matter what the weather is. They really have been marvellous this summer, so I will definitely buy some more.
I agree with you that day lilies are indespensible for color at this time of year and I have decided to invest in some new day lilies. You have a lovely array in your garden Pauline. My favourite is your favourite: Canadian Border Patrol. I like the ruffles and the color along the edges. I have several deep wine lilies and I think it would look great in among them. It is going on my wish list.
They seem to be so reliable don’t they Jennifer, providing a lovely splash of colour during July/August. Canadian Border Patrol is so beautiful isn’t it, I hope you manage to find one, it would certainly look good with your deep wine coloured ones. Looking at websites, I found one here that has a wonderful selection, far too tempting, I will have to cut my list by half, I think!
Nice that your day lilies continue to flower. Mine gave up weeks ago. Who knew years ago we’d be wiring garden blogs now and would want to remember those names? I always enjoy seeing your garden features Pauline! Have a good day. Susie
Susie, if I had thought that I would have been writing about plants, I would have made detailed notes, with all the names recorded!! I think you have far more heat than we do, which is probably why ours are still flowering, but they are coming to an end now, maybe another week but that will be all. Although I see from some websites that some re-bloom, mmm…will have to look into that!
Lovely collection Pauline, I don’t think the one you thought was Joan Senior is that, it seems too lemon. But whatever their names they are all lovely. They do well for me too, not lasting quite as long without rain but still worth their space. I bought mine from http://www.vivaioicampi.it I know one of the guys who runs the nursery is American so speaks English but I can’t see the English version. They are based in Sardenia. You can at least look at all the varieties.
Thanks for the link Christina, I didn’t get very far with it as I don’t speak italian, but the ones I saw were beautiful. The one I thought was Joan Senior is usually much whiter than that, maybe the rain has made it more yellow, I know I have her somewhere!
Pauline – these are beautiful and I know exactly what you mean when you say you want to run out and buy more to fill in the gaps. This is the first year the few here have actually flowered, and they all seem to be ‘hot’ colours, so I would love to extend my collection to include pinks and purples and whites so will be looking up some of the websites suggested. You have had some rain, I see!
Cathy, we are really hoping for rain tonight, everywhere is so dry at the moment. If it doesn’t rain tonight we will be flinging buckets of water on all the shrubs that are stressed again. I too have rather a lot of deep red ones, and Stafford has been divided into 3 clumps, I think it is time to give some away or sell at an open day if I have one next year. It is a long time since I have bought any, so many new varieties have been bred in the mean time to tempt us!
What a colourful selection, I especially like the deep orange one.
The orange one Annie, certainly stands out from everything around it, you can’t miss it! It was one of my first ones , bought many years ago and divided regularly every few years since then so it soon makes a good sized clump.
I’ve checked Pauline and it was Woodcote Nurseries where I bought plants from last year via Ebay. They also sell online but I think the plants are slightly cheaper through Ebay. They were only single crown plants but all were happy and healthy. Not a huge range though. Pollie’s Daylilies in Hampshire seems to have a good selection for sale.
Thank you so much Anna, for getting back to me with the names of the nurseries, so very kind of you. I’ll look them up tomorrow and see what they have, thanks again.
I’ve been onto Pollies Daylilies website and they have a fantastic selection, many thanks, I know I will be tempted!
Hi Pauline, a lovely selection of hems indeed! And now I know for sure that my Stafford is definitely not Stafford. Some of mine are still in flower, one of my favourites is Pardon me. Very nice blog, shall come back for rambles in your garden 🙂
Hi Annette, thanks for stopping by and leaving a message. I still have a few flowers left, but not many now. Stafford is an old variety, I bought it because my parents lived in Stafford at the time!
I bought Joan Senior the year before we got transferred to Barbados, good to know what I will see, one day! Shall have to be on the lookout for Canadian Border Patrol, it is gorgeous, and I like the name of course, lol.
Deborah, Canadian Border Patrol seems to be widely available, over here anyway, hope it is where you are! I’m sure Joan Senior will be growing into a good sized clump while you are away.
Day lilies are such a wonderful late summer surprise. They are so beautiful and nothing seems to stop them. The photos are wonderful.
Thanks Charlie, I agree, daylilies seem to be able to grow anywhere and don’t care about the weather either, cast iron plants!