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Friday, June 18, 2010

Field of Daylilies

 DSCF6322DSCF6372DSCF6324 DSCF6359 DSCF6537 DSCF6361 DSCF6511 Grenville posted earlier about our day trip to a local daylily farm, Sterrett Gardens, which is almost in our back yard, well maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but here on the eastern shore, everything is “just down the road.” And, it is very close (under 20 miles). This was our first visit. You know how it goes about not getting to places right in your neighborhood. But, it’s not our last visit. We’re going back in August to pick up the daylily varieties we bought today – 10 different colorations of yellow and purple. Now, all we have to do is ready the spot in the front yard. This place is a photographer’s delight – so many colors and varieties.
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As pretty as these blooms are to see, their beauty is so brief. Most bloom at sunrise and wither at sunset – but the good news is that a replacement bloom on the same stem will bloom tomorrow and the next day and so on. Only a few are scented. Some newer varieties have flowers that open in the evening and remain open until the evening of the following day. Many night blooming plants are very fragrant.

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Curious to learn more about this perennial plant, I did some online research and learned that daylily is the common name of the species, hybrids and cultivars of the genus Hemerocallis. This name derives comes from the Greek words hemera for day and kallos for beautiful. Originally native from Europe to China, Korea, and Japan, these large showy flowers are popular worldwide and are among the most hybridized of all garden plants with over 60,000 registered varieties. Hybridizers have extended the plant's color range from the yellow, orange, and pale pink of the species, to vibrant reds, purples, lavenders, greenish tones, near-black, near-white, and more – with one exception – there is not yet a blue daylily.
 DSCF6359 DSCF6465 Our yard has lots of these common orange daylilies. Many consider this Asian native invasive plant. Once established in the yard, you practically have to blast them out or maybe it just seems that way since the tubers make control difficult. The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources classifies it as a noxious weed.
day lily 0610 (2) day lily

6 comments:

The cottage by the Cranelake said...

I´m not the biggest fan of day lilies, but I do have a couple different. The flowerbuds are also used in food, especially in Asia.
Have a great day now!
Christer.

possum said...

Thanks again for taking me along! I am not a big lily fan, but the place is beautiful! Now, if I had some room for a few more things here, I would probably get my $40 worth in Sept... But I think I will wait until I can afford Happy Happy!
Let me know when you are ready for the next "Field" trip!

Lois Evensen said...

Hi,

Day lilies came with our house 31 years ago when we moved in. They are the orange common ones and are quite pretty when I can keep them contained. I have a picture of one that I just took coming on my blog very soon.

The images you have here are just gorgeous. I didn't know they came in so many colors. Thanks for the day lily education. :)

Best,
Lois

Unknown said...

Gorgeous photos, gorgeous flowers. Last year I went to sterretts and 2 hours of oooohh and ahhhhhh and look at this one and the line was too long to purchase so I went back the next day and more oooooh and ahhhhh... well i'm ashamed to say no purchase... another long line, however I do have some of their lilies.. which are magnificant. But I do want to tell you I enjoy your blog! Very much. Diana

Anvilcloud said...

I removed orange daylilies this year but haven't replaced them. I thought of going to see some today but figured next week or so would be better around here as I don't suppose many are in bloom yet. But blast it all, I really wanted a blue one -- really.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Hi Christer, yes the orange daylilies can get quite invasive as we have proof of that in our yard. The ones we're getting will be a welcome change and even if they do spread a bit that will be OK because these are ones we bought!

Possum, glad you enjoyed the field trip and we are planning to visit the other places we talked about - on a cool day would be best. Maybe if you started a collection you could raise enough for part of a Happy Happy, maybe just a Happy?

Hi Lois, It was quite an experience seeing SO many different colors of daylilies other than the volunteer orange daylilies we have in our yard as well. All were contributions from friends. They are quite colorful and require little care, mostly we ignore them. I will look forward to seeing the ones from your yard on your blog soon.

Thanks Diana for stopping by and enjoying our blog. Glad you enjoyed the flowers. It was such fun to photograph so many different varieties and colors. Stop by again anytime!

Anvil, now if you could cultivate a blue daylily you can make a small fortune because compared to the Happy Happy $250 daylily we saw, a blue one would be much more! We haven't removed any of the orange daylilies, but pretty much leave them on their own. They may be an invasive flower, but they are low maintenance as well.

Thanks everyone for stopping by to see the flowers, but of course you could never smell them as most daylilies are unscented.