Here come the lilies- June 19, 2016

The lilies are here. The lilies are here.
The Asiatic lilies are blooming.
But what is wonderful is that the daylilies are right behind. In fact they have started.

There was a period of time, perhaps 1995-2000 when daylilies were the big thing in my garden. I still had room to expand at that point. That window closed about year 2000. Today I can add something only if I take something out. That's ok. In fact I kind of like it.
But back in the day I was all over the daylilies. I recorded the date of first bloom for each variety. I kept track of the growth by year, recording the number of scapes (flower stalks). I then would add about 20 new varieties each year.

During that time I also did some of my own hybridizing. That sounds so scientific. I put the pollen from one flower on my finger. I then rubbed the pollen on the pistil of the other flower. The pistil is that one long part that sticks out further than the multiple stamen. You can see it in the picture below these comments. Is the word for a single stamen  "staman"?
These two  pictures are my own crosses.

All of my  crosses are from 1995-2005. I never named them. The closest I came was that sometimes there would be Mears Seedling no. 1 or 2 or 3. It sounds like a dog in the Westminster show.
This one cross below probably had a parent called San Ignacio. I will post its pictures unless...I will get to that in a minute.
Enjoy this picture.

Here is another Mears cross. One thing you would try for is the frilly edges.

Neither of these flowers has a name. Are there any suggestions? With something like 40,000 varieties in commerce, most names like Big Red or Fancy Orange are taken.
You really have to get creative-or else be boring. You can't just name them after your cat.

Here is the not so good part. The deer seem to be back. And they like daylilies, just as much as they like tulips. They or she, I don't know which, (I am told they come in a group of 3) stopped in the last week and ate all the scapes from one variety. I just noticed today.
Years ago the city brought in sharpshooters for the deer "problem.". In this day of tight budgets I will not even make the suggestion.
I got some product today from the store that is suppose to keep the deer away.  I was careful not to look at the ingredients. It does say organic. I still will not look at the ingredients.
But what can you do?


Last weekend we visited my mother in Springfield, Missouri. That is about 400 miles south of here. Mostly they grow the same things down there. She grows roses and daylilies. But they have trees we do not have. My mother has this big old magnolia tree in her front yard. It has great big flowers that bloom in June. I blew up the picture so you could sort of make out the wonderful flowers on the tree.

Here is one of the buds, ornamenting the tree. It look just  a candle or some kind of lightbulb. Mostly we visit Springfield in the springtime. For that reason we have missed the flowers on this tree.

Here is a blooming flower. They sort of look like birds from a distance. It reminds me of when we go to the ocean in the fall.  In the early morning the egrets are in the trees.

When the flower on the magnolia  is finished there is this wonderful...well I am not sure what it is. I guess it is a seedpod to be. Eventually the thing on top will get bigger and will have red seeds.

Here is the flower. This one was on my mother's dining room table. It actually closed up at night on the table and opened the next morning. It is a bigger flower than any I can think of. It must be 10-12 inches across. It is certainly bigger than any of my waterlilies or orchid cactus, which are two of the bigger flowers in my garden.

Let us get back to Iowa.

Here are Asiatic lilies. Closeups do create some challenges for the focus on the camera.

I like the way you can get shadows in the pictures, when the sun cooperates.

The Japanese Iris have also started. They are blooming all at one time. They are bigger and flatter than the other iris.
They are doing better this year. I think it is because I really tried to give them room, 6 weeks ago.
As with so many things I should get more. I should give them more attention.

These last two daylilies are little ones. The flowers must not be more than about 3 inches wide. I really like them. This one is called Butterfly Charm.

The daylily developers liked the center being a different color. You can see why.










That's about it. Everything is going to burst out in the next few weeks. It is called high summer for a reason. The two biggest orchid cacti are coming along. The cacti have buds. I am splashing caladium around the garden.
Come by sometime. Maybe you can help weed.
Philip