Day Lillies

We cultivate many different types of flowers for sale and as a hobby and Day Lillies in particular offer so many varieties that we find we really enjoy  their colour and collecting the various types. So this post is just an indulgence since we are in the middle of the Day Lilly bloom.

Some of our Day Lillies are tall (4 foot or so), some grow low to the ground, some are singular colour and others are multi colour.

I tend to prefer the single colour delicate varieties like this yellow one (yes they all actually have names but we arent going there with this post because I am too lazy to look it up!).

Day Lillies arent as fragrant as some flowers (like roses) but they do have a nice scent and the butterflys, bees, and hummingbirds are attracted to them.

You will notice that they have very pronounced stamens and a long pistil which to me makes them even more interesting.

We have some near white cultivars but we are trying to find a pure white and a dark royal blue varietal.

Some types give you a double flowerhead and ruffled petals..

While others are thinner and simpler.

We have many more types and colours but you get the idea. They are easy to grow and propagate through division, they are fairly drought and heat tolerant, and we even like the foliage in mass plantings.

We have several mass planting beds like this one that is just starting to bloom and we are adding more every year. I first became aware of and a fan of Day Lillies when I was stationed in NC back in the early 80s and bought my first house. I remember the mass plantings that were popular back then and vowed someday to have my own....it took over 30 years but now we have them.

Now that is a funny looking Day Lillie isnt it? Actually, I just find these cone flowers to be cool looking. They remind me of a bad mitten birdie and the stamens are very hard like a bristle brush so its fun for kids (and adults) to touch.

And speaking of touch and other sensory pleasures of a garden; we try to plant things that have a pleasing look and attract wild life, we like things that smell nice or have smells that trigger memories, and we encourage people who visit to see, smell and touch things in the garden. This honeysuckle on the back of the well house can be smelled as your walking through the grape arbor and the scent reminds me of my boyhood summers at my grandfathers lake house in Michigan. The Lilacs that bloom in early spring reminds me of my favorite Aunt Isa, and the smell of freshly turned earth in the garden is just pleasing on a visceral level that probably goes back a few generations.

We even have a Prickly Pear cactus that somehow took hold on the farm.

And for Holly, here is one of her frogs. We have frogs everywhere here, they make noise, they are always around and they are very interesting creatures. We have huge bull frogs in the ponds, we have smaller frogs like this guy and we have little tiny tree frogs with suction cup feet. If your in a bad mood go find a frog and watch him for a while....its hard to be angry when you watch a frog.