I have always enjoyed the diversity of form and color as well as the easy care requirements of the plant family Hemerocallis.
The most familiar cultivar is the popular Stella de Oro daylily . No longer in the company of horticulture experts on this genus, my taste in daylily flowers is primarily just simplicity, although I still appreciate the various forms and habits. My personal favorites include ‘Fairytale Pink’, Hemerocallis 'Techny Spider' and Hemerocallis 'Wayside King Royale'
Although the individual flower of most cultivars may last only a day, a few have “extended” blooms which last a few hours longer. They particularly open on the eve of the day in they will be fully open.
I have not been overly impressed with this “preview ability” however it did prolong the time period of “color in the garden”.
I am not especially a fan of “rebloomers’ either. It seems like I sacrificed impact for novelty when I’ve focused on daylilies with this trait.
I confess it has been a while since I was knee deep in daylilies. I cherished and miss the friendships that came with sharing a passion for such forgiving plants. I especially miss my dear, dear friend, neighbor and mentor, Louise Bellagama.
Louise shared her love of God and plants with me with an open and pure heart. We spent weeks together every year for more than ten years, walking her garden and examining/ evaluating each of her seedlings.
Each spring before she started her daily wandering through the rows and rows of plants, she said out loud a prayer of thanksgiving for having another spring.
I will never forget the first time I heard her pray in her garden. She was loud, enthusiastic and so sincere. Her prayer lasted several minutes. As I recall, it lasted long enough for her to peruse through several rows of hosta, long enough for her to caress several of her iris babies pushing blades of fresh green toward the sun and to stoop over, dangerously close to toppling, to examine the many sprinklings of no-name seedlings of daffodils and daylilies.
Her prayer was sort of spontaneous and yet conversational. It came in rather loud spurts with periodic pauses. (She told me later when we discussed our faith and friendship how important she though it was to learn to appreciate every minute as a gift, to wait for answers and know He will always answer in “His time”)
She seemed primarily focused that spring day on thanksgiving, but as I remember, she also included a litany of requests and just a few complaints.
Clearly this had become a comfortable mode of communication for her. She easily transitioned from praise worship to good health requests for family and friends and ended with a short but vigorous bout of complaints about the creation of deer, her current and her anticipated disappointments, she attributed to “those deer”.
After several minutes, I found myself moving closer to hear her voice as it faded in the breeze. As she wandered a fair distance away, I got to where I could only catch a few names and some mumbled words. She finally stopped walking and talking as she reached the far end of the garden, ending at the door of a well used storage shed.
Then rather abruptly, she turned back towards me, as if she just remembered I was there, dried her hands and face on her house coat/ duster/ sweater combo, rallied with a clap of her hands and with an amazing amount of energy, called me to look over the newest additions, introducing me to a roll call of people and plant names, details, tidbits and more as she launched both of us into the new season.
We spent hours that day and for many days each season over the years we shared as” blessed best friends”.
No Regrets….
……Re
The most familiar cultivar is the popular Stella de Oro daylily . No longer in the company of horticulture experts on this genus, my taste in daylily flowers is primarily just simplicity, although I still appreciate the various forms and habits. My personal favorites include ‘Fairytale Pink’, Hemerocallis 'Techny Spider' and Hemerocallis 'Wayside King Royale'
Although the individual flower of most cultivars may last only a day, a few have “extended” blooms which last a few hours longer. They particularly open on the eve of the day in they will be fully open.
I have not been overly impressed with this “preview ability” however it did prolong the time period of “color in the garden”.
I am not especially a fan of “rebloomers’ either. It seems like I sacrificed impact for novelty when I’ve focused on daylilies with this trait.
I confess it has been a while since I was knee deep in daylilies. I cherished and miss the friendships that came with sharing a passion for such forgiving plants. I especially miss my dear, dear friend, neighbor and mentor, Louise Bellagama.
Louise shared her love of God and plants with me with an open and pure heart. We spent weeks together every year for more than ten years, walking her garden and examining/ evaluating each of her seedlings.
Each spring before she started her daily wandering through the rows and rows of plants, she said out loud a prayer of thanksgiving for having another spring.
I will never forget the first time I heard her pray in her garden. She was loud, enthusiastic and so sincere. Her prayer lasted several minutes. As I recall, it lasted long enough for her to peruse through several rows of hosta, long enough for her to caress several of her iris babies pushing blades of fresh green toward the sun and to stoop over, dangerously close to toppling, to examine the many sprinklings of no-name seedlings of daffodils and daylilies.
Her prayer was sort of spontaneous and yet conversational. It came in rather loud spurts with periodic pauses. (She told me later when we discussed our faith and friendship how important she though it was to learn to appreciate every minute as a gift, to wait for answers and know He will always answer in “His time”)
She seemed primarily focused that spring day on thanksgiving, but as I remember, she also included a litany of requests and just a few complaints.
Clearly this had become a comfortable mode of communication for her. She easily transitioned from praise worship to good health requests for family and friends and ended with a short but vigorous bout of complaints about the creation of deer, her current and her anticipated disappointments, she attributed to “those deer”.
After several minutes, I found myself moving closer to hear her voice as it faded in the breeze. As she wandered a fair distance away, I got to where I could only catch a few names and some mumbled words. She finally stopped walking and talking as she reached the far end of the garden, ending at the door of a well used storage shed.
Then rather abruptly, she turned back towards me, as if she just remembered I was there, dried her hands and face on her house coat/ duster/ sweater combo, rallied with a clap of her hands and with an amazing amount of energy, called me to look over the newest additions, introducing me to a roll call of people and plant names, details, tidbits and more as she launched both of us into the new season.
We spent hours that day and for many days each season over the years we shared as” blessed best friends”.
No Regrets….
……Re
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