Straddling the years.....

Still looking at some older daylily photos, from 2012 and 2013, while I'm waiting for the winter snows to melt.  I was just outside, and poked a bit at the mounds; they are in many places hard and compacted.  Without a lot of rain, the biggest of them will be here for weeks yet.  We need rain and/or warmer temps before the yard is completely free of snow.  Meanwhile, I do have some daffodil sprouts in the spot where the snow melts first.  There is still snow there, but it's shrinking around the edges, and it's so nice to see new life!!!  

Meanwhile, back in the past...... daylilies! 

 WHICH WAY JIM, by Shooter, J., '92; Midseason; DOR DIP; Fragrant; 26" x 5.5"
(The color is a fair bit darker than this photo shows.  If I have another, from 2013 maybe, I'll post that too, if the color is truer.)

OUTRAGEOUS, by Stevens, '81; Mid; DOR TET; 22" x 4.5"

DIVA ASSOLUTA, by Morss, '85; Mid;
SEV TET; Very Fragrant; 26" x 6"

DOUBLE BOURBON, by Mc Ewen, '68; Early Mid; 26" x 4.4"
This one won several awards, but not the Stout Silver Medal, and is mentioned in one of my books as "Also recommended" for its color category.

DOUBLE GARDENIA, by Miles, J., '74;
Mid; EV DIP; Double; 30" x 4"
(It doesn't double reliably, as you can see in the photo.  Yet, it's a nice bloom, and for an evergreen, very hardy!)

LONA EATON MILLER, by Kraus, '61; Mid; DOR DIP; 17" (height only given)

Not registered, because it's one of MY babies!  I did a lot of pollinating in 2002, when I was new to having daylilies -- it was a lot of fun, doing that!  But I learned that it takes more to register than I was expecting, and you have to have something worth registering!  So, all the ones I bred in '02 are in one small area (a very shady area!) and are pretty much on their own.  This is one that makes me smile: If I remember, it's a cross between Firestorm, and either Monster or Valley Monster.  (Monster is a parent of Valley Monster.) It's a pretty decent size, though I've never formally measured it.

LAVENDER STARDUST, by Carpenter, J. '91;
Mid Late; DOR DIP; Fragrant; 26" x 5.5"
(As this loaded, before it reduced to this size, I could have sworn I saw diamond dusting on at least one of the petals.  Not unlikely, since the name implies it!  But it's not in the database as information -- that info is  not required at registration, I suppose.)

MAD MAX, by Wilson-Schott, '89; Mid; DOR DIP; UFO; 46" x 7"

JO JANET, by Peck, V., '70;
Mid Late; EV TET; 31" x 6"

JO JANET, again!!!  Do I have an ego, or what?!!

LATE LATE SHOW, by Kennedy, '86;
Very Late; DOR DIP; 28" x 5"

(Yes, I know, it looks a LOT like Jo Janet, but trust me, it's a whole other plant, with a completely different bloom time and other stats.)














The above photos were taken from 7/20/12 to 8/15/12.  There were no further decent photos in my albums after that, except of other plants, other things.  Now, we move on to 2013!!! 

GOLLUM, by Hanson, C., '91; Early Mid; DOR TET; Fragrant; 22" x 6".

PINK LAVENDER APPEAL, by Monette, '76; Mid;
DOR DIP; 16" x 6"

July of 2012

I have found a few more from previous summers, that weren't included in the previous posts about summer, 2014.  I hope you enjoy these too! 

BEDOUIN BRIDE, by Salter, '95; Early Midseason;
SEV TET; 28" x 5"

BLACK CAT, by Wild, '80; Mid; DOR DIP; 28" x 5"

BUBBLY, by Joiner, J., '89; Mid; SEV DIP; Double; 20" x 3"










 Oh, and waiter, to go with my BUBBLY, I'd also like some ......

CAVIAR, by Moldovan, '84; Mid; DOR TET; 26" x 5"

CHICAGO FIRECRACKER, by Marsh, '76;
Mid; SEV TET; 26" x 6"

ISLE OF DREAMS,  by Morss, '89; Early Mid; SEV TET; 20" x 6"
(I wasn't going to upload this, but it loaded into the program by accident -- my carelessness, that is -- and it's such a NICE photo of this one!  I have it on my list as already being posted here, but couldn't resist the temptation to finish, and show it again.  I do like most of Mort Morss's hybrids!  The photo was taken in my gardens; they all are.  The lettering on the pic was put in when I was still trying to identify plants a few years ago.  Back then, I could do that with the photo program I had.  A few photos have text on them, no big deal.)

LADY'S TORCH, by Sellers, '80;
Mid; SEV TET; 24" x 5"

MILK CHOCOLATE, by Carney, '67; Mid Late; DOR DIP; 26" x 5" 
(A yummy alternative to the Bubbly and Caviar, I think!  I have had it in the shade for many years, and it's really a bit darker and browner than this photo shows.) 

SATIN GLASS, by Fay-Hardy, '60;
Mid; DOR DIP; 34" (height only given, but I'd guess the width to be around 4")
Stout Silver Medal winner, 1968

SILOAM LITTLE GIRL, by Henry, P., '76; Mid; DOR DIP; 18" x 4"

TOMMY, by Vaughn, W., '75;
Mid; DOR TET; 24" x 3"
(The yellow in the far, upper background is not Tommy.  I think that is Bill Norris.)













All the photos above were taken on July 13th, 2012.  The next one was taken July 15, 2012.  The ones following it were taken July 16, '12.

ARIANNA, by Simpson, D.; '97; Mid; SEV DIP; Nocturnal; 24" x 5.25"

SIR LANCELOT, by Webster, '87;
Mid; DOR TET; 26" x 6"
(Well, you know I put this in the King Arthur themed garden!)

SIR MODRED, by Webster, '90; Mid; DOR TET; Fragrant; 24" x 6"  (Also in the King Arthur garden, of course!)

The color of this flower is quite a lot darker than this, so if I can find another photo from 2013, say, that is truer to color, I'll repost it.  Since it's from the same breeder as Sir Lancelot, it seemed reasonable to include this pic here.  By the way, I've been thinking of this as "Sir Mordred," for years!  Turns out, it was registered as, "Sir Modred."  Ah well... a daylily by any other name, right?

Going back... back... back....

Well, we're done with the daylily photos from the summer of 2014!  Yet, I know there are several more daylilies that didn't get photographed that year, or the pics were poor, etc.  

So, I'm going to reach back through time (Yes, I'm taking lessons from Dr. Who.) and show you some of the daylilies that got missed.  This next set is from July 12, 2012.  I have a list to help prevent duplicates, though I'm not perfect about that.... but getting better.  

CANYON LANDS, by Stevens, D.,'82;
Midseason; DOR TET; 29" x 5.75"

GALLANT HOUR, by Benz, '90; Early Mid; DOR TET; 28" x 6"

GENTLE DRAGON, by Peck, '75; Early Mid; DOR TET;
29" x 6.5"

LULLABY BABY, by Spalding,W., '75; Early Mid; SEV DIP; Fragrant; 19" x 3.5"

 




OLALLIE DOUBLE, by Darrow, '76; 
 Mid; DOR TET; Double; 20" x 5"

RED VOLUNTEER, by Oakes, '84; Mid; DOR TET; 30" x 7"  (This is one of the best, clear reds you'll ever see in daylilies, unless they're coming up with new ones that are better.  What a red!)

WITCH STITCHERY, by Morss, '86;
EE; SEV TET;  26" x 5.5" 
(I don't have a lot of favorites, but this might qualify as one.  I love that ragged fingering of the eyezone into the petals!)

















More very soon!

And now, for something completely different....

Moving along........



A lot of the next photos in my albums are of other plants, and my pets.  A LOT of the daylilies are not labeled in the albums!  I cannot get close-ups in the blog's image selection program, either (some were taken with their garden labels, but the thumbnail shots just don't show them clearly).

How about a day of critters I've seen in the gardens?  We are just about at the end of last summer's photos, I suspect.  (Although I seem to have quite a lot from previous years, still!) I have gotten some interesting shots of buggies over the last 2-3 years.  Skip this page if that thought "bugs" you.  

Some kind of moth.

                                   A dragonfly with gorgeous, black, lacy wings!

Oddly enough, this is one of my favorite, non-flower, garden shots!  It's of two different kinds of pods, insect or spider on the left, and daylily on the right.
My caption for this is: "I see you hanging around here a lot...."

               
A butterfly,possibly a Monarch.  This was taken in 2012.  I don't recall any Monarchs in my gardens last year!  That is a bad sign.

OK, yes this is a buggy, but....
No, it isn't a buggy.  Exactly. 

It's the cast-off exoskeleton of a cicada!  

It was stuck onto that leaf, HARD, by the way, and I had no idea what this sucka was.  Posted it on Facebook, and an old school chum came to the rescue with the identification.  Apparently, these things are quiet in the soil (?) and come out as adults after several years.  Their adult life span must be pretty short.  I'm not sure what stage this is, if it shed this part for another form.  Looks like a hungry larva?



 
Still with me, after that? 

This strange spider has deelie-bobbers on its head!  And do I count seven legs?  Maybe the front two are put together, praying mantis style?  I'll probably never know....

                        


                             Another odd bug.

Yet another odd buggy!  The camera didn't capture it, but that green was luminescent!  

Hey!  How did he get into this?  
May I present, Mr. Leo Lovemuffin Ray.

Not a bug, but sometimes he bugs me.

And I usually have to chase him OUT of the gardens, when he gets into them!   In general, however, he truly is a Lovemuffin!  

Caterpillar "butt-shot".  At any moment, I expect this one to sit down with a hookah and start quoting Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland!  

  




One of my absolute favorite buggies, a Luna Moth!  Right or wrong, I like to think of these as good luck.  I certainly feel lucky when one of them graces me with its presence for a few hours.  

Bee on elecampane, a very tall plant.  The roots are supposedly medicinal, usable after three years' growth.  I can't recall what the medicinal application is.  But the honeybees like it! 

I get a lot of spiders, and for the most part, I leave them alone, as long as they stay outside of the house!  This li'l guy was just enjoying a sip of the morning dew.  Sometimes I find white ones that look similar, maybe a bit smaller.  Sometimes I find really BIG ones!  Still trying to find my favorite photos of those....

Froggie!  I rescued this fella from the cats, and set him up in his own little apartment (under a flower pot) with a pool! OK, the saucer-bottom of the flower pot, with water in it.  I don't think he liked it, because he abandoned it for the long trek to the pond.  Hope he made it all the way there alright! 

Another Spidey... mostly black.  I have no idea what kind of spider it is.

And HERE is the spider pic I was looking for: Argiope auranticum, sometimes called a "writing spider," because of the squiggly lines in its web.  The web fibers are quite thick, and you'll know if you've walked into one!  I spent the better part of a summer watching many of these ladies going about their work in the gardens.  Had a lot of them that year!  The male is colored and marked similarly, but yet differently, and is smaller, thinner.  Their egg sacs are like puff balls.  I thought I'd have a horrible infestation the following year, as I didn't get to the sacs to destroy them in time, in the spring.  However, the wind must have taken them far enough so they bothered someone else more than they bothered me.  They were quite fascinating -- did you notice the "Death's Head" or weird mask, on her back?  And these ladies  are quite BIG!!!