BAAAAAAAD Janet! (Heeheehee...)

OK, I know... I'm bad.  Yet, not bad at all, in the minds of most daylily lovers!  

I can't garden yet, since the gardens are frozen and covered with snow, sleeping peacefully.   But winter won't stop me from dreaming!  I have ordered quite a few more daylilies, and I'm preparing an order for more!  

I'm trying to collect as many of the Stout Silver Medal award winners as I can -- wouldn't it be great to have them ALL?  But the older cultivars are very difficult to find.  Most venders don't give their garden space to old cultivars, even the SSM winners.  I have found a couple of sites that have a fair number of them, and it's very hard to hold back!  

When the summer of 2014 is over, I should have over half of the SSM's in my collection, plus a fair number of replacements for some of the ones I've lost.  

Yes, much of this is out of frustration that I can't be outside digging holes in my yard.  However, it's still constructive use of my time.  I won't be needing to make all these decisions in the warmer weather, plus I can budget monies appropriately.  

That's my story, an' I'm stickin' to it!  heh heh....

Icy dreams of new plants, and photos of old ones

Ohhhhhh, BAD Janet!  I have gone and bought more daylilies, this time from the Lily Auction!  Heeheehee........  you know I don't feel the least bit guilty!

I got Sir Blackstem, an unusual one that I've wanted since I first read about it.  The upper parts of the scape are just about black, and the sepals are dark brown, so the buds seem nearly black, too.  

Also got Give Me Eight, to replace one I had ten years ago, but lost.  And got Crafted By Hobbits, for my Middle Earth themed garden... and North Wind Dancer, a Stout Silver Medal award winner (2011).  Soon, I'll have a garden just for the SSM winners, though I may never acquire them all.  These won't be sent to me until mid-to-late spring, but I can certainly blog about them, if not brag about 'em!


So ... today I went out to the yard with the camera, because I saw this and thought it lovely:

                                                            
                                                                    ......... and ..........

They are ice-covered garlic chive seeds!  I thought they had a poetic loveliness about them.  Most of the seeds/pods have dropped off, but several have lingered, on their stems.  Quite elegant, in my opinion.
 

Well, all of the late scapes with buds are now collected and residing in a pretty pitcher in the kitchen.    I have no idea if they will bloom, but suspect that the most developed of them will.  The alternative was to play Temperature Roulette with them, and last night was very chilly.  I had a little bit of frost on part of my windshield this morning.  Not complaining, since this is overdue for my area.   Frosts can arrive as early as late September, and by now we've had the killing frost -- some years, even a bit of snow!  I've loved the extended warmth we've had this autumn, but when chill is in the air, gardeners beware! LOL!  

So, for the next few months, I suppose the only photos I'll post will be older ones.  But that should suffice.  

I'm already thinking about where I'll move this and that, these and those, and how I'll clean out this section or that one.... and yes, I'm already browsing the daylily websites and the Lily Auction to get ideas for next year!  Hopeless, maybe.  But not buying!  

The scapes look a bit sparse in their vase/pitcher, and because I'll be trimming them from the bottom periodically, I don't want to shorten them.  So, I won't take a photo. 

Oh, who am I kidding?  I won't take a photo because I'd have to clean the kitchen that would show in the background, ROFL!  ;)

Well, here it is the 20th of October (in New England!!!) and I have daylilies trying to bloom!   Here are pics taken early this afternoon, in my gardens.  They're not fully open, due to the chilly nights, but we usually have a partial if not killing freeze by now.  (Knocking wood that I'm not making one happen tonight...)  

Here are my brave, plucky bloomers:

 JANET BENZ, above ---
and
--- MY COMPLIMENTARY, below .

I have posted about these before, with their data.  Yes, they're not great, but considering everything, they are still a joy to see!  Says something about perseverance, doesn't it? 

Others that have recently bloomed and still have buds, are Little Bob, Happy Returns (of course!) Dance Ballerina Dance, and a No ID mystery red that I suspect could be Rambo.  But I cannot be certain at this time, and might never be.  But it is a handsome red!

I just don't have the heart to remove the buds, even though the little ones surely won't make it to open.  I could still pick the scapes and see what blooms indoors, in a vase.  Yes, I'll likely do that very soon.  I hate to drain the plant of its strength when it needs to put nutrients back into the roots for the winter.

Well, the other two recent purchases have bloomed, and went all out in their gloriousness!  (Is that a real word?)  I now have some nice photos of Janet Benz and Dance Ballerina Dance.  

In doing a bit of research, I have found that DBD has been bred to a huuuuge number of times.  It has 258 registered child and grandchild cultivars!  Amongst these are three that I have already:  Little Isaac, Merlin's Magic, and Sunset Boulevard.  Also, one of its parents is Round Table, which I also have.

I should really investigate the lineage of my daylilies better; I suppose it won't make a lot of difference in breeding, should I ever try to do that seriously, but it might.  Anyway, one bad characteristic of DBD was that it has trouble opening after cool nights.  Apparently, it doesn't pass this trait on to its children, or it wouldn't be used so extensively for breeding.  This photo was taken in early October, after some very cool nights. Tell me it isn't gorgeous just the way it is, after cool Maine nights!  Yes, one is incompletely opened, but looks worse at this angle.  These two blooms were on a fused branch, if that means anything.

                 DANCE BALLERINA DANCE, by Peck, 1976  Midseason, 24" x 6", Tet



The other I have pics of is Janet Benz, and I was very impressed with her as well.   She seems to be extremely photogenic.  As gorgeous as she is, I think her photos came out even better -- could that be possible?   The hardest part is selecting one photo out of three good ones.
Oh, and get this: not only is it a rebloomer with extended bloom, it's nocturnal and VERY fragrant!  The sweet fragrance was another reason I bought this, in addition to her pretty face!
One of her parents is Tetra Barbara Mitchell;  I have the diploid version of Barbara Mitchell, if I'm not mistaken.  Close enough for jazz?

Both of these plants still have buds!  I don't know how long they can hold out in the chill of October, but I can hope for a few more blooms, along with My Complimentary, in bloom today.  I have a few more that are doing rebloom, or at least trying to throw up one last scape.
 
Hey, imagine these two beauties combining their fantastic genetics into a beautiful offspring!  Hmmmmmmm..........

 
                              JANET BENZ, by Benz, 2000, Midseason, 28" x 6", Tet



Oh, and to finish up the season like a REAL daylily addict, I bought three MORE daylilies, at a different local nursery.  Hey, who can pass up a daylily sale, right?  I purchased Alpha Centauri, Marque Moon, and August Frost.  While in the greenhouse making my decisions, I looked up each one I was considering on my iPhone.  I usually have the Tinker's Garden Database as the first site that comes up when I go to the internet on my phone.  There were photos of each plant on the stick labels, but I got more info.  August Frost is a VL bloomer, though it wasn't blooming when I bought it.  I need more Lates and Very Lates!  Alpha Centauri is a Fragrant, and Marque Moon is out of Admiral's Braid, which I have wanted for years, but still don't have.  MM is beautiful, a Mid-Late, and also Fragrant, so it will do nicely, for now.  Also, it has four-way branching and a bud count of 40!   There will be no photos of these three until next year, I'm afraid.  They're bedded down for the winter, and waiting quietly for their blankets of snow.

Now, each morning, I just stroll through the sleeping plant rows, and pull the occasional weed, making plans for next year.  I got so much done this year, but it was NOT enough.  There is so very much more to do to make these gardens look their best.  Great thing about gardeners, especially those with perennials, is that we believe in the future!  We invest in it!

Yesterday, I stopped at a local nursery where, last spring, I had seen a daylily I wanted to add to my collection.  Not a favorite, but it's a Stout Silver Medal winner, from 1998: Strawberry Candy, by Stamile.  Back then, I'd promised myself that if it was still there in the fall or late summer, when I stopped for the sales, I'd get it.  If it was meant to be, it would happen -- if not, then it wouldn't be there.  They had ONE left!  Yaaaaayyyyyyy...  I got seduced by three more lovelies, who were blooming (repeat blooms; none of them is a Late season bloomer) at the time.  Damaged one bloom of Janet Benz (by Benz) on the trip home, so will have to wait until another bud opens.  Missed the photo op on Dance Ballerina Dance (Peck) but got a shot of the buds... look at them all! Wow, for a late rebloom!

I'll get a pic of these when they bloom; it should be warm enough for the rest of this week to coax them to open up.

Strawberry Candy has no scapes nor blooms; that's OK with me.  It can save its strength for next year.  The last is My Complimentary, by Kamensky.  It's more pink than this, but I just took the photo in the late afternoon, and it's shady in that spot, too.  Hence, the color is more blue-shifted.  This too has quite a few buds.

I was surprised to see some others in bud, most notably my old reliable, Happy Returns, happily returning, again and again.  I've a  red NOID (No ID) that decided to come back for an encore, so I'll work on that mystery again.  Today's blossom was a bit ratty, but there are more buds that may have a chance to open if the weather holds.  

In the meantime, I'll share a photo of the little zinnias that are gracing a part of one larger garden.  I thought they'd be tall, but these cute little guys are just as wonderful.  The drabness of dying foliage needs that punch of supreme red!

Have a pleasant Tuesday evening!

So very sorry not to have blogged lately!  My computer has been a naughty little brat, and down much of this summer.  Got a fair bit of gardening done, though!  The less time I spend on the computer, the more I have to spend outdoors!

Here are a few late blooming babies:

DUBLIN ELAINE, Joiner, 1988, Midseason, 32"x 5.5", re.
I don't think this pretty creature has ever bloomed truly midseason for me.  It's always a shade later, but perhaps that's because until this year, it was always in a shady area.  After division, I put some back in its original spot, and the rest into some sunlight.  That would be the ones pictured above.  I have a special purpose for one of these: to commemorate a very dear kitty named Lady Elaine, whose ashes will be resting in my gardens soon.  She was my friend Jean's cat, and I was privileged to know her and be liked by her.  A lovely flower for a lovely kitty. 

PEACH HALO (VT), the Darrow family, not registered, Late, 40"x6".  
I never get a lot from this one, again likely due to the shady area.  It will be moved next year.

OLALLIE MACK, Darrow, 1978, Very Late, 12"x5" 
I have had problems keeping this one alive, in the past.  This planting is up closer to the house, where there is more shelter for all the plants there.  It has been praised as a good VL bloomer in one of my books.  This one went in this spring, so it's just getting settled in.  I'm simply pleased that it has graced my garden with a few blooms at all!

AUGUST FLAME,  Woods, 1967; VL, 38"x5"
I'm getting quite fond of this one, already!  SMACK!!  In-your-eye color, in September!

FLIGHT OF DOWN (VT), the Darrow family, unregistered; Late, 30"x6.5"
This plucky little sweetie bloomed its last bud open for three days!!!  I'm very impressed!  I don't expect this from Flight of Down all the time, of course.  But it's a lovely bloom and it has HEART!

I took many photos with my phone, and still not sure how to upload pics from the phone to the blog.  I may be able to get around it somehow.  Other late bloomers have been Autumn Minaret, Late Late Show, and one that is still blooming (incredible!!!) is Pumpkin Time.  If I can dig up pics of these, I'll post those soon.