4th of July always seems to me the beginning of the daylily season. It could be because the large garden full of daylilies we walk past on the way to the annual 4th of July parade are flowering. Or, because of the daylily garden open house listings in the July issue of the local garden magazine. All I know is that the daylilies are now blooming and the summer gardens are beautiful.
Recently, while no one was looking at work, I took a long lunch and visited a private garden that was open for the holiday weekend. Located on the outskirts of town, this garden boasts of having 800 varieties of daylilies. At the entrance of the property is a sign that reads Thin Wallet Ranch. Winding down the gravel driveway, visitors pass several groupings of mature Staghorn Sumac. Then, after going past dozens of mature shade trees, the property opens up revealing the house and gardens.
There are daylilies everywhere! The homeowner is a member of a local daylily club and is truly passionate about the plants. Around the house and swimming pool are her newest favorites. Throughout the property, each grouping is labeled with the variety and flower colors. The description of the colors is helpful for the ones that aren't blooming yet or have finished flowering. Daylilies are often described as falling into one of six flowering categories: Early, Early-Mid, Mid, Mid-Late, Late, Rebloomer.
The homeowner has daylilies planted in locations with the light ranging from full sun to part shade. As expected, the plants in the sunny locations have the most flowers.
Daylilies that fall from favor are transplanted to areas farther from the house. I didn't venture down the valley to see the garden farthest from the house because large turkeys were in that area. Recently at the nursery a small hawk protecting its nest attacked me and I'm still a little afraid of winged creatures with sharp beaks!
These are a few of my favorites at the Thin Wallet Ranch:
- Ruby Spider deep red flowers with yellow throat.
- Party Queen ruffled apricot flowers.
- La Fence pale orange rose flowers with bright yellow center.
- Ed Brown pale peach flowers with gold edge.
- Sultan's Ruby upward curving red flowers with yellow center.
- Bountiful Candy pale peach flowers with raspberry eye.
- Matt sulpher yellow flowers
- Primal Scream loud orange spider petal flowers with ruffled edges and yellow center.
- Twiggy orange thin spider petals with wine centers.
- Wind Frills pale purple ruffled flowers with yellow centers.
Are you in the mood to visit a daylily garden but don't know where to find one? Visit American Hemerocallis Society Display Gardens for a list of gardens in the United States and Canada.
Daylilies have a wide range of heat, cold and drought tolerance making them suitable for gardens across the globe. To learn more about varieties of daylilies suitable in your part of the world, click on International Daylily Affiliates.
Click on Plants and Bulbs for more articles by Susan Mertz.
© Susan Mertz, July 2006. All rights reserved.
