I have had a few lillies bloom. they are magnificant, especially the unique ones that have been shared with me. Thankyou all my green thumb sisters & brothers. ^_^
Practical Matters for Physically Challenged Gardeners #10
I think of most soft yellow flowers as being an anemic yellow. Those are pretty though. I would go so far as to call the first one elegant looking. .
Welcome back, Vickie. Hope you had a fun birthday. Healthwise, MK has started using a walker sometimes. Her arthritis has flared. She has started taking the same herbs she gives to old Tater-dog for hip dysplasia and seems a little better. She has been eating lots of beets too. She thinks the flare up might be caused by a med she had to take for her skin. It was mildly toxic. Beets are said to detoxify. I’m popping lots of allergy meds, but that is normal for me this time of year. I’m literally a dizzy blond. Allergies cause me problems with my ears which affects my balance. Papa Jim is complaining about his diet and exercise regime, but he is doing it. We are all limping along. How are you doing?
I’ll take you on a tour of Amargia today, Planti. Amargia is nestled into the folds of the coastal sandhills where Alabama, Georgia and Florida meet. We are on the western slope of one of those sandhills amidst a maze of small creeks with the Choctawahatchee River in walking distance to our north. We are a short distance off a county road on a dirt and gravel road. Luckily, we have a neighbor with graders and other heavy equipment to keep the road fairly smooth so it wasn’t too bumpy for you getting here.
I’ll start your tour in my corner of the property just because I am the center of my universe. So, from the SE corner spiraling around the outer border of the property: The SE corner is just called my corner or The Bee Corner. It is mostly wildflowers and bee forage. There are some perennial veggies like asparagus and sunchokes (Jerusalem artichokes) there too.) My Bee Corner also includes the Storm Room, a large partially underground room I am building into the slope. There is a sunken garden that MK hopes to turn into an accessible exercise pool eventually, as well. (I have to tell you what these are since all you see right now is big holes in the ground with reinforced sides. Well, there are plants draping over the edge in the case of the Sunken Garden. There are peach trees dividing the bee corner from the Baby Barn and its small yard. We are slowly setting up the Baby Barn like a micro house for more people space. We don’t keep any animals except for the pets and my bees. On the west side of the barn is a spur off the circular drive that leads to a parking and turn-around area at the edge of the Haunted Grove. (No spooks have been spotted there, but it looks like a good place for them. The Spanish moss hanging on the trees, I guess.) The Grove isn’t officially ours, but we tend it as much as time allows and hope to add it officially to Amargia one day. The Shady wildflower slope makes up our SW corner on paper, but we have overflowed into the Grove that is the southern boundary with the permission of its owner. The center portion of the front boundary, alongside the gravel road, is a Gourd Garden for now. That is where we are battling the seacane (Arundo donax). We really can’t do a lot with it until we eliminate the seacane. Next comes what we call the Snakes and Snails Garden (children’s garden geared to little boys) I hope to extend this more when we get the wild cane under control. Across the entrance drive from the S&S Garden is the other S&S Garden. Sugar & Spice geared more toward little girl taste. The Sugar & Spice area is officially our NW corner, but White Spirit Creek runs along our N. boundary and we have reached down to it in places. The garden rooms along the N. boundary are the Sugar & Spice Garden, Wheelchair Garden, The Standing Garden, The Taku Garden and the Old Soldiers Garden. The w/c and Standing gardens are mostly annual vegetables, but there is a foundation planting of grapes, blueberries, apple trees, pomegranate bushes and a large ‘Brown Turkey’ fig tree here.) My Taku Garden is next along the N. boundary where I grow things for my Japanese and Asian cooking. This is also where most of the timber bamboo is. Papa Jim’s Old Soldiers Garden makes up the NE corner and much of the E. boundary. That brings us back to my Bee Corner.
Inside this outer ring, adjacent to the workhouse which is roughly in the center of the property is Kay’s Kitchen Garden and the Brambleberry Garden (Blackberries, dewberries and raspberries) They are on the east side (back) of the workhouse. MK’s Fragrance Garden is a half circle around the front deck (west side) of the workhouse, but fragrant plants have a way of mysteriously migrating to all the other gardens and all the in-between spaces. The CanDo Container Garden is on the N. end of the workhouse. It has evolved into an herb garden and the place where PJ’s beloved pink flowers live. :-) . Water from the large Jacuzzi tub flows into a crude graywater system. The water from the indoor tub is piped into an irrigation trench. The trench divides the Fragrance Garden from the CanDo Garden. There is a little concrete bridge near the NE corner of the workhouse connecting the Fragrance and CanDo Gardens. If you turn sharply left (west) after you cross the bridge coming out of the Fragrance Garden, you enter an arched tunnel of climbing plants, passiflora this year, but it changes.)) The tunnel takes you between the Fragrance and CanDo Garden to PJ’s little foliage garden. You are now facing the entrance from the inside. A good place to end this tour, I suppose. Come back and see us again sometime. lol.
Snake in the Grass Boo. I like it!
That IS beautiful. The name makes more sense now that I've seen the stamen rearing up from the bright green eye.
Getting these next week:
Sunset Bay
http://thebloomingauction.com/detail.asp?id=27199&n=SUNSET-BAY---DF---L6I---Salter-1998---DAYLILY
http://shawssunshinegardens.com/gallery/s.htm
http://3amigrows.com/Daylilies_for_Sale.html
Wait Until Dark
http://shawssunshinegardens.com/gallery/t-z.htm
http://www.amadorflowerfarm.com/shop/products/WAIT_UNTIL_DARK-1395-0.html
http://thebloomingauction.com/detail.asp?id=184549&n=WAIT-UNTIL-DARK---DF---B8B---Carr-2000---DAYLILY
Should have a crew of four or five coming a week from Saturday to make a start on digging out the new front bed and/or clearing the side yard. (jump up and down, clapping, yippee, yea!!)
Quote the Raven
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8165105
http://www.mydaylilies.com/daylily-gallery/daylily-images-a-z/q/quote-the-raven-ted-petit-1995-8465
http://www.tigerlily.ca/cca/th_quotetheraven_lg.htm
Dracula
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=8165095
http://thebloomingauction.com/detail.asp?id=188789&n=DRACULA---DF---L1B---Carter-M-1995---DAYLILY
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/fp.php?pid=2188496
Whoa! 'Dracula' does look like it belongs in a vampire's garden. ,It's a pity daylilies don't bloom at Halloween. There is something appealing about the contrast of 'Quote the Raven', but then I like dramatic contrast. ~Nadine~
Hi everybody!! Composing like mad... trying to get the house fixed up. In trouble for not writing more articles.
That was a useful as well as enjoyable tour of Armagia, Nadine, thank you. I am saving it.
We--esp. my DH--love daylilies, but they are ALL NOID. We have the edge of our property that borders the street lined with them. Most of them have been there 5-10 years now, and really need to be divided, but that's DH's job, not mine. So they look a little punky. I'll give three new fans with labels to him to plant, and he doesn't remember that he was supposed to keep track of which one is where, and I don't care enough to care. Too many Stella D'Oros. though!
Glad Vickie and Debra found each other -- that was our first official Round-Up, folks! Did you take pictures?
Plus I like Debra's blue plastic -- when I was a single Mom in the olden days when we had an ordinary washer, I used to buy huge (3 gal) tubs of cheap detergent that were blue and then used them for other things but they were square and less beautiful.
Welcome back, Carrie. How was your b'day vacation?
Predictably, Debra, I like 'Sunset Bay'. I still have a thing for autumn colors even if I'm primarily appreciating them through mental visualization, not physical vision. I think I will always be a visual person no matter the state of my eyesight. I still need to "see" a place in my mind to navigate it. (People who lost vision earlier in life or were congenitally blind have a more intuitive way of moving about.) The containers you made certainly sound prettier, but, in a pinch, commercial landscapers are usually happy to get rid of used nursery pots. I like to sow the trees and shrubs I grow from seed in large pots. The nearby nursery will sell me the 3 and 5 gal. size for a token payment of a few cents a pot.
Planti, are you in an area where you could use the Ruth Stout gardening system without having to battle a local home owners association or city ordinances?
Ruth Stout Gardening Method
http://www.motherearthnews.com/Organic-Gardening/2004-02-01/Ruth-Stouts-System.aspx
I think her books are out of print, but you can still find them in libriries. She gardened well into her 90’s!
It has taken some court cases, like the lady who fought city hall to keep her wildflower meadow front yard, but people are beginning to wise up and appreciate the deeper beauty of a healthy, naturally sustainable landscape. K*
I’ve just read that every daylily aficionado is expected to have a Stella D’Oro daylily tucked away somewhere in their garden. (They aren’t supposed to mention it or, if they do, they are supposed to be mildly apologetic about having it since it is “common”. However, a true “daylily person” MUST have it or have had it at one time. lol.)
Debra has turned both Nadine and I into lurkers on the daylily forum. I’ve also noticed more and more daylily related websites turning up in Bookmarks. It is probably time I plant some Stella and openly admit my growing daylily addiction and start actually buying them myself. The stage I’m at is like that stage you go through when you stop smoking. If you’ve ever been a smoker you know it. The stage where you imply you’re not a smoker by saying how long it has been since you bought a pack of cigarettes. You say nothing about how many cigarettes you’ve gotten off your friends. :-) You tell yourself that doesn’t really count. I think it is time I buy a Stella and admit the truth of my condition. I’ll have to work on the mildly apologetic thing since I like Stella. Or, maybe, I should be brazenly defiant of current garden fashion and go so far as to admit we nurture “ditch lilies” here. The orange ones Kay insist on calling “tawny lilies” to separate them from other species daylilies that are called “ditch lilies.” There! I’ve admitted it. If you change your mind and decide you don’t want your artistically named and well-bred daylilies hanging out here, I’ll understand, Debra. I think it is only fair you should know. I like Stella and there are some ruffian daylilies living here. (Jim)
Jim, all the Daylilies invited to share my yard are sublimely unconcerned about, or more, even unaware of class and status. [grin] Stella first introduced me to the glory of massed Daylilies in the afternoon sun. She is always welcome in my garden. :-) Especially as I have one of her children, Black-Eyed Stella. And I like ditch lilies, no matter which ones they are. Know exactly what you mean about quitting cigarettes. Took me a full year to stop "borrowing" from other people and stop finding excuses to go out because "I only smoke now when I drink."
Jim, go look at the name of the first bloom on this thread. :-D
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/1189696
I have a Stella D-ora but i don't know which one it is.I now have 2 yellow ones blooming and a red one and a wine purple one.My fairy flowers are blooming their heads off.Cone flowers are blooming.Zinnas and petunias too.Hydrangias,cukes and tomatoes.I need to start liquid fertilizing everything again.
I have the plain orange daylillys too, both single and double.I would'nt dream of telling them they were common.
Labeled as James Clark. A lot more differentiation in the color than shown on web photos, but enough comparable structure that I think it may be a natural variation. Maybe because it's in a container? I like it, anyway.
Vickie, what color is the peony you gave me?
I like the color of ‘Barefoot Jim’. He must have been walking on red clay so it couldn’t be our Jim. Our Jim won’t even go barefoot in the house. :-)
Thanks for the inspiration, Debra. I was at a loss as to wehre I could find a container that would work in the Children's Garden. There is a laundry detergent that comes in a florescent green container. I’ve cut the top off it to use in the Snakes and Snails Children’s garden. The color theme there is intense tropical colors so it fits right in. Planted it with noID dahlias. I don’t know if the Homestead Purple’ verbena I moved there is going to survive. I’ll start looking for an intense colored, xera replacement. Rain continues to be a scarce commodity. MK has been predicting a more Mediterranean climate here. I can see it this year.
Daylilies and wildflowers are all that is in bloom. Well, also some lilies in the more carefully tended areas near the house. Bless PJ’s interest in unique foliage plants.
A storm shattered the huge, Spanish moss draped oak in the woods. I’d better go learn how to nurture Spanish moss, if I want to keep the ambience. We have some high pedestal planters. I think I’ll put it in those. MK said there was an old DG article about growing Spanish moss. Off to hunt it down. ~Nadine~
Wish I could claim 'Barefoot Jim', but it is true. I am a tenderfoot.
Nadine forgot about the sunflowers. We have lots and lots of sunflowers. The dry, heat doesn't seem to bother them much. I let the GS's plant some old bird seed. Didn't think so many of the seeds would come up. They planted them everywhere!
I'm trying to talk Nadi out of re-establishing the moss. Whether it is true or not, most southerners have a phobia about Spanish moss and chiggers. We can get the same sort of southern gothic feel by planting a weeping willow. People are much more comfortable about willows. There is ground water and it isn't near any water lines so it is a perfect place for willows. Nadine can experiment with growing a little of the moss in the Fragrance Garden. I never even knew that stuff flowered, nonetheless that the flowers were fragrant.
'James Clark' is one that just makes you smile. No wonder you manage to stay so optimistic, Debra, with daylilies like that around. (Jim)
Yep, and if the second fan blooms true in ITS pot, it's on the Amargia September list. Looks like it will open early next week.
Here is the gussied up Awesome Bob Father's Day present. Each different photo had a descriptive word that tied in with the version of the flower. Daddy, Rainy, Happy, Blue, Grandpa, and Grumpy (which was supposed to be Uncaffeinated, but my helper couldn't fit all the lettering). He liked it. :-)
Oh, Debra, that one is expensive. Maybe he will give you a raise. :-)
I don't think we could get rid of the Spanish moss if we wanted to. It will start regrowing on other shrubs and trees when humid conditions return. That stand of it always goes dormant in high summer. High summer has just arrived a little early this year. I like the idea of planting a weeping willow, however. If we had a willow I wouldn't need to buy so much rooting hormone. Willow tea will do the same job just as well.
What I haven't figured out yet is what to do about the old oak's upright remains. There is a limbless 20 feet or so still standing. I think there is a wild beehive inside it. I felt a sort of vibration when I laid my hand on it. Since it is in the woods, I vote for leaving it alone until it crumbles. It will add to the spooky ambience. I know the idea of trying to take it down is certainly spooky to me. lol.
Someday, I will try to breed a delicate, soft, pale pink daylily cultivar from Hemerocallis fulva var. rosea. I'll name it 'Tenderfoot Jim' as a token of my affection. lol. k*
Kay, he already pays me an almost indecent wage for what I do. Most of it is for being his first vent source when he's mad...and he's mad about SOMETHING most of the time. He yells and screams at me about it, calms down a little, THEN goes to the person he got mad at. That, and I am on call virtually every day, all day. Which is where the justification for most of my pay is and why I have a company car and an iPhone. Given my age, my medical conditions, and the job market the way it is, I can tolerate this boss' bad temper with a good deal of equanimity. And still be sincere in showing appreciation to that boss for what I receive in return. :-)
Outline of new bed we are planning to dig out and edge with bricks and pavers next Saturday. Fingers crossed the weather guys are right and it will be cooling down to the low 90s by then.
I love your house. Fingers crossed here too. We missed out yesterday. Our Walmarts has their plants on sale this week.Am considering going back and buying a couple of Blue Spruce trees. Someone in Ozone has a big one.
I'm getting a dog from down Georgia way. A stray, a DG member picked up. He looks somewhat like my Dillen. My heart went out to him.What can i say! They'll drop him by around the 3rd of July.
Be careful of the heat Debra. I can see you sitting back and giving your boss a cheerful smile when he's finished with his tirade.
I did a little with my plants yesterday about 5:30 AM. Was nice and cool but that did'nt last long. I have a red Daylilly blooming now.
One of the Daylilies Vickie brought down.
Almost have the new bed plotted out. Going to be ordering these as complements to the others, when I can afford them and/or they get deeper sale prices. :-)
============================================
These three first:
Gray Witch
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/116508/
Look See
http://thebloomingauction.com/detail.asp?id=55430&n=LOOK-SEE---DF---L7I---Santa-Lucia-2004---DAYLILY--
Lily Munster (With this name? I HAVE to have it!)
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/276754/
========================================================
These are more expensive and will be stretched out:
Chili Spice
http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/showimage/157650/
Miss Piggy's Hot Pink (yes, Jim, its pink. But Miss Piggy is one of my idols. She is superb aat channeling Mae West, my first idol. How can i pass her by?)
http://sterrettgardens.com/galleries/daylilies/mo.htm
=============================================
Gorgeous, if REALLY expensive.
When Pigs Fly
http://www.blueridgedaylilies.com/website/2009/whenpigsfly.html
Second Fiddle
http://thebloomingauction.com/detail.asp?id=186252&n=SECOND-FIDDLE---SF---B5C---Hensley-D-2010---DAYLILY
Another of Vickie's daylily gifts. Think I will put this one on west side of house with the soft yellow Iris and Lilies.
Member of a different forum is getting me wholesale soil, so those 20+ bags of dirt to fill the new bed won't cost NEAR as much as I was thinking. Yea!
Have a dozen plants to go in, but heat advisory today with actual temperature supposed to be 102-104, might try the early morning Sunday again. :/
Some sanity returned home to roost this morning. Soooooo, will get Miss Piggy next week. Will keep When Pigs Fly, Second Fiddle, and Thin Man on watch list.
http://www.edaylilies.com/ThinMan.jpg
Will NOT get any of the others on the last post...[heavy-panting-as-if-been-running-a-six-minute-mile breathing]...not, at least, until the sale price drops to 60% or more off...then I will...NO, NO, I mustn't!!...must...stay...away... ROFL
I have a Lily that peach color with ruffled edges...love it! The yellow center on yours is beautiful.
thank you sheri. vickie was generous with her floral gifts.:-)
hey, vickie, do you have a name for this one?
Debra, I remember the name of the white one.Dads Best White.It's the only white one i have. You know you won't be able to resist when they go on sale.Why fight it? LOL I'm just curious to know if you'll buy land next door when you run out of room at your house.Shall we make penny bets on when Debra will run out of room?LOL
Vickie, you may be right. But the impulse to buybuybuy feels more like ashes to be blown away on the wind this morning. More sanity. My habit is to go over and over the ones on the watch list and check other resources and compare and stew. The ones that still jump up and say "Here I am!" are the ones I get. Doing that again today, most of the immediately affordable ones have lost immediate appeal. Thankfully! Because Russell has to have the growth taken off his eye Wednesday and Zuzu has to be spayed the week after. This time, she is having abdominal pain with estrus and I have to get it taken care of soon. Plus new prescriptions--expensive ones--and Daylily money is far down the calendar. :-) Maybe I will get lucky and the seller will accidentally put in one or two of the lesser ones from my watch list in this last shipment as the gift/bonuses (Brown Witch).
And as I was typing that last sentence, brilliant idea lit up the air over my head. I stopped writing here and wrote the seller. If he chooses to send any bonuses with this lot, asked him for a specific one that I am still liking a lot. Worst that can happen is he will say no, right? :-)
Going to try motivating myself to get out for a little while mid afternoon. New perennials came from the Santa Rosa sale and need either pots or to go in ground. And Sunday is a permissible water day, so should get that going, too, when the areas are shaded.
When all these beauties mature, Debra, your house is going to be absolutely incredible!
Happy Father's Day, Papa Jim!
The odds aren't good on that bet, Vickie. As I recall, Debra's excess flowers are already showing up in the landscape of her workplace. That's a sure sign. It doesn't even seem to matter how much land the afflicted person has. You would think 2+ acres would be more than enough for a physically challenged gardener, but Kay has us overflowing both the north and south boundaries. I'm telling you, there needs to be a diagnostic code for this condition. lol. (Jim)
Nadine, love that flower!
Jim, indeed, there does. LOL
Watered a little today. Have a 30% chance of rain Tuesday. Calling on the spirits of my Blackfeet Lakota ancestors for help in making that happen. Planted an Agastache Purple Haze; Echinacea Harvest Moon, Raspberry Truffle, and PowWow White; a Coreopsis Redshift; a Lavender Otto Quast; a Salvia Caradonna, and two Rudbeckia Cherry Brandy. Realized missing a Coreopsis Pinwheel from the shipment, will see what they do. Two Conca d'or Lilies opened today. Casa Blancas are right behind. Edged the front bed with plastic fake-stone borders leftover from the bed at the office. Don't care for using plastic, but the other side of the yard has some similar edging that was left here by previous owners. They're okay to neaten up the look of the yard for now.
This message was edited Jun 22, 2011 2:42 PM
I think the flower Nadi gave Jim is a Cosmos bipinnatus 'Versailles Tetra-red'.. It is probably darker than you are accustomed to seeing because it is in partial shade. They fade to a pink quickly in full sun. :-) We keep one in the shade just for him. Jim submitted a pic to PF in his continueing battle against pink.
The blue flax is blooming so that should make him happy. lol. k*
Darker Shade from this morning.
Darker Shade from late afternoon.
Jim, the second fan of the daylily labeled James Clark bloomed the same as the original. I really like it, but it doesn't look like the pictures. :-) What do you think of it?
I LIKE it, Debra. Looking at 'Darker Shade', Nadine said she imagined some hippie flower fairies who were into tie dye creating it. :-) Strange kid.
I can't rightfully call her a kid anymore. For children who stay in school, 24 is official adulthood. I will continue to call her a kid anyway, but Happy 24th, Nadine.
Nadine is a good egg. The below is a Wonder Egg plant. (Jim)
Hello, I am still alive, just on one of my composing jags. This stuff is modern music nobody but me will like, too. Jim, I have tons of yellow Stellas! Want some??? And Firefly is blooming .... do you still want that? I may disappear again as I need to write an article about buying flowers from eBay. Interested to hear your experiences to include (anonymously).
My ancestor spirits might have taken pity on my poor plants. After nearly a month with nothing, we had heavy rains last two nights in a row, and the storms' winds and hail did NOT savage my house, car, yard and trees like in other areas around me. I will be offering up thanks for some time. Supposed to have five people here from 12:00-3:00 Saturday afternoon digging up the new flower bed. Digging out clay will be easier with still damp ground. New forecast is for 100 degrees again. Wish I could talk them all into 6:00am-9:00am when it will be cooler, but that is a forlorn hope. LOL If even three show up, they should be able to get the grass dug up, the new soil spread, and the paver/brick border in place in those three hours. Spent $300 at vet's today for dog surgery, so it will be piece meal paving. Think I have enough various bricks, pavers, and stepping stone stuff to make most, if not the full circuit. Then, I can plant and mulch over the rest of the weekend. At least three of the daylily containers do not have drainage holes (because they are actually trash cans and a storage bin). Those 'uns HAVE to be planted pretty soon no matter what. I am excited!
Debra, did you buy anything from frisbeefarms? What a jerk! I have never left so much seriously bad feedback. On the other hand Mitch is a Mensch! I am going to write an article on buying plants on eBay. Any tips?