2009 Blooms II

vossner - 30-40 hardly counts as an obsession. You need to up your numbers if you want to be like us truely obsessed people :-)) And I don't think that price reflects beauty in daylilies. Older varieties usually cheaper but no less beautiful.

I have about 200 roses and about 400 daylilies by now. I consider myself to have full blown rose crazies and daylily crazies. Last year I also got the bulb lily crazies, planting around 400 bulbs and this spring planted over 400 lily bulbs again.

Oh, and I also caught the Iris crazies this spring.

Steve- I only deadhead whatever daylilies I am going to take pictures of. I look in the viewfinder and see what I am picking up and clean up the ones that will be in the picture. I could never manage to deadhead everything everyday, I would have no time for anything else.

Plus all my lilies are not that diverese. Only got lots of new and different this spring, those being 3-5 the same kind. But I love to plant en masses and have lots of places with a complete section of the same type. Thats what I mostly did last year. Did alittle of it this year too.

NYrita, poor me, I'm small time obsessed. But I'm working on it, lol.

I bet it is 'Bright Brilliant', Steve. 'Long Island' is a beauty too. I can't wait to see yours when it blooms. LOs will be nice for you, it seems like they would stand up well to the heat.

I have some LO seedlings growing. I hope to have some nice colors with them when they grow up.

Heck, there's no time limit. Just keep working on it like the rest of us.

Actually, my rose beds are full and as I feel I have enough roses and enough rose beds, I am not about to make any more rose areas. So, if I want to get something new, then I am going to have to take something else out.

This is soon going to be the way with my daylilies also. New garden beds and garden areas being done after this year are not going to be for daylilies. So if I want to get new daylilies next spring, I will have to remove something. As long as I only get afew, that will not be a problem because I will remove those daylilies that are klunkers in my garden (and I have afew of them).

The lilies are fairely easy as one can fit fairly large numbers of lilies in small spots here and there around the garden. Plus I have many liliy bulbs planted between and around my roses. Actually have the lily bulbs planted around many areas of my daylilies also.

1st LILY of this year - Shimmer - (from Buggy).

Steve - Surprise is wonderful. Did you buy that one from John Scheeper's? Your hosta bed is neat as a pin!

At the peak we had 1,364 of our own hybrids plus many more I purchased and many more from trades so about 2,000 in all. Deadheading took two hours, a bit more at peak bloom. Last year we had free deadheading called deer and our total for the year was 1,000 of them (deadheads, not deer!). We'd carry the buckets back to the compost pile - many buckets each day. Last year I eliminated one garden so it will be less work for the deer this year. I'm also using Repels All and it's working very well.

I do have a lot of all kinds of lilies but I really enjoy seeing people post photos of them.

Ooooh J!!! Isn't she pretty!!! :) That means it will be lily season around here in a few weeks. :) Keep those pictures coming!

What is it with you New Yorkers? You guys have more energy than fifty people (not counting Steve). I have about 2500sf in sun-beds and I'm getting overwhelmed with what I have and it's nothing compared to you guys. I won't get to the hosta beds till mid June and maybe just maybe I'll get them done. Of course it would be easier if we weren't mowing two to three acres of lawn each week. :) LOL So anytime you all want to "vacation" in Iowa, let me know. :) LOL

Diann

Vacation doesn't mean mowing to me, sorry, Diann!

My typical day in the garden (no sitting and sipping tea either!) is between 8 and 12 hours but we have done 13 (but just once) and I am eligible to collect SS so it's not that I'm a "young'un".

pirl, do take some time for yourself to sip that tea and enjoy your gardens. Those sounds like incredibly long days. I bet your space is just beautiful, benefiting from your stewardship. And I always think of you as a young-un ;)

I do take DG breaks! That has to count for something.

We are both working hard now to make for a more relaxing summer. Seems like I say that every year but it's really true this time since I haven't bought half the spring plants I would normally have purchased.

Pirl, I've seen pictures of your gardens and they are beautiful!! I was thinking that I'd mow whilest you weeded? :) LOL Somehow I don't think that's going to happen. :) LOL

Well, I'm still gainfully employed and so I usually work in the gardens after work and so that can be three hours or so a night. And then there are weekends. I'm just trying to get through weeding the beds once and then... :)

I've never visited your state so now you've got me thinking!

I work at night with the lights on and absolutely hate the new light bulbs. They are not even close to being as bright as the older ones. It cuts into my gardening time.

Steve, yes... stamens, however I am surprised you got anything out of my stumbling around! I can know my "_____" perfectly until I start talking, then it just seems to fly away.
When I was a reserve officer we had to know the phonetic alphabet, I could rattle it off all day long until I had to use the radio, then I couldn't remember for the life of me. One time I looked at my partner as I was giving the phonetic version of a license plate and said "What is "_", d---, I just can't remember". When we got back to the office, the dispatcher took me aside and gently said, " Sue, sweetie, unkey your mike the next time so the whole county doesn't listen in"!

I too have to have Surprise, it is striking and it's pollenless from what I can tell!

Now that's funny Sue! It sounds like something I would do; I get so tongue-tied when I'm put on the spot.

NYrita, that's my kind of obsession; I'm working on getting to those numbers. Here's a few lilies in bloom this week.

i used to keep up with all the tags religiously, but after battling the neighbor's dogs for two years I gave up and just try to enjoy the flowers. I don't know why they pull up my tags but at least they leave the plants alone. I;m not sure what they are, if anyone knows please tell me.

I'm pretty sure this one is Tresor, it's almost neon orange and one of my very favorites!

I thought this was Brindisi, but I could be wrong :)

I have no idea :)

Is this Yelloween? I know I planted one in this general area a couple years ago, but I planted over 200 lilies last year, so only the good Lord knows exactly what is what in my yard.

guardians - Much of my stuff is not labeled. My daylilies all are but none of my roses are. Of course, I know what the rose is as soon as it blooms as I know what I planted and the area planted. Last years lily bulbs are not marked and only about half this years are marked.

I figgured I had better put tags on the fancy lilies like the trumpets and hybrids that I planted this spring. The tags are mostly small and I doubt you could see them unless you really looked for them.

Then I have lots and lots of lilies I have planted between the roses. Been buying locally for years. I just planted them and never worried about names or tags. This fall I want to pick up some lily bulbs from Buggycrazy to plant in the newer rose section, which does not have any lilies. But I don't feel like putting tags in there so I don't know what I will do.

The tags are not really important to me, I just like the pretty flowers. But when posting pictures, it is nice if there is a name to go with the picture. Thats one reason I tagged all my daylilies, because I like to post pictures of the blooms on the daylily forum.

Your lilies are very pretty but I am no help with the IDs, sorry.

Oh, and I wanted to add that it took me years to get and plant everything. It was not done all at once.

NYrita - I have done the same thing with the lilies and daylilies. I have an 80' stretch of ugly chain link fence that I have tried to make the best of. I finally finished planting the length of it in daylilies last year, and then last fall decided it might help fill in the blanks to plant lilies between the hems. So far, it's really helping but I think I could use a few (dozen) more. You know, asiatics and LA's for the early season and Orientals for later on. Can't have too many, right? My hubby gets aggravated sometimes because people driving down the road stop and stare when all the lilies are in full bloom. Sometimes he is working in his shop and he wonders what they are looking at . He's really gonna hate it when the dinnerplate dahlias start blooming. LOL!!! I wish summer lasted longer.

Guardians, looks like you picked up many of you lilies at the same parts bin I did LOL ^_^

The last one is not Yelloween; yours is an Asiatic of some kind and Yelloween is an OT that blooms much later. Your peach one looks just like my Swansea and is an LA hybrid. The pink one almost certainly is Brindisi and looks just like mine, pictured higher up in the thread - also an LA.

Pirl, "Surprise" I got at Lily Garden I am sure. It is really striking and wasn't sure how much I'd like it but it is very eye-catching and I an glad I got it.

Sue, you did a GREAT job and you didn't stumble at all during your presentation - in fact you came across as very knowledgeable and comfortable speaking about lilies, and you speak well in front of a group. I found the whole thing very interesting. Just too bad your CD wouldn't read so we could watch it on the big screen!

Tracey, I think you are absolutely right about Bright Brilliant - you know, you got me turned on to the LO's now just like Diann exacerbated my peony addiction and got me started on hostas (it is convenient to blame others! :-)) I am gonna HAVE to have more of these now. At first I thought it was Casablanca opening! The flower ia absolutely huge and very fragrant. I just LOVE all of the cool lily crosses they're coming up with nowadays.

Here is another shot of "Surprise" again :-) And I think you're right; it is pollenless, Sue.

I kind of like the pollen - adds character as long as I don't get it on my clothes!

I planted these little Allium "Purple Garlick" or something I found at Old House Gardens and they were only supposed to be 2 ft tall and are closer to four feet - you can see them behind "Dazzle" here

Thanks, Steve. It's at the top of my lily list for next year.

New Bloom for the day - Buggylily "Neon Gold" - it is an asiatic but almost an OT form and is fragrant!! Really pretty lily.

OOO LA LA and that Neon Gold is outfacing too!!!!! See how great it is to have it looking right at ya! What a beauty!!!!!

Asiatic "Vivaldi"

Pink Giant

LOL yes Sue you need that one too - trust me!!

Beautiful, someone please hand me a bib, I'm drooling over all the beautiful lilies. lol.

Oh, Pink Giant is a stunner. I bought this one from Brent and Beckys in that very last batch that I finially managed to get planted.

guardians-

I started this year planting lots of lily bulbs between the daylilies myself also. I figgure one can never have too much color. If you have room behind the daylilies you planted you might want to consider vines along you chain link fence. I personally love vining honeysuckle. There are the open form, what I think of honeysuckle shaped flowers, and there are also trumpet shaped ones. There are different bloom periods for different ones and they are so pretty and make a fabulous backdrop for any sort of flower or rose garden.

But it sounds as if your border is already stunning.

I know what its like to have people look at the garden as I have lots and lots of things in the front yard, including roses and daylily beds, all of which are easily viewable front the sidewalk in front of the house.

And for anyone thinking about adding a lily bulb or two this year-

If you want to get afew dozen more RIGHT NOW, Brent and Beckys half price sale starts at 12:01 AM (midnight) tonight. 50 percent off is darn good. It only lasts afew days as they said all bulb orders end Monday June 1st at midnight.

I'll have to wait until I create some raised beds this year. Sob sob.

I agree Rita about B&B's sale. Several of the bulbs I have in or near bloom I got at their end-of-season sale last summer and all have come back strongly this year - including Vermeer, Vivaldi, Pink Giant, what I thought was Grand Cru (ya know I actually think it is a lily called fata Morgana as that is on the B&B site and it looks just like mine). Great deals though even with a little mistake.

I think Surprise is fairly popular. I saw quite a few rows at the Lily Garden fields when I attended the 2006 symposium (photo taken at the field). I also noticed a good supply of Karen North, another very popular lily.

Just love 'Pink Giant' and 'Surprise'? What's not to love?

'Karen North' does a good job of multiplying here too, the only thing better than one 'Karen North' is 12. Such a beautiful, beautiful lily. Looking forward to her gracing the garden again this year.

Oh yeah... Pink Giant... I was out scraping away the weeds around it and I scraped it off too :-((

I guess there is always next year ( hope!)

wow such beautifull blooms getting impatient to see mine bloom

Oh Pard, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one that does stuff like that when weeding.

Stevie, stunning lily show, as per usual. :)

Guardians, glad to see your lilys! Keep the pictures coming please!