Gardening in the lower South may seem a topsy-turvy process to gardeners elsewhere, for the season’s activities begin in the fall, reach their peak about January, and are almost at a standstill in June.
During the summer, gardens—and gardeners—take it easy. The combination of heat and moisture (unlike California, our rainy season is in the summertime) is too much for most perennials—evergreen daylilies excepted.
They have a lusty vigor and a habit of nearly continuous growth, with only a pause now and then at the end of a bloom period, that make them ideal subjects for this part of the country.
Decorative Foliage
The foliage itself is decorative, only a winter, such as the past one, affects the fresh green color. And it varies enough to lend interest—from the deep blue-green of a variety such as:
- HARRIET MANN to the light yellow-green of Hemerocallis aurantiaca major
- From the grass-like forms of BOUTONNIERE and PINK ANGEL to SWEET ALICE with its broad ribbon hands;
- From JUNE BRIDE smooth and even textured to EMPIRE ROSE with foliage all wrinkled and creased.
Some, like PICTURE and MAN O. WAR, stand very straight with spear-like foliage pointed upward; others form mounds of graceful, arching curves, like CATHAY and PINK CHARRI, giving the garden variety even when there are no blossoms.
Parade Of Blooms
The parade of bloom starts early, sometimes in mid-February, and never later than March.
Despite the hundreds of new introductions, BLANCHE HOOKER and AJAX lead off. Neither is a particularly pleasing color, but persistently and dependably early.
Almost all day-lilies are recurrent bloomers in Florida, including those from other parts of the country.
There is something in the combination of heat and moisture and the length of daylight that brings out this excellent characteristic.
It explains why we are not interested in developing late bloomers since we know that those varieties that bloom in March will repeat in June and in late summer – always provided they get a fair amount of food and water.
This April, as I write, the season is late. Nevertheless, a stroll down the path, bordered on each side by the named varieties we grow, shows almost all with budded scapes; in two weeks, there should be a riot of bloom.
Against that time of confusion and abundance, we will try to note the open flowers today.
First Come The Pinks
Grouped by the color—the better to make a comparison—let’s begin with the pinks.
- CRINOLINE is blooming on well-branched scapes and seems quite pink;
- SANIBEL, on the contrary, has more of a salmon cast, perhaps due to the contrast.
- At a distance, RHAPSODY gives the illusion of striking color, but at close range, the form of the flower leaves much to be desired.
- Hayward’s SALMON ROSE is next; the slightly deeper color bordering the throat highlights the blossom.
- PAULINO has two blossoms open—it is color pleasant though indescribable. (Mr. Wheeler lists it as “pastel salmon pink”)
Daylilies That Are Dark
In BERCEUSE, one finds the lavender-blue tones beginning to emerge in many of the new daylilies, most pronounced in Mr. Wheeler’s PRODIGY, a very new one to be introduced soon.
RISING STAR and JUNIOR MISS have traces of it, but it takes warm weather and sunshine to bring it out completely. Bacchus belongs to this group, too, although in a darker tone.
OKALOOSA and CALOOSA are Prof. Watkins’ latest hybrids, resulting from several years of line breeding to get well-branched, early varieties of “mulberry fruit.” These fill the specifications and should be a boon to those gardeners who like their daylilies dark.
POCAHONTAS is next, a semi-dwarf of dark maroon with barely a hint of yellow in the throat. Then comes DUN-CAN, also a maroon hut with a more velvety texture and larger flowers.
Traub’s VICTORY MONTEVIDEO, surpassed in color long since (it was introduced at least fourteen years ago), stays open well into the night.
Reds, Ricolors, And Others
BESS VESTAL, BRAVO, CITATION, HAROLD HUME, RUBAIYAT, and LORNA DOONE are all in bloom and present a fine range of reds.
CITATION is the favorite of most garden visitors, but all perform well in our garden.
In the “eyed section,” we are struck anew with the carrying power of ALADDIN. Again, patterns have a way of taking hold and impressing themselves on the memory.
It explains why MIKADO, for so many years, headed the AAS poll of favorite daylilies and why QUINCY has attracted attention.
ZOUAVE on 2-foot scapes blooms early and repeats, but in midsummer, often gets foliage trouble and loses all garden value.
The only bicolor open to date is a new one—BROWN BUTTERFLY—a seedling of CLUNY BROWN. Just why new corners should be so scarce in the showiest field of all is hard to figure out.
Among the blends are APHRODITE, ANTOINETTE, SUNSET SKY (the name is descriptive), and BRIGHT STAR, a semi-dwarf as it grows here, although perhaps not in its native Nebraska.
Orange And Yellow Daylilies
- QUEEN of GONZALES and GLORIANNA are almost the same shade of orange
- BABETTE, whose small size and floriferous habit make it most desirable.
- SUN QUEEN, a shade lighter, becomes more frilled and curled with every hour of sunshine.
- SEMPERFLORENS and AUREOLE, whose delightful fragrance make up for any lack
- ANNIS VICTORIA RUSSELL represents the medium yellows.
- CAPRI and RUFFLED PINAFORE, distinctive in form and texture, typical of Milliken’s introductions, verge toward apricot.
- HALCYON DAYS, SALLY O’NEAL, LITTLE CHERUB blooming at ground level
- ELSA FANS and EARLY BIRD – all light yellows – complete the picture and form the first section of our daylily parade.
44659 by Mrs. Bright Taylor