Day Lilies

One of my favorite all time flowers is the day lily. At my house in Columbia as we landscaped the backyard in the 1980s I bought a day lily collection from Burpee. I can't remember how many different varieties it was, but they all went into one large triangular bed next to the new brick patio. Over time they had to be divided so that by the time we moved from there in 2003 there were day lilies all over the yard.

When we moved into this new home in Fall 2005 I had big plans for gardening. In the spring my first day lilies came from friends. They were the simple orange variety.

Another friend gave me some, also orange. I brought some back from Emily's rental home in Chester, VT and they were also orange. I was lamenting that I didn't have any from my old home to my parents on a visit to them in Chambersburg and my dad promptly dug up some he had in the back near their patio for me to take home. They are my favorite, made all the more special by how they got back to me.

Soon they will need dividing and I'll have to find places for them to go.


I have since purchased four varieties of day lilies, pictured below


and several varieties of stella d'oro day lilies.

A good friend just last week brought me some that she had gotten from me oh so many years ago. They haven't flowered for her of late because they were so shaded so she doesn't remember what color they are. They are newly planted and I don't think I will find out their color until next year, but maybe they'll surprise me. Like this one below which was a surprise. I remember planting it last year but can't remember where it came from. It's color was a pleasant change from the orange.

Post script: Yes, deer love day lilies! Each spring as the first shoots come up I spray with Liquid Fence every two weeks for the first couple of months then once a month thereafter. It's the only way to enjoy these flowers.

Harvest Monday - July 4th

I started the Harvest Week last Monday picking this green pepper which didn't have much that was eatable.

The next day I picked two Cubanelle and two green peppers, green beans, zucchini and some basil.
Thursday I picked these zucchini that went into a shrimp stir fry.

The garlic was harvested last week and is drying in the garage.

More cherry tomatoes which are very sweet.

The single zucchini went into a salad and I steamed the green beans. The bunny is enjoying them too. The onions were part of my onion harvest. Now I know how you get pearl onions! That's the size these were so I added them to frozen green peas.

Sunday I braided the onions after they had hung to dry on the fence for two days and then got rained on early Sunday morning. I have to rethink how I grow onions. They are not very large.


These are the bullnecked ones which I'll have to use first.

This morning I got two more cherry toms and two cucumbers for the 4th of July dinner tonight.

See other harvest at our host Daphne's Dandelions.

Me vs. Nature

Do you feel sometimes that as you try to tame the garden to do as you want that it's really a battle of you vs. nature? I had that feeling today. Why? Let me count the ways:

1. The tomato hornworm showed itself today. It's bathing (drowning) in soapy water. I'm not honoring it with a photo but here's the damage it wrought on my Rutgers tomato. Only evidence I could find of its rampage. I thought the marigolds would keep it away.


2. Something is eating my basil and I can't see what it is. Is it a bug or slug? Rabbits? No clue.


3. Two different varieties of tomatoes had stalks that wilted up. Anyone know what that would be? I cut out both stalks and put them in a trash bag for the trash can. Is it a wilt of some sort? Should I be worried about the rest of the plants?


I do have hope that I will have some victories as I look at the tomatoes forming and harvest zucchini for dinner.

Wordless Wednesday - New Faces in the Garden

Post script: My 10,000 hit came and went. I thought I would notice but didn't. Thank you to whoever was that 10,00th visitor.

Linked to Cottage Flora Thursdays