Planting Time

I've been killing stuff in the yard since I got here, so about 7 weeks now. I'm seeing progress, but nowhere near done. Still, it's time for something new. 

Literally. It's time for something new in the yard. Space is opening up, though mainly it's so that what's supposed to grow here can actually do so. It's not the time you usually think of for planting, in the heat of late July. Yep, all week is forecast to be in the 90s for highs.

And yet....

I fell in love. With a flower. One I'd never seen before, at least not in that color. I never knew it was possible in that color. But there it was, two lovely healthy clumps of them, blooming along the drive-through lane at the Dairy Queen, up on the top of the hill in St. Croix Falls, WI, next to the WalMart which handles my prescriptions during the summer. Steve offered, since I drove him there for some of his necessary shopping and he's not up for driving these days, to reward us both with the small blizzard of each of our choices before heading home. There was a long line at the drive through, plenty of time to stare out the window and notice things. Like two fat clumps of blue-purple daylilies massively blooming.

Instant lust. Must-have time. Upon returning home I perused the internet looking for whatever I could find on the market that closely resembled these. I'm not sure if these are rare or whether something I always knew is in fact still true, that cameras hate purple and tend to select towards red instead. All the pictures I could easily find for purple daylilies were reddish, magenta or fuchsia rather than violet. By the time I decided to actually search for violet, then blue, rather than just purple, I managed to find some pictures actually showing my preferred color range, including a particularly exquisite one ("blue mule") not for sale anywhere, and a few similar ones for sale but only for $300. Each.

Gasp!

No, I'm not that much in love. And no, I'm not contemplating heading out in the wee hours with a shovel and swiping a couple from one of the DQ clumps. Way-y-y-y too public. But I did find one that seems close, finally, and decided to put in an order for some. That was Saturday. They arrived this morning! Right now they are sitting in water in preparation for some help from Paul digging holes this afternoon. Huge root clumps, and about a dozen stems, so should make 3 or 4 plantings of them. And just because other varieties only added a dollar each to shipping costs, I got a few others for fun. 

The daylilies I planted 30 years ago - or 28 or 29 as I filled in spaces in the garden - are blooming nicely right now, particularly as they are getting more sun now. There are reds, oranges, pinks, corals, yellows. Even one I fondly remembered but thought lost, finally opened a bloom this morning. Nearly black, the variety is called "root beer". In a bit I'll head out to take a picture, proof of life if you will. I'm still recovering from a very ambitious morning. I need to find just the perfect spots for the holes for the new arrivals, as well as getting better shots of the ones already blooming. I tried the day we had that morning fog, but the front garden hadn't been cleared out enough yet to get decent shots without weeds half obscuring them.

I've decided to help a friend with planting some in her yard too. Those buggers are hardy, plantable nearly any time you can get in the ground, and taking real effort to kill off. Back when I had the house built, I dug up some from the back yard where my parents lived, orange with double petals. Those now fill from the driveway to the property line, even choking out the grass that used to live there. I asked her would she like some for her yard, bringing along a blossom so she could make an intelligent decision. No hesitation: "Yes!" Her teenage sons will help her with the digging, as well as planting some raspberry plants from the yard.

Remember Stella D'Oro daylilies? If you don't recognize the name, about 25 years back they sprang on the market with short foliage, creamy gold small blossoms barely higher than the leaves, reblooming through the summer. I just discovered they now have a "Purple D'oro", same except for the color. Now the only question is whether I can reasonably  locate some of those this time of year, or need to either order some for Paul to plant this fall or next spring. Might just need to clear some new spaces first. Or even see if the Stella D'oros I planted under the picture window at the back of the house have been killed off by the influx of ferns under the wigelia bushes. Still can't get to those due to unstable footing, but plan to make sure I get there before heading back to Arizona. Maybe relocate any that survive, if in fact any do.

Hey, it's not really an addiction!