Hi all you Daylily Lover's!
Tink3472- Wow! Thank you for knowing the answers!
I was afraid this would be the case- that no one is growing them, or knows what they look like, nor are they maintained.
That is kind of sad, huh?
Anyway, I'm thrilled to be here. I don't know a darn thing about growing Daylilies but I will tell you how I came to like them.
But first, I will tell you how I came to Hate them and thought I would never grow them.
My mother inherited her parents home. Her grandmother had it before they did. This house had a narrow flower bed all the way around it except for the front door of course. In that flower bed was only one kind of flower. Yes, it was a Daylily. An orange Tiger Lily that completely surrounded the house with thick-rooted clumps that were absolutely impossible to break up. Well, my mother got the idea to plant other kinds of flowers in those beds. So we had to dig up all the Tiger Lilies. It was a long, hot, arduous task. It seemed that solid mass would have eventually have raised the house off of it's foundation if we left it there. So I spent my teen years fighting daylilies with my mom so we could get ANY other kind of flower to grow. When I left home, her words of advise to me were...whatever you do with your life, Do NOT plant any dayliies! We laughed and I promised I wouldn't! Little did we know!
I was 17 then. I'm 49 now. And here is how I came to LOVE dayliles....
About a year and a half ago, I took care of a 100 year old Master Gardener who had never been married and didn't have kids. Oh my! She had the most magnificent gardens I have ever seen! I had the pleasure of being in the beautiful garden every morning picking strawberries for her and weeding, and looking at the beautiful flowers she had. So one day I asked her what they were. She said they are all daylilies! I expressed amazement and told her they didn't look like any daylilies I ever saw! She laughed and said many people don't know how beautiful they are now-a-days. I asked if she shared "starts"....and she said she had given some to friends, but the right time to dig them is in the fall so she would give me some in the fall. So out of all those gorgeous flowers, there was this one magnificent peach one. I was drawn to it....every day. It made a bunch of huge peach thick petaled flowers. Oh my! I kept my eye on it....and waited....
Well, that summer she was placed in assisted living. The friends who moved her asked me if I wanted the six little seedlings she had in her greenhouse. I said yes. And I asked for the Peach one. They said wait til fall. I cringed....and waited.and I moved on to another senior to care for. I never forgot that "Peach".
In my mind, I thought if I could get a pic of it, someone could help me identify it. Then I started searching Daylilies online. I quickly realized that with 70,000 named daylilies it could take my lifetime to get that Peach and I may NEVER be able to identify or replace it.
I became obsessed.
It seemed like now or never. So last spring, I called her friends to ask if they had sold her house or if I could go "admire" her flowers. I hadn't the courage to sneak in there and outright steal. So I got permission and I went and "admired" the flowers, and yes, indeed there was my beautiful Peach! Just as before! And I hesitated for about 5 seconds. Then I dug one Fan. One with a flower on it so I could be sure I got the right fan! I carefully covered my tracks and drove home feeling the guilty pleasure of having obtained my Magnus Opus! I was alternately laughing at myself and feeling guilty, but ultimately I had to get my "baby" home and tended to.
I potted her up and sat her in full sun.
Yes, I know.
Poor thing.
One tiny fan with a flower-plucked-transplanted-and sat in full sun in Oklahoma!
The leaves started dying, so I cut them back.
It has had only 5 leaves since May. One dies and another grows.
We recently moved and my husband took that little thing and plucked it out and emptied the flower pot for easier transport.
I was shocked!
What happened to my little plant?
He said, oh that thing? You have many more beautiful plants than that one! I got rid of it!
I said where? What did you do with it?
He said....compost pile. I said NOOOOOO!!!!!
When???????
Just a few hours ago....so I rushed off to save that little fan again.
There it was....poor thing....
I lovingly picked it up and potted him up again.
In the last month his growth has doubled and he seems to be thriving!
I can't wait for him to bloom.
And that is how I came to love Peach daylilies.
:)
I bought a large order from EarlyBird Daylilies...All Peach, Apricot, and light pink.
They haven't come yet, but I plan to be nicer to them than I have been with this little Peach, now that I have read about the proper way to transplant. Anyway, it worked...so I now know how forgiving and hardy daylilies can be!
