The Unplanned Sixth

Does this sound like the name of some musical piece? I just like the sound of it.

Here's what happened. "Attached" to the driveway flower bed (that seems to have all blue things blooming) are a series of small rectangles that march down along the driveway, each with a central daylily. There have been five of these spaces for a lot of years.

But yesterday at Meijer they had a daylily in my lily color scheme that was marked down from $9 to $3. I couldn't resist. But it meant I had to dig another square for it. The name of this one is 'Monterey Jack.' The color scheme is maroon and yellow. It's blooming, and has several buds. I think it was marked down because some of the leaves are unhappy, and I think that is a result of being horribly rootbound. Now the roots will have plenty of room to spread.

None of the others are blooming yet, although I'm very encouraged at the potential. These beds had not been weeded in several years until last summer. I'm posting them all here so I can track what their status is on a given date. You'll probably see them all as they bloom. I'll just tease you with the names today.

The first square has one called 'Young Love.' It currently is small but has two budding stalks which is great because it hasn't bloomed in years.

The next square is the huge success because these lilies are unstoppable. They are also my favorite. It's commonly called 'Lemon Lily' for the clear bright yellow color. The buds should start to open in just a few days. It's a very old variety. Serious tinkering with daylilies began in the 1930's, but this one and the next are both old.

Here's the other heritage variety. It was created in 1941 and has the name 'Black Flacon.' Darker varieties have now been developed, but I've always loved these. They also have not bloomed in years, in fact I didn't even see leaves for a few years, and I thought maybe I'd lost them. They don't spread nearly as fast as most of the other varieties, but it has three stalks with buds, so if the deer don't decimate all the lilies, there is good hope to see some of these this year.

Just for the record, the next square is another patch of lemon lily, but it is much smaller. Any years when I managed to weed some of these spaces, it was usually only the first two. Last summer, I recovered the rest from being overgrown and choked with grass.

The formerly last square has a tiny plant of 'Revolution.' It has no buds right now, and my other patch of it is already starting to bloom. I think it's just panting with relief that it's finally not being choked.

Now, let's talk about daylilies. Technically, they aren't lilies, and taxonomists have now moved them to their own family, Asphodelaceae. The genus is Hemerocallis.

You probably think most of them have six petals. Actually, they have three petals and three colored sepals. Plant tinkerers have gotten some of them, like the one I just bought, to focus on the three petals so they look triangular. I actually prefer the ones that look like six, but I couldn't resist the correct colors at the low price. Here's a closer view of the 'Monterey Jack' flower.

These squares have had various plans over the years. This post has gotten long enough, so I'll save that for another day. You can probably tell that most of them are not weeded perfectly, but at least they aren't being choked by grass.

I was hoping to mow today, but we had a good rain last night, and it has continued to be wet and misty all day. Maybe tomorrow. I didn't sleep much last night, so I got up late. Spent extra time editing and cleared this new space and dug out the grass around 'Revolution.' Enjoyed the cooler temps! Right now it sure looks like more rain, but there's nothing on the radar.

See Yellow and Maroon