Lost Touch With Reality

I had lost touch with Reality, but then I found it again.

Above: H. ‘Barbara Mitchell’

It began with the large, nearly one hundred different named cultivars, number of daylilies growing here in the Fairegarden, Hemerocallis ssp.

Above: H. ‘Pardon Me’

It was originally a collection, planted on the site of freshly ground tree stumps after the removal of a cluster of weed trees, early on in the big renovation project here in 2000. This area was dubbed the Daylily Hill. My neighbor had me dig a piece of each of her daylilies, twenty-five in all, with the name written on the plastic grocery bag into which each piece was tucked. They were duly marked when planted with fingernail polish painted names onto light colored bricks that were found at the back of the property.

Above: H. ‘Raspberry Rasper’

The polish wore off in a few months. The next labeling technique tried was copper tags, the name of each daylily etched carefully onto the metal with a ballpoint pen and stuck into the ground in front of each clump. These tags were much too small and were easily dislodged by digging squirrels and digging gardeners planting lilies and daffodils. The tags were also covered up with falling leaves and mulch.

Above: H. ‘White Opal’

Next up, the hideous white plastic tags with taller white stakes and a waterproof permanent marker. These are longer lasting, if unattractive but sometimes break off if stepped upon with a muckboot in freezing weather.

Last year, and some years earlier but with a major effort made in 2011, the daylilies were divided and moved all over the garden to better showcase their colors, heights and bloom times. If there was a tag found, it was placed in front of the center clump.

Above: H. ‘My Keeper’

If not in bloom, daylilies can be very difficult to identfy. Some reds, oranges and yellows are so similar, not to mention those peach and melon ones, names can be mixed up. A few years ago, a page was created for the blog with photos and identification, on the sidebar as Plants We Grow-Daylilies, or click here. It took some doing to get the daylilies cataloged, but once it was done, the pressure was off to try and keep all the tags with the proper plants. These four earliest posts were of great help. To view them, click here, here, here and here, and please don’t laugh at the titles. Things were moved all over, some without tags. Divisions were made and placement was decided by color and height, coordinating with what else was blooming at the time. Lighter colors were put into the darker spots, the better to be seen.

Above: H. not Rosie Meyer, you know how that goes…

Over the years, extra pieces were stuck planted out front in the center island by the street. This is a chaotic planting of shrubs, grasses and weeds, in full sun. Today I noticed a daylily blooming in this front catch-all bed that I had completely forgotten about. It was an unusual yellow with a strong greenish cast, purchased many years ago on a trip to Sunshine Hollow. The name of this daylily is Reality. I don’t need a tag to know this daylily.

Even though the soil is quite dry and the temperature is in the mid-nineties with a heat index of well over one hundred, Reality was dug up and replanted in a newly cleaned out bed back in the woodland area. We are now back in touch with Reality. Aren’t you glad? I certainly am.

Frances