SUNDAY- September 18, 2011
The days are definitely getting cooler. Friday was 47 degrees F. Saturday was 67 degrees F. And today is 62 degrees. While sunny, it is definitely a change from two weeks ago. The fields are browner, the golden rod is hanging on and the fall asters of purple and pink, with the smaller white fluffy asters are blooming. Gardens are showing their last colors, as the trees start to color up. The tourists are fewer, things seem calmer. The frenetic pace of summer is over.
SUNDAY- September 11, 2011 On this 10th anniversary of the 9/11/01 terrorist attack, people seem to be looking back and forward, and all around. As we remember what happened, and honor those who died, and those who spent the time after it helping out… the rescue crews, fireman, police, dogs, and everyday people, we also seem to still be waiting for the other shoe to drop. We pray it does not. We hope to move forward. There does not seem much to add to the many news programs, magazine articles, or newspaper columns that have been produced, except to say “God Bless America”. Which leads one to remember the song we all sang in grade school…
Well, Irene is coming- rain all night, and now windy! The curtains were stuck against the windows, as the storm is coming in from the east. Today she is south of New York, a category 1 storm, and is moving at 18 miles/hour- so not very fast.
August is more than half way through- though still summer, fall is in the air… lots happening for us all as schedules change and thoughts rearrange.
Everyone needs a break from their jobs once in a while. When two people have two different jobs it is difficult to co-ordinate things. When to people work two different jobs from their home it seems impossible to break away! Where to go for a short break? While some might wish to go to a city to do shopping, others choose a different type of vacation!
Well, one has to admit when one plays hookey. And, truth to tell, I did this week. Read the first installment about it:
A Down East Summer Trip.
The summer just seems to stream by! While just the beginning of August it seems as if September is just around the corner!
Make certain to get outside and enjoy what we have!
This is a tale, familiar to gardeners everywhere, of PLANT LUST.
We all know it, read how this one came about!
Continue reading Primula Vulgaris, ssp Sibthorpii- a tale of plant lust
In Maine June, July, and daylilies go hand in hand!
Hemerocallis is the Latin name for daylily. It means, in Greek, “beautiful for a day”.
And that is just what daylilies are- beautiful for a day, as each flower lasts for only one day.
Our earliest daylily to flower is Hemerocallis flava major. This is not the earliest daylily to be had, just the earliest one we have.
It has large yellow flowers, and blooms for over a month! A lovely lemon color, it adds a lovely accent to the spring garden. It ends around the middle of July here, in the mid-coast.
HEMEROCALLIS FLAVA MAJOR
with Hesperis and other spring flowers.
THE LAST SPENT FLOWER OF
HEMEROCALLIS FLAVA MAJOR
Flowering next, and for not as long a time, is the so called Lemon Lily. One sees this all over Maine- in old cementaries, around old farm houses.
It looks very similar to H. flava major, but is more delicate, and has finer foliage. The scent is delicious! Large round seed pods form after the flowers have finished.
LEMON LILY SEED PODS
The common roadside daylily, the orange one- you know the one I mean, is Hemerocallis fulva. It starts blooming around the second week of July. An interesting plant, it is seen virtually across the country!
Quite a few years ago I found a source for Hemerocallis rosea.
It turns out to actually be Hemerocallis fulva rosea- a sub-specie of Hemerocallis fulva. This is the flower from which all of the pink and lavender daylilies are derived… really quite something! There are about twenty species of daylilies.. and who knows how many cultivars? But this is the one that really changed things for hybridizers!
While having the same general flower pattern it is much more delicate, with willowy stems, and a more delicate appearance over-all. The color is a definite reddish pink, with markings.
HEMEROCALLIS FULVA ROSEA
HEMEROCALLIS ROSEA
The daylily from which all pink cultivers are derived.
Not only more delicate in appearance, it is also less floriferous.
If interested in Hemerocallis species a good place to start is at
Olallie Daylily Gardens.
http://www.daylilygarden.com/index.html
They have a wonderful website, with wonderful plants! Enjoy!
A beautiful day in mid-coast Maine… a nice way to start the week! We decided to change the format of the blog for a bit..