Day Lily

Day Lily by the front door. This red day lily has finally begun to bloom in volume.

My day lilies are all competing with something that slows their growth - poor soil,

not enough water or sun, plants too close, tree roots sucking their soil dry, and

hungry and thirsty deer and rabbits. When they do make it they are amazing: in 

the rocks, under trees, near other flower configurations, by the wild flowers, and 

in the field circles. 

 

Lily

  Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing from bulbs

in the Family Liliaceae. These are the True Lilies.

 

Evening Primrose

Oenethera speciosa This pink wildflower grows all summer

in direct sun.

 

Hemmerocallis

Day Lilies (Hemerocallis) The rain god hit again last night with high winds and 

thunder and lightening. I spend more time more time picking up downed limbs 

and branches than gardening. These day lilies in the front of the house have 

never done well but  are currently thriving with the drenching. They are the

original Stella de Ora cultivar and the plant blooms for months and re-blooms

rather than for just 2 weeks.

Hemerocallis is Greek for beautiful for the day and alludes to the fact that the

flower blooms usually last for only a day. They are now placed in the Family

Xanthorrhoeaceae rather than Liliaceae and thus they are not True Lilies.

 

New Day Lily

This new day lily is in the rocks up front. You can tell it is new because there

are so few leaves.

 

Blanket Flower

Blanket Flower (Gaillardia pulchella) is also called Firewheel, Indian Blanket,

or Sundance. This colorful perennial in the Aster Family shows up in all the 

wildflower gardens.

 

Hot Poker

Yellow Hot Poker (Kniphofia uvaria) - our two stands used to be red but 

have morphed into yellow in the last several years. This year they have 

attracted hummers.

 

Star Gazer Lily and a Solstice Poem

Star Gazer Lily  This is my favorite oriental lily on my favorite day of the year.

Unfortunately the days start getting shorter tomorrow.

       

                        Summer Solstice

                          Stan Thawley

          Last night I felt the world hesitate

          As it reached our southern destination,

          Our longest day and shortest night.

          There was a brief stop, no optional

            excursions,

          Then a reluctant shifting into reverse,

          Like a yo-yo we are tethered by that great cold hand.

          We now journey north, a tilting

          Into short, cold, dark days.

          This morning on Knob Lick, early

            sumac

          Sirens its bright red warning.

           Copyright Stan Thawley

           The Golden Country (ed. Fred R. Pfister)

           June 2011

 

Verbena

 This lavender perennial grows in full sun  in well drained soil and

lasts for months.

 

Milkweed

 Several years ago I bought some milkweed plants from Missouri

Wildflowers Nursery. One did especially well and the other looked  grew a few

inches and fizzled. Last year it looked more like a weed than anything but we 

left it alone. This year it shot up four feet and produced these incredible blooms.

Bring on those butterflies.