First, before I go into volunteers, those wonderful surprises blown from errant seeds into carefully-planned beds, bringing blips of startling color to monochrome swaths, here is the plan: the top half of the daylily bed lining the driveway is orange and yellow Frans Hals, named for the cheerful dutch painter; and the bottom half is yellow hyperion-like Dover. A simple balance of spectacular color that grows denser, more intense, each July.
And then, as you scroll down the picture below, you'll see the errant bit of purple loose-strife, then the nodding black-eyed susan, and then the crowning glory: two "Raspberry-parfait" (a daylily expert tells me) lilies at the bottom. Don't know where they came from, but what a delight! I used to pull volunteers out to maintain the integrity of my beds, but now I feel the opposite: they're the glory of the garden. Why? Maybe I'd just rather not work as hard, just take more weeding time to stare and marvel. Feels better.
You are blessed. Some of us just let things go and we get weeds!!!
Posted by: Tabor | July 31, 2008 at 02:13 AM
Oh, that's so lovely. Whenever I see orange daylilies, I think of summer vacation when I was a kid in Wisconsin. :)
Posted by: Lori | August 01, 2008 at 01:38 AM
What a delightful spread of color. Like your attitude toward your volunteers. What will next year bring?
Posted by: joared | August 05, 2008 at 09:46 PM
Gorgeous flowers, ML! I don't know what they're called, but we have some lillies that are maroonish purple with a gold throat. Really pretty, but we only have a couple in the midst of the usual yellow ones.
Posted by: Cowtown Pattie | August 07, 2008 at 07:30 AM
Popping by to see what you're up to. It's been awhile!
Oh my goodness.......now THAT is a garden! You put my daylillies to shame. What a gorgeous, spectacular bed you have. All of your flower beds deserve to be in Better Homes & Gardens!
Hope all is going well with your book signings and promoting. Best to you.......
Posted by: Terri | August 31, 2008 at 07:09 AM
What a beautiful stretch of daylilies, and I agree that the odd flowers mixed in give it character. I often see plant arrangements in nature which look so natural and so well-placed, that I think that God is a far better gardener than we are. But I still like to try to do my part in arranging, too.
Posted by: Garden Lily | September 30, 2009 at 11:49 PM