It’s summer and the waxing moon rises in the south eastern sky. Nestled beneath it the day lilies awake and nod, their loosened pollen dusting delicate petals.
The first lily to bloom was Crystal Pinot. I found it at the Farmer’s Market late last summer. I love the ruffles.
My love of pink day lilies began when I went to a day lily farm in Byron Center. The owner, an elderly woman, had planted acres of day lilies, row after row. I wandered around amazed at the deep burgundies and luscious plum pinks. I selected two and she told me to come back in two days. I did, and found she had included a “gift” in the bag of unimpressive roots. And that gift turned out to be my favorite, a very deep dark wine lily. I have no idea what cultivar it is. But when I moved to Grand Rapids, I dug up a a toe and healed it into a spot. When I created the Secret Garden, I dug up the plant and placed it in my lily bed. That lily has not yet bloomed, but an un-named lily that I bought last summer, again at the Farmer’s Market, is lovely. I just wish I knew the name. But there was no tag and the person selling plants at the stand didn’t know.
The Strawberry Candy lilies are starting to bloom, too. I have these massed in several places in the front garden. They are healthy and thick, just the way day lilies should be.
Several years ago I was visiting with a neighbor and spied an old fence post that she had leaning against the house. I commented on it, and it turns out she had another one. And she gave it to me. It has become an interesting feature in the Secret Garden.
I bought the perennial fuchsia last summer on the advice of one of the workers at a garden center. I am delighted with this little firecracker! I just wish I knew what I did with the tag that came with this plant. Perhaps it will turn up in the collection of tags that I have yet to tape into my garden book. Erg. I’m so far behind in my record-keeping.
Garden 337 