Tag: day lilies

Week of March 1st, 2016:  Waaay back in 2006 Brian and I took a trip to Augusta Missouri to see his Aunt and Uncle, Judy and Randy.  They have a beautiful piece of land in a pristine valley, surrounded by wooded hills and vineyards.  When we drove up the long driveway, the first thing I saw was a beautiful row of orange daylilies.  I commented to Aunt Judy about how beautiful they were and she went into a tirade about what a pain in the ass they are and how they’ve completely taken over the hibiscus garden.  I said:  “what hibiscus?”  She said:  “exactly!”  So she pushed her way through the daylilies and pointed out the poor hibiscus shrubs completely drowned in daylilies, and explained how she just hadn’t had time to dig them out . . . . . so here I am with a shovel digging out the day lilies.

Bonus!  I get to take them home!  I ended up with about 200 tuber sections.

This is the front yard, looking toward the east from the front porch.  (The strip of disturbed ground to the left of the  dirt berm in the front by the road). All the darker bumps (closer to the porch) are the holes for the 2000 crocus that I planted before the lawn was seeded. (FYI: The amount of water it takes to grow a freshly seeded lawn, will rot your bulbs. Plant bulbs AFTER the lawn comes in.)

Daylily bed, 2014This started out as 100 tubers.  I planted two large beds of day lilies, one on the north side of the driveway and the other on the south side of the driveway.  They are glorious in mid June.  But spring cleanup is a real chore.  I pulled out 4 large bags of dead leaves and stems on each side.    But you can’t beat day lilies, really.  They are troopers.  And you need to be tough to live out here on the open plains in Brighton.  So I’ve now got day lily beds strategically placed around the yard and on the berms.  And if you drive around the neighborhood in June, you can also see my orange babies in several of my neighbor’s yards too.  I love them, they make me happy.