18 Daylilies

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

25° outside and already beginning to drop from this morning's high of 27.9°. By this weekend the temperatures will be in the -15° to -20° range with high winds and serious wind chills. That means all the outside chores I want to get done need to get started today. Working outside when the daytime high is zero is just not for me. This winter is quite a contrast to last year when from January on through September, warm weather records dating from the 1880's were broken.

I am a fan of Fine Gardening Magazine and have been reading it since its inception. There were a couple years when I temporarily gave up a subscription but Gail and I have been regular readers to the magazine and other Taunton Press specialty issues.

The February 2011 issue has an article entitled That's a Daylily? by Brandi Spade. It includes 18 daylily favorites complete with pictures and cites 7 growers who have a good representation of the 18 that are featured. Vermont Flower Farm is mentioned as a plant source and we are happy to say that we offer 5 of the daylilies. We offer Charles Johnston, Chorus Line, Condilla, Sir Blackstem and Sunday Gloves. For those who do not read Fine Gardening, here are pictures of all but Sir Blackstem.

Charles Johnston

Chorus Line

Condilla

Sunday Gloves

I picked up Sir Blackstem two years ago to add to some plants that I want available when I start hybridizing. It's a hybrid from 1988, and one of its parents is the older Gold Thimble, registered in 1966. With one Gold Thimble parent being Thumbelina, another older daylily I like, you can see that there is some heritage involved. Sir Blackstem reflects itself well with a very dark stem of mahogany red to black. Although its name as registered is a single word, it's not uncommon to see two words used. I know I have some pictures here somewhere from this summer but for now you will have to conjure up an image of a noctural, yellow-orange flower, 2.5" in diameter on a 24" black stem. Those who enjoy Bitsy, Golden Chimes and similar older, smaller flowered daylilies will like Sir Blackstem--no matter how they write the name.


As for writing, I'm writing from the mountain above Peacham Pond where the sunshine has brought a nice spirit to the day and four Pine Grosbeaks to the bird feeder. I've been interrupted five times and this piece reads like a man with a broken day wrote it. Be well!

George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
Vermont Flower Farm
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