One-Day Flower Power

Our back yard in 2001.  Meh.

When we moved to our property 23 years ago (holy moly, has it already been THAT LONG?!), the landscape was... fine.  The overall design and plant list wasn't horrible.  But as a neophyte plant collector, it bored me to tears.  Although the first full truckload of stuff we moved from our old place was nearly entirely plants, I knew that I needed to wait and watch before making too many wholesale changes to the "new" place.  It's always smarter to understand what's extant and work with that.

The same view 23 years later.  At least it's not boring!

The previous owners were daylily fans.  I was most definitely NOT a daylily fan.   Who in their right mind would want to grow a plant whose flowers only bloom for a day?!, I thought.  Oh, silly, silly Past Me.  I had no idea how alluring the world of Hemerocallis could be.  

That first spring and summer, I watched a couple dozen cultivars bloom in this new-to-me landscape.  Yellows, oranges, pinks, and lavenders... fleeting beauties that lit up the place.  My interest was piqued.  I could not let them go unidentified.  (Fingernails on a chalkboard? No problem.  An unidentified plant?  AAUUUUGGGHHHHH!!!!!!)  Endless hours with my nose in books and online searches was how my daylily love affair began in earnest.  I learned in short order that I shouldn't judge other gardeners' choices so quickly.  

Within six years, I not only added to the collection, I dove headfirst into the world of daylilies.  I became a member of the American Hemerocallis Society, as well as the local daylily club.  Never a very active member of either group, I helped out with some fundraisers... by trading my money for plants.  And I loved meeting and talking with hybridizers.

Drooling over lovelies in hybridizers' fields

Touring their fields was a regular summer hobby for years, and I almost never left empty-handed.  At one point, I was growing nearly 300 different cultivars.

In 2007, I began my own hybridizing program.  It took a few years to bring my first crosses to bloom.  There's nothing more thrilling than the opening of the first flower of a brand new plant of your own creation!  (Typing this out makes me feel a little Dr. Frankenstein-y... It's ALIIIIIIVE!!)  

My first named cross: "Holy Schnikees"

I've named several, but haven't officially registered any, and I don't know that I ever will.  The joy in seeing what nature comes up with is addictive and mesmerizing.  Every year, I await daylily season with the anticipation of a kid and their birthday.  There is so much magic and beauty in these flowers... even if (and maybe especially because) they only last one day.

My second named variety: "Queen Katillac"

My seedlings are planted in their own area for ease of keeping track and evaluating.