Daylilies

Daylily season has begun in earnest, now.  I'm still not sure which ones are from my seeds versus other places-- but at least a few are definitely blooming for the first time, and some of them must be the ones I grew from seed, because there shouldn't be this many others that I wouldn't have already seen in bloom.

In no particular order...

This one was a little battered by the rain, but it's still pretty.

This one has that slightly deformed look. (g)  Not bad, but one petal didn't open neatly... (But that's really just being picky!)  The color is nice.

The red "eyes" on these give them a tropical look, against the apricot petals.  I have no clue why (except maybe because the petals are round like mouse ears?), but these make me think of Mickey Mouse and Disney in general. (g)

This is one of the very, very few that I know by name-- 'Happy Returns', if I'm not mistaken.  It's a smaller daylily (in stature and bloom size), but I think it's supposed to be evergreen, and it's a repeat bloomer, which is nice, as most of my daylilies (well, maybe not counting the still-maturing seedlings) are not repeaters.

This larger yellow is a stunner.  I never think of yellow as a particular favorite color, but it's cheerful, and it works well with just about every other color I can think of.  The ruffled petals are interesting, too.

Another that didn't open as neatly as it could, but again, the color is eye-catching.

I love that gradient of green to yellow to salmon-pink, with the contrasting colors of petals (back petals lighter than the front ones).

This one looks a little mottled, which makes me wonder if it's not one of my seedlings... Not a bad flower, in my opinion.  Could be better, but maybe it will improve.  I think the apricot color is nice-- peach with streaks of yellow and pink.

So far, this is definitely the ugly duckling of the group.  This must be the first bloom of one of the first bunch of seedlings, so I'll hope that the flowers will improve with time.  If not... It's not exactly a looker.  If it can't do better in a year or two, it might be destined for composting.  That would be a shame, but there's no sense in keeping an ugly daylily.

The rest of the photos were taken with a flash, because it was too overcast the morning I took them to do without it (since I didn't want to fuss with a tripod).

This one's very softly-tinted, but I like it a lot.  I'm always a sucker for a green or yellow-green throated daylily.  The raspberry eye that bleeds down into the veining of the petals is particularly pretty.

That little streak of raspberry on the single petal is odd.  I wonder if all the petals (of future flowers) will eventually have raspberry marks-- or if it's just a random thing that will appear on just some petals of only certain flowers.  Technically, it's an imperfection, but the rest of the flower is pretty enough to overlook it.

The bright golden-yellow throat of the next flower makes a pleasing contrast with the clear red of the petals.

I love this burgundy, and the white edging on three of the petals really stands out.  (It would be even more of a stand-out if all six petals were outlined, but let's not be too picky. (g))

The same flower, again...
The lemon-yellow throat is a strong contrast with the petals.  That's one of the things I find myself admiring most in daylilies-- a contrasting throat.  That or a contrasting "eye"-- or both on the same flower.

Though it takes patience to wait two or three years to see the flowers, growing daylilies from seed is exciting and addictive.  I'm feeling tempted to do it again, believe it or not.  Maybe next year, if I haven't thought better of it by then... I think it's too late to do, this year, in any case.  And I already have too many seeds to deal with this season, as it is.

Edited to Add:
Ok, I caved.  More daylily seeds are on their way here, and I will germinate them, pot them up, and tend to them all summer-- maybe longer-- before they'll be ready to plant in the garden.  And then there will be at least a year or two before I'm rewarded with flowers, some of which may be absolute duds in the beauty department.

But once the first several months of care (mainly watering and acclimating them to the sun) are done, most of it's just waiting and caring for them as part of the flower beds as a whole (weeding, mulching, fertilizing, occasional watering), and those years are going to pass, regardless.  This way, there will be a prize at the end of them.  A mystery surprise!  ;o)