Well, apologies to you, if so, but I'm going to be (over)indulging in daylily photos for a while to come, because it won't be long (if I'm remembering correctly) before daylily blooms are few and far between. In the meantime...
This is one that is undoubtedly new to our garden. (I'm not sure if it came from Mom or the seedlings, though.) It's striking, with that dark purple band and partial edging against the pale peachy-pink background. I like it!
This is another definite newbie to the garden. It's probably the most purple daylily we have (unless an even more purple one comes along, later in the year). I just love those dark bands. (Apparently it's called a "band" if it's only on the petals. If the darker ring appears on the sepals, too, that's an "eye".)
This one feels familiar. If it's not one that bloomed last year, it looks a lot like it. Delicate mauve-pink with bright yellow center spots...
I believe there are at least a few fans now blooming that look more or less like this. It's relatively simple-- not much in the way of special markings or other unusual characteristics-- but the color is bold, and I like darker daylilies. Of course, I also like pale daylilies... and medium-intensity daylilies are nice, too. (g)
I think this might be the first flower from this fan. The cherry band on that velvety... What color is that? Brick red? With a salmon undertone? Well, whatever it is, I like the contrast and how plush the colors look.
Less of a purple-red, more of a raspberry red... It's a rich color, and I like the paler stripe down the center of each petal.
If the flower above is raspberry, this must be raspberries in cream. Lots of patterning in this one... A slightly darker band... Bright yellow throat... Pale stripe down each petal... Slight difference in tone between petal and sepal (the three things that look like "back petals")... And of course the ruffled, pale-colored petal edges. I'm really fond of this one.
Here's another that seems familiar from last year. I wonder if this qualifies as a "watermark"? (A watermark-- in daylily lingo-- is an eye or band that is paler than the main petal color, if I understand correctly.) There's a faint, very thin darker edge of a band, but then the inside of the band is maybe a bit paler than the petal. Technically, this is probably too faint to be a watermark, but it's pretty, in any case.
(I've been reading more about the special terminology employed by the daylily-obsessed. I'm sure I'm still getting things wrong, but since this blog has no comments section, I'll remain blissfully ignorant. ;o))
Now this must be a watermark. I think this is the first time this one has bloomed. I probably wouldn't have chosen this one first from a line-up of daylily photos-- but the random "you get what you get" of passalongs and unmarked daylily seeds (from an eBay seller) has a way of opening you up to new possibilities.
Though I might not have instantly glommed onto this one, I do like it. Mango-peach with a yellow watermark (or what I'm going to call a watermark, whether it is or it isn't) and the thinnest yellow edging. An interesting combination.
I think this might be from Mom. It feels familiar... I love this autumn red with the gradient into the golden throat. Beautiful!
This one looks a lot like one further up the page. Probably another fan of the same plant. (When we bought mature daylilies from a local daylily farm, a few years ago, each pot had multiple fans, and I usually divided them before planting, unless I just couldn't pry them apart without too much effort.)
Another dark ring. This might be an actual eye, because I think I see a tiny bit of maroon on the sepals... (If that's enough to count...)
The last photo for the post is what I think is the latest flower from the "ugly duckling" daylily-- only I don't think I can fairly call it that anymore. It may not be jaw-droppingly gorgeous, but it is (imho) a perfectly presentable daylily. There's still a little mottling, but it's not nearly what it was in that first flower. If this really is the same plant (and I'm pretty sure it is), it just goes to show how much a new daylily can improve in less than a month.
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I received the new order of daylily seeds, last week. Many have already sprouted and been potted up.
Like the daylily seeds I've started in the past, these latest ones are a random selection from a seller on eBay. I saw this seller mentioned favorably on a gardening forum and decided to give it a try. I'm no expert, but I've had what I consider to be good luck with these seeds, so I wouldn't hesitate to recommend bowmaster47 to anyone else interested in starting daylilies from seed.
Keep in mind that daylily seeds don't offer instant gratification. You won't see flowers for at least a couple of years-- maybe more. Also, you have no control over the daylilies you'll get (if you buy random seeds like I did), but if you're not too picky about color schemes and things like that, it's a fun surprise. It's also a relatively cheap way to get a bunch of plants, if you don't mind waiting a few years for them to mature. (Go on... It's fun!)
