Pacific Northwest Gardening: WHAT IS BLOOMING NOW? AUGUST 1 - 15, 0 by Rarejem

Rarejem wrote:
I am finally (maybe) going to have some time to catch up on line, and hopefully catch up on walking through the yard as well.

Welcome TP! It's always nice to see a new face in the forums! Lovely lilies! My asiatics were a sad mess this year due to wet and slugs, but the OT's are finally starting to bloom, and they have fared much better.

Linda, your Abutilon is lovely! I am growing my first this year, and have a few buds on it... now you have made me even more excited about seeing it's face! I am too cold to risk it as an outdoor plant, but it will decorate my deck in the summer and have a cozy spot in the greenhouse for the winter.

Enyeholt.. there is definitely a difference in performance between different daylily cultivars. Some grow like mad, and some (especially a lot of the newer "fancy" ones) just kind of sit there. And as you mentioned, there are early, mid, and late varieties, so if you want the longest bloom season, you need to plant a combination. If you would like recomendations of some that are very prolific here in my area, d-mail me and I will be more than happy to send you a list of wonderful "no fuss" performers that have done extremely well for me.

In answer to a question that Bonehead had on the last thread, YES...with breeding the daylilies, I do get to name them. Most will just get "garden names" as it costs $15 each to actually register them, but I do plan on registering a few if I feel that they will have a mass appeal. The naming is one of the best parts. OUR method is to first come up with a list of names, and then find the daylily that goes with the name. Making our original list involved myself and Mom and a big bottle of wine.......... This winter, we will incorporate seedling pictures, our list, and ANOTHER big bottle of wine and come up with some garden names.....

Some names however just come to you when you are looking at bloom and then you "know" that they are right.

This is my buddy Hunter (with a baby Phoenix in the background).........