i plant happiness
  • home
  • blog
  • gallery
  • about

blogGAGE

happy hyacinths

4/25/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
This April I have really enjoyed my deep purple hyacinths. Their fragrance is amazing! Most of them grew about eight inches tall and four inches wide. These hyacinths were originally part of a large plant pot I received filled with a variety of bulbs, including daffodils, tulips, and scilla siberica. This was a perfect gift that truly kept on giving, as I continue to enjoy these bulbs every spring -- and I received them over 20 years ago! I wish I knew what variety the hyacinth is, but oh well.

Introduced in Europe during the 16th century, hyacinths are easy-to-grow spring bulbs that are still popular today (US hardiness zones 4-8). They like six to eight hours of sun each day and soil that drains well. After the bulbs have bloomed, be sure to cut off the flower stalks (not the leaves) to encourage the plants to store energy in their bulbs. Every fall and spring I sprinkle bulb booster fertilizer granules over my bulbs and gently work the granules into the soil. Rain will disperse the fertilizer. Hyacinths are best planted in early fall, about four inches deep and six to eight weeks before the first frost.

Hyacinth bulbs contain oxalic acid, which can cause a skin reaction in some people. If you are sensitive, wear gloves when handling the bulbs. Oxalic acid is also toxic when eaten, so keep your pets away from the bulbs. All kinds of rodents will chew on hyacinth bulbs. An easy organic method to deter them is to interplant hyacinths with daffodils, which rodents tend to avoid.

Hyacinth info from www.thespruce.com
Photos by Jade Anderson
Picture
0 Comments

so when are you considered a daylily addict?

4/18/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
Daylily obsession typically arrives in degrees. It slowly creeps up on you. When does the realization hit that you may have an addiction? Here are 20 common indicators:
  1. Your backyard vegetable garden has disappeared. Dozens of daylilies have replaced the veggies. The farmer's market is where you find your vegetables nowadays.
  2. You get rid of other perennials to make room for daylilies.
  3. Sections of your lawn have been removed to make larger daylily beds. Easier to mow, right?
  4. You attend a daylily sale, promising yourself that you'll buy no more than eight new cultivars.  But when you get home, somehow an additional 20 daylilies have hitched a ride.
  5. Online daylily purchasing is fun, easy, and you partake often.
  6. You have started growing seedlings in your basement.
  7. You routinely trade daylily divisions with other enthusiasts.
  8. On rainy days you create and work with daylily spreadsheets on Google.
  9. You are compelled to make plant tags and labels for your daylilies.
  10. You lie in bed at night orchestrating transplant maneuvers in your mind for the following day.
  11. Your partner tells you they are sick of hearing about daylilies.
  12. Proliferations grow  on your window sills.
  13. No one has to wonder what to get you for your birthday. Duh!
  14. You spend hours online researching what daylilies *need* to go on your wish list.
  15. You own at least one or two daylily attire items.
  16. You have friends and neighbors who also have daylily gardens. Prior to meeting you they had no idea that daylilies even existed. 
  17. You remove trees and bushes on your property to get rid of the excess shade.
  18. You are forced to hold a daylily sale because you must make room for more new daylilies.
  19. You plan vacation road trips around garden visits to daylily hybridizers.
  20. And finally, you must have the latest daylily buzz so you become a member of both your local daylily club and the American Daylily Society.

How many of these indicators should you admit to before you are considered a daylily addict? Good question! I'll venture to say that at least five true statements indicate you've started walking down that path ;) And myself? I'm definitely in trouble for the simple reason that I am familiar with each and every indicator, but I'm not admitting that they're all mine...

Daylily pictured: 'Something Angelic'
0 Comments

moses' fire

4/11/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
'Moses' Fire' is a beautiful, hardy and consistent daylily for northern gardens. I have grown this double in my garden for over 15 years. Hybridized in Georgia by Jan Joiner (1998), this dormant tetraploid thrives in our unpredictable Wisconsin winters. The six-inch red blooms have a subtle gold edging that really adds emphasis to the delicate ruffled look. The flowers double 95% of the time and the bud count is 16-20.

Moses' Fire is a perfect front-of-the-border plant that grows 24" tall in my garden. Bloom time last summer was from July 2-28. The length of bloom time is typically less than most of my other daylilies, but this plant looks so amazing at peak bloom bursting with such large, dramatic flowers that I don't really mind the shorter bloom.

American Daylily Society Awards:
Award of Merit: 2005
Honorable Mention: 2001
Ida Munson Award for Outstanding Doubles: 2008
Picture
0 Comments

fooled me

4/4/2021

0 Comments

 
Picture
If there's ever a classic daylily, 'Fooled Me' qualifies for that title. This vibrant masterpiece is one of those perfect plants that is a sure thing in every northern garden. It's a reliable, vigorous bloomer that consistently looks beautiful on any given day. The cheerful, bold bloom colors are a standout in the landscape.

Close to twenty years ago my sister-in-law, Sandra, gave me a division of Fooled Me from her garden. Over time I've been able to pay it forward and give my friends divisions of this plant to enjoy. It's one of those plants that every gardener should have.

Hybridized by Philip Reilly and Ann Hein (1990), this dormant tetraploid grows 30" tall in my garden (registered height is 24") and bloom size is 5.5 inches. Fooled Me has extended bloom and occasionally re-bloom. In my 2020 garden, bloom time was mid-season, from July 7 through August 6. It's also worthy to note that Fooled Me has 202 child plants on the records, which indicates genetics that many hybridizers value.

American Daylily Society Awards:
Stout Silver Medal: 2005 (the most prestigious award a daylily can win)
Award of Merit: 2001
Honorable Mention: 1998
Picture
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

    if it's about

    my backyard and garden, I LOVE to talk about it!

    archives

    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014

    categories

    All
    Critters
    Daylily Profiles
    Events
    Fall
    Flowers
    Garden Tools
    Garden Vogue
    Just 'Wow'
    Organization
    Places To Visit
    Products I Like
    Projects
    Shade Plants
    Spring
    Succulents
    Thoughts To Ponder
    Trees
    Unrelated To Anything
    Whimsy
    Winter

    RSS Feed

Copyright 2022 iplanthappiness      
iplanthappiness@yahoo.com
  • home
  • blog
  • gallery
  • about