Goodbye, Stella (Hemerocallis ‘Stella de Oro’). It’s time for you to go. Life is too short and the garden is too small to give you all the space you are taking.
You’ve gone all commercial on me and I see you everywhere. You’ve grown common. It’s time… it’s just time.
But it’s not just you, it’s me, too. Don’t make me admit it! I’m not ashamed. Yes, I’ve been to a local daylily garden and well, it isn’t that I don’t like you any more, it’s that you’ve become so common and yellow compared to other daylilies.
You really are everywhere, and not just in my garden. Every time I turn around, I see you… at the mall, the gas station, in front of nearly every commercial building in town.
I guess we’ve just grown apart. And now I need the space you’re in for my new daylilies, or the ones I’m going to have once you’ve moved out.
Look at what’s out there!
I was amazed, again, by all the daylilies in bloom at Soules Garden when I went there for their annual summer open house.
I’ve gone before, I usually try to go every summer. But it was so overwhelming trying to decide what to get that I’d convince myself each year that I didn’t have any room for any more daylilies.
But then I got some focus. I found a way to connect with daylilies through the experience of other gardeners.
First, Gail at Clay and Limestone posted about her daylilies, particular the spider daylilies and I decided that I liked those and I should focus on getting some of them.
Then Dee at Red Dirt Ramblings posted about the Brother Charles Reckamp’s daylilies and I decided I should get some of those, too.
And so I went to the daylily farm, with focus.
I ended up talking to one of the owners for a few minutes and found out that he has collected many of Brother Charles’ daylilies, so now I’m convinced I’ve found my way, my focus, for daylilies. I’m sure I’ll be able to get a nice selection from him later this summer.
This is just one of the daylily fields at Soules Garden.
I think they have close to four acres altogether, but not all are planted in daylilies.
The owner held this bloom in his hand and said it was a perfect “Sabine Baur”.
It’s not a Reckamp and it ain’t a spider type, but he was pretty excited about it, so maybe I should get one? See how I am keeping my focus?
I could hardly keep up in the conversation with the owner. He was pretty excited about the daylilies, in a contagious sort of way. Unfortunately, he couldn’t show me many Reckamps because a lot of them bloom later, and will probably be in bloom ‘next week’.
Now I have a reason to go back.
I think I should get this one, though I don’t know it’s name.
It’s close enough to a spider type for me
This ain’t no ‘Stella’!
Maybe I should get one of these, whatever it is (told you I could hardly keep up).
Here’s one of those spider type daylilies that I want.
There was another yellow one, too.
It’s a lot to see, so rest your eyes on this picture for a minute.
Soules Gardens also carries all kinds of hostas and shade-loving plants.
Over in the shade, I saw this little ground cover and thought it would look nice in my fairy garden.
I asked about it, and one of the workers laughed and said “that stuff we throw away all the time, it’s aggressive”. Then she went to find out its name. It’s Kenilworth Ivy, Cymbalaria muralis. She gave me a bag of it as I left, and I’m still deciding if I should actually plant it in my garden. It’s so cute with it’s little leaves and tiny flowers! Part of me says, “No, do not plant that under any circumstances!” The other part says, “What a cute ground cover that would be in the fairy garden!” Which one of me should I listen to?
How’s this for a daylily that isn’t yellow?
I don’t usually like red flowers, but…
Something in this lighter shade of coral pink might do well in my garden.
No, sorry, I don’t know it’s name, either. Did I mention they had hundreds and hundreds of different kinds of daylilies?
Now that I have finally found a focus (can’t you tell?) in the vast world of daylilies, it’s time, past time, to say good-bye to Stella, to plant some other daylilies, starting with ‘Seminole Wind’, a free daylily they were giving to everyone who stopped by.
This picture is from their website.
Stella, don’t make this so hard on me! Stop blooming, darn it.
Oh, don’t wilt. I’m sorry! Okay, Stella, you can stay, but not in the prime spots in the garden, is that okay? I’ll tuck you in here and there, maybe give you to some of the neighbors or my sisters.
After all, you do bloom and re-bloom, and you bloom early and you were one of the first flowers in this garden. I’ll admit your flowers are kind of pretty, and I guess it isn’t directly your fault everyone likes you and you ended up so common. Just promise you’ll behave around the new daylilies, okay?
I gave away half (15 or so) of my Stella’s last year to a new gardener and another half this year went into the church landscape…but I missed a few. And that’s OK. I remember my “investment” in five of these now-ubiquitous daylilies when they were first introduced. Rebloomers, after all.
I love red daylilies, and left my first mail order plants, 3 ‘GFrankly Scarlet’ daylilies at our old house. Thankfully we have some reds here, but we also have the Stellas, which bloom early and look bad for the rest of the summer.
I think the spider daylilies are a good choice.
Flip a coin over the ground cover, and if you plant it, contain it! It IS very cute though…
So many daylilies, so little time!
I got Stella when she first came out, but after she started lurking around gas stations like some kind of lily hooker, the bloom was off the lily, so to speak.
Now that you have a few daylily varieties in your yard, are you tempted to try hybridizing your own special “May Dreams” daylily? I’ve been browsing through the glorious pictures over at Daylily Dreaming and wishing that lilies grew better in Austin so I could give it a try.
Hi Carol, it seems you have entered the portal of the wonderful land of the daylilies. Your choices are good, but I want to say that even if you dig up every single Stella, there will be that one piece of root that will grow back. It might take a year or two, but it will be back. Maybe try the little groundcover in a container in the fairy garden? I look forward to seeing what you cannot resist on your next trip, and the next, and the next, ad finitum.
Daylily love, there isn’t anything like it…many will attest to it…Daylilies were my first garden love! It’s a crush you may never get over! Not a bad one, either!
Speaking of Daylilies and one must capitalize as it is a capital plant…I recommend Hyperion, not ruffled or diamond dusted; a nice yellow, but not screaming yellow, it’s a sweet lemon yellow with fragrance. Look it up and see if you think it’s good looking. Also, Autumn Minaret scapes are over 6 foot tall and I think they are divine…I have them on my order list! Carol. thanks for letting me ramble! The link is so appreciated! Thanks,
Gail
One’s head does tend to spin during a visit to a daylily farm. You can’t see all the beautiful selections at one visit.
So many daylily’s and not enough room, if only we could plant them all. 🙂
You seem to have OD-ed on poor Stella. It’s not her fault almost everybody and their auntie Maud likes her, poor thing. And oh how fickle we are in our affections. Speaking of which, I’m posting about the passionate love affair I’m having with The Doctor. Now the 64.000 dollar question is: will it last? 😉
I agree! Life is too short for ubiquitous daylilies. I only have a few right now, but I’ve dug a line into my back yard for a whole row of them.
(Two that are blooming:http://metaphyta.blogspot.com/2008/07/two-daylilies-in-bloom.html)
Poor Stella; nobody likes her any more. If you remember, I did my June Bloom Day post on her, but sad to say, my feelings about her have begun to wane. As you say, you see her everywhere! The problem in the commercial plantings, I think, is that often she’s out there all by herself, not as a complement to other plants. Or she’s so crowded because nobody thinks to divide her up.
All my Stellas have to be divided this fall anyway. I never throw away plants that are thriving, so I hope I can find enough friends who’ll take passalongs:) Like you, I’ve become entranced by all the beautiful daylily varieties I’ve seen on several blogs. Frances has to be the daylily queen!
I agree, I have been hanging on to my stellas until my other plants fill in, then off to the garden of someone who will love them more than I do!
I am not too wild about Stellas massed on their own, but I do like to have them interspered among other plants. I think it is their reblooming that makes them so popular.
Jan
Always Growing
Carol,
I was looking at my Stellas and thinking the same thing! They are faithful and ever-blooming. But – plain old yellow – not much flair. Like you, I kind of cringe in embarrassment to see them at the gas station.
I’ll bet you’ll find a good place for them. A little corner of the side yard that needs a little yellow, perhaps?
Carol,
No ‘Stella’ here, but I have another one that will be featured in a post for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.
What type of daylily is the yellow one with the pink center? I love that color combination!
Cathy
I never see flowers like that before. Beautiful. I like the color of Sabine Baur.
You’re such a softy. It is hard to get rid of something that insists on doing so well so faithfully.
I’d get that ‘Sabine Bauer’ in a heartbeat! But then I like purple Daylilies. I think I’m the only gardener in the Midwest who doesn’t have ‘Stella’ & never did. It’s too orange for my taste.
I’m so glad you didn’t banish Stella altogether from your garden. You’re right, it isn’t her fault. And really, you gotta love a flower that’s so darn perfect in so many ways. Even if she is as common as an old shoe.
Just dig up more of your yard for those other daylilies, Carol. 😉
Stella is beautiful! I love yellow flowers, they make the garden such a happy place. I also like the common flowers, as long as they appeal to me, I don’t mind that they are everywhere else. I am glad you let her stay, even though not a prime spot.
Stellas have their place, but as you know if you have visited my blog on a regular basis, I have a very bad day lily habit. I keep telling my husband that I can stop any time, I only want one more “dose”. . .
Welcome to the addiction!
Will ‘Radrazz’ Knockout rose be next? Say it ain’t so. I see it everywhere in commercial plantings here in Austin, and yet I love it so! I don’t want it to become common as dirt, but if it does I will grow it anyway. What’s wrong with dirt, after all?
Still, I’d fall for those more glamorous daylilies too. They are real beauties.
Heh, my own Stella is in a fairly shady spot, so she sulks (but blooms), and stays a reasonable size. (For now.) I am a daylily addict as well, my current desire is for more spiders and double blooms. Your selections look very nice, did you buy that ‘Sabine Baur’? Very cool, they sure had a lot to wish for! Luckily, the habit never gets dull! 🙂
You went to soule’s and didn’t take me with you? I protest! When you get all those daylillies and they start spreading, I won’t ask for any (that’s against the rules, isn’t it?)
Because of the poison ivy, I didn’t see this until much later. Thanks for the linkage love. Then, I wrote this lovely comment that I now can’t remember about all the good plants on their website and how you couldn’t go wrong with most of them. My computer ate my comment. Actually, wifi went down right then. Wifi is unpredictable out here. I hope you buy new ones in pinks and purples and lemon yellow.~~Dee
I, too, gave up on Stella. My issue, too puny. I like big and bold. It was a nice relationship while it lasted, but its time to move on to bigger and better. H.