Monticello
www.monticello.org
www.gilbertwild.com
Mid-season rebloomer 'Pirates Patch' (Top) is a perfect foil for 'Happy Returns.' (Above) Work in THREEs, so select a third complementary variety such as 'Indiscreet.'(Below)
August 2010 zipped by for The Green Man, and already tomorrow is September 1st! The Labor Day Weekend means time to take advantage of seasonal daylily sales. The Green Man recommends intensive incorporation of daylilies into the landscape site for a multiplicity of reasons:
low-cost
tough, bullet-proof-level groundcover for difficult areas (with sun)
color
low-managemnt
high pest-resistance
extended blooming season
vrieties of colors, shapes, and sizes,
prolific reproduction
ease of dividing and transplanting.
Alas, daylilies are not deer-resistant, so they will have to be protected and are not suitable for deer browse areas.
Prolific, workhorse daylily 'Happy Returns'
OK, let's get started. The Green Man recommends that clients select PRIMARY YELLOW as the "tie-together" color around the site. This means incoporating daylily "HAPPY RETURNS" in primary yellow in extensive drifts around the site on all sides of the
residence.
Create some drifts at the far edges of the property to make the site look larger and to create color drama away from the house itself. NEVER USE the chrome yellow "STELLA D'ORO," an intrinsically- fine variety but today grossly-overused to the extent that it now says,"commercial property." Leave it the Taco Bells. Use PRIMARY YELLOW.
Once the locations of drifts of "Happy Returns" are defined and designated, select areas for 1 to 3 contrasting beds of a complementary rebloomer such as The Green Man favorite, "My Sweetheart Returns" or "Apricot Sparkles." Use the contrasting selection in a 1:3 ration. For example, create THREE free-form beds of "Happy Returns" for ONE drift of "My Sweetheart Returns."
Daylily 'My Sweetheart Returns' is a perfect complement to 'Happy Returns.'
Now, you're ready for selecting some non-rebloomers or short-season rebloomers to accent the 'Happy Returns' beds. Simply append an smaller area to a rebloomer drift, and fill it with the variety you enjoy that works with the house color scheme: Use burgundies, peach-tones, corals, subtle pinks, pale yellows, light golds. Avoid magenta and muddy mauves, and anything multicolored and flashy. NEVER CARELESSLY MIX MULTIPLE VARIETIES IN THE SAME DRIFT, or the effect of charm, color, and nuance is lost. Also, note the mature height of each variety as the tallest go the the rear of the drift.
The Green Man likes SMOKEY'S GARDEN for value-packed autumn dayliliy sales as an adjunct to Gilbert Wild, and the site provide all kinds of details about each variety and whether or not it is a rebloomer:
www.smokeysdaylilygardens.com
