The “Daylily Garden”, so named because of the predominant genus, contains other plants, too. The “others” serve as compliments in form, texture, or color and carry the garden’s succession of bloom, texture, and form combinations into other months. Even though there are daylilies (hemerocallis) planted in this garden that bloom in August or September–most color this part of the garden in the seventh month.
The wonderful or not-so-wonderful aspect of daylilies is that they need constant dead-heading and scape removal as they “go bye”. Wonderful because it forces me into the garden early morning (too hot later in the day for me) wherein I end up marveling at the sheer beauty and variety of color and flower shape in their amazing individual details. Gives me the opportunity to inhale the sweet fragrance of the Daphne blooming not too far away and move in symphony with the bird calls and the sound the tree leaves make.
In other words, the task of cleaning the daylilies brings me into the “presence” of the garden. And those moments end up being ones to savor and remember as I enjoy the garden later in the day and appreciate the shifting light on the colorful forms.
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