Yesterday was a wash as far as photographing the garden, and I missed quite a few good ones.  The family visited relatives upstate, though, and it really was a very nice day despite missing out on:

• The FFOs of Hemerocallis ‘South Seas’, ‘Desperado Love’ and ‘Hazel’s Stitchery’
• A lovely double bloom on the elusive ‘Daring Dilemma’ (not that it’s all that illusive, other than that it always seems to bloom on days I can’t get out there with the camera)
• ‘Primal Scream’ putting forth several really nice blooms
• My Wisest of Wizards x Outrageous seedling again blooming along side its pollen parent
• ‘Designer Jeans’ really nice trio of blooms
• and more….

Today, however, I’m making up for it, and will plague my visitors with several dozen photographs.  Some of them are from the 25th (up to and including the shot of the two ‘Watermelon Moon/Kid’ blooms), but most are thanks to my decision to take my Sigma tele-zoom/macro lens out and see what it could do.  It’s a new lens for me.  I’d saved up to buy this lens several times, and each time wound up having to spend the money on dumb things like bills and emergency vehicle repairs.  So, not long ago, after having heard about the lens and its ill fortune, my dear friend Wes surprised me with a very special gift.  I’m determined to get stable on my feet and get over to the farm with it again, to add to his photo-journal of wildlife rescue.  I’m looking forward to Oscar the Bobcat’s graduation to his outdoor enclosure, in fact … maybe I can finally get some decent shots of him (without having to get close enough to make him grouchy).

So, all shots from the 27th are taken with this lovely lens.  It’s not a hugely expensive one as photographic glass goes, but I think it does a fine job.  I hadn’t really messed with the macro features before now … and, as you can see, they appear to work just fine.  Several of these shots (‘Emperor’s Dragon’, ‘Siloam Double Classic’, and others) were taken before I’d even left the front porch, in fact … close-ups without being anywhere near the plant.  I’m particularly fond of the macro shot of the heart of ‘Primal Scream’.  Well, I’m particularly fond of ‘Primal Scream’, anyway.

So, enjoy!

Do you have a collection of flower photos online you’d like to share?  Leave a comment with a link!

Related posts:

1. Daylily Pictures, July 14th and 15th
2. Daylily Photos of the Day
3. Sunny Daylily Day

Life has had me overly occupied for the past several days, so this is the first Garden Journal update for the week.  Thanks for your patience!  I’ve got photos from two different days, though missed taking pictures in between.  I missed the first flower opening on several, including Hemerocallis ‘Daring Dilemma’, a lovely that I truly would have liked to share with you all.  Several others had FFOs that didn’t get photographed, but I’ve got subsequent blooms in today’s batch.  H. ‘Daring Dilemma’ will bloom again, and I’ll be sure to capture it for you.

Today’s grand star is one of my all time favorites, H. ‘Wisest of Wizards’.  The first year I planted this cultivar, it bloomed magnificently.  We then had a strange winter with deep freezes, thaws, and more freezes that knocked the poor dear for a loop.  For two … or is it three? … years in a row I got no blooms.  Indeed, the second season, I thought I’d lost the plant all together, for it only put up a few scraggly fans.  This year, however, it’s back in full swing, has propogated nicely, and has a number of healthy scapes up, full of buds.

H. ‘Real Wind’ is another one I’m particularly fond of.  It has a color and shape that is unlike any other daylily out there, and always is a real stand-out in the garden.

I’ve got another “Candy” blooming.  H. ‘Blackberry Candy’, a gift from my good friend Dede, is in bloom, and really doing well this year, despite being crowded by a couple of out-of-control climbing rose bushes.  Dede is also the origin of H. ‘Siloam Double Classic’, ‘Todd Monroe’, ‘Darius’ , ‘Barbary Corsair’ and ‘Hazel’s Stitchery’.  The latter has buds, but has yet to bloom this season.

H. ‘Matt’, which got a rough start with all of the blooms coming out damaged in some way, is finally doing much better, and shared a nice picture with us today.  Some other first flowers opened on H. ‘Eye-Yi-Yi’ and ‘Chamonix’.  If I had to pick a “favorite child”, which of course no parent is supposed to do, I think it would be ‘Chamonix’.  The combination of colors and shape of the bloom is so unique, the blooms large and profuse, and the scapes grow tall and really stand out in the garden.  Today’s first bloom isn’t a perfect one, but I know ‘Chamonix’ well, and there will be many perfect blooms to come.  Visitors will be sick of it by the time the season ends, I’m sure!

H. “Watermelon Kid” is what that lovely peachy-orange eyed daylily was tagged at the HADS function I brought it home from.  However, I discovered that there is no such cultivar registered with the American Hemerocallis Society.  It does strongly resemble a Stamile registrant called ‘Watermelon Moon’, however.  I’m not certain that’s what I’ve actually got in my garden … but it’s a possibility.  What do you think?

A couple of my “dragons” are also blooming, though I missed photographing the firsts on both.  H. ‘Oliver DragonTooth’ and ‘Emperor’s Dragon’ are lovely today, despite being trapped behind the wheelchair ramp.

The ramp will soon be coming down, though, as I’m finally upright again, and find that I handle stairs on the crutches better than the slope.  Besides, if my Dad gets approved for his power chair, he’s going to be needing his wheelchair ramp back!

I love my garden strolls.  They make me feel almost normal again, even if balancing the camera and the crutches at the same time might keep me slightly off kilter.  I hope my website visitors have been enjoying the photos!  Drop me a line, leave a comment, let everyone know what your own favorite garden subjects are.  Do you recognize any of my “unknowns”?  How about “Watermelon Kid” — is it really ‘Watermelon Moon’?

I’d love to hear from you!

Related posts:

1. Daylily Macro Photography
2. Daylilies on a Cool July Morning
3. Sunny Daylily Day

The past two days have seen some lovely blooms, including a few first flowers of the season.  Today, you’ll find “FFO” pictures of Hemerocallis ‘Custard Candy’ and H. ‘Barbary Corsair’, as well as some shots of blooms you’ve already met this season.  My favorite of the batch is the shot of H. ‘Lady Inara’, with the white background. It looks so nicely set up, doesn’t it?  We won’t tell anyone that the nice white backdrop is just our propane tank, okay?

Did you know that if you select to view the images with PicLens, by clicking the link at the top of the thumbnail section, you’ll find a really cool way to enjoy photos online?  You can also install CoolIris, a fun way to turn your image viewing into a 3D wall of pictures that you can move around, re-angle, and share with friends.

Last night brought rain.  And rain, and rain, and rain.  I fell asleep around one listening to it pounding the roof, and it had been coming down in sheets since early evening.  I was glad to wake up and find out that today’s blooms weren’t too badly pummeled by water damage, and that the sun is shining.  It’s a beautiful, warm but not oppressive, summer day.

I’m particularly glad the weather cleared, and plans to stay clear, today.  New York Wildlife Rescue Center is having our Open House, and the dedication of our new Raptor Center!  We’ll be open to the public from 4pm to 6pm, giving tours of the facility, and thanking our supporters for their generosity.  I’ll be there, as will all of our dedicated board members and many of our volunteers.  I’ve been chatting about the event here, and on Facebook, as has Wes been blogging and sharing, for weeks now.  The local, and some not so local, newspapers and TV news stations have picked up the story, and we’re looking forward to a great turnout.

Education about wildlife, and animal rescue, is so important.  As we humans have encroached upon the habitats of our wild neighbors, we’ve created more and more trouble for them.  Animals hit by cars, killed by domestic pets, uprooted from their nests by farm machinery, construction and logging … all of these innocents need help to find their way back to the life that nature intended for them.  Wildlife rehabilitators are our society’s way of saying, “I’m sorry, here … let me help.”  We can never give back what has been taken from the natural world … but we can try, at least, to make things better.

One reason I blog about wildlife, as do so many other rehabbers, is to help people understand the wonderful beasts around them, and what they should, and should not … can, and sometimes can not … do to help protect nature’s balance.  Every state, and I’m sure most regions in most countries, has people upon whom you can call when you find an animal in distress.  It helps greatly when people understand the needs and restrictions involved, and the animal has been properly handled (and most often, not handling at all is the proper thing!) before the rehabilitator is able to take over.  So often, we will receive animals which have been incorrectly handled or fed by well-meaning people who simply don’t know what’s correct, and we will be unable to save them.

Education is a big part of what NY Wildlife Rescue Center does.  Today will be a very special day when we can teach hands-on, while at the same time welcoming and expressing our appreciation for the many friends who have supported the cause.  The center has come such a long way.  When I look back on where we were a year ago, compared to now, it’s astonishing.  We could not have done it without our donors, supporters, and volunteers!  We still have a long way to go to build the facility that is so greatly needed.  Our Raptor Center is only finished with Phase One … the Phase Two outdoor flight aviary is still in the planning, and funding is needed and appreciated.  However, it’s a great privilege, one which we are all incredibly excited about, to make today a day that we can say “Thank You” to everyone who’s been so kind.

I hope to see many of our friends there today.  If you are in the upstate New York area, within driving distance of Schoharie County, hop on into the car and take a ride to Middleburgh.  The Center is located on Llama Lane (though the sign says Llama Rd.), at Red Maple Farm, which sits just beyond the Middleburgh Cemetery off Huntersland Road, right behind the Middleburgh Diner.   Normally, the Center is only open by appointment, but from four to six this afternoon, our arms and our gates are open!

See you there, and “watch this space” for photos and an account of a very special day!

Related posts:

1. NY Wildlife Rescue Center’s Open House
2. Daylily Macro Photography
3. NY Wildlife Rescue’s Raccoon & Skunk Release

It’s much warmer here in upstate NY today than it’s been so far this week.  Very sunny, it actually feels like summer.  The flowers seem to be enjoying it, of course.

Today’s pictures include shots taken yesterday and today.  There are a few FFOs (First Flower Open) and some repeats of cultivars that have given me particularly nice blooms.

Due to the heat, and a complaining knee, I didn’t spend as much time wandering about today, but I still managed to get a few of the flowers to smile for the camera.

I was particularly pleased to see Elegant Candy blooming today.  It lives in my “Candy Bed” on the other side of the driveway, with its siblings Wineberry, Custard, Vanilla and Cherry.  I also have Strawberry Candy and Blackberry Candy in other areas of the yard.  Strawberry’s photo is in today’s collection; the others haven’t bloomed yet.

Orange Vols is a cultivar I received as a gift plant and it’s turned out to be a very prolific bloomer and spreads quite well.  Outrageous, one of my all time favorites, opened a very nice FFO yesterday and today gave me a polytepal bloom.

Marilin Siwik, who didn’t get its picture featured today because the sun was casting odd shadows on the shots I managed to get, continues to bloom and is fast becoming a particular favorite of mine.  There are quite a few others I’m waiting to see first flowers of the season … some of them first flowers, period … on this year, too.  I look forward to sharing them with you.

I also spent some time the past two mornings at NY Wildlife Rescue Center.  Remember, those who are within driving distance, you’re invited to this Saturday’s Open House!  Details are on the blog at http://nywildliferescue.blogspot.com, and you can contact the center through their website at http://redmaplefarm.net as well.  Check out today’s blog, in fact.  A very young cottontail rabbit came in last night, so tiny it doesn’t even have fur yet.  It hasn’t taken well to the bottle, and Hannah solved the problem this morning with a genius of a plan.  She has a lovely, sweet pet rabbit who had babies several weeks ago.  Momma bunny lay quietly on her lap for about half an hour and allowed the little orphan to nurse this morning.  I put a picture I snapped with my cell on the blog entry from today.

Enjoy!

Related posts:

1. Daylily Macro Photography
2. Daylilies on a Cool July Morning
3. Sunny Daylily Day

Today our Nursery Web Spider again begins the photo parade.  She nearly toppled me.  As I bent to photograph her, I had to lay down the crutches, got a foot caught in the grass, and nearly went face first into her nest.  Methinks she would not have been pleased.  I caught myself against the porch post, though, and saved both of us a bit of stress.  It seems the poor girl has had enough stress in her life already.  I realized after taking this photo, and closely examining it, that she’s missing a leg!

Hemerocallis ‘Lady Inara’ is next in line.  This is a very old cultivar, and I’ve had it in my garden for almost twenty years.  There are two main clumps, one here, and the parent plant on the side of the house.  The front planting always blooms a week or two before its momma due to getting more direct sun.

I had thought H. ‘Mauna Loa’ was not putting in a showing, but I discovered that one of the scapes I thought was coming from “Not Matt” was, in fact, from ‘Mauna Loa’!  I’m most pleased.  It opened quite a lovely first flower for the season today, and I’m happy to be able to share it with you.  Have you ever seen such an orange?

H. ‘Fooled Me’ grows alongside the triangle corner garden, right to its west.  I’ve mentioned how profuse and prolific this daylily is before, and thought I’d grab a shot of a clump of blooms all on simultaneous display.  There were actually several more open, but this grouping gave me the nicest photo.

This pretty peach is a good sized bloom, probably six inches across, and was given to me by my friend Ruth.  The garden tag was lost, so we don’t know what it is, but it is a registered cultivar.

And down on the west edge of our property is our sideways tree.  This huge old grandfather was toppled by an ice storm this winter.  We were totally shocked when, as we discussed how to cut up and haul away such a large tragedy, it sprouted buds.  The tree is in full leaf … lying on its side.  We don’t know how long it’ll stay that way, but it surprised us by coming back this spring.  I guess we’ll have to wait and see what next spring brings.

Related posts:

1. Daylily Photos of the Day
2. Sunny Daylily Day
3. My Kingdom For a Garden Cart

Why is it the simple things so often turn out to be not quite so simple?  Apparently WordPress’s internal gallery feature has decide it doesn’t want to work any more.  I saw that people were having trouble with this after upgrading to 2.8, and thought 2.8.1 fixed it.  I apparently didn’t have a problem till after the x.1 “fix” … and even then, it worked yesterday, but I can’t access the Gallery feature for photo display today.  So, I’ve installed the NextGen gallery plugin and am going to try that.

Please forgive the experimentation!

That said….

It’s another beautiful morning.  Yesterday was as well, and then the storms moved in during the evening, and lasted most of the night.  I rather enjoy waking to the world washed clean, but it might have been nicer if I’d gotten more sleep last night.  Said storms were of the louder variety.  We have had rain, aside from two days that I can recall, in some form pretty much every day for several months.  I know this is probably good for the gardens, but it does make it rather tedious for campers and picnic fans.

Next Saturday, our New York Wildlife Rescue Center is having their Open House to celebrate the phase one construction of the new raptor housing.  I’m truly hoping the weather gods will smile on us that day, and give us an entire day without a soaking.  I also hope anyone who lives in the New York Capital District and surrounding, who has followed either my blogs or Wes’s at http://nywildliferescue.blogspot.com, can stop by between 4 and 6 PM on the 18th to see the facility.

Back to the Garden….

I hope you enjoy (for that matter, I hope you can see!) the above pictures.  Yes, I know some are duplicates of cultivars I’ve already posted, but I got a couple of nice shots I can’t resist posting.  I like to go from West to East in my narratives and photo display, and hope it worked this time.

Hemerocallis ‘Wineberry Candy’, and H. ‘Pandora’s Box’ are blooming on the other side of the driveway again, but the way the sun was hitting them cast some odd shadows over there, so the photos didn’t come out so hot.  The first picture for today, if it all displayed properly, then, isn’t actually of a daylily at all.  A Nursery Web Spider has taken up residence in my H. ‘Siloam Show Girl’ clump … which is not in bloom yet.  She’s built quite a large nest, and it appears to be jam-packed with eggs.  Nursery Web Spiders are excellent pest-eaters, and I hope she and her babies might have a taste for such things as Japanese Beetles and Tent Caterpillars.  We shall see!

That “Ugly Betty” seedling of mine has given me what is probably the prettiest bloom to date.  I caught it with the blue sky above and the Asiatic lilies coloring the backdrop.

H. ‘Demetrius’ has opened for the first time this season.  I really should move it forward, as it tends to bloom low (so does its child, H. ‘Matt’, at least in my garden) and I always have to move foliage aside to photograph it.  It’s a lovely ruffled light yellow, a nice size bloom, and appears to be quite hardy.  It was one of my first named cultivars.

I have more H. ‘Fooled Me’, ‘Silver Run’, “Not Matt”, ‘Always Afternoon’ in bloom today, and though the flowers are lovely, I am not including them, as the pictures weren’t any better than others I’ve already shared.  H. ‘Strawberry Candy’ bloomed yesterday, but the flower had rain damage and never opened fully … it’s a prolific little thing, so I’ll wait for some nicer blooms for the photo sessions.

H. ‘Prester John’ has the nicest bloom so far, and I’m pleased to include a shot of it.  I love this double, which is probably my only reliably reblooming daylily to date.  It will bloom for a long stretch early in the season, and then give me a second run in the late summer.  (At least it has, so far.)

The red I believe to be H. ‘Miss Sally’ has a nice one today, and both of the “unknown reds” in the heart garden to the west of the house are in bloom as well.  I think the more purplish of the two may be H. ‘Craemore Ruby’, at least in comparison to other photos I’ve seen.  The crimson one, as mentioned, bloomed for the first time this season, and it’s quite a striking thing.

Here’s a nice shot, too, of that “not quite a spider, not quite brown, not quite orange” unknown in the heart bed.  I am growing fonder of this one each time it blooms.  H. ‘Audacity Bound’ is also in bloom in that bed today.

I’d love to hear from visitors who enjoy their daylilies, so please feel free to leave a comment on any of these garden journal posts (or anywhere on the site they’re enabled, for that matter).  I do always respond to comments, so your thoughts most definitely won’t go un-noticed.  I love to talk daylilies!

Related posts:

1. A Gallery of Daylilies
2. Daylily Pictures, July 14th and 15th
3. Daylily Photos of the Day

I’m enjoying my daily daylily constitutional.  It does me good to get out on the leg, and make it do some work, even with the aid of crutches.  There are few things I enjoy more than wandering about with my camera around my neck, capturing beautiful things.

Blooming beauties today included the above photo-subjects as well as a number of those which were pictured in yesterday’s post.

I’m particularly pleased with H. ‘Marilyn Siwik’, not the least because it’s taken so long for the darned thing to bloom.  I planted that bed back in … heck, when was it, 2006?  Yes, I believe so, because part of the reason I decided to plant daylilies on that side of the driveway was so that I would have some where Mom could see them.  Mom passed away in November of  ’06, but she at least got to enjoy those that bloomed the first year for a little while.  This particular daylily, though, did not bloom that year — nor the next — nor the next!  I was about to give up on it, or at least try it in a different location, when suddenly this year it’s gorgeous!  It’s much more ruffled than I’d expected,with a lovely blend of hot colors centered around that subtle red eye.

Another in that bed I’m eagerly awaiting blooms on is H. ‘Wisest of Wizards’. ‘WOW’ bloomed like crazy the first year, practically died off over the winter, and hasn’t bloomed again.  This year, though, the plant has returned full force, even spread out considerably, and it has a number of scapes.  It also has a child — which did, in fact, bloom last year.  In the same bed is a cross I did of ‘WOW’ with H. ‘Outrageous’, whose bud-loaded parent clump was pictured in yesterday’s gallery.

I need to see if I can hunt down that rather heirloom-looking brownish spidery cultivar.  I have a long listing of plants that were donated that day at the HADS work-day for their Faddegon’s sale.  I haven’t yet had a lot of luck matching unknowns to the list, and this one has been no exception.  It doesn’t really match any of the descriptions given.  I quite like it, even though it may be somewhat simple and plain.  I guess it’s more a “classic”, similar to good old H. Fulva in form, rather than a true spider, but I wasn’t really sure what to call it.  Regardless, I intend to enjoy it!  If anyone recognizes it, let me know!

There will probably be very frequent updates to the garden journal section of gazehound.com, for as long as I can get out there with my camera for a stretch every day.  I’ll try not to overload you with a lot of repeat photos, but I can’t make any promises.  You never know when some cute little blossom will jump out at me and say “Cheese!”

Related posts:

1. Sunny Daylily Day
2. Daylily Pictures, July 14th and 15th
3. Daylily Macro Photography

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood.  It’s sunny for a change, not too hot, and I took my camera down the ramp and crutched about saying hello to today’s daylily (and other) blooms.  It was really a bit early to take photos, so many of the daylily blooms hadn’t fully opened yet, but I didn’t think ahead and getting up and down the ramp is enough of a task that I decided to just do the photography thing while I was out there.  Tomorrow, I’ll wait till afternoon or early evening, if the rains don’t come back.  The weatherman is saying naughty things about tomorrow, of course, but we shall see.

I actually had more blooming yesterday, but never managed to get out there with the camera.  I so look forward to the day I can just pick the thing up and walk outside again!

There are some real pretties blooming today, though, and I hope you enjoy a couple of the photos I grabbed.  Hemerocallis ‘Wineberry Candy’ is still lovely, and blooming consistently, even though it’s a young plant.  None of the other Candies have opened up yet … that one is apparently the early of the family.  Or at least of the Candy family (thanks to hybridizer Pat Stamile) that I’ve got planted here so far.  Moving from west to east, H. ‘Duke of Durham’ is again peeking up over the wheelchair ramp, and in front of the house I have several Asiatic lilies of unknown varieties blooming.  The white gave me the best picture of the three (there are yellows and reds as well … my little pastel salmon pink ones seem to be putting up deformed blooms this year).

In the corner triangle bed, I have some H. ‘Lady Inara’, which needs to be rescued from the spearmint that’s trying to take over, a bunch of “Not Matt”, my yellow with maroon eye unknown, and H. ‘Silver Run’ in bloom.  Just west of there is lovely H. ‘Fooled Me’.  There is no doubt as to why this plant took Stout Medal awards a few years ago.  It’s lovely, hearty, and very prolific.  I love it!  Then we have equally wonderful H. ‘Always Afternoon’ doing quite well again this year.  It is H. ‘Outrageous’, though, once it gets going, that is going to be the true stunner of 2009.  I couldn’t stand there long enough to count all the buds on that clump, but there have to be a hundred!  I included a shot of the bud count of the clump just so you can see.

Over on the end of the front border, we have H. ‘Prester John’, the yellow double.  This is another plant that I’m very pleased with.  It started out, as all of my “HADS orphans” did, as a tiny slip with a bit of root still attached that someone tossed away as not good enough to bag and tag for the sale.  It’s bloomed consistently every year since, and is spreading nicely.  I missed photographing two really nice blooms on ‘Prester John’ yesterday, as well as a pair of twin blooms on my only other double, H. ‘Siloam Double Classic’ — interestingly enough, however, these ‘Double Classic’ blooms were singles.  That’s the first time my ‘Double Classic’ plant has put forth single blooms, though I have seen that it’s quite common for the cultivar to do this.

We also have several unknowns in that bed … including what I honestly believe to be H. ‘Miss Sally’. I also apparently missed what looks like it was a deep rose colored bloom, one which had not flowered till this year.  I knew I should have gone over there yesterday!

The side border to the west has yellow and red unknowns  in bloom, and it looks as if I missed a bloom yesterday on the unknown peach that my friend Ruth gave me.  And lastly, my “heart garden” by the old satellite pole has several nice blooms today.  The one HADS unknown red which I think may be H. ‘Craemore Ruby’, and another red that just bloomed for the first time (but has really taken off) this year on the other side (titled, here HADS Unknown Crimson Red) are blooming.  H. ‘Audacity Bound’, a huge lovely yellow opened its first bloom of ’09 today, as did that pretty little tall unknown purple I got from the same HADS bag-and-tag work-day.  All of the plants in that bed except for H. ‘Barbary Corsair’ (from my friend Dede) and H. ‘Iced Champagne’ (from a fellow list member on the Daylily Robin) were tiny slips from that work-day, in fact.  This year it appears that all of those work-day throw-aways will be in bloom.

Most of the daylilies have come back, and are doing well.  I’m quite pleased so far with what looks like it’ll be a nice bloom season.  I really need to, somehow, get out there and weed, though.  There’s that “my kingdom for a garden cart” thing again.  My parent H. ‘Lady Inara’ plant has a monstrous bull thistle growing from the center of it, there is tons of spearmint and ragweed and bindweed growing in the beds, and I have got to beat back those climbing rose bushes before they totally over-run the house and kill H. ‘Blackberry Candy’ in the process!

I am currently watching for a couple of plants which struggle due to being a bit overcrowded and shadowed by taller plants in front of them.  In fact, before the sheep hit the fan in September, my plans were to move all of them into a new bed in the fall … so much for the best laid plans, and all that.  Those are H. ‘Dragon Dreams’, H. ‘Dragon’s Eye’, H. ‘So Lovely’, H. ‘Prairie Blue Eyes‘, and H. ‘Mauna Loa’.  It’s funny that H. ‘Demetrius’, which is shorter than and right next to ‘Mauna Loa’ is doing fine, yet I can’t find the ‘Mauna Loa’ plant through the foliage this year.

So, I guess this is probably my first “real” garden journal post this year.  I hope you enjoyed looking at the flowers, and reading their story … and I hope to have plenty more good adventures in the daylily beds to report.

Continue thinking good thoughts for my healing  journey … I never thought I’d find myself saying, “I wish I could weed”!

Related to this article:

• Why crutches?
• American Hemerocallis Society

Related posts:

1. Daylily Photos of the Day
2. Daylily Macro Photography
3. A Gallery of Daylilies

For most people, a casual outing that includes a walk around the yard, a trip to the store, and a stop at a friend’s farm might not be a major deal.  For me, after so many months in a wheel chair, and trapped indoors, and now staying at my Dad’s since he took a bad fall, such a trip is heaven on earth!

I even brought the camera along, and though I’m hardly crawling about following critters in my viewfinder like I used to, I did take a few shots today that I am somewhat pleased with, and thought my site visitors might enjoy, too.

My daylilies have begun to bloom.  Since this initially was a garden journal, I will start with Hemerocallis ‘Wineberry Candy’.  This was a new plant the year before last, bloomed the first time last year, and this year survived a rather close cropping when it got hit with the lawnmower.  It’s interesting that it’s the first plant on that side of the driveway to bloom!  I’ve got a few on the other side as well that were in bloom, or had been, but this was really the best of the flowers for today.  I would have gotten a shot of my “unknown yellows” over on the far side of the house, but walking is not exactly something I do with a great deal of stability yet.  I took a walk over to see them, but after the camera came out, didn’t make a second trip.  Crutches are better than the chair, but they’re still not a great deal of fun!

The kitten is one of the little ones that my husband Joe, and Wes’s wife Darcy, rescued after they were dumped on our road a couple of weeks ago.  Two of the four were adopted already, but this little girl and her sister are still available.  The pair are pretty much identical.  If you live in the capital district of New York (Albany, Schenectady, or within driving distance of Schoharie County) and have just been dying to adopt a sweet, friendly, and really beautiful kitten … drop me a line!  I can get you hooked up real quick!

Lucky, the Golden Retriever, and Harley, the Great Pyrenees puppy, were both dogs rescued by the Laraways who decided they were home to stay.  Lucky has been a beloved family pet for many years, and Harley has just arrived recently.  Harley came along as part of a multi-species major rescue situation which included many sheep, several Great Pyrenees dogs, and Claire the Brown Swiss Cow.  The sheep, in fact, are up for adoption currently.

Though I didn’t get a picture of him, I was introduced to a very naughty Angora Goat who came in recently, as well.  He’s a cute little fellow with a very fresh attitude, and I have a feeling he’ll turn out to be quite a character around the farm!

Though horses have many other rescuers watching out for them, and NY Wildlife Rescue/Northeast Llama Rescue doesn’t normally take them in, there is a small herd of rescued horses who live on the farm.  One of those is JJ, a special friend of the kids.  JJ is a registered Miniature Draft Horse who lived at the farm for some time, was adopted out, and then returned when the owners could no longer keep him.  He’s a sweet, easy-going fellow who appears to feel his lot in life is one of helping children to learn.  In fact, I’ve been promised driving lessons with JJ once my bad leg is finally fully under me again.

I am so looking forward to that!

Related posts:

1. A Gallery of Daylilies
2. Daylily Photos of the Day
3. Daylilies on a Cool July Morning

This whole business of wheelchairs and, more recently, walkers and crutches has left my gardens in a serious state of disrepair.  There are waist-high weeds in some places, and my poor daylilies are being choked to death.  I’m still unable to put weight on the leg … at least enough weight to be stable and to do me any good.  I definitely can’t bend, squat, or sit on the ground.

Well, I guess I could sit on the ground.  Getting up again would be another story.

Last year’s daylilies were so very beautiful.  I approached the end of the season eager to see how the newer ones would spread and grow in the spring.  I planted seeds from a number of different “bee pods” as well as a couple of deliberate crosses.  I had even kept up with the weeding all summer long.  Gardening life was good.

Then that major health disaster struck, and I’ve been on the sidelines of life … at least active life … since.  I really thought I’d be up and about before the weeds, but apparently even plants move faster than I do nowadays.

Nanny's Lilacs

I sure do hope I can either get out there before it’s too late, or find the where-with-all to bribe one of my kids to weed.  I love daylilies, regardless, but they’re so much nicer when you can actually see them!

Not all of the garden scene around here is suffering, however.  When my Mom and Dad first moved up here to the country, back in ’89, Mom’s friend Nellie gave her a couple of little slips from her lilac trees.  Those trees are now about twelve feet high, and this year they are absolutely stunning with bloom.  I’ve never seen them so loaded.  I managed to get out, with my hubby’s help, on the crutches, yesterday and get a (really lousy) shot of them with the telephoto.  The sun was behind the lilacs, so the lighting turned out odd, and I wound up having to hide inside a spruce tree’s branches and shoot through it to block some of the glare on the lens.  But at least you can see just how laden with flowers the lilacs are this spring.  Their perfume fills the air all over the property.  I know that Mom is smiling down from Heaven, most proud of her beautiful blossoms.

Maybe if I ask real nice, Mom will send a garden cart my way.

Related posts:

1. Today’s Garden Photos
2. A Gallery of Daylilies
3. Daylily Photos of the Day