Tuesday, July 15, 2008


Our first open garden of the summer was on June 28th when the temperature in the garden surpassed 100 degrees and just about everything, both plant and animal, drooped and swooned. The daylilies were late and there were only about a half dozen cooked blossoms open that day. I promised to have the garden open again when the daylilies began to bloom and the weather was cooperative. It looks like a window of opportunity will open this coming Saturday, so we'll hope that the forecast is accurate and will be open from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. on July 19th. There should be plenty of summer color to enjoy.

5 comments:

Jim said...

Gail,
I was hoping you could help. I am looking for the best true pink daylily that will grow vigorously here in Portland. Currently I grow 'Janice Brown' and love the plant but its quite salmon for me. Perhaps I could add something to the soil to make it pinker? If you have any suggestions that would be great...Thank you!

Gail Austin said...

Hi Jim,

The best pink in my garden is 'Pink Playmate' hybridized by Al Rogers in our own climate. It reliably reblooms, too.

Daylily color is most affected by heat and light. In our climate, we don't have warm nights until July. Once the night time temperature is consistently above 50 degrees, the colors are more saturated. Unfortunately, the really hot days tend to "fry" the blossoms. Perfect daylily weather is when we have 70 to 85 degree days and those warmer nights. We also all see color differently, so what may look pink to me might not look that pink to you. Pictures don't always reflect the true color, either. I hope this helps.....Gail

Jim said...

Thank you Gail!

Unknown said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said...


Hello Gail ,

I was wondering if you could help me with my day lily . They are currently not doing so well in front of the house . In New Mexico we get a lot of sun and I water them every day , they are starting to turn yellow and I don’t know if I’m over watering them or if I’m not giving enough water . The soil is pretty wet most of the time