Week of August 2, 2020

DAYLILIES are an important part of the Upstate New York flower garden.  One variety has naturalized to grow wild in large beds in the culverts along the country roads of Keuka Bluff.  We have three beds of them.  At TAProots farm, a very hardy variety occupies beds on both sides of the drive to the door to the basement.  The clumps are rather large but have not yet occupied the entire bed, along with some Russian sage, Rudbeckia, and butterfly bush.  At the Lakehouse, we have two beds, one by the side of Westbluff Drive, where our driveway goes up the hill.  This is a dry, windy spot so they need lots of leaf mulch.  The second bed is Nonny’s garden next to the house.  There, we have planted several varieties purchased last summer from the Daylily breeder’s sale over on Seneca Lake.  They had hundreds of varieties that got established last summer and give us flowers now.  They bloom from July to early August and add rich maroon and bronze colors as well as different types of blossoms including spider varieties.  Daylilies add much to the summer garden and have amazing hardiness in the cold winters and dry summers of Upstate New York.