As strange as it sounds, my secret garden is a daylily garden. That doesn’t mean that I’m a fan of daylilies, on the contrary. It started a few years ago when my wife Jan said the side of our house was an embarrassment and we needed plants. To be honest, it was more like a Garden Guy Gulley.
There are French drains in the back yard to drain the water – and by out I mean, it flows down the side garden, the area of Jan’s dissatisfaction. By their very nature, side courtyards are often problem areas. What do we do?
The main considerations are: will it be seen from the street side and your neighbors? And the most important criterion of all, is it a thoroughfare on which you, friends and family can get from A to B, like from the front yard to the back yard? Mine wasn’t any of the above, and to make this lost weed bed with drainage issues worse, it’s the location for the air conditioning as well.
Absurdly, this is my best area for sun and earth, except for dead center, where the water flows downhill. So two years ago I started planting Rainbow Rhythm daylilies like Orange Smoothie, Sound of My Heart and Storm Shelter. I added Fluffy Arborvitae for evergreen interest and finally to be a foil or screen for air conditioning.
I also planted some Bloom-A-Thon Repeat Azaleas and a couple of Camellia Sasanquas. At the end of summer Jan said, “Why are you doing this, nobody can see?” Please don’t tell her I wrote that in this column.
This year I’ve added new Unplugged Pink Salvia which will debut next year along with Rockin Salvias and Truffula Pink Gomphrena. I also added 10 more daylilies. They represent informal drifts of five each from Rainbow Rhythm King of the Ages and Rainbow Rhythm Lake of Fire. Both are like thoroughbred racehorses with tall, large foliage, strong flowers or flower stems and enormous flowers. My first bloom in 2021 was Lake of Fire, and when the garden is compared to basketball, it’s full of daylily contestants’ double doubles and triple doubles.
Then the killer: I added river rocks in the middle of the catchment area. A couple of passes with rock sacks on a hand truck brought me to near cardiac arrest, so I borrowed the trailer from neighbor Dave to attach to my lawnmower. That made the move a lot easier, but by the end of the project I was on my hands and knees when the back screamed.
But I love the new secret garden and have also added a few sun hats and red hot pokers.
There are now 11 choices in the Rainbow Rhythm series of daylilies. They all look like competitive quality, which addresses an important point. For the next several weeks, the American Hemerocallis Society chapters across the country will be hosting daylily shows and, most likely, educational programs. These are usually fun events for the whole family.
By then, you should know that daylilies are easy to grow and require at least six hours of direct sunlight each day for optimal performance. The best results are achieved with raised beds that are rich in organic matter. My fertile soil has good drainage and seems perfect.
You may not have tried daylilies because the flowers only last for a day. Remember that every scape or flower stalk has a lot of buds as I mentioned above and these open in a row which gives you beauty not only for days but weeks and even months if they repeat themselves.
I know that, my wife was right, our back garden was embarrassing and has now turned into my secret garden.
Rainbow Rhythm daylilies and a dozen pollinator-friendly perennials from a baker make me look for the next addition, an old teak chair or an old bench. I promise I will have my camera in hand.
Rainbow Rhythm Lake of Fire is new for 2021 and was the first daylily to flower in The Garden Guy’s home in May.
Rainbow Rhythm Sound of My Heart inspires with pure elegance and mysterious beauty.
Norman Winter, gardener, garden spokesman and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden”. Follow him on Facebook @NormanWinterTheGardenGuy.
