Favorite Daylilies

When Edna St. Vincent Millay said, "Oh World, I cannot hold thee close enough," she must have been standing in front of a daylily bed. I just can't seem to tamp down my enthusiasm for hemerocallis.  I have accumulated 35 varieties, each of which is catalogued, mapped and photographed.  Most of them I've acquired from generous gardening friends, and I do not know the names.  I brought a few from my Pittsburgh garden, dating to pre-obsession.  In that move I threw out the tags, so I no longer know the names.  Of all the garden things  I've disposed of, what I would most like to have back are those tags so that I could identify my original daylilies.  This morning as I was walking through the garden I took a few pictures so that I could share my very favorites.

Aubrey Johnson 

dollops of orange sherbert

Ice Carnival

Huge blossoms of lemon, lemon, pure lemon

No Name

It is as if God dipped his brush in burgundy paint to grace each petal

Barbara Mitchell

delicate pink, huge sparkly blossoms

No Name

The purplest in my garden, complementing every shade of rose and purple around it.  Huge.

No Name

This is the dearest little one, growing in bridal bouquet size.  I want it on the edge of EVERYTHING

No name

My favorite pure red.  Next to Shasta Daisy, it is a show-off.

Woodland Romance

"Romance" fits.  My heart stops whenever I look at this one.

No Name

Hovers between butter and cantaloupe, a color that is greatly needed to balance my too many reds.

No Name

So smooth and sweet I really believe I can feel it smiling at me.

I have not caved in to a new variety yet this year and it looks hopeful that I will be able to say that at the end of the season as well.....................unless I happen to see one that is the perfect shade of orange that has thus far eluded me.