Hyperion Daylily
It’s time for new year’s resolutions. It’s not the end of the year, but it is the end of the gardening season. Bulbs have been planted, perennials that need it have been cut back. There’s nothing left to do but review the past season and look ahead to spring.
Fru Dagmar Hartop rose in fall
Fru Dagmar Hartop rose in bloom
Mystery Peony
Keepers
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Hyperion Daylily
This is one of my favorite new acquisitions this year. I picked it up at a local plant sale last spring because it was cheap. Hyperion is a late bloomer with narrow pointed petals and a lovely buttery lemon yellow color. I’m an heirloom plant buff, so the fact that it dates to the 1920s adds to its allure for me. According to the plant sale proprietor, it does well in light shade, so I’ll be spreading this one around my garden in the years to come.
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Fru Dagmar Hartop Rugosa Rose
I planted two of these two years ago, one on either side of my front steps. They are my first rugosas, but certainly not my last. The thick, dark green leaves are untroubled by insects or disease. The long, pointed buds are more like those of a modern rose than an old garden rose, but the fragrant simple blossoms open a pretty clear pink with a halo of bright yellow stamens, and are followed by large red hips. Fru Dagmar Hartop blooms sporatically through the summer and in fall, the folliage turns a lovely gold.
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Mystery Peony
When we moved into this house 16 years ago, there was a double white peony in the front garden that produced only a few buds each spring, most of which turned brown before opening. I finally pulled it out. A year or so later, a volunteer appeared where the old peony had been. I wasn’t sure, but it appeared to be a peony too. So I left it. A few more years went by. The seedling reappeared each spring, each year a little bigger than the last. This spring, it bloomed. Wow, did it bloom! Three single magenta blossoms with glowing yellow stamens.
Not So Much
In this painful recession, it’s hard to get rid of anything. I feel like I’m laying someone off if I yank a plant from my garden. But there are a few denizens of my garden that I’ve left too long. Next spring, I’m finally going to pull them.
Razzmatazz Daylily
Diseased lungwort leaf
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Johnson’s Blue Geranium
I’ve had two of these in my front garden for at least 10 years. They are a floppy mess in bloom. So I cut them back and try to enjoy the foliage. Sometimes in September, they bloom again, this time with less scraggly abandon, but those few blossoms don’t make up for the unattractive unruliness in June.
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Razzmatazz Daylily
Arbitrary, I know, but I just don’t like the color. Maybe I’ll give them another shot tucked in with something yellow…
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Lungworts
A friend gave these to me a long time ago. They bloom nicely in spring, but are always overtaken by powdery mildew and some other leaf-rotting ailment in midsummer. I’ve moved them around the garden, hoping to find them a spot where they might do better, but to no avail. This year, I’m moving them out.
