Daylilies At Something New Gardens

Last week I went to the open house of Something New Gardens which specializes in
Daylilies. Linda has over 550 named varieties and what she enjoys most is
hybridizing.
I think I had expected to see rows and rows of Daylilies so I was pleasantly surprised when I pulled up to a beautiful yard full of all kinds of flowers.

I’m just going to be showing flowers and not naming them as it’s so hard for me to
carry the camera and try to take notes also.

At the end of the post there will be a link to the Daylily garden website where you
can look through her catalog with lots of pictures and the names of each
one.

Is this a happy picture or what? I think it's my favorite of all the pictures I
took that day.

The pond is deep enough that they don't have to worry about preditors.

This Daylily is a beauty.

I just love this little guy and his dog fishing.

A Begonia planted upside down - what a great conversation piece.

Adventures of another hummingbird.

This past winter I watched a hummingbird's adventure in our back yard. We had an unusually cold couple of weeks, and this one hummingbird seemed to rely on me hanging the feeder out early each morning. At this time of year there's no need for filling feeders because there
are so many of their favorite flowers blooming. They are all over the front
yard; Fuchsias, Monarda, Verbena bonariensis and the Butterfly bush seem to be
the favorites. Several times a day two will fly past me, one being chased by
another. Sometimes as one is feeding on a flower another will hide in a tree
chirping.
As I walked out the front door I thought I would try to get some
pictures of one of them on the Monarda 'Jacob Cline' since that's always the
most popular.

How lucky that there was one of the Butterfly Bush right then. I was surprised it wasn't on the Bee Balm since that really is the favorite.She didn't stay long, but I did get a couple of pictures.

After she left I thought I'd get the camera focused on the 'Jacob Cline' that I was sure would have a visitor soon. But, then I thought I saw movement under the plants.

One of our neighbor cat's was rolling around under the plants, probably breaking more stems of my flowers. Since they seem to do a pretty good job keeping moles and squirrels and otherunwelcome visitors away from the yard in the past few years I've gotten over beingannoyed with them.

Then I saw his brother peering out, this one is much more shy.I figured no hummingbirds would be around with two cats under the plants, but was quickly surprised when an angry hummingbird began dive bombing the black cat and chirping angrily at him.

She flew just over head to a Weeping Willow and chirped repeatedly, I guess hoping the cats and I would leave.

Here it looks like she dropped her wings down as if to say "I give up" even though she did try dive bombing the cats another time. She eventually flew off and I chased the cats away. Not long after I saw her through the window getting the nectar she was after in peace, by then I had
given up getting any closer pictures and just watched from inside.

Bloomin' Flowers Everywhere . . .

At last my gardens are just popping with life and color. Finally! I have to wait
a little longer up here since it's a bit higher and we're surrounded by huge fir
trees. I'm usually a couple of weeks behind Catherine of so I have to enjoy hers while chomping at the bit!!!
There is so much blooming that I will have to show the rest of them on my next post. I can probably do that tomorrow since our weather is so hot I have to stay in the house now.
My gorgeous Poppy is definitely the star of the show today. I wait
all year to see this one bloom. It reseeded and I even got a few more than last
year.

A closer shot of this delicate beauty!

The Lilies are in full bloom - what the deer didn't chew off that is. We sprayed
repellent and it worked great but then we had record breaking rain and as good
as it is something had to give. Just in time for a second course for the deer.
It was pretty strange though because they didn't eat everything and I even found
some blooms on the ground they didn't eat.

I'm thinking they're showing these cute little babies how it's done and got sloppy.
That or something spooked them. Is this little guy adorable or what? A pain in
the backside as far as eating my flowers but still cute. How mad can I be when I
see this fawn walking around in my yard just daring me to hate him. It's
definitely a love/hate relationship I have with all of the critters around here.
Another Lily - I thought this was where my Stargazer was but it has no speckles. Hmmm, I
must have planted another one here. Wonder where my Stargazer went.

These are some new Lilies I bought last year and the tag didn't say anything about
them. They look like an Oriental Lily to me (but what do I know about Lilies)
and they are really short. My neighbor said they are just called border lilies.
Who cares, they're pretty and just a beautiful rich color.

Would you believe I still have a Columbine blooming? Cardinal Song.My new from last year Dicentra Burning Hearts. It's suppose to bloom up to fall.

The Bleeding Hearts are still blooming. The purple Jacobs Ladder in the
background sure looks great with this pink.

Jacobs Ladder
I am so excited that I have Delphiniums. I've tried for almost
20 years to grow them and couldn't. But last year I had one show up from a
packet of seeds and it came back this year. Then I bought 2 this year and they
are still blooming so we'll see. If all goes well maybe I can work up to the
'Pacific Giants' that I'm dying to have!Look at this Astrantia. I just got it this year and am I ever impressed. It's
blooming it's heart out and it is sooooo different looking. I love it!!!

And last but certainly not least is Veilchenblau putting on it's own show. Another
one the deer usually gobble down. It isn't the most beautiful rose but it has so
many blooms in this purplish color that it's really impressive.
It's definitely my color.