When I was growing up, there was a big one of these back behind the barn, growing through the crack in the old concrete pad where they used to bring the cows through to the milking stands at the bottom of the barn, way back when the farm was doing the dairy thing - long before we owned what little was left of the farm.
That lily grew cheek by jowl along with a black raspberry bush and the lilies bloomed just before the black raspberries ripened. The pair will forever in my mind be linked to the hot days of real summer. Summer after school let out for the year.
They're blooming here great guns right now, great drifts of them along the roadsides. They spread easily and transplant brilliantly. I have a nice patch out my dining room windows in front of the deck. They are tall and lanky. Most of the wild ones around here are 4 feet tall or more.
We also have a whole bunch of other daylily hybrids in our gardens. I love them because they have a long season and because they come in such a huge variety of colors and forms.
The deer love them, too. Love. Them. Love to come up and eat the buds just before they bloom.Which is why we have a dog.
As pretty and sophisticated as they are, none of the hybrids will ever have the exuberance of a half acre of these orange beauties hanging out at the side of the road, though. Plus, the wild ones match the street signs.
I love that.
