Hellfire

Opening the front door is like opening the door to an oven. The temperature at 6:30pm is 99 degrees, down from a peak of 104 an hour earlier.

Everything was wonderful until the first day of summer (aka hell). We did get one marvelous day of reprieve on Wednesday, yesterday wasn't too bad, but today the heat was so intense you could see the waves rippling up like gas on an unlit range. It felt like one spark would set the world afire.

I watered everything up yesterday and hope that will carry the plants through. I'll have to run the sprinkler some too but I'd like not to stand around holding a hose.

The daylilies, phlox and Monarda are blooming. Daylilies are tough. They can take just about anything.

The flowers on the right which looks red is actually a deep burgundy/pink and are the flowers
of 'Dayspring' Oakleaf Hydrangea. They've never turned such a dramatic color before.

I can't find a tag for the tall yellow daylilies on the right. Although nameless for now and difficult to impossible to photograph in bright light, they have been stalwarts during the mid and late daylily season. They are beautiful and very fragrant.

'Siloam David Kirchhoff'

'Catherine Neal'

'Blackjack Cherry'

'Ruby Spider'

Allium sphaerocephalon is a great filler among the daylilies and has a very long bloom time.

'My Melinda' with 'Marie Pavie'

'Shady Lady'

Back to hellfire again tomorrow, with an expected high of 107. I know much of the country is suffering with extreme heat. Try to stay cool everyone!

Musical daylilies

Last Saturday we went to the beach. The hypnotic power of the sea on a fine day is a great thing. We did the usual: got to the beach in time for lunch at Big Daddy's, took a long walk on the beach, visited the Fort Fisher aquarium, and drove around Dunkin Doughnuts for a glazed on the way home. Not only is the aquarium itself pretty amazing, there's a garden outside too. Not grand but always something pretty and interesting. This time we saw 2 plants I hadn't seen in person before: 'Perfume Deep Purple' Nicotiana ~ truly a deep beautiful purple, and I ordered seeds for it after we got home ~ and the ornamental grass Lagarus ovatus 'Bunny Tails'. I enjoyed seeing the African Daisies too, which I have not grown with success. They might like the dry bed up near the mailbox that DH wants to install. Currently the plantings up there just consist of a rosemary, lavender, Butterfly Weed, and Eastern Silvery Aster.

Here it's daylily time. Which means it's time to move daylilies around. I do not put the effort into labelling that I should so the colors and heights don't always end up where I want them. (The best and cheapest way is probably a metal tag marked by engraving or a Pilot Silver Market attached to the base of some leaf stems by a fine wire. Then the tag can't be pulled up or broken by being stepped on.)

Daylily season starts here with 'Smuggler's Gold' and 'Bleu Celeste', which is not blue at all but a two-toned pink.

'Red Volunteer'

with 'Lion in Winter'

From left to right: 'Golden Compass' or Tar and Feather', 'Little Missy', 'Shady Lady', 'Lion in Winter', and 'Red Volunteer'.

'Tang' in foreground

The cream, pink and yellow blended pastel 'Beautiful Edgings' is one of my absolute favorites. The pink is 'My Melinda' and I moved out the golden yellow 'Buttered Popcorn' after snapping the picture.

This yellow noid is fantastic: elegant, long-blooming, and very fragrant.

'Jedi Blue Note'

I love purple daylilies and 'Indian Giver' is unique in its clear shade of rosey grape purple. Even though I have to spray the daylilies with peppermint every night to keep the deer at bay I want to add a few more daylilies (makes sense right?) and more 'Indian Giver' is definitely on the list. I don't feel like dividing the daylilies further this year. I'd rather just let the clumps mature more.

This weekend we are enjoying magnificent weather: breezy, low humidity, upper '70's. Reminds me of New England or Canada in the summer. Not like our usual steam bath.