Today’s photos are from Lee.

The winter was a mellow one here in the Mohawk Valley in central New York State. Spring has been fairly warm, but I can’t wait for some color! So as a hold-over till things get rockin’ here, I’m posting some color from last year. I just need some color faster than what is presently happening. I can’t even wait for the tulips. Here are some daylilies (Hemerocallis hybrids, Zones 4–9). As always, enjoy every day, every plant, every leaf, every flower.

Daylilies are generally carefree and easy to grow, but in hot, sunny climates, these very dark flowers can sometimes burn in the sun. They do best when they get a little shade in the afternoon.

Modern hybrid daylilies come in nearly every color and pattern and texture imaginable, but sometimes a simple, clear, yellow like this is best.

The one color daylilies don’t do well is white, but these soft pale yellow forms get close.

These daylily blooms look good enough to eat—cotton candy pink, with lightly ruffled petal edges.

A classic, very old-fashioned daylily variety, Hemerocallis fulva ‘Flore Pleno’ (Zones 4–9) is the double-flowered form of the classic orange daylily that thrives so easily it is sometimes called a “ditch lily.” It’s hard to find a perennial that is easier to grow and that brings more bright color when it blooms.

Not a daylily at all, this is actually a true lily (Genus Lilium). True lilies tend to be a little fussier than their daylily cousins, but the payoff in terms of color and often fragrance is so worth it.

Modern daylily breeding is pushing the flowers in ever more elaborate new directions. The petal margins on this one are intensely ruffled and ruched.

Another ruffled flower, this one has a dramatic dark eye.

What summer flowers are you dreaming of in your garden?

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