Today’s photos come from Melissa Briggs, who sent us some pictures of her most treasured plants.

This is the daylily ‘Egyptian Queen’ (Hemerocallis ‘Egyptian Queen’, Zones 3–9). This flower is beautiful for the dramatic dark pattern on the petals, but I’m most impressed by how beautiful the whole plant is! The foliage looks clean and tidy, and the many open flowers make a great display in the garden. I also see lots of unopened buds, which means the display will keep going for a long time. There are countless daylily hybrids on the market, but they’re certainly not all created equal. Some may have beautiful blooms but only produce a very few of them at a time, or not stay in bloom very long. Whenever possible, choose daylilies to buy based on seeing them actually growing in a garden so you can select ones that will give you the absolutely best performance.

Daylily ‘Gilded Knight’ (Hemerocallis ‘Gilded Knight’, Zones 3–9) is another gorgeous variety. The petals have a dramatic jagged, crimped edge that is sometimes called “toothed.” The texture of this edge is made more dramatic by being outlined in white. The diversity of daylilies is so wide, there is something there for nearly everyone!

Oriental lily ‘Stargazer’ (Lilium ‘Star Gazer’, Zones 3–8) is a true lily. True lilies are a little fussier in the garden than daylilies but are well worth growing because they offer incredible fragrance and because each flower lasts a long while (instead of just one day), so they make a terrific display in the garden and are, of course, marvelous as cut flowers.

Closeup of ‘Stargazer’. I can almost smell it!

An overview of Melissa’s garden, showing her potting shed and freshly mulched beds full of beautiful, happy plants!

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