Rainbow Rhythm Daylilies transform problem area into secret garden

As strange as it sounds, my secret garden is a daylily garden. It started a couple of years ago when Mrs. Jan said the side of our house was an embarrassment, and we needed plants. To be honest it was rather a sort of Garden Guy Gully.

Let me explain my situation: In the backyard, there is a series of French drains to move water out, and by out, I mean it flows down the side yard, the area of Mrs. Jan’s discontent. Side yards by their nature are often problem areas. What do we do?

The main considerations are: Is it seen from the street side? Or your neighbors? And the most important criteria of all, is it a thoroughfare where you, friends and family, get from point A to point B, like front yard to the backyard? Mine was none of the above, and to make this lost weed patch with drainage issues worse, it is also the location for the air conditioning unit.

As some kind of absurdity of the strange, this is my best sun area and soil, except dead center where the water flows downhill. So, two years ago I began planting Rainbow Rhythm daylilies like Orange Smoothie, Sound of My Heart and Storm Shelter. I added Fluffy arborvitae for evergreen interest and to eventually be a foil or screen for the air conditioning unit.

This year, I added new Unplugged So Pink salvia which debuts next year along with Rockin salvias and some Truffula Pink gomphrena. I also added 10 more daylilies. They represent informal drifts of five each of Rainbow Rhythm King of the Ages and Rainbow Rhythm Lake of Fire. Both are like thoroughbred racehorses with tall big foliage, strong scapes or flower stalks and enormous blooms. My first bloom of 2021 was Lake of Fire.

Then the killer: I added river rock down the center of the drainage area. A couple of passes with bags of rock on a hand truck had me near cardiac arrest, so I borrowed neighbor Dave’s trailer to attach to my lawn mower. I love the ne secret garden and have also added a few coneflowers and red-hot pokers, too.

There are now 11 selections to choose from in the Rainbow Rhythm series of daylilies. They all look like competition quality which brings up an important point. The next few weeks all across the country the local chapters of the American Hemerocallis Society will be having daylily shows, and most likely providing educational programs.

Until then know that daylilies are easy to grow requiring at least six hours of direct sunlight each day for best performance. Best results are obtained from raised beds rich in organic matter. Perhaps you haven’t tried daylilies because the flowers only last a day. Remember, each scape or flower stalk has many buds as I mentioned above and these open in a series, giving you beauty for not only days but also weeks and even months as they repeat.

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