Hayes' Daylillies

See these pretty flowers? They're all day lillies. From Hayes' Daylillies farm (hence the name, which I may have spelled wrong-- if so, sorry to any of the farm owners who happen to read this blog entry). A couple of months ago, a colleague asked if I wanted to go see this farm. I thought, "Okay, I'm not all that big into day lillies, but it'll be a fun little road trip." Now, when I think of day lillies, I think of orange or yellow flowers with skinny petals that bloom for a day and then shrivel up and look ugly on the plant stalks. I have quite a few in my back flowerbed (I didn't plant them). They're okay, but not my favorite.

As you can see from the pictures above, I've been cheated of day lilly variety. I had no idea how many varieties there are. We drove up to the farm and there were literally HUNDREDS of varieties growing. I took pictures of some of my favorites (and the purple one's in your honor, Karen). My colleague, who has bought from this farm for years, taught me some day lilly vocabulary. The darker color inside the flower, around the stamens (I think that's what those are), is called an eye. She taught me other vocab, but I forgot. I was busy looking at pretty flowers. If you see a flower you like at this farm, you dig it up, bring it to the cashier, pay for it, and take it home to plant in your garden. I might just have to come back here next summer and get some.

But if I REALLY had my druthers, I'd fill my flowerbeds with roses.