Spring 2001

Daylily Descendants Convene	Composing in Primary Colors	Plants for the Primary Color Garden
Perennial Plant of the Year for 2002: Calamagrostis x acutiflora 'Karl Foerster'		Our Address

Daylily Descendants Convene

Daylilies have been part of the Massachusetts landscape since pilgrims first landed in Plymouth. Massachusetts, perhaps more famous for the cod, baked bean, mayflower and minuteman, is where the now ubiquitous tawny daylily (Hemerocallis fulva) was first planted and spread along rural roads. Since then, the daylily has metamorphosized in form and color from this first immigrant species.

Sydney Eddison's delightful and authoritative tome “A Passion for Daylilies” articulates the stories of daylily hyridizers and their plant progeny. Her love for daylilies spans the color spectrum and all flower size categories. She writes of her daylily epiphany and journey of discovery to tetraploids; modern hybrids; broad, ruffled petals; fanciful new color patterns; huge flowers; petite miniatures and the return full circle to a re-acquaintance with strappy spiders and cultivars with species characteristics.

The bloom season at Tranquil Lake Nursery always invigorates us and reaffirms our love of the beauty of these distinctive perennials. The several thousand hardy cultivars and species of daylilies that we grow put on quite a summer display. Their length of bloom season; range of flower color; size; stature and low maintenance characteristics are just not found in other perennials.

We, like scions of the early settlers, are proud of the regional daylilies that we grow, with their hardy roots. Unfortunately, some southern selections have had the hardiness bred out of them. Tranquil Lake Nursery has always had just one standard for the daylilies we grow.
Is it a fine variety?

It's always hard for us to pick favorites, however, Joe Barth's ‘Ethel Shepherd’ always tops my list, as does Pride's ‘Tone Poem’. Many Don Stevens hybrids are distinguished by striking eyezones and hot color, and his ‘Beluah Stevens’ is a stunning wide petaled polychrome. ‘Blueberry Breakfast’ (Rose) is a quintessential Yankee name and unique color.

Don Marvin's ‘Bermuda Coral’ is a late season knock-out with five-way candelabra branching, but slow to increase. Bill and Eleanor Lachman’s hybrids are still a benchmark for color, form and vigor. Sun fast reds such as ‘Red Cossack’, ‘John Philip Sousa’, ‘Red Rooster’, all with apple green throats, ‘Pastel Pink’, ‘Eleanor Louise’, and purple ‘Lord Jeffrey Amherst’, ‘Royal Trophy’ and ‘Lady Liz’ are just a few of their standouts.

We are pleased to be part of this national celebration of daylilies at the point in North America where daylilies were first enjoyed.

A primary colors is defined as a hue that contain no hint of any other color. The three fundamental primary colors are red, blue and yellow. A blending of two of these basic, disparate colors produces a secondary color, for example blue and yellow makes green. This secondary color is considered a complement to the remaining primary color. Therefore, green is the complement to red. In color theory, a complementary color increases the impact of its assigned primary color. There are, however, many ways to arrange colors in a garden. A triadic arrangement pairs primary colors. Red yellow and blue, creates primary pizzazz!

The same eye grabbing characteristic that makes the combination of red and yellow ideal for a fast-food restaurant or gas station along a busy highway, also creates the dazzle in drifts of red salvias planted with yellow marigolds. Red and yellow is certainly bright and cheerful, and the pairing of two primary colors increases either's impact. Red and yellow can also be subtle and charming as found in wild columbine, Aquilegia canadensis. The key to harmony is combing the right ratio of red and yellow.

Insight into creating pleasing color combinations can come about though planning or serendipity. Last spring, I planted my favorite yellow-leaf spiraea, Spiraea thunbergii 'Ogon' not thinking about the perennials near by. One July morning I ran for my camera to record the smashing combination of red and yellow. The fine, chartreuse foliage of Spiraea 'Ogon' was a perfect foil for the dark, classic-red daylily ‘Ed Murray’

Red and yellow makes me smile. It evokes a child-like pleasure, that of an innocent young gardener planting red Salvia splendens and Tagetes erecta. Wiegelia florida 'Rubidor' is outrageously colorful, and also brings grins of amusement. Lipstick red, tubular flowers grace chartreuse yellow foliage in perfect color proportion.

Red and yellow color combinations are a natural for daylilies. Hybidizers have created wonderfully patterned, color combinations. Hemerocallis 'Alna Pride' is an absolutely unique, golden yellow with a striking mahogany red eye on the petals only. Add the small yellow flowers of Hemerocallis 'Three Seasons' and combine with the red flowers of Achillea 'Paprika', and Lychnis chanceldonica against the dark maroon foliage of Rosa glauca and Heuchera 'Chocolate Ruffles' for an enticing red and yellow composition. A dash of blue, provided by blue oat grass, Helicotrichon sempervirens or catmint, Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant', tones down the heat and is a bridge to other color transitions (orange or purple).

An easy way to start creating your red and yellow border is with colored foliage of shrubs and perennials. The foliage color will be a constant as flowers change through the season. Remember ‘ratio’, and avoid equal proportions of red and yellow.

Red foliage needs full sun to develop its dark pigmentation, though yellow foliage will hold its color in shade. Yellow ninebark, Physocarpus opulifolius 'Luteus' will grow in either sun or shade. In sun, add the scarlet red daylily 'Chicago Apache' as an accent; in partial shade, red beebalm Monarda 'Jacob Cline'.

Try variations of the following colorful plant combinations in your mixed border. In April and early May spring bulbs and emerging new foliage offer bright colors. The bunch flowering tulip 'Georgette', has flowers that age from yellow with a few red streaks to mostly red. Georgette is striking emerging through a yellow mass of Lysimacltia nummularia 'Aurea' next to Berberis thunbergii 'Crimson Pygmy'. Euphorbia amygdaloides 'Purpurea' yellow bracts carry on into June. Achillea 'Moonshine', and golden marjoram, Origanum vulgare aureum, set ablaze the red flowers of Geum 'Mrs. Bradshaw'.

Hemerocallis 'Open Hearth' is fittingly named. This flat, spider type flower is a flaming red and copper bitone with a ruby halo around a prominent yellow throat. The daylilies 'Chicago Apache' and 'August Flame' extend blazing scarlet red into August. The yellow foliage and blue flowers of Caryopteris 'Worcester Gold' are a beautiful late summer accompaniment. Add Coreopsis 'Moonbeam' for a nice effect.

Purple smoke bush, Cotinus coggygria 'Atropurpurea' can be kept in scale in the perennial garden with severe pruning. Cut back to the ground (coppice) in the early spring. Cotinus will grow to four or more feet in a season. Combine the purple smoke bush with red leaf rose, Rosa glauca, to create a shadowy red background for Patrinia scabiosifolia, bronze fennel and blue oat grass. Patrinia blooms in August with yellow, Queen-Anne's-Lace like umbels. The umbel itself is yellow, remaining colorful long after the clusters of yellow flowers have dropped. The foliage turns red in late September to set off the arching yellow sprays of goldenrods, such as Solidago rugosa 'Fireworks'.

Red and yellow can even spark up the bleak winter landscape. Combine the bright red wands of red twig dogwood, Cornus sericea, under planted with the evergreen, yellow Euonymus 'Emerald 'n Gold' for some holiday cheer. A mass planting of Yucca filamentosa 'Gold Sword' in front of red berried Ilex verticillata 'Sprite' works too. Plant yellow daffodils and maroon foliaged Lysimachia ciliata 'Atropurpurea' next to the Yucca to ignite the spring garden season.

The next time you are searching for a colorful garden accent, remember primary colors. Who's afraid of red and yellow.

'Karl Foerster' feather reed grass is on our top ten list of ornamental grasses. It is attractive eleven months of the year, emerging in early spring with daffodils. It blooms in June with ethereal beige-pink plumes. Combine with verbena bonariensis and Hemerocallis 'Ethel Shepherd'. 'Karl Foerster' turns tan in late summer and stands up all winter through snow and ice. We have grown a clump, undivided, in our display gardens for over 12 years. This low maintenance perennial is hardy as a container plant year round. Be sure to add Karl Foerster to your own garden.

Tranquil Times

Spring 2001 Newsletter

Daylily Descendants Convene