Make Room for Miniatures

Not all daylilies produce large and flamboyant flowers. There are many miniature and small-flowered daylilies that will fit right into the small garden. Their colorful but diminutive blooms are ideal in locations where space is limited. They are perfect in a walkway planting, in the front of the border and are right at home in a decorative pot on a deck or patio. Their cheerful summer blooms light up nearby foliage and weave a pattern of light through the small-garden all summer long.

Within this diverse group of small-flowered daylilies, there is tremendous variation in flower size and flower stalk height. The American Hemerocallis Society defines a miniature, as a daylily with a flower size of three inches, or less, in diameter. In strict keeping to the terminology, the height of the scape is not important. Small-flowered day-lilies are those hybrids with flowers greater than three inches, but less than four and a half inches, in diameter. They’re also known as pony-sized.

Miniature and small-flowered daylilies bloom on flower scapes ranging in height from a mere ten inches to more than five feet tall. This variation in flower height actually adds a great deal to the appeal of these plants. For example, Hemerocallis 'Wee Willie Winkie' and 'Golden Chimes' have tall, gracefully branched scapes that rise so high above the foliage that they appear to lift off in flight. Many of these taller hybrids offer the added attraction of a high bud count, with thirty-five to fifty buds per scape and a long bloom season.

However, less statuesque cultivars such as 'Puddin' and 'Countess Carrots', also have a long-season of bloom and increase well. These cultivars offer as many as five-to-six weeks of color in the mid-season garden.

Many miniature and small-flowered daylilies also rebloom. Reblooming is a natural aspect of a plant, in which it blooms at its normal time then rests briefly before sending up a second set of buds and blossoms. Hemerocallis 'Stella de Oro' and its offspring 'Black-Eyed Stella', 'Mini-Stella', 'Forever Stella' and 'Elfin Stella' are known for their nearly continuous bloom. Some other small-flowering rebloomers are the yellow-flowering 'Butterpat', 'Bitsy', 'Happy Returns' and 'Yellow Lollipop'. Two stunning rebloomers are the small red Hemerocallis 'Pardon Me' and shrimp-pink 'Louise Manelis.' When these eye-catchers are added to the border they will literally bloom all summer long.

Small-flowered daylilies will grow anywhere a splash of color or a subtle expression is needed. Use miniatures to face down taller, coarse foliage for an appealing softening effect. These small-flowered cultivars with their diminutive stature can be combined effectively with most perennials. No longer forced to the rear of the border, these daylilies can be interplanted with delicately textured perennials or foliage colors in full or half-day sun. Make room for miniature daylilies and add color and charm to your garden all summer long. Visit our web site at www.tranquil-lake.com for a full list of available miniatures and small-flowered daylilies.

Philip A. Boucher

Positively Perennial

A perennial is a plant that endures from year to year. Those that complete their life cycle in one year and then die are annuals. Therefore woody plants such as sugar maple, red oaks, white pines and lilacs are perennial. Peonies and daylilies are perennial too. They are herbaceous perennials that endure from year to year in our New England region. Of course these scientific classification of perennial and annual presume that plants are growing in their native climate and growing conditions.

Gardeners, of course, don’t limit themselves to only those plants from one region. So how do gardeners define ‘perennial’? Connecticut horticulturist Maryanne McGourty says"perennials are plants that come back every year, unless they die!" This witty and all too accurate definition always elicits acknowledging smiles and knowing laughter from gatherings of gardeners. We’ve all experience the latter of McGourty’s perennial description. Not all perennials are long lived, and garden hardiness can truly be subjective, depending on site and soil conditions.

Many of us, myself included, have been smitten by the ‘siren’s song’ that steers passionate plant collectors to the irresistible charms of the new, rare or fashionable perennial. Then we ‘crash on the rocks of destruction,’ when these so-called perennials die during their first year.

This past winter was a rude reminder of regional reality. It tested the limits of the true USDA plant hardiness Zone 5 winter. In January, the thermometer dipped to 16 degrees below zero at the nursery!

Despite varied and wide ranging reports of extensive plant mortality, our production fields and display gardens were relatively unscathed. Yes, the Buddleia were a casualty. They died to the ground, and although we waited hopefully through June for them to sprout from the roots, no growth came. We also suffered some cosmetic winter-burn on a few evergreens. Most other plants in our gardens went unscathed or quickly recovered. What a great lessons on which plants are truly, hardy perennials and ideal for our New England climate.

This is not to say there isn’t a place for tender or just plain tropical plants in our gardens. We can celebrate and make room for all plants. However, experienced gardeners acquire a grounded sense of place - an awareness of the land and its particular site and cultural conditions. Plant hardiness is more complex than the lowest, cold temperatures.

To define enduring herbaceous perennial, I keep returning to the book Low Maintenance Perennials by Robert Hebb. Though published nearly thirty years ago, when Hebb was Assistant Horticulturist at the Arnold Arboretum, and long out of print, its practical information is not dated. Hebb outlined six criteria that define low maintenance and enduring perennial qualities: (1) infrequent need for division; (2) flower stalks that stand up without staking; (3) attractive foliage after bloom; (4) able to grow in a broad range of soil types; (5) resistant to insects and diseases, and (6) HARDY to winter cold as well as summer heat. The number of plants that can be included on the list of qualifying candidates is not lean, but includes hundreds of genera. Besides the obvious Hemerocallis (daylilies), Iris sibirica, Paeonia, Hosta, and Astilbe, he lists a host of other perennials. from Achillea to Yucca.

Hebb may not include the newest cultivars of Hemerocallis, Geranium or Heuchera, but we can use his valuable criteria to evaluate what’s ‘new, rare, or fashionable’ and compare it to the ‘tried and true.’

Our display gardens at Tranquil Lake Nursery are designed and rooted in Hebb’s ‘low maintenance’ criteria. The soil tends to be dry and sandy, and we don’t have time to drag hoses and set up sprinklers. We don’t pamper our perennials.

Plant your garden’s with a backbone of plants whose foliage and form will sustain the seasons. Woody shrubs with interesting winter twigs, dwarf or slow growing conifers and herbaceous perennials and grasses which retain some of their structure in the winter are excellent choices. For instance, in a shady border, use a woody shrub such as Enkianthus campanulatus (an exemplar example of four season’s interest) with herbaceous perennials Cimicifuga ‘Hillside Black Beauty’, Hakonechloa macra ‘Albo Striata’ and Hosta ‘Sum and Substance’ for a bold accent.