ORANGUTAN, ffo

Another shot of it later in the day (plant behind it is brand-new so not as many buds)

These are 'cheater' blooms.....not on my established plants. This one came from Nancy in KY this spring......HEAVENLY ANGEL ICE.

And this one came from Kate this past spring....ENTWINED IN THE VINE, an enormous bloom on a tiny, barely-settled plant

I hope you all don't mind that I post other plants than daylilies but I have so many things blooming so nicely while I wait for more daylilies to open.

More photos in comments, below

Betty Corning clematis

Polish Spirit clematis

David Austin rose 'Mayor of Casterbridge'

'Heaven on Earth'

Rose 'Ascot'

Ok, so I confess that Stella has been blooming so technically you could say she was the first, but I'm a bit of a daylily snob, sorry Stella.

Ville de Lyon clematis and Comtesse de Bouchard clematis (above)

partial border shot

rose 'Quietness'

And just to show you how massive the daylily plants are, this was taken a couple weeks ago before they were scaping. They are even more impressive now. For the first time in several years we had adequate rainfall in May and June.

(BTW, my daylilies are in numerous beds around my property so these pics only represent a FEW of my daylily collection....at last count, not counting seedlings, I had over 700.....oops, how did that happen?:)

Look at the size of the foliage....

And to finish up, a couple more random shots of other things blooming....foxglove with rose 'White Gold'

Verbascum 'Southern Charm'

Beautiful Celeste! The daylilies are pretty-so glad HAI bloomed!-but I absolutely love your garden! The Roses, clematis, yarrow, verbascut, just outstanding! I used to have a couple varieties of verbascum, a short lived plant that reseeded several years, but failed to come back eventually. Same with foxgloves. I need to get more seed.

Nancy, I really LOVE Heavenly Angel Ice. It is so graceful. The daylilies you sent are taking their sweet time growing big but I suspect they are setting down some amazing roots. Nothing gets big in my climate the first season. My verbascum and foxgloves reseed naturally. I started with an original plant of each and now every spring I end up with multiple plants all over the yard!

Your husband's right. Your place does look like a Botanical Garden. Everything is so beautiful. Hooray for Orangutan for starting things off with a bright bang of color! Heavenly Angel Ice and Entwined in the Vine are gorgeous. I especially love your roses and clematis!

Debra

Now why are you whining about your daylilies being slow when you have such glorious beauty otherwise? :) Roses are fabulous and all other flowers too! Garden is lovely. If you have buds to match your foliage, what a season you will have!! I will be interested to see if future blooms of EITV begin to pick up your purple soil genes! (By the way, I sent you a message about your lily box.) Thanks for this lovely post.

Beautiful flowers! I love the roses and clematis especially. Orangutan is a very showy daylily.

Nancy

Beautiful flowers Celeste! I love your foxgloves. Although I don't have any, they are a favorite. Do you have to plant new Foxgloves every year or do they self seed or what? I also like your clematis and the plant next to Stella, whatever that is.

Brad

Lovely, lovely! Next week everything will burst into bloom at the same time - I'm sure of it - or at least I'm hoping for it! LOL

Alex

Okay, celeste, I'm afraid I just have to hate you after viewing your gorgeous (as always) photos. I am officially depressed now. It's all your fault. I can't decide if you ought to be shot at dawn or if I should send my lawyer to officially complain at the unfairness of your gardening genius.

You and your gardens are amazing! Back in the old days of GardenWeb, the Breaktime guys often held gatherings all over the country, and had a whale of a good time. I personally think you ought to do this so some of us could view your beautiful gardens up close and personal. Heck, I'd pay good money to be able to do so! (I'll bring wine and goodies)

Le sigh. Now I need to go out and perambulate my gardens... and weep in frustration. ;)

So lovely, so much to see! I hope you keep those nasty beetles away from the roses. I’m almost afraid to say I haven’t seen any yet : 0

i even love your Stella, it looks great at the front of the border, I still have a few. I must confess, a couple will be leaving this fall.

Sherry

Lovely plants Celeste ! Always happy to see beautiful blooms no matter what variety. I think I may have to move my Orangutan. It looks nothing like yours and truthfully if it doesnt improve when I move it it will be turfed. My reaction to it this season is " Meh"

THANKS for looking and commenting, everyone! I may have gotten carried away with photos but after a long winter and after last summer's accident, it feels amazing to get my gardening mojo back!

Signet, my Orangutan is behaving this year but this was not always the case. I had to move it twice to find it's sweet spot. I 'think' I've made it happy finally. It was on the discard list if it didn't shape up.

Sherry, I thought I'd escaped the beetles because they were so late this year. But yesterday I went out and found several buried inside some rose blooms. So I'm glad I took pictures of my roses because their days are numbered!

Roxanna, thank you so much for all the praise! I need more gardening friends/enthusiasts. That's why I come to this forum. Everyone here is appreciative of each other's labors of love. No one in 'real life' really notices all the hard work I put in to these gardens because it's not their thing. I wish we all could meet up and share our gardens. The wine/food idea is enticing!

Alex, I think tomorrow is going to be the start of the 'fireworks'. I see loads of buds about to burst open. After all this waiting it will probably be overwhelming!

Brad, foxgloves re-seed themselves year after year here. I started out with a single plant about 10 years ago and have never had to buy seeds or plants again. Nature does it for me. I end up having to yank up a bunch because of where they end up, usually not placed where I want them....lol. But I have transplanted some to more desirable spots. The plant next to Stella is yarrow. It multiplies like crazy and is great for hot/dry spots.

Thank you Nancy and Debra!

Kate, I responded to your message in case Houzz didn't notify you. LOL about me whining.....!:)

The verbascum most caught my eye, as I don't see them here, other than the common yellow. Your clematis are always nice. You have plenty to focus on before the daylilies.

Celeste: You know how I feel about your winters, but seeing your garden must make it seem all worth while for you. I love Pansies but they are long gone here. Your roses look wonderful (and it won't be in the 90's when you need to deadhead). Your Clematis looks luscious where here the foliage has already begun to crisp and look pitiful. I've beaten off two little green worm attacks on my Calibrachoa and an onslaught of spider mites. Your hanging baskets look fresh and lush. In short, your garden is just glorious.............Can you tell me what gray foliaged plant with the fushia flowers are behind your Ascot rose?..............Maryl

Very pretty first bloom on Orangutan. A winner for sure. Lovely photos of your beautiful garden as always. Each year it is a feast of color.

THANKS, Mantis. Verbascum is a newly discovered treasure. I planted it a year ago and already it has reseeded lots of babies in close proximity. I wasn't sure how it would overwinter but it came back fine. I also had not seen the pink variety and think it is much prettier.

Maryl, the gray foliaged plant with those bright magenta blooms is rose campion. Scientific name is lychnis coronaria. This is another one of those plants that reseeds everywhere in my garden. It is a fuss-free plant and provides a bright pop of color. I started with just one plant last year.....kinda hard to believe, but true. Those are all babies! (closer photo below)

Julia, after finding my first Japanese beetles yesterday, I had to go out with a bucket of soapy water and knock a couple dozen off my roses. The war has begun. Glad I was able to enjoy the roses a week longer than usual. They are toast now.

WOW. That's about all I can say! Thanks for sharing your gorgeous gardens.

Rose campion is one of the good volunteers - nice color, quick growth, easy removal when you don't want it there. I love the grey/silver foliage.

Alex

Thank you Celeste. I had just picked up a rather sad pair of 4" pots of gomphrena from Lowes (very little else out now) and they were the same color, but without the silver foliage. I've heard of Lychinis before, but your pairing with the rose in the foreground was genius and made for a great picture...............Maryl

signet, I love that you include the 'weed' verbascum (mullein) in your garden. I like the downy leaves and the tall spires. Great photo of it! You are right, it is a bee magnet. I recall fondly that as a child I used the soft leaves a time or two when nature called and I was far from my house (I have a small bladder).....lol. I was surprised that the one I grow is hardy here since the name is 'Southern Charm'. Made me worry that it wouldn't come back in the north. It's not nearly as large a plant as the common mullein and the leaves are not soft and downy but I do love the color. My late mom also grew the common weed mullein in her garden. She loved all things wild and natural.

Yay for the first flowers, so pretty! And oh my your yard is beautiful! I love all those plants especially light roses and clematis and the group photo with sunflower! I tried lychnis several years ago too, so pretty but it didn't like it here.

Lol mine are massive too, just humongous, I am thinking about downsizing, but actually what I need is a lot of dividing and then I can keep all ))