Visiting Rosedale Gardens

-
Daylily "Long Stocking"

Mary at Rosedale Gardens blog opened her garden today for visitors to come see her extensive collection of over 400 varieties of daylilies as well as a large collection of Japanese iris and Oriental lilies. Mary visited our garden a few weeks ago. She lives in Tuscumbia, which is just about 10 or 15 minutes away. She is delightful, welcoming and generous (delicious blueberry cake and daffodil bulbs!), and obviously caring (she rescued 3 border collies who you can see and read about on her blog).

After breakfast, Michael and I headed over her way. After a perfect day yesterday with a pleasant cool bite in the air and temperatures around 70, reality set in today as temperatures climbed toward 90. We are in for a hot week ahead with 90s all week. The heat didn't stop me from gawking at Mary's beautiful daylilies and iris. I did not take notes so I don't know the names of the daylilies but here are just a few from her huge collection.


You can see that Mary is an Auburn fan! She has an Auburn garden (orange and blue), a UNA section (gold and purple) and other color coordinated gardens. The daylilies are "Long Stocking"
"Ruffles and Son"

Iris 'Ruffled Dimitry' (Iris ensata)


Daylily "Sticky Fingers"

Daylily "Earl of Warwick"

Daylily "Chin Whiskers"

Daylily "Cameroon Night"

Japanese Iris "Crystal Halo"

Daylily "Chicago Picotee Memories"

Daylily "Quiet Whisper"

Daylily "Chicago Scintillation"

Daylily "Kindly Light"
And not just daylilies and iris. This is a beautiful dogwood called "First Lady". Isn't it gorgeous? I want one!






Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy

Comments

Kelsey said…
Beautiful daylilly photos! I love the idea of color gardens for your favorite teams! Cute! Glad you survivied the heat!
May 28, 2011 at 9:53 PM
Lisa at Greenbow said…
I just love this time of year. Not only do our own gardens look good but it is great fun going to see other gardens. Thanks for taking us along.
May 29, 2011 at 10:11 AM
Anonymous said…
Phillip I just wanted to thank you for the very nice post. Maybe next year Michael and you will skip breakfast and have brunch with the rest of the group. I had a few who were strangers when they came, but were friends when they left. Hopefully next year I won’t have any accidents and land up on crutches. I’m still hoping to avoid knee surgery which will have to wait until the winter if needed.
The pictures are Long Stocking a spider daylily in first 2, Ruffles and Sun, Ruffled dimity Japanese iris, Sticky Fingers, Earl of Warwick, Chin Whiskers, Cameroon Night, Crystal Halo Japanese iris, Chicago Picotee Memories, Quiet Whisper. Chicago Scintillation, and Kindly Light. As you can probably guess, I’m into the spider forms a lot. I put a real nice orange daylily called Alabama Jubilee by the mailbox close to my Auburn sign after everyone left. It should be blooming in a day or so. Next maybe I can work on my Deshler High School and ebony & ivory sections. Did you notice the small variegated dogwood down by the large hackberry called Cherokee Daybreak? I think it will be a nice dogwood when it gets older.
Again thanks for your visit and ignoring all of the weedy beds I had. Mary
May 29, 2011 at 12:58 PM
Shoalanda said…
Ah, Auburn and UNA, it just doesn't get any better than that. Next time publish some pics of the hooligans (Mary's two and one-half border collies).
May 29, 2011 at 10:10 PM
Anonymous said…
Hello:

Really beautiful photos of daylilies -- and so much more. I'm on Long Island, so our season is just beginning. Still waiting for daylily and hydrangea color.

Nice blog!

Best,
Kevin
May 30, 2011 at 5:50 AM
Terri said…
Gorgeous flowers! Stupendous photography! I do not have a green thumb but greatly appreciate those who do. Had no idea there were so many varieties of day lilies! We had orange ones that were devoured by the abundant deer in our area north of NYC. Thanks for a glimpse of heaven-Terri in Chappaqua, NY
May 30, 2011 at 5:55 PM
scottweberpdx said…
What an impressive collection! I'm especially fond of the one with the very thing patals, 'Kindly Light', I think you said...very elegant.
May 31, 2011 at 10:18 AM
aquabluerose said…
I am an avid doll collector but I Love roses and enjoy books, shows, and exhibitons about flowers.

Michael led me to your Blog and Website where I have already bookmarked several links including one to David Austin Roses!

Both your Blog and Website are beautiful, informative and a pleasure to read. Love your photography!

I plan to check in often and thank you again, Phillip.

gerri
aquabluerose
June 2, 2011 at 1:03 AM
sweetbay said…
Oh wow, she has a lot of beautiful daylilies!
June 2, 2011 at 12:21 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Pruning & Transplanting Clematis (and other plants)

-
Image
Ah, the clematis, one of the most beautiful and frustrating of plants. I counted five books on my shelf devoted to them, and I still have to consult them every year when it is time to prune. This year I'm doing something new - moving a few that are obviously not doing well (lack of sun, more than likely). I'm worried about one of my favorites - 'Jackmanii Superba'.  First, I had to dig it up when the new gate was constructed. This clematis was massive, and the bottom stalk looked like a small tree. I divided it to give a piece to my neighbor. Somewhere along the way, it was cut back all the way down to the trunk . I'm still asking myself how this happened.  Only time will tell if I've killed the poor thing.  It has been replanted, and so far, no signs of life. Others that I decided to move were not subjected to that abuse and were moved immediately after I dug them up.  This is 'Etoile Violette'. This rampant variety was along the front fence and it alwa...
Read more

Winter Projects

-
Image
Pinus contorta 'Chief Joseph' I was really too harsh in my last post concerning the weather. It has actually been a very mild winter, and looking back, I see that I have completed several projects. The first, back in November, was a redo of the twig fence. This has been an ongoing project that has left me unsatisfied. At the beginning, I just piled the twigs up, along an existing chain fence, and soon realized that they would never stand on their own. Critters (squirrels!) continually knocked twigs out of the arrangement, but over time, it was simply gravity that caused problems. I used various methods to try and keep the twigs in place, including using wire to tie them and fence posts to brace them. All temporary solutions. Gravity always reared its ugly head.  At the end of summer, I decided on a different approach. The sheer weight of the twigs made a deep wall impractical, so I decided to construct a shallower fence and secure it with a stronger support.  This is how it l...
Read more

Ruby Tuesday's Strawberry Tall Cake

-
Image
Much to my dismay, I have cut back on sugar consumption. Difficult, because I love sweet treats, but on the other hand, I want to be a healthier person. I still like to bake and I've just discovered  "Prue Leith's Cotswold Kitchen"  on You Tube and enjoying it very much. That said, I normally make a dessert at least once per week, but I try to have only a piece or two, and share the rest. Going through some of my cookbooks, I came across a series of books by Todd Wilbur, who reproduces recipes from popular chain restaurants.  In the first volume, I saw the Ruby Tuesday Strawberry Tall Cake and remembered that it was a favorite of ours. I haven't visited a Ruby Tuesday in ages and I don't know if they still serve this. I decided to give it a try and it turned out pretty good. The photo I took doesn't show the cake layers and is not a very good representation, but you get the idea. Actually, we thought the best way to eat this was in a bowl, kind of like a t...
Read more