Well here’s a first. I had photos and a post started, with the usual apologies about the delay and how the pictures were already outdated, and promises to do better next time, and how this would still be the year things turn around completely and I bringing timely posts and amazing content, and then I deleted it. Not through some silly mistake, but because things changed here so much that none of it mattered anymore, and all that anticipation for the daylily farm season became pointless. I liked my daylily farm. It was fun. You may have already noticed the past tense.
I shouldn’t like all the soft colors and fancy ruffles on this Brookside Beauty seedling but I do.
So let me start the story by saying the farm was amazing a week ago with overcrowded plants blooming at their peak with more buds than ever before. It was a garden filled to capacity and I was almost willing to say it looked perfect… except what gardener ever thinks their garden looks perfect… but it was closer than I usually get so things were quite pleasing. I could almost finish the entire morning coffee in the daylily farm alone, and outside the dog becoming bored stuck in one place so long it was the place to be.
I’m starting to like the browns and smoky colors as well. They’re not as showy but…
I even reached the point were I said I really have to do something here, they’re getting crowded and it’s time for a few to move on. Some pictures were taken. A marketing and sales plan was put together. The daylily farm was about to become a cash cow I’m sure 😉
Another pale, yet simpler bloom, ‘Bus Stop’ calms the morning sun on a day which breaks humid and hot.
‘Lake Lurie’ has a paler eye zone and guess what? I’m really starting to like these as well
Here’s one last picture of the daylily farm. I took it with the intentions of posting a sale for anyone local who was interested in helping me clear the fields. Notice the backhoe near the street.
One last farm picture. Peak bloom. The grim reaper sits at the street, slightly hidden by the golden ninebark.
That photo became the before picture for when I needed to show the township just how much was lost. A sewer issue for the house next door warranted a hole near the street for repairs. They told me what needed to be done and I said no problem. “We’ll fix it back as good or better” was the promise, and there was the possibility they’d go as far as five feet in from the street and I might possibly lose the yellow ninebark which blocks some of the excavator from sight in the before picture.
Destruction. The whole daylily farm is bulldozed as well as the lawn and some of the front border.
I was home at the time and had checked in after they dug down to the sewer line. I saw the ninebark go and was a little sad but that’s fine, I was warned. Of course the air conditioning broke that same day so when the repairman came by and we walked out there to check on the unit I almost went into shock when I saw how far things went. Some of the line was damaged during digging, some of the hole collapsed in from under the street, the holes go down at least ten feet and we needed a bigger hole and that’s a lot of dirt and it had to go somewhere. The destroyed daylilies were one thing but snowdrops were also in the area, and it’s not promising to imagine a tiny bulb an inch or two down in the soil being able to stand its ground against a four ton excavator. The daylilies I can replace but the snowdrops not so much. Of course there were a few real expensive ones planted on the edges of the farm beds and around the weeping spruce.
Welcome to Garret Hill Daylilies, a real daylily farm. Where better to go when you’ve lost nearly 100 large, blooming clumps!?
Fortunately the trials of this garden are all manageable. Things could be much worse and most importantly my mom was able to visit just the week before when everything was much cheerier. I’ve already started the repairs, and no, they’re not doing them I am because I want it just so and their version of landscaped might not match mine. I can’t really fault them. Things happen, they could have let me know when they were coming so far onto my property, but when you’re ten feet down in a hole which could collapse around you I understand that’s a little more important. We’re still working out the details of what will make it right again.
The dust is still settling and I’ve already picked up three new clumps to ease the pain! Money can’t buy happiness but it can buy daylilies at least and that’s a start.
So I visited my local daylily farm, Garret Hill Daylilies in Honesdale Pa and started the unnecessary task of finding replacements. Yes I need replacements and they have so many cool varieties available but who among you thought I wouldn’t have a few backups around my own garden? I do and they need moving and more room but I think the healing process should include daylily farms and even more new daylilies 🙂
This one could be divided and for some reason I really like the wide open flowers even if I can’t remember the name at this moment.
The one downside is I’m repairing the damage and creating nearly the same garden as I had before and that’s totally not how I like to roll. Deja vu should be a mysterious feeling, not the realization that I did this all two years ago when my own sewer line was dug for different reasons. I’m building back better which is good, but I wouldn’t be doing this if I had the choice.
Daylilies in with the tomatoes? A good excuse to not plant as many vegetables, but these guys really deserve more room and their own space.
So that’s where I’m at. I get new plants and just have to ignore bulldozer tracks, crushed plants, deer visits, lanternfly plagues, gnat swarms, too much lawn mowing, too much container plant watering, and all the other surprises which a gardener deals with each year. It’s what we sign up for so please don’t feel bad for me, I’m really not upset about it anymore and the only thing still annoying me is the mud and waiting for mulch to arrive.
Hope your July is far less dramatic and you’re enjoying summer as much as I am! …hmmm, reading that back it sounds mildly sarcastic, but summer really is pretty excellent even when you’re losing shoes in the mud and the sweat is running down your face. There’s always the pool and a drink followed by lightning bugs and a fragrant night blooming daylily and you can’t get that in November. Have a great week 🙂
sorta like suburbia 
Your good attitude about the whole thing is commendable. *The before with the bed is so beautiful. With a true gardener’s spirit -make it even better. I love that!
What else can we do? Plus I do like the making of new gardens more than the maintaining, so as long as the soil isn’t destroyed anything is possible 😉
Frank– That is just TERRIBLE!!! I feel so bad for you– We’ve had our own troubles here–between July 8 and 13 deer ate every single daylily on my property–well, except around the pool. As a result, we have arranged for an 8′ deer fence to be installed this fall–but just around the yard. Even so, that’s an acre and half to protect–price of a new car! But the point I’m getting to: I will no longer grow any daylilies outside the fence, so the ones along my driveway and field have got to go. I’m going to attach a list of what’s available along the fence. I can send a list of what’s in the field, but it’s kind of pointless because there is no bloom and very few labels left. I do have a map. The Delaware Valley Daylily Society Board members will be here on Sunday for our summer meeting, and I have offered the driveway plants to them. Out of the 450 or so, nearly 10 are claimed so far. The deal is: I will supply shovels, but you have to dig your own–and bring bags or containers. If you want any, you might want to beat the group on Sunday. Hoping I can help you– Beth
Beth thanks so much for the offer! So many of the daylilies here are from that car-load I left your house with the first time, so I sent you an email. I’m glad you’re finding new homes for some of your collection and I’m glad to here the fence is going in… even though it will cost a fortune… but having a safe space for daylilies and hostas and all those plants which an overpopulation of deer decimate will be worth it.
I remember going to a park in NY and seeing a fenced in area of the forest floor, filled with a lush growth of native perennials, shrubs and tree seedlings. The rest of the woodlands were nearly bare with just a few things they wouldn’t eat and you then realize how much damage they do when their population is out of control.
“I’m really not upset about it anymore” –I don’t quite believe you, but I see you recognize it’s a first world problem and no one died. It’s true “it’s what we sign up for” in that some sudden catastrophe can always happen to the garden and the gardener has no choice but to play the hand they’ve been dealt. Still, it hurts worse when Homo sapiens inflicts the damage and it could have been avoided with better communication. I hope you are satisfied with the restitution they offer. I hope you itemized the snowdrops, listing the current price they go for.
Too late now, I realize, but I really like that ‘Lake Lurie.’ Also the pink one in with the tomatoes–in case a fan falls off when you’re digging it up and moving it.
I’m less bothered by the destroyed plants than I am by the runaround the sewer authority is giving me. Sure they need a meeting or whatever, but I’m staring at dirt when my garden should be growing. I don’t like my garden being held hostage by someone else.
Don’t you worry about Lake Lurie, it’s in another part of the garden and safe for dividing and sharing. I’ll bring it in August as well as a few other nice pinks!
Ugh, what a gut punch! I’d have been in tears. Of course, one recovers, but I hope they can at least spare a few bucks for replacements!
Thanks Eliza. We will see what happens, for as fast as they ripped everything up they’re a lot slower with getting everything else settled.
Of course, no surprise there! Were you able to save some tubers? But I expect no IDs are possible. 😦 Berm material??
Oh dear. Thanks for trying to put a positive spin on the whole thing at your conclusion, because when I first started reading your post I felt like I could use an emoji or something, it would be hard to say “like” after what happened to your garden. But then there’s truth in it, and I can relate, even if the native plant mess I have to clean up is more of my own doing, or not doing.
You know it doesn’t really matter what other people think. I have plenty of messes which are my messes and I would be annoyed to have them destroyed as well. This was a daylily bed, obviously flowers, and everyone can see the loss, but I would have actually been upset if they did the same to my weedy berm behind the house. It’s a disaster but for all the work I put into removing the worst invasives and getting a few natives going and enjoying the wildlife it brings in…. I would have a much harder time explaining that loss…
thanks!
Good Lord, what a mess descended upon you!
Yes, I sometimes think I have more messes than I should.
Oh, I love your description of summer at the end–so true! But I’m sorry about all the destruction, etc. You have a great attitude, and please share the results after you’ve recreated the garden areas that were messed up. Your Daylily collection is amazing!
Thanks Beth! I’m still waiting on soil and mulch and compensation, but plants are already going back in of course. I’m like a plant-prepper, ready for any disaster with a backup of just in case plants!
That is a sad story, but you are inspiring in the way you are “making lemonade» of the sour lemons you’ve been given. I hope you do enjoy creating your new garden.
Gretchen Joanna
Thanks, I appreciate the sentiment, and I have enjoyed putting a few new things in… maybe not enjoyed the heat and dust, but it will be fine.
Oh goodness, what a tragedy. They all looked so gorgeous! Your down-to-earth attitude towards it all is commendable, although I am sure you were devastated at first. Good luck with all the repairs and planting, and I do hope the rest of the summer will be kinder to you and your garden!
Thanks Cathy, and fortunately I have a decent backup of more daylilies than I need 😉
We had a change in the weather today, it’s downright chilly after all the heat. I suspect I can get a lot done if I can stay focused long enough lol
What an absolute catastrophe. Only a gardener can understand the anguish involved. I get distraught if someone stands on one single plant in my garden. I am not normally a great fan of daylilies but some of your gorgeous varieties would tempt me. I hope you soon have your day lily farm back better than ever.
Yes, it’s hard to keep calm when treasures are lost, but honestly deep down inside the daylilies are just something to keep me going through the heat of summer. I’m ‘annoyed’ by the destruction, but had they touched any more snowdrops I would have been apoplectic! The daylilies are being replaced quickly with divisions from elsewhere, it’s like putting in a flat of marigolds to fill space.