I love sprouting annuals from seed indoors because it gives me an opportunity to start “gardening” long before the snow melts, and I can pick whatever cultivars and colors I want to grow. It’s fun having special flowerbeds set aside just for annual flowers (and veggies) because I can design the beds from scratch every year if I wish.
However, I’m continually tempted to give up some of my annual space to plant more of my favorite perennials—daylilies. I adore their rich colors and they are incredibly easy to grow. I just plop them in the ground anywhere, and they’ll thrive without any help from me. But what I love the most about them is that they make every day in the garden exciting and new. Their blooms only last a day so the following morning I’m treated to a whole new show of colors and shapes. For over two months each summer I find myself jumping out of bed at the crack of dawn just to see what beautiful new display awaits beyond the back door.
The only bad thing about daylilies is that most of them are done blooming in early-to-mid August when there are still 6 weeks left in the growing season.
About this time every year when I’m making my big seed-starting list, I have a struggle in my head about whether to grow more of the pretty annuals that keep churning out blooms until frost or the daylilies that put on a spectacular display for 6 to 8 weeks and then give me nothing but foliage until frost.
I admit that daylilies now anchor the back of most of my annual borders, but for now that’s all the space I’m willing to surrender. I can’t imagine a garden without zinnias. I would definitely miss the hummingbirds that visit my salvias every year in late summer, and I’ll always need space to try new perennials, bulbs and the latest varieties of petunias or tomatoes.
I guess the best solution is a little bit of everything.
