The trouble with weather forecasting is that it's right too often for us to ignore it and wrong too often for us to rely on it. ~Patrick Young

Hurricane Irene sent outer band winds well in our direction yesterday. The wind blew constantly all day. The weather station was not reporting, due to power outage.

And today ... what beeeeeautiful weather. High temp ie 88 degrees, cloudless day, slight breeze ... a gorgeous day. It is said that is what occurs after a hurricane.

Gonna run back outside ... picking up more fallen branches. Hope you have a good day. Until next time, Happy Gardening.

It is said that flies bite more when it is going to rain

Evening red and morning gray will set the traveler on his way/But evening gray and morning red will bring down rain upon his head

When the wind is blowing from the east/'Tis not fit for man nor beast. ~Proverbs

Have you heard any of these? Not I.

The rain is upon us. Have had almost half an inch. View OFW for our weather stats.

All for this time. Hope you have a good day and until next time, Happy Gardening.

Often you have to rely on intuition. ~Bill Gates

That could be with the case of Hurricane Irene which is forecast to pound the NC coast and move north battering other shorelines. One has to decide to follow the mandatory evacuation or stay "hunkered down" in their abode. Which is wisest? Or does one act on intuition? What do you feel? What past experiences influence your decision? Oh my .... I say, "Just do it, do something!"

And that could also be said for daylilies. Which to purchase? What worked for you in another location? Color? Size? Bloom season? Hey ... why not have a sampling of many. Check us out Oakville Farm and get the daylilies ... just for you.

And check out our personal weather station, OFW, for the latest weather happenings here at Oakville Farm.

Hope you have a good evening. Be safe. And until next time, Happy Gardening.

Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass on a summer day listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is hardly a waste of time. ~John Lubbock

Do you have a seat/chair/resting spot near your garden or in your yard? It is a "must have". One needs to have several outdoor seating areas, where possible. My favorite spot growing up, was the glider on my Great Aunt's porch. Spent many an hour there, watching the storms coming down the Ohio River, looking for the spider lilies popping thru the ground near yard's edge and being aware that any moment the hummingbird's would zoom past my head ... headed for the bee balm.

Now, my favorite seat is anywhere outdoors ... on the ground, on a rock, bench, seat of tractor. Oh the "beauts" one can see outside.

How about the daylily Red Twister? Red Twister is a red bitone. The term bitone refers to the fact that the inner segments and outer segments are tints of the same color. This pretty specimen is large, being over 6" in diameter. Is a midseason bloomer and sells for $5.00 per double fan. It would compliment orange daylilies, yellow daylilies, or make a nice stand alone daylily.

Hope you have a good day. Please sure and check us out, Oakville Farm, and until next time, Happy Gardening.

Law of the Workshop: Any tool, when dropped, will roll to the least accessible corner. ~Author Unknown

Can that also apply to "anything/everything" that is handheld? Yes....with that said, have you ever misplaced a gardening implement? Oh yeah! Well, we have 5, yes 5, gardening spades and I can not find one of them. It is not in the shed on "its hook", not on the wagon/trailer. Could it be laying in a row between the daylilies? And be found when the tractor tire rolls over top of it and destroys it? Yikes! Guess that is one of the jobs for today, take a thorough walk thru the daylilies looking for the gardening spade. 1

Want to showcase the daylily Royal Occasion. Royal Occasion is black red with a black eyezone and bright green throat. It is a rebloomer. And being mid season bloomer, Royal Occasion has bloomed, rested and is now sending up new scapes with blooms to open within the next few days. A treat to look forward to. Bloom size is about four inches and it stands two and half feet tall.

Visit us, Oakville Farm, and peruse our selection of fine daylilies. Hardy, well proven daylilies that will compliment your yard.

Hurricane Irene update ... forecast is now for its path to mover further east, missing us. You can check out our weather, ie temps, rainfall, etc at OFW, at anytime.

Hope you have a good day. Until next time, Happy Gardening.

He who plants a garden plants happiness. ~Author Unknown

What do ya know? Late August and time for fall planting. Time for dividing and separating. Time for mulching. Time for applying pre-emergent. On and on and on!

Have been aware for a bit, so now going out to peruse the yard. Will return.

WOW. Did you feel that? 30-45 seconds. Check out this web site ....
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsus/Quakes/usc0005ild.php

And, what about Hurricane Irene? Is the storm headed this way?

Later ......

We hit the sunny beaches where we occupy ourselves keeping the sun off our skin, the saltwater off our bodies and the sand out of our belongings. ~Erma Bombeck

Yes, I am still talking about the beaches, North Carolina beaches. Ever been there? At one of the Visitor Centers, the landscape includes Stella de Oro daylilies. Not currently blooming, the daylilies are in the foreground to shrubs that follow the edge of the walk around the Visitor's Center. The grounds are clean and well groomed, making the display very pleasing to one's eye.

Speaking of daylilies, how do you have them displayed in your landscape? Always interested in what is happening in other's yards.

Hope you have a good day and until next time, Happy Gardening.

PS Atlantic Ocean was calm again today. Beautiful ... sea temp was in the 70's, air temp was low 80's.

There shall be eternal summer in a grateful heart. ~Celia Thaxter

OBX, do you know what that stands for? Outer Banks, yes, the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Southern Shores, Kitty hawk, Kill Devil Hills, Nags Heads just to name a few.

This is tourist season at the Outer Banks. There are many, many oh so many vehicles on the roads. It is reported that Labor Day is the "unofficial end" to the summer vacation season. Children back to school, no more adult vacations, etc. Mind you, there are still months of good weather at the beach. Lots of sunshine, less intense heat, lower humidity ... all the makings for a good beach vacation. http://www.outerbanks.org/ is the place to find about events/activities on our lovely northern North Carolina beach area.

And as you think about your yard/garden area, be sure and check us out at Oakville Farm to find the daylily right for your oasis.

Hope you have a good evening and until next time, Happy Gardening.

Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. ~John W. Gardner

Having worked in the educational system, I must say that the previous quote does have its truths. We must provide students with information then watch them experience it and learn from it. I do believe in education.

We can learn both in a classroom and in a yard/garden. What have you learned this year from your yard? I see that even when you have had recent rains, plants dry out and you must be mindful to check soil moisture and water when need. WATER, WATER, WATER .....

One good plant that does not take large amounts of water ... DAYLILIES. Yee-Haa! Check us out at Oakville Farm for a daylily suited just for you.

Hope you have a good day and until next time, Happy Gardening.

Flowers are those little colorful beacons of the sun from which we get sunshine when dark, somber skies blanket our thoughts. ~Author Unknown

Want to say Happy Birthday to both Ms Terry and Trina. Hope you have a good day.

To forget how to dig the earth and to tend the soil is to forget ourselves. ~ Mohandas K. Gandhi

Ya know, thinking about soil, I was just wondering how many shovels you have. Or how many gardening spades you have. Someone who is serious about gardening, must have a variety of gardening tools. And if we have more than one of an item, that must mean that it is certainly a favorite. So what is your favorite gardening tool? And how many do you have?

Certainly with daylilies, our most used and most favorite is a gardening spade, or spading fork. It is also referred to as graipe or digging fork. A neighbor even calls it a "ladies fork". Whatever it is called, it is "the tool" for easing daylily clumps out of the ground.

All for this time. Hope you have a good day and until next time, Happy Gardening.

Gardening is civil and social, but it wants the vigor and freedom of the forest and the outlaw. ~Henry David Thoreau

What have you seen outdoors today that you may have not seen before? More weeds? New growth? Another wasp nest? The sunshine? Clouds? Loggers clearing forests? Something new everyday, I must say!

I viewed more than a thousand photos of the Alaskan flora/landscape last week. Just gorgeous! While looking thru the photos, I could sense the calmness of the mountains, hear the sounds of the waterfalls and feel the cold emanating from the glaciers. Thank you KSC for sharing such great stories and fabulous photos.

Well, have eaten a fresh tomato sandwich, drank a glass of unsweetened tea and am making my way outside. Hope everyone has a good day. And Until next time, Happy Gardening.


PS. Someone emailed me and asked about the pumpkin plants ... asked if they had come up!!!

Well, Wednesday, August 10 ... look what I found .....................

Some people walk in the rain, others just get wet. ~Roger Miller

Do you remember the movie/song "Singin' In The Rain"? A movie from 1952. Oh my, do you remember 1952?

Today ... the rains did fall. Over an inch of rain fell, here, at Oakville Farm. Nice steady drizzle, then hard rain. Just the right amount of rain, with no evident run off. After the rains moved east and the sun came out, the entire landscape looked brighter, perkier, fresher, cleaner. Oh what a little rain can do!

And when you want to check out our weather conditions, just see OFW, for the most up to date info.

Oakville Farm.

Hope you have had a good day. Until next time, Happy Gardening.

I cultivate my garden, and my garden cultivates me. ~Robert Brault

A good daylily for your garden, which is a rebloomer is Martha Fawcett. Martha Fawcett is pink with a darker eyezone and yellow green throat. It is a mid season bloomer. It began its bloom cycle in early June, rested and is now reblooming. Martha Fawcett has nice thick ruffled tepals. Bloom is about 4-4.5 inches in diameter. The scape does not rise far above the foliage, making this specimen nice in the foreground of a flowerbed.

I just noticed ......Friday it is! Yee...Haa! Hope you have a good day. And if 5 PM today is the end of your workweek, hope you have a good weekend. And if this is the beginning of a work time for you ... have a good one!

Until next time, Happy Gardening.

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra. ~Jimmy Johnson

Oh .... I like that saying. Could it apply to life? An extra smile, an extra hello, one extra effort for a friend. Could/can it apply to a garden? The little extra weeding, little extra water, one extra plant. Yes!

Want to show you varied components of the Hemerocallis....

Spent Bloom

You know that the daylily bloom lasts for one day. The day after it blooms, it will wither and blend into a "spent bloom". The spent bloom when still "moist" can be pinched off (deadheaded). Or if left on it will dry and fall off itself. It is best practice to deadhead. If the spent bloom is left on, it will form a seed pod and that is not wanted. And other times, if the spent bloom is left on, it may fall upon an unopened bud and prevent it from opening. Another not wanted.


Seed pod(s).






Spent bloom not fully collapsed.









Spent bloom dried and laying on unopened bloom.















Taking care of the the spent blooms by deadheading is not a necessity, however it does make the garden neater and prevents unopened blossoms and unwanted seed pods.

Hope you have a good day and until next time, Happy Gardening.

Flowers... are a proud assertion that a ray of beauty out values all the utilities of the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

And don't they though! Flowers, either cut flowers or flowers on the stalks, they elicit a smile during the darkest of times or the joyous of occasions.

How about the blossoms of Hemerocallis ...

Strawberry Fields Forever


or


First Knight


or





Trahlyta









Hope you have a good day. Until next time, Happy Gardening.

Anyone who has a library and a garden wants for nothing.
Cicero

Ever sit out under a tree, viewing the daylilies, sipping on a drink and reading from your favorite book, perusing a daylily catalog or checking the internet on your laptop? Taking your "library" outdoors can be soooooo fun!

My sister has a great area under a large Oak with several old metal rockers, a picnic table and a hammock chair. Many great hours are spent there.

My friend has a beautiful back porch that faces her magnificent yard where she sits, sipping her favorite drink, watching the day go by.

Some say, having that "garden" is hard work. Well, it certainly is. And the benefit ... well it is undoubtedly worth the work! Daylilies will fill up the yard/garden and give you years of pleasure. The daylily Jungle Beauty is a dark black red with a yellow green throat. It is a mid season bloomer that we sell here at Oakville Farm for $6.00 per double fan. Check it out.

All for this time. Until next time, Happy Gardening.

There shall be eternal summer in the grateful heart. ~Celia Thaxter

And for what are you grateful? What fills your heart today?

Four-legged creatures here at Oakville Farm certainly have a place.

Caprine ....






Feline ....









Canine ....









Hope you are able to spend time with family and friends. A cook-out, a reunion, a visit on a porch..at church..in a hospital ..... hope this day brings a smile. Have a good day and until next time, Happy Gardening.

"To analyze the charms of flowers is like dissecting music; it is one of those things which it is far better to enjoy, than to attempt to fully understand."
- Henry T. Tuckerman

So, with that, "go with the flow", as is said. Make the most of today.

Just south of us in Wake County, there is flash flooding. The rains are reaking havoc on folks. The weather here at Oakville Farm (OFW), is supplying a nice light drizzle. Enough to keep the caprine under the shelter. Enough to make the daylilies stand up and take notice. Grass was mowed yesterday ... what great planning/perfect timing, huh?

So now .....

Figs will be producing.




Grapes will be ripening.













Pumpkin plants will be pushing thru the ground.
(Oops, not today!)






All for now. Hope you have a good day and until next time, Happy Gardening.

All the flowers of tomorrow are in the seeds of today. ~Author Anknown

What a great statement. So true. So simple.

We plant so many many seeds in our lifetime. Life learning seeds. Some take. Some don't.

Daylilies ... now there is something that when planted will grow and prosper.

A nice red self daylily with a green throat that has been very popular this year is Nicholas Leigh. A bloom size of over 5". It blooms midseason. It sells for $5.00 per double fan.

Another good daylily is Black Eyed Susan. A butter yellow with red purple eyezone, this daylily stands tall above the foliage on a small scape. A mid season bloomer which sells for $4.00 per double fan. Makes a great plant for a background to other shorter plants.

Check us out at Oakville Farm for your daylily wants/needs. With over 150 different cultivars, there will be something to fit you!

Hope you have a good day. And until next time, Happy Gardening.

A person who loves his or her work Is like a plant in the right spot: Their growth is maximized and the yield is greatest. ~Author Unknown

Do you work outside the home? Do you work from your home? And most certainly do you enjoy your work?

Farmers, flower gardeners, vegetable gardeners ... we all have a sense of Mother Nature. She is our friend, she is our foe. And daylilies fair so well in Mother Nature. Daylilies tolerate drought and monsoon. Daylilies are most resistant to insects and diseases. Daylilies are prolific. Daylilies are pleasant to the senses. Daylilies are just great to have in your garden/yard.

Along a road at the Outer Banks of North Carolina, these Stella de Oro daylilies grow in an arrangement. A crepe myrtle grows in the background. Nice contrast in color.

The daylily Mini Pearl is a small reblooming daylily. It is pink with a yellow green throat. It is an early mid season bloomer which grows low to the ground. Oakville Farm sells this quaint specimen for $4.00 per double fan.

If you would like to see what weather conditions are here at Oakville Farm, check us out at OFW (Oakville Farm Weather)

All for this time. Hope you have a good day and until next time, Happy Gardening.

"This bud of love, by summer's ripening breath, May prove a beauteous flower when next we meet."
- William Shakespeare

Are you in love? Do you love your parents, siblings, spouse, children? Do you love yourself? Do you love Nature? Love comes in all forms, shapes and sizes. Hope you will find love, contentment, happiness in your life.

Do daylilies bring you a level of love in your life? Daylilies bring a calmness, happiness, joy to my life.

Like the daylily Stoplight

or maybe the daylily
Siloam Bo Peep







or even daylily Prickled Petals

Check out these daylilies and many others at Oakville Farm. You will find one that brings calmness, happiness and a sense of love.

Hope you have a good day and until next time, Happy Gardening.

Flowers always make people better, happier, and more helpful; they are sunshine, food and medicine for the soul. ~Luther Burbank

Daylilies make me smile, you? Mother Nature put a tenth of inch of rain on us last night. What a treat! And as I look out the window this morning, more daylilies have opened.

Daylily Brocaded Gown is a pretty lemon yellow flower with a green throat. The ruffled edges with the textured tepals give this specimen an interesting visual presentation. Brocaded Gown presents a large, over 6", bloom. It begins blooming in early season and is now reblooming. Bloom is slightly above the green foliage. And nice color contrast between the two. Here at Oakville Farm we offer Brocaded Gown for a mere $5.00 per double fan.

What is your favorite color in daylily blossoms? Like the multi-colored? Self? Each has their own drawing point, their own attraction.

Hope you have a good day. Take time to walk about outdoors ... if just for a moment. And until next time, Happy Gardening.

August ...

"How sociable the garden was.
We ate and talked in given light.
The children put their toys to grass
All the warm wakeful August night."
- Thomas Gunn

First day of August and how do your daylilies shine? With the plentiful rains we had in the past few days, I noticed that not only is the grass growing, trees standing taller, shrubs reaching higher .... daylilies are greening up and sending out new scapes. Yes, the rebloomers are sending forth!