Sunny Summer Solstice Sunday

Of all the various flower forms in my garden, I like the form of lilies best, both true lilies and daylilies (which aren't really lilies, but the flower is a similar form). It's been a favorite for as long as I can remember, since I was a little girl and tried to convince my mother to grow Hemerocallis fulva, the common orange daylily or ditch lily, in our garden. She refused and said it was a weed.

When we lived in Massachusetts true lilies, grown from bulbs, were one of the first things I planted (along with some of those ditch lilies that Mom despised). But the lilies very quickly, within about 3 years, succumbed to a truly disgusting lily leaf beetle infestation. Read about them and their horrible offspring here. I contented myself with daylilies, which come in a wonderful variety of colors and color combinations. I discovered when we moved to Washington that the lily leaf beetle hadn't made it this far west (yet). I was so delighted to plant these big luscious flowers again!

Much to my dismay, I discovered recently that many daylilies here in the PNW are falling prey to a scourge called the gall midge, which infests the flower buds before they open and deforms them so they never open properly. I have several that I've removed every single flower scape from in an attempt to remedy the situation. Some, however, are still completely untouched. Unlike the lily leaf beetle, I don't think the gall midge will eventually kill the entire plant, but they certainly do make them less garden-worthy. But here are the few lucky ones in my garden that so far have escaped unscathed.

Do you have a favorite flower form in your garden?