Garden Bloggers Bloom Day July 2014- Day Lillies

Welcome to Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, July 2014 edition, where gardeners worldwide post what is blooming in their homes, or gardens.

This past week my town in upstate New York has been under two tornado warnings.  There was a tornado less than 100 miles from us where a house was picked up and dumped on another house, killing four people. This "isn't supposed to happen" in upstate New York.

But it did, and it may have been the deadliest tornado in New York State history.

And then, this past Sunday, still another tornado, this time near Watkins Glen.  The aftermath of the storm - not sure if it was exactly the same storm that hit us later in the day - caused a beautiful sunset that almost took my breath away.  More on that later in the week.

So happy we escaped the severe weather where we live,  near the small upstate New York village of Johnson City.

The word for today is "day lilies".

Rains have kept my upstate New York garden lush.

More and more each year, I am appreciating day lilies.  This year, I bought two new ones at the Plantasia event in Charleston, South Carolina this past April.  Many people load up on souvenirs when they travel.  My spouse and I bring back plants.  The plant above is one of those souvenirs.

This is the other day lily.  The sellers, some of whom were northern transplants, steered me to varieties that would survive my zone 5b winter.  Let's hope.

Needless to say, the names of the varieties are long lost. That's a garden habit I can't seem to break.  (Maybe one day I'll host a contest to tell me what all my plants are.)

I've had this day lily for years.  It's fragrant, and large.  I have a bunch of them in my back yard along a fence.  The first bloom opened today, just in time for GBBD.

Four at once.

I've had this one for years, too.

I got this one at a local Cornell Cooperative garden sale for $2.  They, in turn, got it from an elderly gentleman who could no longer care for his collection.

And my final one. This is an early lily for me.  It's almost spent but this evening, I see two more flowers just starting to open.  This was taken when it was more in its prime.

I definitely plan to expand my collection.  In my small yard, something will have to go and - alas - I think it will be some of my underperforming bearded irises.

This dahlia was given to me by a work friend, who passed away from melanoma some 24 years ago this June.  I'll be devastated the year my spouse or I can no longer dig it up and overwinter it.

This is a newer dahlia, from this year.  I love the reddish foliage.

Coral Bells.

A fuschia in a pot surrounded by Persian Shield.

Let me remember this beauty come February, when all is frozen and sleeping under ice and snow.

In our community garden plot, several miles away, our sunflowers are blooming.

And finally, just showing that not all garden beauty is in flowers, one more pot, with coleus and Persian Shield.  I've had this Persian Shield plant since the devastating flood that hit our area in September, 2011.  I purchased it as a flooded nursery was clearing out its damaged merchandise, and have kept it alive indoors in my office each winter since.  I've also kept the coleus alive since 2012.  To me, that's part of the fun of gardening.

Please, stop by May Dream Gardens, the host of this 15th of the month gardening meme.  And then, visit other gardens from all over the world.

Do you flower or vegetable garden? What's growing for you?